My first week in Sudan was awesome! I had a great time getting to know everyone and finding my groove in the clinic. It is totally not what I expected, but not in a bad way. I just think that there is no way that anyone could anticipate the way that the culture, available resources and God’s hand would mesh so well to create such an awesome place. I came here primarily to work in the clinic, and that’s where most of my time has been spent. I spent Friday the 7th shadowing Dennis and then on the following Monday, the tenth, I began my autonomous work in the clinic. I was set up with my own exam room and translator and began seeing patients. During the regular clinic hours I mainly focus on pediatric patients who range in age from just days old to around 14 or 15 years. Additionally, I assist with any emergencies come in. My first week was a busy one, we had many routine and emergent patients. I did a lot of suturing! It had been a few months since I had last sutured, but it’s like riding a bike, you never forget. I love being able to share my stateside experience in emergency treatment; However, I think I am learning much more than I am sharing. Aside from my clinic duty, I was able to attend church service on the 9th and even deliver a devotion last Friday. Both were great experiences; I really enjoyed the conversations I had with some of the churchgoers after the service. The ultimate cap to my first week was the outburst of gunfire in celebration of SPLA Day. It was a little bit scary at first, but both Sabet and Suzy soon reassured us that it was strictly celebratory and we were in no danger. I am so thankful for being able to be here, and for all of the people back home who supported me financially and continue to support me.
The Pastors Are Back!
We have just finished our first week of the fourth term of the Pastors Training School here on the IDAT compound. The pastors came with excitement and we were blessed to be here to teach them. The school did not start on Monday as scheduled due to the fact that our vehicle that went to pick them was on the road for two days because of getting stuck in the mud. But on Wednesday we opened the school with almost all the pastors present. This term we will be studying the books of the 12 Minor Prophets in our Old Testament Survey Class and continuing with the Foundation Bible Course in the other class.
Thanks to the generous donations of God’s people in the States, we were able to provide ox ploughs so that the pastors could get their cultivation done in time to be here for the pastors training on May 10th. Without these ox ploughs they have had to plow the ground by hand hoes and it was time consuming for them and very hard labor. So they are really blessed to have them.
Please continue to pray for the pastors as they dedicate this time to studying the Word of God so that they are better equipped to minister to their people and go out and preach the Gospel.
—Joe and Nancy Losee
Matoch
Matoch is doing great! Here is a picture to prove it…
The Clinic Continues To Be Busy
Mondays are usually the busiest days. I was surprised to see not many people there in the morning. We thought it was going to be a quiet day, but it picked up in the afternoon and evening. Now I know God was being merciful by allowing the patients to be few in the morning so the clinic staff would be able to handle what was to come. The cattle raiding continues and four injured men were brought in. Two of them had gunshot wounds (in the leg) and two had wounds caused by a grenade, one man lost part of his hand and the other had wounds to his chest. Usually we are treating the victims of an attack, but this time we were treating men who had attacked a village and were injured when the village fought back. You want to say “you deserve to be hurt” but God calls us to love everyone and so we help anyone that needs it.
Now we received word there will be a retaliation and we are praying God stops their evil plans.
–Stacie
A Busy Sunday
The clinic is closed on Saturdays and Sundays except for emergencies so our clinic staff is on call 24-7 to handle whatever comes up. Today the clinic staff was busy with a lot of emergencies. There was another cattle raid about an hour and a half away. We had one man brought in with a gun shot wound to the face. Fortunately it wasn’t too serious so Dennis was able to stitch him up. He also had to stitch up a lady with a head wound. Apparently she had been in a fight. Then we had a small boy who was burned on his leg and another boy who walked three days to come to the clinic to treat multiple dog bites.
Later another man with a gun shot wound came in. Dennis asked me to come to the clinic to pray for him. He warned me he was injured very badly. When I got there, Priscila asked me if I was strong and then removed the gauze covering his injury. After I saw it, I answered her and said “no I am not strong.” This man’s forearm was completely ripped open and bones were sticking out. This injury made me feel sick more than any others I have seen. He had been given pain medicine so he was asleep. I asked one of the relatives to come into the room with me. I noticed he was wearing a cross so I asked him if he was a believer and he said yes. Then we prayed together for Mathon, the injured man. Afterward, I stuck around to help (aka hold the lantern) while Dennis cleaned the wound and then stabilized it. We heard the fighting has continued and expect more victims to come for treatment.
— Also to follow up on a previous blog, Dangerous Delivery, I am sad to report both the mother and the child died following surgery in Wau. She was very young and it’s heart breaking to know she died due to labor complications that could have been prevented.
—Stacie