At the Missionary Medical Intensive in Marion, NC, I spent eight days learning about travel health, public health, and tropical medicine.  We were taught in traditional classroom style by several different practitioners with a wide variety of experiences: a doctor who spent many years of practice at a Navaho reservation, a nurse practitioner who has practiced his whole career in the developing world, a first assistant who spent 20 years in the operating room, and others.  Class began at eight in the morning and lasted until dinner with a break for lunch.  After dinner, we were responsible for completing (in my case) 60+ case studies (beautifully written and color pictures) covering a wide variety of common tropical diseases in East Africa.

Water purification, malaria, TB, AIDS/HIV, diabetes, childbirth, first aid, immunizations, common emergencies, suturing, medication administration, fluid replacement therapy and rehydration techniques, treatment of malnutrition, ortho injuries, burn treatment, as well as other subjects were covered.  The following are a few highlights from the course.

Making an NG tube with an IV catheter and a candle for melting (see picture below).

Constructing a plaster splint for a pretend patient with a “fracture”.

The extensive lesson on malaria: pathology, treatment, and prevention.

Learning to use Dr Mary’s book, The Village Healthcare Handbook, a great diagnostic tool for health care in the developing world.

Seeing a “tippy-tap,” a homemade hand-washing device made from an old bleach bottle, for use when there is no running water (see picture below).

Learning to suture from a nurse practitioner who cried during her lecture when speaking of the marvels of the human body.

Getting to “deliver a baby” (on a model) and supervised by an OB doc.

Discovering the CDC website and the “Yellow Book”, The CDC Health Information for International Travel 2010, a handy resource for missionary health.

Teaching laypeople in the class to do injections (on one other).

Learning how to treat a malnourished child.

Mastering rehydration calculations and learning how to make rehydration fluids.

Learning how to sterilize my own instruments.

Getting the straight story on medications sold the developing world.

I am deeply thankful to the Downtown Church who sent me to this course and supports all of our preparation for the mission field.  Never before have I known such a church–she believes in me and repeatedly empowers me to follow my calling.  May God’s power multiply the knowledge I learned at MMI, and may He help me to share that knowledge with the Makonde people as freely as it was given to me.  May this whole project glorify God in the upmost, eternal ways.

–Heather

After lunch at Cracker Barrel

Topper holds a special place in our team history as he was instrumental in helping Lauren and Heather to go on their internships to Africa in 2007– which we look to as the catalyst for our team coming together. He also holds a special place at Harding– helping a number of girls at Harding afford their college education.

Topper and Carole are now retired, spending their time traveling the world and doing adventurous things. Soon they’ll journey to Tanzania and Kenya for a safari, then to Antarctica, and then…who knows.

Our team is continually blessed by this family– through their continual wisdom and support– and through their friendship as they are always taking time to see us when they are close.

Thanks for lunch and for the many other blessings you’ve given us!

It’s OK to cry in church.

“This Little Light Of Mine” is best sung with flashlights.

Read your Bible and pray every day…

David and Goliath is quite a disturbing story to tell a two-year old.

Church should be more like a musical.

You don’t really have to stay in your seat.

It’s nice to share.

“Four Little Speckled Frogs” actually is a church song.

Only God could make a butterfly.

God loves his kids.

A few weeks ago, the Wornock family of Downtown Church hosted Heather and Kristina along with another Downtown Church member and friend, Cassie Ganus, at their home for an unusual meeting.  Dr. Wornock taught the new RNs and missionaries to suture, a skill that was not taught in nursing school but might be useful for future life in Africa.

Heather and Kristina were taught about suture supplies and materials, and the group discussed what kinds of substitutions could be made for typical materials when resources are limited.  Then the new nurses learned proper suturing techniques and wound treatment.  Heather and Kristina used expired suture brought from Dr Wornock’s clinic and they practiced suturing on pig’s feet that they bought at Sexton’s grocery.

Kristina got quite a look (as a pregnant woman) from the checkout person in the grocery line when she was buying three packages of pig’s feet, “They probably thought it was some wierd pregnancy craving,” she said.  Dr Wornock made various cuts in the pig’s feet with a scapel and oversaw Kristina and Heather as they sewed the “wounds” back up.  The girls practiced sewing straight lacerations as well as flaps and deep cuts.

The team is greatful to Dr Wornock for sharing his expertise and to the Wornock family for bearing the smell of pig’s feet in their home for the morning.  There are many skilled and gifted individuals at Downtown who have shared their gifts with the team in order to enrich our future ministry.  If you have a skill or an area of expertise that could help out the Makonde team, please contact one of us through our website www.makondeteam.com or in person.  We want to learn as much from the Downtown family as we can before we leave in September, and we believe that our church body is loaded with talent and skill that could enrich God’s mission that we are involved in.  In sharing these things with each other, we truly work as the body of Christ to spread the Kingdom of God in our world.

A 2009 report also states that up to 50% of malnutrition is related to repeated diarrhoea or intestinal nematode infections as a result of unclean water, inadequate sanitation or poor hygiene. This 50% does not even include malnutrition that is a result not having enough water to grow protein rich crops or to raise livestock.

Clean water is one of humanity’s most basic needs, yet millions struggle daily to access clean water sources.

Among the rural Makonde, the scarcity of clean drinking water affects life drastically.

Water jugs abound as people crowd into this marshy area to fill up their jugs with water. This spot may be as far as 7 miles from their homes.

A woman begins her journey home with collected water.

The hospital below that we visited is very new and well-operated, yet it had no water on its grounds. People are paid to carry water from the nearest source for the doctor’s needs. However, patients have to find someone (a friend or relative) to bring the water they need in order to survive during their time at the hospital.

Local hospital with water needs.

Below is a picture of the cistern in front of a local school. It had been dry for quite some time and the next rainy season was still in the very distant future. School children must bring their own water to school or go home to get water whenever they need some.

Empty cistern at local school.

In light of this need among the Makonde, our team is assessing how we might be able to partner with locals in the search for solutions to water problems. As a result, last week Caleb and Travis were able to attend a week-long training course in San Angelo, Texas, on low-cost, sustainable well-digging and pump technology. The course was hosted by Water For All International, a group with a great deal of experience digging cheap, efficient wells in the developing world.

Here are some pictures from the course:

Learning to put the drill bit and the pump together.

Using a pulley to manually dig a borehole.

Caleb manually drilling.

Building the pump in a completed hole.

Our well drilling crew for that week. An incredible group.

To learn more about what Water For All International, please visit their website at: WaterForAllInternational.com.

This was a changing point for our team for a few reasons….

1. We were able to focus completely on our relationships this weekend. Yes, we did talk some about decision making and what we see as our roles on the team. However, all of our activities were focused on growth in our relationships as individuals and as a team and i feel as though we accomplished just that. This is not to say that we are all completely set and now know everything about the everyone. I would say, however,  that we are headed in that direction. We had the opportunity to spend an entire day sharing the stories of our spiritual walks with God. This was a blessing because not only did we get to share our testimonies, but after each person shared we had a time where we could ask questions or make comments regarding each of the stories.

2. We had an opportunity to share with each other what we see as each person’s role on the team. At least, that was how it began. This conversation really turned into a time where we went around to each person on our team and expressed what traits and characteristics we saw them bringing to our team. This opened my eyes at least to how the others on the team saw me and what i would be able to bring to the team. We could then respond with what we may agree or disagree with and even bring up other traits that we would like to bring to the table. This was a great time of encouragement and growth.

3. We had a time on Sunday that we spent discussing as a team how to resolve an issue that we have all seen. That issue is our weekly team meetings. We all agree that we enjoy meeting together, but we have a tendency to drag on for about four hours. We do accomplish a lot in those times, however, it is just an extrememly long meeting time. Our main problem was that we wanted to visit throughout the meeting and this created for longer than necessary meetings. We decided it would be best if we could cut down our meeting time so that we could enjoy time after the meeting visiting and catching up. I would like to announce that we were able to do just that in our first meeting after that weekend (thanks to Dale Hawley). We began our meeting around 7pm and it ended right around 8:20! This has been a definite turning point for the team. Our meetings are so much more efficient. We are then able to enjoy each other’s company after it is all over.

There you have it…..our accomplishments for the weekend. Even though we were all worn out by the end of that weekend because it was definitely emotionally draining, I think we would all agree that it was worth it. God is still working in our relationships as a team. We have many steps still to take. However, God has created so much growth in our relationships as friends, teammates, and as brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Missions Strategy weekend helped us form a plan for how we will engage the Makonde people for Christ.   It is important that we do not go about God’s mission in a haphazard way, and that we set our vision to work together harmoniously.  See the “purpose” link for the goals that will ground our mission strategy.

The Interpersonal workshop helped the team discover roles that each of us will play on the field. This workshop also helped us become more efficient in accomplishing team goals. Since this workshop we have cut our team meeting time by 50%! Probably the most important part of the weekend was giving ourselves the time to sit and listen to each other tell their life stories. These hours were emotionally intense for all of us.

In other news:

The team is teaching the 2yr old Wednesday night class at Downtown.

Heather Kellis is in Haiti serving at a health clinic (March 4-12).  Her husband is lonely and hungry.

Ross Kellis spent las week studying theology and history with Dr. Stanglin at the Grad School in Memphis.  He appreciates Dr. Stanglin very much.

Caleb and Kristina Meeks spent the last two weekends separately going to Nashville for a faith building and marriage enriching seminar called Tres Dias.

Travis and Lauren Trull are still roaming the West visiting family (check out their blog!).

NEXT WEEK, Caleb and Travis go to Texas to learn well drilling skills (March 15-19). We hope these skills will one day serve the Makonde.

March 15, the Makonde team goes on full-time support at Downtown!  Expect to see more of us in the coming months.

There is so much more to come so stay tuned.

Interdependence

Since it is God’s mission not ours, He is the primary actor. Though God has invited us to be co-actors in the mission, we will also continue to be recipients of His mission.  He is working on us too.  This recognition removes “us” and “them” barriers and makes our most natural relationship with the Makonde that of co-seekers and fellow objects of God’s pursuit. In this light we enter Tanzania rejecting us/them dichotomies and any tendency to view ourselves as “the saviors”. Instead we go to join community, to offer a new limb to an existing body, to offer a new voice, a new set of skills and resources. Then, together in community, as one body, we can all seek God and His intensions for the world. This body metaphor applies beyond the missionary-Makonde relationship to all our community embodiments: person-team, team-overseeing church, overseeing church-Makonde, etc. And this body, at all these levels, functions more wholly when it recognizes and utilizes its diverse parts and the various strengths the different parts have to offer. This means each part must simultaneously turn an ear to hear and a mouth to speak, realizing that we all (team member, Tanzanian, committee member, etc.) have much to learn from each other as well as much to offer each other. We will thus seek all forms of holistic reconciliation together with the Makonde, in partnership, hand-in-hand in mutual-submission.  However, we also recognize that the kind of love that Christ embodied extends far beyond interdependence to servanthood and self-sacrifice. Thus, beyond that of mutual-partner, our role may be best understood as that of servant. Servants to the Makonde, considering them better than ourselves, and servants to God, remembering always that the mission is His, and that our task is merely to be obedient creations of the creator.

Stewardship.

We believe that God is the creator and sustainer of all things. We recognize that all of our gifts and possessions are grace from God and consequently do not belong to us, but to Him.  As a community of blessed and gifted individuals, we feel a strong sense of responsibility in using what God has entrusted to us for the establishment of His kingdom on earth. It is with this understanding that we submit to the model of Jesus in regard to our time, money, giftedness, relationships and environment. It is in the spirit of Jesus that we hold all things loosely, valuing no thing—time, possession, or life– over the good of our neighbor.  It is in the spirit of Jesus that we give our lives to those who cannot care for themselves, because God loves the widow, the orphan, and the poor. And it is in the spirit of Jesus that we live our lives with intentionality, purpose and urgency, aware of our life-consuming call to usher in the kingdom of God on earth. We live in constant reverence of the words of Christ that “to whom much is given, much will be expected.”