6 Months

It has been 6 months since we moved to Cameroon.  We have had ups and downs for sure, but we know that God has put us here and we are grateful to be serving at Mbingo Baptist Hospital.  As always, thanks for following along with us.

Here is one of our miracle children. Princewill is a 18 month old child. He came in 2 weeks ago in severe respiratory distress. We initially thought he had a severe asthma exacerbation, but then began to suspect he had a foreign body in his lungs. Our ENT (airway specialist) was away at another hospital. For several days Princewill was critically ill and every day we were not sure if he would survive. However he stabilized and sat waiting for 10 days, until last Friday night. Our ENT surgeon had just returned and a few hours later Princewill again was in severe distress. Dr. Acha took him to the OR and removed multiple pieces of peanut out of both lungs. This is him post-surgery. He has been discharged home, and is doing great. God's provision was definitely over Princewill and His timing was perfect. 

We are happy to introduce you to our newest residents, Norah and Simo (from left).  They started work on August 1st and this was at the White Coat Ceremony on Thursday.  We gave them their new white coat, a new stethoscope, and a copy of Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.  They are standing with Tumi and Stephanie who started as residents halfway through the year last year.

 The White Coat Ceremony was a chance to celebrate the start of residency of our CIMS residents (internal medicine/pediatrics) alongside the new PAACS residents (surgeons).  Jim Brown spoke for the PAACS program.  Chuck gave a speech as the interim CIMS director and JR led the new residents in the Christian Physician's Oath.  The entire ceremony was a chance to encourage the new residents, set expectations, and have them commit to becoming the best physicians they can be.

 We also wanted to show you our house.  We mentioned before that we share a duplex with JR and Lindsay Young and this is the front of our half.  We have done a lot of work on the house and it really feels like home now.

 This is the back yard.  We had the outdoor covered area built onto the existing outdoor buildings.  You can also see our garden against the house, grass in the yard, and plants along the earth wall.  All of this replaced the dirt yard that was here before.  The chicken coop sits behind the outdoor building.  We eat most of our meals at that table outside and occasionally enjoy the firepit that we built from cement blocks.

 This is our living room.  The furniture is all made here by the carpenters and the cushions are made by the tailor.

 This is the kitchen.  The hospital was kind enough to put in a new gas stove and a new refrigerator before we arrived.

 This is our bedroom.  Most of the house was a blank slate with cement floors, cement walls, furniture and old curtains, so we have done the decorating since we arrived.

 Isaac is proud to show you his room.  It is usually decorated with as many toys as possible and train tracks running everywhere, but he was kind enough to allow us to clean it up for the picture.

Isaac continues to love to hike...or at least loves to ride in the pack while we hike. This was from a recent trip to the top of one of the mountains 2000 feet above our house with an incredible view of the valley.

Please pray for safe travels for Chuck's parents as they leave North Carolina on Thursday and will be at Mbingo on Saturday for 3 weeks.  We can't wait for them to arrive.