December 2008 Merry Christmas...

from Carol Spears in Kenya

Dear Friends,

“Your love has given me great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the saints.” Philemon 1:7
How true this verse is!! I thank God for you and your faithfulness and your support that allows me to be here in Kenya. This is a long overdue update about
the work at Tenwek Hospital and what has been going on in my life. I hope it will help you know how to pray for us more specifically.

As I have thought about what to communicate to all of you to summarize the past few months, I feel led to tell you some of the things God is working on in
my own heart and life. I have been pausing to look back on this past year (and almost two years in Kenya) and find myself humbled, amazed, and in com-
plete awe over all the Lord is doing. However, personally and professionally I fight an almost daily battle with feeling overwhelmed, being pulled in many
directions, and feeling completely inadequate for the many tasks at hand. I confess to even a few times of something close to despair. Yet recently, I have
seen God’s gentle hand at work showing me that those feelings are wrong, they are sin – they stem from having my eyes on myself and my abilities rather
than on God and His power to work in all things. I was touched this week by the devotion given by one of our surgery residents, Dr. Gerald Angira. He read
this verse from Romans 15:13:

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

The words seemed to have a new meaning to me as he talked –

 God calls us to trust in Him (as you may recall – this is a message I feel passionate about and spoke often about as I prepared for the mission field).
 As we trust God, He fills us with joy and peace and we overflow with hope.
 The power of the Holy Spirit provides the hope and the joy and the peace through our believing…..
Does that sound like God would be pleased at my feelings of recent months? I don’t think so. I believe that He wants me to trust Him so completely that I
know that He is able to do through me – even me – all that He is calling me to do. Even if in my own eyes and in my own strength, things seem insurmount-
able! And, He will give me hope and peace and joy in the midst of the demands and stressors and workload. My part is to be to be faithful, to believe and to
carry out the important tasks at hand (which also becomes a daily struggle when so many things seem important or at least urgent….). I praise Him for His
Word that is alive and active, comforting, and encouraging!! I’ll close this portion with two verses that are new or new-again treasures for me from scrip-
ture:
“God is within her, she will not fall;” Psalm 46:5
“In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident
of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:4-6
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!!

Caught in the The call came from one of our residents saying “I have a
two year old male with a gunshot wound….”. My mind
Crossfire raced as I hurriedly made my way to casualty (our emer-
gency room). How did this happen? The story was
sketchy. The policeman who brought in the little boy of
unknown name and age reported that the father shot the
child after first using him as a human shield (or was the
child perhaps caught in the crossfire?). The police were
attempting to arrest the father for the murder of the
child’s mother. Eventually, the shoot-out ended and the
child’s father was dead.
As we took the child to the operating room, we
noticed a small bracelet with the name “Edwin”. We
prayed for Edwin, his surgery, his family, his future.
Thankfully the surgery revealed no life-threatening inju-
ries and he recovered well. At first, he didn’t answer to
“Edwin” because he was likely called by a tribal name.
Eventually, he answered to Edwin and was
quite a happy child living on the peds ward for a couple of
months. No family ever came…..He was cared for by
other mothers with children on the pediatric ward and by
our nurses. He was a favorite around the hospital and the
OR staff would even bring him up to visit in the OR
preoperative holding area.
These cases are agonizing as we recognize the
limitations of resources in Kenya for such social situations.
Edwin’s future is now in the hands of the Kenyan govern-
ment agencies and our Lord. Please pray for him, for
Tenwek to find a qualified Social Worker to help in these
cases, and for Kenya to have increased resources for
children of abuse, assault, or other tragedies.
Tenwek Surgery Residency
What a privilege it has been to see our surgery residency program transform from a dream to a
reality! We are about to enter year number two and we praise God for His provision and the bless-
ing of Dr. Agneta Odera and Dr. Gerald Angira, our first two residents (shown in picture at right with
Dr. Russ White and me). These young doctors have blessed us and have been a blessing to our
patients. We have just completed the application and interview process for next year. We are
excited to welcome two new residents to Tenwek in January—Dr. Jeff Mailu and Dr. Kamene
Mwanzia! If you are interested in sponsoring a portion of the training for any of these young physi-
cians, please let me know.

Left: Preliminary drawing of the new Tenwek

building; Above and right: EMI team at Tenwek

Preliminary Plans for a New Tenwek Hospital Addition

In October, a team of architects, builders, surveyors and all types of engineers came to Tenwek led by Henry Watts from Engineering Ministries Interna-
tional (EMI). EMI is an organization that brings together top professionals under the leadership of a missionary engineer to design buildings for mission
hospitals, schools, and mission projects all over the world. I had the amazing blessing of being the Tenwek Project Leader assigned to work with this very
talented group. I watched with amazement as over the course of about seven or eight days, the team did a very complete preliminary design for a new
hospital building. The building will include a new ICU, step down unit, private rooms, a burn unit, a new physical therapy department, more medical ward
beds, an inpatient pharmacy, and a wound care ward. The future is bright at Tenwek and we are blessed to be a part of a time of planning for future
growth. If all goes as planned, the fund raising for this building will begin soon and the construction will begin within the next 3 years.

Quick Trip to USA

In September, I was humbled and blessed to be a speaker at the Christian Medical and Dental Association Women
in Medicine and Dentistry annual conference in San Diego, CA. I was touched and inspired by these women who
have such incredible stories of their own – working in underserved areas, free clinics, and doing mission trips all
over the world! Praise God for these physicians who so faithfully serve wherever they are. I so enjoyed sharing
about medical missions and the work at Tenwek hospital in the theme of Reflecting God’s Glory.
Above: CMDA WIMD conference in San Diego
Below: My Family
I also spoke to a regional CMDA group in San Antonio and attended the Prescription
for Renewal Conference at The Cove in North Carolina. All of these events brought
me in contact with doctors who desire to serve God in their practices and many who
are considering time on the mission field. I pray that God will lead many of them to
serve internationally—at least
for a short time mission trip.

In between meetings, I had a

quick, but wonderful, visit with
my family. I wish that there
would have been time enough to
see everyone!

Left: At The Cove with Marty Jarrett

and other Kenya friends. Please pray
for Marty who continues to undergo
treatment for breast cancer.
 Surgical Compassionate Care Fund
A special offering was taken at the CMDA Women in Medicine and Dentistry Confer-
ence for our Tenwek Surgical Compassionate Care Fund. This fund is designed to pay a
portion of the hospital expenses for patients who require surgery and who do not
have the financial means to pay for their hospital stay. I was touched by a recent
family’s story: Little Kipngeno was born with gastroschisis which meant that his ab-
dominal wall did not close properly and his abdominal organs were partially outside of
his body. He required several operations to try and address this difficult surgical prob-
lem. Throughout the time of his hospital stay, his mother had such faith and such
peace. We talked with her frequently about the chance that her baby might die. She
trusted us and, more importantly, she trusted God. Eventually, a number of complica-
tions led to the death of little Kipngeno. Because the family was very poor and this baby was the ninth child in the family, they were unable to pay all of the
hospital expenses. The Surgical Compassionate Care Fund was able to help them pay a portion of the bill. Several weeks later, the mother and father of
baby Kipngeno returned to Tenwek bringing a thank you gift of millet (a ground flour type food) to the nurse in charge of the nursery and to me. They also
brought money with them that their neighbors had raised. They gave a gift to the Surgical Compassionate Care Fund so that future patients like their son
might be helped. What a tremendous example and testimony they displayed that truly touched my heart. Please email me if you would like to donate to
this fund.

Administrative Responsibilities Urgent Staffing Needs at Tenwek

In June, Dr. Russ White took over as Medical Superintendent and Dr. Ben
Roberts and I assumed positions of Assistant Medical Superintendents. The
additional administrative work is significant and yet it is a privilege to get to
be a part of the planning and decision making process of the hospital and to
try to bring about ongoing improvement. Please pray for Russ White and all
of our Administrative Team as they take on difficult issues including finding
and retaining adequate staff, raising the quality standards, and managing
finances in a time of crisis worldwide. Please pray for me as I try to find a
way to prioritize the work that needs to be done.
We need doctors at Tenwek!! All types of doctors – especially primary care –
Family Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN. And, yes, we con-
tinue to need General Surgeons and Orthopedists too! We praise God for the
very recent arrival of Dr. Dan Galat and family (Ortho) and Drs. Dino and Janice
Crognale and family (FP). We pray that God will provide the remaining support
for Dr. Steve Manchester and family (FP) so that they will be able to return to
Tenwek in January 2009. Our Family Medicine residency is in serious jeopardy
and may be closed down if an FP Program Director and other FP physicians are
not here over the longer term to run the program. Please pray that God will
send those we need to help in this critical area. March 2009 is a significant
deadline looming for this program. Tenwek has a strong commitment to train-
ing— it is one of the three aspects of our mission statement. We look forward
to seeing how God will provide the necessary physicians for these training
programs.If you are interested in serving at Tenwek for
short term or longer term, please contact Rebecca Mink
at Samaritan’s Purse at rmink@samaritan.org.

These kids are sharing a bed—a very common situation on all of our It was quite fun to get a little help from my Kenyan neighbors as I put up
hospital wards. I hope our new building will help this situation, but in Christmas lights this year. The kids now knock on my door to remind me to
the meantime, they seem to handle it well! turn on the lights. I love Christmas!
 Prayer Requests Language Study

 Doctors for Tenwek I have now completed 10 weeks of language

 Surgery Residency and Family
Medicine Residency Programs
at Tenwek
 Wisdom and ability to treat the
patients I come in contact with
each day
 Upcoming furlough in 2009:
—place to work
—place to live
– places to speak and
share all God is doing at
Tenwek
 Time to plan for the coming
year and ability to prioritize the
many time demands
 Praise for the provision and
safety from the Lord this past
year. We are so thankful for
how far we have come since the
violence of last January and
February and we do not take it
for granted.
 My family in America
Ladies Bible Study
I have been really blessed to host a Bible Study
for the professional young women at Tenwek.
It started as a Bible Study for the female in-
terns and residents meeting every other Tues-
day night in my home. As the year progressed,
many visiting medical students, residents, and
doctors came to join us and most recently,
several Nairobi Medical School students par-
ticipated for the 9 weeks they were at Tenwek.
They were such a blessing! I thank God for the
chance to be a small part of the lives of these
young women who desire to serve the Lord in
the field of medicine. Above is a picture of
some of the Kenyan Medical Students leading
our church on Sunday morning in some praise
and worship and literally getting us to dance to
the Lord (a stretch for some I might add!).
study and have passed the initial assessment
required by WGM. However, I will admit that I
am disappointed in my language skills (and lack
thereof!). I hope to find a way to improve my
ability to communicate in Swahili through
continued practice and some remedial tutoring
as another family begins language study here
at Tenwek. Thank you for your prayers in this
area! My efforts to communicate in Swahili
continue to be a source of great entertainment
for me and for the Kenyan operating room
staff (smile!).
Furlough Plans 2009
Because of our staffing needs in General Sur-
gery at Tenwek, I am delaying my furlough a
few months. I will likely come to the USA in
November 2009 through May of 2010. If you
would like me to speak at a church or other
event during that time, please email me at
cspears9@gmail.com. I hope to work as a
surgeon during part of my time in the US. I will
be based out of Kentucky and Alabama. Please
pray for me as I try to discern the appropriate
time to return to America, where to schedule
speaking engagements to tell about all that
God is doing in Kenya, and the best way to go
about raising the support needed for ministry.

Open Heart Surgery at Tenwek— A First for Tenwek and East Africa! I am so grateful for two organizations that
enable me to be here in Kenya and serve at
Tenwek Hospital. World Gospel Mission is
During the week of November 8-15, Tenwek was host to a cardiac team who performed open heart on
my sending mission organization and Pro-
surgery using a heart lung bypass machine! This milestone event was a result of efforts of Dr. Russ White,
ject Med Send is paying back my medical
Dr. Agneta Odera (one of our residents), teams from Vanderbilt University, Brown University, and Samari-
school loans while I am in Africa. I thank
tan's Purse. Visitors during that week included cardiologists, surgeons, intensive care doctors, anesthesi- God for these organizations and the people
ologists, perfusionists (to run the heart-lung bypass machine), nurses, and biomedical technicians to keep who serve in them. They are my partners
all the equipment running. Dr. White wrote in a recent newsletter: “It was a brand new experience for in ministry just as you are.
everyone on the team and I was thrilled to see how our Tenwek staff worked together so well with all the
visitors to make cardiac surgery a reality at Tenwek. It was exciting on Monday morning (after a weekend Please email me at cspears9@gmail.com if
of re-screening patients and testing machines) to, for the first time in Tenwek's history, stop a patient's you would prefer not to receive these
heart, continue to perfuse his body with the heart-lung bypass machine, and repair the congenital defects newsletters.
within the heart. Our own staff were amazed to watch a human heart undergo surgical repair and then
start up again. We were all thanking the Lord to see the [patients] wake up quickly in the recovery room Field Address:
and go on to heal quickly.” Praise God for this amazing work that will likely become an ongoing event. Tenwek Hospital
P O Box 39
Some photos from the Cardiac Week— Bomet, Kenya 20400, East Africa
A reminder of the amazing body God
has created!
USA mailing address for
correspondence or giving:
World Gospel Mission
P O Box 948, Marion, IN 46952