Chief Pilot Update - June 2014

From our Chief Pilot, Rob (warning: technical, aviation chit-chat to follow):

"I was originally expecting to fly up to Cameroon for the 100hr inspection in early June but several important flight requests by the hospital delayed that until the 9th.  One of the biggest challenges was that several wires in the guest house shorted out and the downstairs was operating with very limited electricity. I flew Paul (Bongolo maintenance manager), Keir (Bongolo Medical Director) and his son up to Libreville on a Friday and spent Friday shopping with Paul for electrical supplies.  I returned with another passenger on Saturday while they continued working and were able to finish early the next week. I was able to combine their return flight with other flights and bring them back.

"The inspection in Cameroon was really intense, but...   Read More...

The Phone Rings

4:20pm EST,  30 June 2014 

The phone rings…

 

Lab- “Mister Straw?  This is the York Hospital lab.  Mister Straw, how are you feeling?”  

So, typically, in the US, it’s been my experience that personal medical news flows pretty much just between you and your family doctor.  You’re sick- you go tell your doctor.  Your lab tests are in- your doctor calls you to discuss the results.  That’s how it goes.  So, for the lab, itself, to bypass protocol, it raises an eyebrow, to say the least.

Me- “Uh, okay, I guess, thanks.  And you?” 

Truthfully, I had not been doing all that well.  Bad headaches and increasingly bad fevers had been part of my nightly routine for the past 9 days.  However, I figured the person on the other end of he line knew that things weren’t going well for me and might have a name for it now.

Lab- “Well, mister Straw, we have some more test results and we’re going to need to see you soon.”

Back to the hospital?  Ugh.  Didn’t I already do that?  Besides...   Read More...

Bongolo Hospital Doctor- A Day in the Life

We serve with a team of extraordinary men and women who are intent on expressing the love of God in word and deed in one of the most challenging places to reach on the planet.  With her permission, I am sharing a "day in the life" of Dr. Renee, one of these incredible people.  As you read, I ask that you pray for each situation and all of the team at Bongolo who face these challenging situations day in and day out.

Thursday May 15^th 

The day started at about 7:15 am when I was called for a 6-year-old boy with fever and vomiting blood. I found that he was the son

of one of my adult patients who recently had a bad brain infection related to HIV. At the same time there was a 3-year-old boy with pneumonia who was not doing at all well, but the fact that he was still alive was quite good, considering...   Read More...

not quite 100%… but close!

Here is a recent update we published, via email, regarding our funding status:

A Roof Over Their Heads- Hope House update

FINANCES:

I did some texting with Pastor Israel to get an update.  He gave me some new financial figures a bit higher than expected- mostly due to under estimating material costs and a changing exchange rate (currently 472.821 cfa to 1 US dollar):

ROOFING TIN     780 000 cfa = $1650
WOOD                1 400 000 cfa = $2960
BRICKS                500 000 cfa = $1060
SAND                   200 000 cfa =  $425

MATERIAL TOTAL:   $6095

LABOR- Pastor Israel would love to do this work with qualified volunteers, but this has been a great struggle to find in the past.  Short term mission teams from abroad have been less frequent, so this resource is in low supply as well.  The cost of labor to do the work, locally, is estimated at 950 000cfa, or $2010 USD.

PROJECT DETAILS:

As you may have seen in the photos, the project consists of two sections, one on top of the other- a 12 meter by 8 meter on top with a 12.6 meter by 7 meter below.

NEXT STEP:

Pastor Israel is very keen to getting the roof up next.  Most all of the walls are in place.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?

Please pray for the at-risk children of Hope House and Pastor Israel, Mama Natalie, and the other helpers that serve there.  Pray for the provision of this temporary home as well as the plans for their future, permanent home.

Please consider a generous donation to help this current, time sensitive project move forward.  Donations can be made on-line through the C&MA- the link is below.  When you get to the page, simply type in "Hope House" into the blank under "Give to Int'l Workers and Special Projects".  

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

Thank you!!!

Bongolo Story- The Blind Can See!

Here is a story from this past week from the Bongolo Hospital eye clinic:

Here is a photo of a lady who came here to Bongolo from 2 full days’ drive away.  She had been blind in both eyes for the past 2 years, only being able to tell light from dark.  This is a common story at our eye clinic.  

Her surgery was Tuesday and she was so excited on Wednesday when the patch was removed, she nearly did a little jig. J  She can now see well enough that, if she was in the US, she could pass the vision test to get her driver’s license.  Praise God!

Easter Newsletter Online

Should you not be one of the many, many people that we spam with our newsletter, here is a link to our Easter update:  Click Here

Hope House - Construction Update

The Hope House home for at-risk children in Libreville continues to be a work in progress.  As funding comes in, the Director, Pastor Israel, is able to buy material and hire workers to continue on.  


The goal is to find a permanent home for the nearly 50 children- some are orphans, but all of them are from broken homes where the family is unable to care for them.  When he is able, Pastor Israel finds a family to take in a child.  The adoption process in Gabon is quite complex- I have not been able to understand it completely, but suffice it to say, that finding foster homes is the "norm".

The current construction is to expand their temporary rental home to fit all the children, who are living in separate homes at this time- girls and the younger boys in the home with Pastor Israel and his wife at the guest house at the C&MA Bible School campus, while the older boys care for themselves at the finished portion of the house in these pictures.  That's right- they have no supervision for the moment.  Pastor Israel checks in on them regularly.





































This excellent video from the C&MA highlights their international ministries.  At the 2:16 mark in the video, you'll see some of the Hope House children waving with Pastor Israel and momma Nathalie in the back.

All Creatures of Our God and King from The Alliance on Vimeo.

Donated sewing machines are used to teach the young people skills for life as well as potential income.

A big thanks to Pastor Sangoye, our business agent in LBV, for snapping these pictures last week to show us the progress.

Please consider investing in these young ones!  CLICK HERE to find out how.