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True Servants Facing Trials
Job and Jacqueline are one of four MIAPE* missionary families at CEH.
Job is the Director of Nurses. In addition to leading the daily nursing duties at the hospital, he guided each of our 17 Guinean nurses through a refresher course in nursing principles. Job was trained under my mother, Barb Slater, at the hospital in Ferke. He has 20 years of experience. Many express how he is teaching them principles they never learned in the Guinean health system. We thank the Lord for Job!
Jacqueline is in charge of our medical supplies. She stocks each department with their needed material and communicates the need for ordering more materials locally and overseas. It is a never ending task to keep this organized and well inventoried. Short term American missionaries provide help at times but the largest share of this effort falls on Jacqueline and we are grateful for her dedicated service.
When a couple is used so effectively, Satan loves to discourage and test them. Last month their daughter was doing her homework by candle light in her bedroom as their home is without electricity. She fell asleep and the candle tipped and caught her mattress on fire. The whole bedroom was consumed. Fire departments do not exist in Mamou. Gratefully, Job and his neighbor were able to put out the fire. The three children escaped without harm, praise God, but all their possessions were destroyed; including clothing, books, school materials and toys. In Guinean culture, the repairs of a rental house are the responsibility of the tenant. The hospital staff took an immediate love offering and Job's family slept at Etienne's house. The CEH Board of Directors set up an emergency special project fund to help them get reestablished. This project is partially funded.
A second trial struck Job. As Director of Nurses he is responsible to set up the nursing schedule for the clinic, pharmacy, patient wards (days, nights and weekends) and the operating rooms. Until additional nurses are hired and trained, the current nursing staff must fill these needs. The surgical tech leader is Lacina. He is one of Job's closest colleagues but the lack of nurses scheduled for the operating rooms makes his job difficult. He has, at times, gone to other areas of the hospital and pulled other department nurses into the operating area as the needs arise. This is not the best solution for the patients since not all nurses are trained in operating room procedures. It also created a conflict between Job and Lacina. The Lord helped them work this out by restructuring how we will train our newest nurses. The need to hire more nurses and our efforts to find them is great. There is not a large pool of Christian nurses to recruit from in Guinea. God tells us to pray when we see no human solution. So please pray for laborers, pray for wisdom and pray for unity.
*MIAPE: Mission Internationale Africain Pour l'Evangelisation
English translation: International African Mission for Evangelizatriobn
 | Job and his family
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Short Term Missionaries
 | Dr. Robert S. training
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Dr. Robert S. just completed his fourth visit to CEH. On this trip he trained Dr. JP in screening for cervical cancer and for use of cryotherapy. The national rural radio station was used to announce this medical service to the community and the response was encouraging. They screened 73 women and three tested positive. Those three will receive additional medical treatment. In addition, Dr. JP received further surgical training in gynecology. The success of this trip set the stage for other specialists to schedule time at CEH. We praise God for this.
The short term team of electricians and plumbers spent many weeks of preparation in the U.S. and much of the month of May in Mamou. They completed their "to do" list as well as some jobs they did not anticipate. In the operating rooms they improved the lights and replaced an air conditioner unit. The water supply to the scrub sinks was increased and minor repairs were made to the sterilizers. Cracks developed in the pipe coming from the well and it was replaced with a spool of better piping unexpectedly found in a container. Stronger pressure allows for the water tower to fill efficiently. The work they performed improved the septic system for the whole complex dramatically and more needs to be done in the future. The electricians made improvements to the wiring of the clinic. The eight construction storage containers were reorganized to keep an accurate inventory of the supplies on hand for future projects. Dan, the newest member of the team shared in morning devotions with the construction staff and in a conference on evangelism which is part of his God-given gifting. Thank you for your prayers and support of each of these men and their families.
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Surgeon-Trainer
The opening of the Surgical Building paved the way for many additional opportunities and needs. The Guinean doctors are eager to add knowledge and skills to their medical expertise and we prayed for a board certified surgeon to practice at the hospital and train the national medical staff. We anticipated this person would come from America but God answered this prayer in an unexpected way - as He often does!
Dr. JV completed his doctoral thesis on data gleaned from the archives of Ferke Baptist Mission Hospital during the final years of my father's service there. Dad mentored him at that time. I later trained him to do prostatectomy surgeries and he went on to be board certified in the Cote d'Ivoire system. When he heard of our need at CEH, he offered to assist us for three months and the MIAPE Board approved him as a short term missionary. Before he can begin, he needs to raise support to cover his travel expenses and the stipend he will earn during the three months of service. This special project was approved by the Board of Directors for $4,600.
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Pharmacy
During each of the first three years $20,000 was placed in the budget for pharmacy inventory. The last two years the inventory was maintained on a revolving stock basis. With the opening of the surgery, more use of the wards, and some increased volume of patients in the clinic we saw the pharmacy inventory stretched to its limit. The Board of Directors approved the expenditure of $10,000 of medications from Europe IDA to increase the rotating stock. We are proceeding with this in faith trusting God to supply funding. For those who want to partner in this your participation is appreciated.
 | Pharmacy stock
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Building Projects
The next project is the ER and X-ray building situated between the clinic and the wards. We broke ground for this in December, 2011 as an expression of our hope. When the resources are available the project will continue. The cost of building this is $85,000. Other projects are finishing up so we have the manpower to apply to a new area but will wait until the funds are secured. Pray that our Father will direct these resources to us in His time.
We are currently building a gazebo northeast of the wards where families of the hospitalized patients can socialize and store their belongings which encumber the patient rooms. This structure will also serve as an area to share spiritual truths with the hospitalized patients and their families during the mid-day period when they often take their lunch and rest. The hospital staff placed a high priority on this and asked if they could build it from hospital revenues rather than from USA resources as a gesture of their participation in the spiritual and hospitality ministries within the hospital. Normally the hospital revenues are used to pay salaries and operational expenses some of which they profit from. It thrills my heart to see this spiritual growth in the staff. Pray with us for the seeds of the Gospel that will be sown in the gazebo and for fruit to be harvested for His glory.
 | New Gazebo under construction
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