Further Details....

As I close in on the one-month-to-go mark, I can't help but praise God for the provisions He has given me thus far. The funds for the trip have continued to come in various forms. I've received checks handed to me by those who've only heard me mention the trip a few times at work to the donation from a trust fund established in rememberance of a girl who shared a similar vision as me but left this earth before she was able to continue her pursuit. Overtime and holiday pay have also helped me earn more money than I ever expected to make at this time of year when many nurses pick up extra shifts to purchase Christmas gifts leaving few shifts open for the taking. Seeing Him clear the way for me is an amazing thing.

I have begun to talk with the health director in charge of the medical portion of the trip and my role has started to take shape. I will be working on health and hygiene education with mothers and children at the medical clinics while they wait to be seen by a physician. Education, by far, is a huge part of this trip and something that requires very little in terms of material resources. I will be working with a pediatric nurse on this part of the project. I may also be working in the pharmacy as well.

Materials such as wound care supplies, ointments, and gloves will also be on the list of things to bring. I will be asking my co-workers in the ER to help me collect these specific items that we may no longer be able to use or have need for. I have mentioned this to some of them and it seems that there is a lot of excitement about it!

Please continue to pray for me and for the continued support both financially as well as spiritually. Thank you so much!

Radio Stations and Mobile Medical Clinics!

HCJB Global is a missions organization that started in the 1930s broadcasting Christian radio to remote parts of the world. Since that time they have added a medical ministry to their organization. In Ghana there is an organization called TheoVision. TheoVision has developed a dramatized version of the New Testament that is given to Bible studies in the area to listen to. It is played on a machine similar to a tape player. These two organizations have teamed up to reach out to the people near Accra, Ghana.

Our group will be meeting up with Theo, the founder of TheoVision, to build a permanent medical clinic near the outskirts of Accra (the capital of Ghana). We will also be dedicating two new radio stations in two different villages. We will be setting up mobile health clinics at these villages during that time! Doctors from Ecuador who work for HCJB will be there in addition to our group. They have asked us to help train some of the nurses/health care workers from Ghana who will be participating in the clinics with us. Imagine all the people who will be there from surrounding villages!

Please pray for all the opporunities that will arise as people from all over the world come together to give hope!

Here are the links to both of these organizations. Check 'em out!!

http://www.hcjb.org/

http://www.theovision.org/

When Desire Meets Opportunity

As many of you know, I have had a longstanding desire to travel to Africa and reach out to people with the hands of a nurse. While in nursing school I was able to travel to Ethiopia and dive into the culture by visiting homes and health care clinic. Just this past year I was able to go to Tanzania with Compassion International. Neither trip, however, allowed me to use my skills as a nurse. So, I thought in another couple of years I might be able to return and fulfill that dream.

But God's timeline is not mine and His ways are higher than mine. So one Sunday back in August I was in Colorado Springs visiting my dear friend Willi who went to Tanzania with me last year. Unbeknownst to me, a representative from HCJB Global was giving the sermon at church that day. As he concluded the service he mentioned the opportunity to go to Ghana on a medical missions trip with HCJB Global. Apprehensive about the cost of the trip as well as the difficulty it would present to be a part of this trip when I no longer lived in Colorado Springs, I kept from endulging in the idea. However, once the service was over, Willi grabbed my arm and convinced me that it was no accident I came to visit that day and that we were going back to Africa together!



After praying and asking that the way be clearly made open to me if He wanted me to go, I am now here at the end of November with an approved month off from work and the first team meeting over. It really has not yet set in that I will be able to work as a nurse in Africa for the first time! Desire has met opportunity.