Ode to Mission Doctors

Dear Friends,

Medical care on the mission field can be risky business….. but, then again, when you find yourself on a hospital compound, surrounded by a growing variety in specialities, the ‘risky’ part, quickly transforms into ‘opportunity!’

After being able to be blessed by the use of the newly brought over ultrasound machine, then another examination later by our newly joined OBGYN, who performed a biopsy of my uterus, concerns were serious enough to discuss surgery……. two days later, our team of 2 US-OBGYN’s and Norgewian Anesthesiologist sat Harry and myself down on the porch to discuss the small window of opportunity before they had to pay attention to other commitments….. the past 18 months of constant discomfort and pain, was strong enough of a motivation for me to submit to this alternative.  The options were simple: general- or spinal anethesia,  OR-recovery or home…….?  No forms, no signatures, just so simple – loved that!

Two weeks ago, on a cloudy, misty morning, Harry escorted me on the walk to the OR where our team welcomed us with lighthearted conversation and they moved swiftly after I layed myself down on the cold surgery table – I remember the scrub nurse’s hard slaps on my hand – to find the vein for the necessary medications.  I felt Dr Aarsland’s activity on my left while I kept my focus on Dr Hail and Dr Karnes as they entertained me with delightful stories of recent happenings – still have to get to the endings…… since I drifted off quick!

I awoke in our home later that night – NO NAUSIA!!  Dr Hail promised me that she was going to treat me for that in the OR – it worked and I am ever thankful!   All went well, the doctors performed friendly and caring home visits regularly during these past two weeks  -  I was told that after they completed the 2-hour procedure, I was pushed to the side, watched carefully while they had to perform an emergency C-section!   While this surgery took place, I was then brought home on a stretcher.

Harry & Karmyn took care of me from that moment on, but the surrounding medical staff made frequent visits to monitor my response and recovery.    Now, two weeks later, I am humbled and blessed beyond words for all the tender care and interest from friends and family – near and far!    Thank you to everyone for your prayers, words of encouragement and constant reminders that I need to allow myself 6-8 weeks for this kind of recovery.   I am trying my best to adhere to all this good advise!

Blessings to each of you!

In His love,

Stephne

Soddo….. News & Notes

Dear Friends,

Since it has been a while……. – I am intentional about refraining from sad stories during this writing, since I feel it most important to remember the good during this writing……..so, here the good news!

WOLAITTA VILLAGE:

- Mark, Harry & Henok are in agreement with the potential contractor who has been selected from the 13 applicants to start with the Children’s Home and an announcement of this builder will be released on Monday morning;

- As soon as a contract is signed with the Contractor, we will let you know of the groundbreaking day!

- Harry is in communication with the ‘water people’ who are guiding us as to where the well should be drilled;

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- Please THANK the Father with us for His grace and mercy and His perfect timing as we are quite anxious to get these buildings rising from the earth!

- Please ASK with us for funds, endurance and wisdom as we are trying to get the infrastructure prepared for the Children’s Home;

- We need a 20-foot container on the sight to store building materials, etc and these have become expensive and in demand, making it difficult to get to Soddo also;

- Please pray for efficient use of time – we are anxious to start building!

- Please THANK the Father for HIS funds as we will need large amounts soon!!

WV MANAGER – PERSONAL HOME:

- As soon as the first shovel lifts the soil from the earth to build the Children’s Home, this is when we may be able to get land secured for the Manager’s Home.  We are now in May, we only have until November on this compound……

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- Please THANK the Lord for pledges of $ for this home, we are only waiting on $

GENERAL MINISTRY:

- Harry has been working diligently to get MMI-registered in Ethiopia – almost there! This will mean that the 3 Ethiopian trainees (whom Harry has been training during the past 4 years) will be able to get official qualification status for their Eye Clinic Training and the MMI-EYE HOSPITAL may be built soon;

- Harry is still acting as ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT to the PAACS program here for SODDO CHRISTIAN HOSPITAL;

- Harry is busy with the demands of WOLAITTA VILLAGE  - acts as Project Manager and enjoys the adventure!

- Steph continues to manage the three CCC-Children’s Homes with CWA and is very busy with community projects to help ato Henok strengthen the CCC-Infrastructure to help the poor more effectively. The community projects are expanding tremendously (wells, chicken farming, injera making, etc. and we are excited to plan a Church Leadership- and Pastoral training seminar soon to start with the activation of equipping the Church to care for the poor in their own communities!

- Steph ministers in the SCH as needs arise, donating blood to weak, young mothers, recovering from child birth, help caring for new borns until mothers are strong enough to care for them;

PRAYER REQUESTS:

- Please THANK the Lord with us for amazing opportunities to share in His love and grace as HE lays before us, the demands of the day!

- Please ASK Him to equip us with wisdom and discernment as to what HE needs us to touch, where to pay attention to and where to withdraw from, since the demands stand high all day long!

PERSONAL:

- We thank the Father for our family – Benjamin just returned to RIFT VALLEY ACADEMY for this last term in grade 8. We had a wonderful family time this past month here in Soddo when he came home;

- We delight in the joy of Karmyn’s constant growth and maturity in the Lord as she is also tasting success through her homeschooling curriculum. She has been invited to return to RVA for grade 9 and we are waiting on the Lord’s confirmation;

- Thank you for your prayer support as we journey through days of unknown demands and ministry opportunities. We never want to get stuck in the ‘to-do’ list, but as we grow in closeness with the Father, our heart’s desires are to hear His whisper for every opportunity, to be so connected and confined in Him, that we will always know where we are to be involved and where not.

Harry & Stephne Bowers

Wolaitta Village Manager’s House Fundraising

Dear Friends and blog readers!!

We have been filling websites and blogs, emails and facebook images to you about the vision and heart of Wolaitta Village.   THANK YOU for being so supportive, understanding and very encouraging to us as we journey through this very demanding and exciting season in our lives!

This writing is an effort to share with you a short term plan to get the Manager’s House built on Wolaitta Village Land as soon as possible!

We have two pressures right now:

- Our family is called to manage Wolaitta Village for an uncertain period of time AND

- Our family needs to be out of our current home on the Hospital Compound by the end of November 2011…..

The housing-land has been requested as I type, the temporary fence and guardhouse is up on the Children’s Home property, the construction plan is being activated, the wheels are turning slowly and we are eagerly awaiting  ground breaking any day now!

We need to fundraise for our home, the WOLAITTA VILLAGE Manager’s Home’  -the total amount of $85 000.00 during April,  May, June 2011!

We already received $15 000.00 towards the housing, so we are now trying to raise an additional $70 000.00 during the next 3 months.

Would you like to join hands with us and prayerfully consider asking your Church for a one-time gift or three donations during these three months so that we can just cover this cost quickly, please?   We desire to not ‘distract’ from the Children’s Home Fundraising, therefor the short term goal so that we can simply remove this pressure completely, but in order for this project to be successful, it is very necessary to get this housing established so that we can get to the site from the beginning!

PLEASE consider prayerfully what the Father would want to release through you!

All funding should be directed to www.jahelps.com or www.newcovenantfoundation.org
There are a few ways of sending support, which include PayPal, direct deposit, or mailing in of checks.

Thank you for your faithful support over these years!!

THANK YOU for your compassion and understanding!

In HIM,

Harry & Stephne, Karmyn & Benjamin Bowers

Family BLOG:

www.thebowersinafrica.wordpress.com

WEBSITES:

www.wolaittavillage.org

www.jahelps.com

www.newcovenantfoundation.com

Update on “A Day in Soddo”…..

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….. the toll of malnourishment is severe in Ethiopia!  She came too late…. our hearts ached as we had to inform little Bertukwan’s family that we could not ‘save’ her! On Sunday morning she quietly released her last breath and we trust that she went to be with the Lord, free from this suffering and pain.   CCC organized the funeral and called on the family to come get her remains for burial.

As the gate closed behind this family, a desperate father walked through the entry gate, with this little bundle in his arms – her mother passed away after her birth and he cannot care for the 5 siblings waiting at home – as well as this newborn…… my heart bounced, for a moment, I just wanted to ask the Lord for time……just a little space between life and death, but this is the true reality of life here!  CCC rescued this little one, with the police asking if we would please come to a nearby village to help with another infant who was left in an empty hotel room……

Lingering over open graves, are not possible here, there simply is not time – we rejoice in the compassion of a family member who would not allow a newborn to die – CCC values these moments, but oh, so many so constantly!

We need the larger Children’s Home desperately!

Another Day in Soddo

Dear Friends,

Sharing with you a TYPICAL day in Soddo, Ethiopia:

A very malnourished little girl is sent to CHILDREN’S CROSS CONNECTION by the zonal government for help…….

Her body is swollen, tender, she is week and fragile, exhausted and she cannot sit on her own anymore.

She just wants to sleep…..

Her care taker is a neighbor – her bio father died and her mother left her months ago……. CCC-staff brainstorm, pray, discuss an emergency plan to rescue a sweet little girl!

In another corner of the Orphanage, the International Lab Technician have already been working for 2 hours to draw blood samples from 14 little ones to get their international medical evaluations completed. Crying babies are comforted and loved on by distraught nannies who just do not like this event!

The pipes have water in them today! This is the 2nd day that Soddo Orphans has water after moving in 11 weeks ago!! We all rejoice – we allow the children to just wash and play a little bit before lunch! They love every drop and I delight in the joy of the few extra drops that bring such tremendous fun! We fill every possible hollow container – unsure when the next water would be available!

Our malnourished little one receives a good wash before she is taken to the hospital – but she did not enjoy the touch – her body is aching – she simply tolerated the moment – the staff stands strong and encourages her, plays and love on her….. but inside, we are all weeping……

We dressed her in soft flannel pajamas and an ‘almost’ smile appears….. our social worker wraps her up in his arms and journeys her to the hospital 30 minutes walk away – none of us can speak as I follow him on my bicycle to the Hospital. She was admitted for observation. She has no disease diagnoses, ‘just’ malnutrition….. CCC-staff decided to make a bed for her in the nurse’s office/clinic where she will be moved to tomorrow so that we can monitor her on a very regimented diet with 24 hour watch by loving nannies and staff until she is strong enough to return to her village where we are searching for family in the mean time!

 

I call Benjamin tonight and simply love on him so far away from home – he is in his 2nd term at RVA, Kenya – we are counting the sleeps until he returns in 2 weeks for his month long vacation…….. I snuggle Karmyn in her bed and allow a healthy mix of joyful and sad tears to wet her cheek as I held on to moments that fly by so quick!    I take Harry’s hand and my head and heart overflows – a contrasting emptiness brings such confusion – I cannot allow myself to stay in this moment for too long – so, on to the next demand:  emails, communication, letting you in to a whirlwind day –  I wonder what it is like to awake to ‘normal’ days – our 4.5 years of ‘normal’ has adjusted us to a lifestyle filled with newness and challenge every day.   It is good – it is a life of faith, because nothing can be determined or planned or predicted – I do love the ‘interruptions’ to the days – exhausting it surely is, but to journey through the highs and lows, pain and joy in the extremes of life here in Ethiopia, brings us to a simplicity which emphasizes the value of life and living!  Glorifying our Creator, Father God, has become a much more real motivator, a much more sincere simplicity and inner desire!

May your lives be filled with moments for growth, moments for joy, but mostly, may OUR lives purely GLORIFY GOD in our every day breathing!

With delight,

Stephne

 

 

Day of Rest

Sunday morning under the acovado tree with fellow missionaries, pots of magnificent Ethiopian coffee and

delightful fellowship, we are all refreshed and ready to rest this Sabbath day!

The evening worship service refuels our hearts for the new week!

Thank you for your prayers!

Harry, Dave, Kari Aarsland with little Nathan, Karmyn & Lydia, Barb & Allyson

Contractor’s Bid

It is happening……!!  Mark, Harry & Henok meet with potential contractors!  Mutual learning takes place as two cultures meet over the beautiful design

of Wolaitta Village.  The process is quite different here in Ethiopia versus that of the USA, so much time is spent asking and answering questions, observing

responses and learning how to adjust!

excitement is building……!

Promised Land

We are settling into the ‘new facility’ as a ‘one year-commitment’ has been made to the owner.  Interestingly enough, this was the only available property which we could ‘almost’ fit into…..  The staff has struggled to make it work, but are so brave to now encourage me with words such as:  ”we will appreciate the comfort of Wolaitta Village soon!”

We did not have space to create an office for Ato Henok or myself, then the owner graciously made another outside room available so that we can store the donations there – suddenly, the only space available, is where I now find myself and ato Henok in – we share this little office that has the ONLY visible view on the future WOLAITTA VILLAGE……!    I include a few photos to demonstrate:

The view from ‘my office door’ is exactly this…..! -

The green hill between the two highest trees, is that of WOLAITTA VILLAGE!

I must admit that the happenings of MOSES preparing the Israelites for the Promise Land, have been swimming in my mind ever since I sat down behind my desk a week ago!  The Lord truly is preparing us for a new assignment!   To be faithful and calm, peaceful and filled with His presence to be discerning and wise during the wait, has just captured my heart!

 

When I sit down behind my desk, this is the view:  Wolaitta Village is the ONLY visible green section on the hill across the wall & gate.   I stand amazed at the Father’s sense of humor and at the same time, His reminder of promise!  We are now so close……!  This surely is an interesting season – we all understand that we had to leave the previous property, but none really verbalized the closer move to the “promised land”……

 

THANK YOU for your prayer support and encouragement as we continue to trust the Father for His provision in order to break ground and watch HIM establish HIS Kingdom in the hearts of His beloved!

Be encouraged!

In His love,

Stephne

 

Water Issues

Two donkeys just delivered the first water for the day to the Soddo Children’s Home where we now host  28 orphans.   We normally have 3 donkeys making 6-8 trips per day to bring water from the river nearby.  Today, we were informed that even the river is running low and the water boy could not use the 3rd donkey

The blue containers are filled for cooking so that the children have drinking water and the cooks have water for cooking

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is dry season, the days are hot  - everyone is suppose to drink more water than usual, but the cooks need to boil the water first for drinking, the one purifier is not enough as well.  We are nervous and unsure about where the next water would come from.   The owner just gave us permission to drill a well on this small compound, but then the well drillers are now increasing their prices, which makes a well so very expensive!   It will however solve the problem for the next few months while we build WV-children’s Home.   The situation is difficult – I had to encourage the staff and especially the nannies, who have to keep the children clean and healthy.   After a while of encouraging the staff, one management member turned to me and said:  ”we will appreciate the comfort of WV soon…….”

My first thoughts were that simply need the funds to dig the foundation!  The Construction Person is ready to go, we are just finalizing the building permit and then we can break ground……!   There is excitement in the air, but the reality of how to care for 28 orphans, is a tremendous stress on the staff as well.   The Regional Government made a surprise visit last week, but only visited the In-Country-Home and they were so impressed with the work of Children’s Cross Connection.   They are focussing on the health and hygiene of Orphanages and without water, this may soon be a serious problem!

Please pray for us as we try to overcome the stresses of not having enough water!

Blessings,

Stephne

 

Dik-Dika and Mittin in Soddo

Here, Mark and Sidney (CCC-WV-Construction Manager) just purchased their second Dik-Dik (a little female) who arrived quite distraught, with a few injuries to her neck and tail.   It is their desire to create a peaceful home with these local antelope (smallest of its kind).  It has been a little bit of a struggle for them to feed these little ones, because the arrived as babies – unsure about their mothers, but Sidney (who is a passionate animal lover) has quickly mastered assessing their needs and has been feeding them infant formula, but the regular feeds did not fill them, so we brainstormed about the possibility of MITTIN…….?

 

 

 

 

IZA (bigger Dik-Dik) is growing well, but he is a “Mamma’s boy” – follows Sidney as she plays with them through their garden and responds to her call.  These Dik-Diks truly make wonderful pets!

 

 

 

 

 

Three weeks later, a mixture of MITTIN and formula is showing marvelous results!  A larger bottle is required since the babe is now stronger, after she gulps down her wonder mixture with great joy, she follows Sidney to the front door where………

 

 

 

 

……… her veggies awaits!    Quite the ‘lodge’ to live at!   We delight in watching these little animals grow!  They are not the snuggly kind, but tame now and a hopeful moment in the midst of all the sadness here.

 

 

 

 

She is a little bit more independent than her male friend, but Sidney knows just how to call her to come eat!  Sidney thought that the larger male has been weened by now, but oh, he regressed!   He loves drinking his bottles and eagerly waits for the second one!

 

 

 

 

So, just reporting that MITTIN may now also be considered for your pets……!  Hmmm, what next?

Blessings to you as we share in the joy of dear friends and all that we bring into each other’s lives!

-Stephne