amy0b87982ac418
bluewatergigi
dbeville
Patrice Miles
Lenny
This is a great prayer letter that Carmen Marflak sent out. She is currently serving at Egbe Hospital for one month. This is her 5th time to Egbe Hospital. She makes a great observation that there is so many opportunities to serve in Egbe. Medical being the biggest need but anyone can come on a mission trip or serve short or long term and find a place to be God’s hands and feet because there is ministry going on all over the Egbe community. For more information about all the opportunities to serve email jos.sta@sim.org or visit www.egbehospital.com .
Monday, the 16, started out with a full day of surgeries. All day long, I kept watching the clock because I knew we were not going to be finished in enough time for AWANA’s at C.A.R.E. Africa. There was a prayer in my heart all day, for the Lord to “speed up” the surgeon’s hands. Well, God answers prayer! We sent the last patient back to the ward at 3:30; I ran back to the guest house, took a 2 minute cold shower, put on street clothes, grabbed the salvation bracelets, and walked out the door as Emma was driving up to get me.
We had a great time at AWANA’s. There were not the 190+ kids there; there was only about 170 because it was raining and the roads and walking paths were very slick and muddy. The silence in the room was also a miracle. I walked in with the children laughing and talking, noisy!!!!!. Emma raised both his arms and said silence! You could have heard a pin drop. And they remained that way until I was finished telling the story of how Jesus died for our sins, makes us clean and whole inside, helps us to grow in our faith, and prepares a place for us in Heaven. It was an exhausting day, but so exciting and rewarding!
Every Tuesday at 2:30, Dr Jen (one of the SIM missionary doctors) leads a hospital Womens Bible Study. Change of shift here in Nigeria is 2:15. So several of the women from each of the departments come regularly to this Bible Study. For the last 3 months they have been going through the Book of John. Last week they were in chapter 12. So, fortunately, last week, those of us in the OR were finished by 2:30 and could actually make it to Bible Study. There were 14 of us last week. It is a pleasure to listen and answer their questions, and see the eyes light up when they grasp what God is trying to teach them. It is a joy to hear of their struggles and how God has answered prayers. It is also a real treat for me to build a relationship with the other women in the hospital, as well as the ones I work with every day in the OR.
These last 2 weeks in the OR have almost been overwhelming. My first day in the OR was the 11th and I have actually had 1 day off (Sunday, the 22). Tuesdays and Thursdays are supposed to be clinic/office day for Dr Fabruce, with no surgery scheduled on those days. So I am scheduled for lectures for the family practice residents, the Anesthesia trainees, and for the nursing students. But, even on those days, there have been so many emergent patients come through ER, that we have been working late into the evenings. Between all the trauma patients (motor bike accidents, walls collapsing on families, machete fights), the C/Sections, the appendectomies, perforated bowels and the snake bites, we have done very few elective/ scheduled procedures. On Monday, Wed, Friday, we normally start out with 3-4 scheduled procedures, but by the end of the day we have done between 5-7. All last week and this week, the only anesthesia providers have been Jummy and me. Evelyn is on maternity leave, Rebecca and Adeola are both on vacation. We have been getting a little weary by the time we finish the day. But God is good and gives us both a restful sleep at night. I am reminded of
Psalms 3:5 and 4:8, I will lie down and sleep, I wake again because the Lord sustains me.” And “In peace I will lie down and sleep for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety”
Last Wednesday, a team of mothers and their teen children (10 altogether) came from my home church (Live Oak Christian Church) in Bluffton, SC. They experienced a lot of flight cancellations, and lost luggage (the last of their luggage arrived last evening), but they have been serving over at C.A.R.E. Africa all week; painting the school, doing VBS, making home visits to the sponsored children, visiting the HIV clinic. It has been a joy to have company!!! I am usually alone in the guest house. I don’t get to see them much, because I am finished with breakfast and in the hospital before they get to the dining room. Many evenings, I have missed dinner because of late cases, but the times that we have shared together have been good; hearing what they have done, and the stories of the C.A.R.E. Africa children, helps me to realize that there is another world out there in Egbe, that I rarely get to see. Mission service here in Egbe entails a lot more than just the hospital; God’s Word, Love, and Compassionate service is being made known throughout the community by cooperating groups and missions. It is exciting to see how God works in other areas besides medicine!
I recently read a book called God’s Smuggler. It is a true story of how a young, Dutchman by the name of Brother Andrew risked his life to bring faith and hope to believers behind the Iron Curtain. While reading the book I was continuously jealous of all the miracles Brother Andrew experienced. Some were as simple as a cake being provided for a meeting where he had no money to buy one. Others were big miracles like not getting checked at checkpoints where he had over 100 Bibles hidden in his car. I was so jealous and I felt if he experienced miracles in the 1930’s why can’t I experience God’s miracles in the 2018’s. I got on my knees and begged to see, hear, and experience God like Brother Andrew did. I begged God to “show up and show off” as I like to say.
Pray for me, for my family, for my husband’s media ministry, for my CARE Africa staff and for our school that we are starting in Egbe. My family and CARE Africa staff have experienced some serious spiritual attacks such as health problems, computers crashing, uncontrollable emotions/ thoughts, missionaries leaving, different cultural problems and even serious and brutal killings only miles from our home. There is sin in this world and when God is visibly doing big works in your life – evil is going to want to try and conquer it. There is a battle going on that our small, small minds cannot even grasp. It is a battle for our minds and souls and we know we are the winner, but there is nothing that says we will not experience suffering.
Family Based Care is all the rave at any adoption/orphan conference and in any article, blog or discussion regarding orphans and adoption. There are hundreds of studies that show most children in orphanages are there because of poverty, not orphanhood. Many children we call “orphans” have some form of family that would care for them if they had the means. Strengthening families is the best way to meet the needs of orphans and other vulnerable children.
They go to school for 8 hours a day in a Nigerian school system where cheating is overlooked and teachers send them on personal errands during school lessons.
OUR OWN SCHOOL – 36 hours a week to demonstrate Christ’s love to these kids.
Pray for the five teachers that we have hired for our school. They will come to our city, Jos, for three weeks in August for training. Their eyes will be opened to a different way of teaching and how they can truly make a difference in each child’s life at our school. 
I once heard a comedian say, “I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Well I can certainly relate to that sentiment. Many of you know that I’ve had numerous bouts with malaria since moving to Nigeria, but you may not be aware of just how many times I have been sick with it. From my count, I’ve had it eighteen times. My malaria is now a legal adult at eighteen. It can join the army. It has the right to vote. It can even buy a pack of cigarettes if it wants to.
Added into the mix were bouts with intestinal worms, E. Coli, Salmonella, and a newly diagnosed ulcer. I can truly say “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
So many questions, but there are no true answers to be found here on Jos. So, what can be done? Well, together with SIM, we have decided that I need to seek a specialist in Tropical Medicine and infectious diseases to get some real answers. After emailing at least sixty doctors throughout Europe and South Africa, I’ve found a doctor in South Africa that is willing to see me. I’ve made an appointment for July 5th to meet with him and he is ready to run a battery of tests to see what is going on. Please pray for this time. I will go alone and leave my family behind. I am not sure of the length of stay in South Africa, but I am expecting up to one month to allow for diagnostic testing and potential treatment. 
Over a year ago, while looking for HIV/AIDS resources for Spring of Life Egbe counseling center, I stumbled across a hospital in Jos called Faith Alive. What started out as a small clinic for HIV/AIDS patients is now a three-story hospital that serves over 10,000 patients a month with various medical problems, provides ongoing care for HIV/AIDS patients, provides maternity care and performs about 3-4 surgeries each day. What makes Faith Alive unique is that all medical care is offered free of charge. Dr. Chris Isichei , Founder of Faith Alive, relies on local Nigerian doctors to volunteer their time outside of their regular jobs at other hospitals. Dr Chris has been a source of encouragement and help to me in my ministries in Egbe over the past year. When I asked how could I help him, his only request was for more volunteers.
My first volunteer (guinea pig) is Carman Marflak. Carman is a nurse anesthetist who has made several mission trips to ECWA Hospital Egbe and is also a member of one of our supporting churches back home in America. She was coming to ECWA Egbe Hospital for her 5
It hasn’t been easy being our volunteer guinea pig. The OR at Faith Alive is under equipped. They need a new anesthesia machine, new OR beds, running water, better sterilization equipment and so much more. Many times Carman was the only anesthetist available due to a shortage of nurses on surgery days. “Grandma” Carman has survived an exhausting but rewarding two-weeks and her experience is helping me better prepare future medical volunteers for their service at Faith Alive. We currently have 2 pre med students and 2 nurses coming to Jos in June and a general surgeon is coming long term next year!
If you or someone you know is interested in medical missions, please email us at 
It’s been almost five years in Nigeria, almost one year in our new home, and I was feeling almost happy…..
Thankfully God intervened. It took time and discontent, but eventually that soft, faint voice penetrated my soul and stirred my ear. “Stop escaping, my daughter, to something that isn’t real and escape to Me”. But my disobedience continued on for months. I didn’t realize that the escaping was making me become more and more dissatisfied with all the genuine blessings surrounding me -this led to DEPRESSION!
I felt like a new person. My sense of joy and contentment was restored. Doors started opening in unbelievable ways in my ministry. Not to say I still don’t have moments of homesickness and loneliness, but I have a renewed sense of peace that transcends all understanding.
Miles In Missions 