Jimmy and Chase Miller- Serving Kenya since 2011

We made it home late Friday night.  We are praising God for our safe return.  We had an extra leg to our journey as LaGuardia airport was at a stand still when we arrived.  Fortunately we were able to rent a care and drive 6 hours home instead of being stranded in NYC until Sunday.  Somehow Jimmy was able to keep his eyes open for the drive.  We got some really big hugs from the Kids that night!  On the heel of our arrival we heard about yet another terrorist attack in Nairobi at a shopping center.  Thank you Lord for keeping us safe.  I pray over the next days God will give me insight on all that we did this trip.  It feels like a whirlwind of work.  God was certainly orchestrating divine moments for His people.  I feel well entrenched at Tenwek.  My heart remains there and I yearn to return.  Right now next trip scheduled for summer 2015. We put Hunter on a plane for Bangalore, India this morning.  I know God has a great adventure for her this summer.  Thank you Lord for carrying o

We leave with sad hearts.  As always I have been working long days and have grown to love the people here.  I love the kenyans and the full time missionaries both.  I feel invested in Tenwek and my heart breaks to leave.  Yesterday I again saw several tumors that needed surgery.  I tried to squeeze one more surgery in before I left but there just was no more time.  It was as if the Lord was saying there is still more here for you to do.  Despite having such a difficult adjustment this year, He still has not removed the desire to come back. Saying Good bye!! Please pray for us as we begin the long journey home.  Arriving home friday night. Blessings, Chase Miller

Today was clinic day.  I had a few short cases in the OR in the morning but the majority of the day was spent in the clinic.  compared to state side clinics this one is a very basic space separated by curtains on three sides.  I bring my instruments and headlight so that I can do some sort of exam of the patients.  The language barrier is a difficult situation.  Although the national language is english most people speak their tribal language.  Some communicate in swahili.  I have a physician's assistant who speaks several tribal languages and swahili but his english is difficult to understand.  So the history is often taken by him and then translated into broken english.  I am finding out that the history is usually inaccurate and misleading.  This in combination with the cultural differences makes practicing medicine a whole different ball game.  I generally have a good sense of judgment but in this circumstance I find myself making constant mistakes.  Thank heavens for the Lord

This weekend was a beautiful rest saturday afternoon.  We were able to take a walk on our favorite path by the river.  there is a steep walk up the hill which the locals use to carry river water up to their homes.  We often see the young boys shepherding their flocks down to the river.  Such peace and beauty is present.  The people are working quietly through their days. Cattle blocking our way down the path What a contrast to the tragedies we see at the hospital.  the casualty area is often overflowing with trauma and life threatening diseases.  There is a constant stream of activity.  The operating room is endlessly open and working.  Yesterday I was consulted for a trauma patient.  He was the passenger on the back of a motorcycle and was thrown into a tree.  He had massive trauma to his nose with a avulsion of the tissue and crush injury to the nasal bones.  We went urgently to the OR to control bleeding.  Below are the pictures of what I was confronted with and the final OR r

Pediatric Ward I studied Hebrews chapter 11 today.  The great chapter of faith.  As I delve into the word I am stricken by the element of hope and anticipation that is needed to have faith Hebrews 11:1  "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."  God reveals something about the future of our lives.  We seize this and begin to live in anticipation of it.  Faith looks to the future.  Abraham looked to the promise of a son despite his old age.  Faith then begins to act on our hoped for promise.  We become daring and pay no attention to impossibilities.  Faith doesn't reason it obeys.  Abraham moved forth in obedience to sacrifice his promised son.  It didn't make sense but he obeyed.  Abraham passed the test and God returned his promised son. I think we can all write a statement of our faith story in Hebrews 11.  I would write "by faith chase when called went to a land she did not know.  She held onto the promise that G

The last 48 hours has been busy OR time.  God has orchestrated some amazing details.  I am in awe of how he coordinates encounters and events to occur.  I knew something big was up when He started to give me some night time rest.  Below are a few of the cases I have been involved in over the last 2 days. This is a 65 year old male who presented to the clinic with difficulty swallowing.  He has a previous history of alcohol and smoking abuse.  on exam he was found to have a large tumor of the voice box.  At Tenwek we don't tend to biopsy because it can take 3 weeks to get the results.  I explained my findings and discussed the treatment which would involve a total laryngectomy- removing the entire voice box followed by radiation therapy.  I was able to tell him about the Lord Jesus and his love and healing power.  He thought that God was not for drinkers and smokers.  He readily accepted Jesus into his heart.  This picture is him receiving his new bible.  We took him to the OR t

God is in all things and in the details!  God has ordained connections and meetings and friendships this trip.  When He is involved, things get exciting and so a large project, all of a sudden (ha, ha), came up - you go with it! Edna, one of the Chaplains at Tenwek hospital and she runs the Dorcas Sewing Ministry, told me a story about her water filter that I gave her two years ago and a headmaster at a local boarding school - well, things got into motion!  Many children were coming down with Typhoid Fever, which is life-threatening, from the drinking water and becoming very ill, and many have been hospitalized.  The headmaster wanted to figure out how to get this under control and filter the water for the children, thus, our water filter comes into play! There are 540 children at this Primary School with 17 staff!  So, I started with (2) 100-liter containers and drilled 4 holes per container and then drilled out 10 buckets (20-liter/5-gallon pails) for dispensing the water.  We c

When I read the devotional from "Jesus Calling" for today I knew this one was for me.  "trust in me with your whole being..."  everything I am enduring is training me up in "trusting the Lord".  I am enduring sleepless nights, long work days, hot operating rooms, many tragic patient cases but I trust in Him that the adversities will be turned around by the Lord.  God can bring good out of every situation that we encounter. Psalm 23:4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 90 year old Masaii with a large left nasal mass eroding bone.    office biopsy performed to evaluate for cancer.  He is not a surgical candidate because of his age. 46 year old women with massive left neck mass that is pulsatile.  Ct scan reveals 10cm mass which is very vascular and surrounding the major vessels in her neck.  It is not surgically treatable.  she has airwa

I hear this comment so often now, that I made it the post title.  Here's the rest of the comment - "We are so much healthier now that we have clean water, thanks to the filters that you brought us in the name of Jesus!"  - I have said this before and I will say it again - please know that from many generous donations, we are making a difference in the lives of many, many people, young and old.  I have a Chaplain friend, Philip, whose Grandmother is drinking clean water for the first time in her life!  She's eighty years old.  One of the Guesthouse cooks, Cecilia, told me that she was recently praying to God whether or not to save up some money to try and purchase some sort of water filtration system for her six children; and today, she told me that God answered her prayer by bringing the two of us together! The filtration system that they use in the Guesthouse has broken and they are not sure when the new part will arrive, so I have placed one of the Sawyer filters

today was full of surprises.  the biggest one was a 56 year old male with h/o alcoholism and smoking abuse.  he presented with a 3 day history of neck swelling and throat pain.  He was referred by an outlying hospital for rule out oral tumor. On exam the patient had a hot potato voice.  oral exam revealed massive necrotic mass filling the oropharynx.  the neck had diffuse swelling on the right side extending onto the anterior chest with pitting edema.  evaluation of his larynx revealed diffuse swelling with impending airway obstruction.  I had not seen anything like this before but knew it was bad!  I explained my concerns that he had life threatening disease and we needed to admit him to the hospital and control his airway with a breathing tube.  I asked if he knew Jesus.  I told him who Jesus was and that He could be his savior.  He accepted Jesus into his heart.  Praise God!!  about 1 hour later he had a seizure while we were waiting for the operating room t

After hospital rounds today, Jimmy and I were able to sneak away for a walk in rural kenya.  the landscape is like nothing you would see in the US.  Steep hills and rocky paths carried us into the forest.  Cows, goats, wild dogs, and chickens roam freely throughout the landscape.  Young boys are shepharding their goats.  Women and children work a quarry where they cut up stone to use for building. steep hill overlooking tea farms young boy watching over goats near the river rock quarry where women make stones River near water falls where children playing and bathing  In the afternoon we were blessed to visit Kitoben children's home.  the orphanage continues to grow now to 85 children.  I am beginning to learn their names and recognize faces from year to year.  we saw Abigail, Bridget, Sandra and many more.  They wanted to touch our skin and hug us.  they were fascinated by pictures of themselves.  Another walk through the compound revealed their great needs.  th

Jonathan said to his young armor-bearer, "come, let's go over to the outpost of those uncircumcised fellows.  Perhaps the Lord will act in our behalf.  Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few."  1 Samuel 14:6 In this passage Jonathan stepped out in the name of the Lord against the Philistines.  He took a risk, having faith that "perhaps the Lord would work on his behalf".  He was not an onlooker but stepped out in a battle where the odds were against him.  On that day Jonathan and his armor-bearer killed 20 man in an area of 1/2 acre. Over the last several days we have felt a bit like Jonathan.  Our exhaustion is extreme and the work that has come before me is more than I can bear.  But we stepped out today in faith and trust  believing the Lord would work on our behalf.  Today was a better day.  Yesterday was a spiritual battle like I was walking in mud and unable to accomplish anything.  the night was restless as we cried out to

The first drink! Imoja Children's Home with Joseph and some children testing out their new water filters! I met with Joseph on Thursday afternoon who owns and runs, with his wife, the Imoja Children's Home.  They began this home in 2003 with eleven children and now have 55 children staying with them.  He told me that he could have many more children, but currently does not have the room or the resources to care for more children.  That weighs heavy on him and wants to care for more. They, like many orphanages or homes, try to be self-sufficient with their own milking cows, small farm, and chickens.  Imoja Home has 220 chickens and they get 120 eggs per day which they sell to Tenwek Hospital daily - that is their only source of income, so the chickens are cared for well!  We discussed the water source for this home and they collect rain water as everyone does here, but it has been an exceptionally dry rainy season - that has many concerned.  They drink the rain water