2nd week at Tenwek Hospital

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 My second week has continued to be busy.  But the theme of the trip is "His kingdom is expanding".  With every patient encounter I ask patients if I can pray with them.  We have had many patients that have been in desperate health situations that do not know Him.  The seeds have been planted through years of suffering and the harvest is ripe.  

This 13 year old boy has a rapidly growing cystic mass of his jaw.  The family has been taking him to traditional healers where they have been placing hot ashes on the growth with no response.  CT scan reveals that the mass completely encompases his lower jaw with loss of his ear canal and temporomandibular joint. We will need to biopsy this to determine if it is malignant.  This is a hopeless situation for this poor family. He had never heard of Jesus or the hope that Christ can bring him.  His father also had very little knowledge.  We shared the love of Christ and the Gospel.  They both humbly gave their lives to the Lord this day.  The chaplains came and further counseled them. This is the healing they needed.  God will make a way for the boys biopsy and treatment.  There were 5 other patients this week that also found eternal life as they responded to the Gospel.

This patient has a large benign growth of the hard palate.  She underwent removal of the tumor on Thursday.  Because of the large size it was a difficult resection but God was so faithful to carry us through to successfully remove the mass.  Post op I expected her to be in the hospital for multiple days due to pain but post op day 2 she was tolerating food and was discharged home with no pain! God gets the glory! 

On Tuesday we performed endoscopic sinus surgery on a patient with extensive nasal polyps.  The endoscopy tower was working and anesthesia did a great job keeping the blood pressure low to prevent extensive bleeding.  She did well and I am grateful that God went before us.

This trip we have had a different perspective having the knowledge that we will be back long term in October.  We have been learning how to shop for local vegetables and cook in this environment.  Without the usual conveniences it is a challenge.  As we take our long walks of the weekend I look at the topography and try to imagine this as home.  


The missionary station Sunday might worship service around the campfire is a bit of heaven on earth.


Thank you for your faithful prayers.  They are effective and life saving,

Chase and Jimmy Miller


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