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 ...

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 maki...

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 a...

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 d...

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 i...

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 dis...