Jimmy and Chase Miller- Serving Kenya since 2011

 We arrived back home safely for Easter!  Thank you for all your prayers.  This trip was a tough one but God proved Himself faithful as always.  God answered prayers in so many ways. 1. He poured forth rain from heaven.  The drought has ended and the people are rejoicing in the plentiful rains on the country. Compare this to week one photo of the waterfall at Tenwek.  The rains have allowed the hydroelectric plant to run again.  The fields are green again! 2. He healed His people physically!  This patient has TB of the spine.  She was paralyzed from the waist down and unable to sit up in bed.  Her arms were weak.  She underwent incision and drainage of a soft tissue abscess and spine stabilization.  I helped with the access in the neck for the neurosurgery team. She is now able to sit up in a wheel chair and strength is returning to her arms.  This is beyond what we could have hoped.  God is working His miracles. 3. H...

 I continue to believe that my work here is just a facade for the gospel message.  Although my surgeries might improve the quality of the Kenyan's lives or save a life here on earth there is no lasting effect.  We will all undergo physical death one day.  The true healing is the spiritual healing that comes from faith in Christ. This patient presented with intermittent nose bleeds and congestion in one of his nostrils.  Exam revealed a mass filling the nasal cavity.  He admitted to sniffing tobacco.  This is a habit of grinding tobacco leaves to a powder and sniffing it.  We talked about the deleterious effects and the risk of cancer from this activity.  He underwent a biopsy of his nasal mass which is very suspicious for a cancer.  We also discussed Christ.  He had heard of Christ and knows there is a church down the road but no one has presented the Gospel to him.  Through the help of an interpreter I was able to present the ...

 I am a bit late in an update as my time here has been so busy.  My ENT colleague has arrived and we have been focusing on ear surgeries for 2 weeks.  While we are doing the regular schedule of ear surgeries the general ENT problems keep coming.   This is the line in the morning to check in for appointments in the clinic where I work.  There seems to be an endless stream of patients.  They wait all day to be seen.  Once we identify patients that need surgery we need to go through endless paper work to apply for insurance coverage. Many can not afford even the 3-5 dollars a month fee for the national insurance. In these cases they need to raise money to pay for hospital fees. These are just some of the masses that I see on a daily basis at Tenwek.  These are now complicated situations as patients seek care so late. This 12 year old boy arrived last week with another case of acute mastoiditis.  This infection had spread to the areas around the ...

 Praise the Lord I arrived safely with no travel issues.  My luggage was marked for inspection but when I ran my bags through the bagger scanner the inspector was asleep!  All the metal instruments and supplies went unnoticed.  This was a big concern as I was transporting quite a bit of expensive equipment including $20,000 of hearing aids. Kenya has continued to be in a serious draught.  This has driven up the cost of food goods on top of the already inflated prices from COVID.  The country has been obviously struggling.  This includes the hospital systems, like Tenwek, as the government has not been making the government health system payments.  Simple supplies in the hospital are just not available-like paper towels, toilet paper.  Repairs of medical devices are lagging making it more difficult to care for patients.  I have noticed the resident staff moral is low as they struggle to get what they need to care for patients.  ...

I will be traveling this Friday 3/10/2023 back to Tenwek Hospital.  The medical focus of this trip is ear diseases.  Our spiritual mission is to break the chains of sickness and darkness; to bring those that do not know Him to the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord so graciously gave us an ENT microscope on our last trip in October and we have the necessary instruments to tackle some of the advanced ear diseases we see.  I am bringing with me an audiologist to help with hearing tests and hearing aid fittings.  Dr Cam Kirchner is also coming to help with the more advanced ear cases.  This will be a difficult trip so I am seeking your prayers for strength, wisdom, and more faith to believe that God will completely heal his people.     There are more restrictions on supplies that we are able to bring into Kenya.  I have been working over the last months acquiring the necessary extra supplies for ear sur...

 This was a week full of surgeries.  Many patients have received notification of NHIF approval for surgeries.  This is the governmental healthy insurance which costs 500 Ksh per month ($5.00). Even with this low monthly fee many are not able to afford.  We needed to triage patients with the more treatable diseases over those with advanced diseases because of the limited time. This patient is a victim of the medical system.  I saw him in Feb 2022 and he underwent a tracheostomy and biopsy for a laryngeal cancer.  Unfortunately the biopsy was negative.  We have found inaccurate results with pathology specimens quite frequently as they are sent to Nairobi for evaluation.  He was seen in Nairobi and several other hospitals near him since February.  He returned to Tenwek when they heard I was visiting again.  His exam now revealed advanced cancer involving the neck and larynx.  We reviewed our findings and his poor prognosis.  We ta...

 I thought I would give you a snapshot of an ordinary day at Tenwek.  The morning walk to clinic is cool 50 degrees but there is hope of warmth to come. "...that you may know the HOPE to which he has called you the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe." Ephesians 1:18 The topography is unlike anything you would see in the states.  the trees are lush, roads dusty, and the smell of cow manure in the air. Morning rounds are always an adventure.  There is no privacy for these patients.  Families intermingle and help each other with translation of the languages.  Families are responsible for supplying their loved ones with food. the hospital cafeteria burned down several years ago. This trip I have had 3 residents to teach.  2 family medicine residents and 1 general surgery resident.  I could not do the work without them.  We have been averaging 30-50 patients a day in clinic.  E...