Bongolo’s 6th & 7th African doctors will finish their Surgery Residency program in July 2010. Dr. Jean Yaradouno will graduate next month after five years of surgical training at the PAACS general surgery training program at Bongolo Hospital. His wife Jackie graduated from the Bongolo Nursing School in May, and gave birth to their second daughter, Grace (not pictured) in June. The couple is headed to Hope Clinic, in Guinea, where they will both serve with a multi-national Alliance team. Dr. Yali Bin Ramazani will graduate at the same time. He and his wife Eveline are planning to serve at the Kalukembe SIM Hospital in Lubango, Angola.
On Sunday May 9, 2010 eight Bongolo Hospital Nursing students graduated in a ceremony held during the Bongolo Alliance Church service. The regular church service was held, but the message given by the Alliance District Superintendent, Pastor Mbesse, was directed towards the new graduates. At the end of the service the new Graduate Nurses slipped out and went to the back of the church where they entered the church while doing the “African Shuffle”, to music provided by the worship team, an electric keyboard and guitars.
After several speeches by various people, the diplomas were handed out. A reception was for the new graduate nurses and their invited guests. They were so excited and Praised the Lord to finally be finished with this 29 month study program!
Included in the above photo are three of the school’s Professors: Carolyn Thorson, Lisa Nicky and Moungala Claude. Two Professors, Rebecca Thompson and Karen Fitch were in the States and missed the Graduation.
The end of March Pilot Steve Straw sent this news item about an unplanned landing of the Air Calvary plane:
“Air Calvary’s Cessna 207 aircraft, based in Gabon, Africa, experienced a loss in engine power and made a forced landing in the village of Owendo, just south of the city of Libreville. No one on the ground was injured and neither were the two pilots and one passenger participating in the training flight. There was minor property damage and the aircraft also incurred structural damage. A detailed report will follow.”
Steve and Alace Straw and their three children are now on a three month planned Home Assignment in the States. No repairs will likely be done on the plane until their return. To follow their trip you may visit their “Arrivals and Departures” blog.
As told by Dr. Renee Valach and Pilot Steve Straw:
Dr. Valach wrote that Fidele had been one of the workers who cut the grass on the (Bongolo) mission station until a heart problem stopped him from working. February 21st Dr Valach will accompany Fidele to a hospital in Kenya, where he will undergo surgery to fix his heart valve. He has small children, and his heart problem is serious so this is a wonderful opportunity for him.
Recently, Fidele flew to Libreville with Air Calvary for part of his passport application. This was his first trip in a plane and Pilot Steve Straw explained the important safety issues like the seat belts. There were a few local men standing near the plane, and while Steve spoke they clarified each thing. Steve wrote that the flight went really well. If Fidele was nervous, he could not tell. Fidele would occasionally point out the window and ask Steve to please identify the villages that they were flying over. He also made many comments about the river that was below their flight path for much of the journey- the Ngoungie. He said it was very big! During the leg of the flight that passes over the city of Lamberene, Steve identified the city and told him to look below. Fidele said, “Yes- I see it. Here- let me open my window so that you can see also.” Steve assured him that he was familiar with the town and didn’t need to see it today. Upon landing Fidele thanked God repeatedly and said “Dieu est Grand” (God is Great).
Dr. Renee Valach is now attending a medical conference in Kenya which will end just before Fidele flies from Libreville to Nairobi, Kenya. She plans to meet Fidele at the Nairobi airport on February 21st and be there while he has heart surgery. Pray for Fidele as he travels alone to Kenya, that the flight would go smoothly. Pray for the surgeon as he operates on Fidele’s heart valve. Pray that the operation will be successful.
If you would like to GIVE to “Bongolo Heart Send Project” so that others get the same opportunity for open heart surgery as Fidele click HERE.
To get updates about the new Bongolo Medical Aviation program with Air Calvary follow Pilot Steve’s blog “Arrivals and Departures” by clicking HERE.
Update on Fidele!
February 26
Dr. Renee Valach wrote concerning meeting Fidele at the airport in Nairobi and then going with him to Tenwek Hospital in Kenya. It worked out perfectly that she was able to meet up with and translate for Fidele at the Visa/Immigration desk, since he did not speak Swahili or English. The next day was the day for the surgery. Fidele was already anesthetized for surgery but before starting, another test was performed for his heart. Everyone were very surprised to find the problem with his valve was no longer severe, but is now mild to moderate! Fidele had been seen by one cardiologist over the course of many years and at least two other visiting cardiology specialists at Bongolo, all of whom had all agreed that his heart valve condition was severe. Since the problem was now no longer severe, the surgery was not done! While Fidele was not completely healed, God said, “Not now” for his operation in a very dramatic way!
Both Dr. Valach and Fidele returned to Gabon. Fidele plans to start working again as a Bongolo station yardworker.
Let us join Fidele in Praise the Lord for HIS touch!
We missionaries have been praying for the arrival of our airplane for Air Calvary for many months….but I think that we weren’t the only ones who have been praying.
A couple of weeks ago, I sat down to do a “routine” cataract surgery here at Bongolo Hospital, for a patient named Samuel. The nurses and I were just getting ready to pray for the patient before starting, as we usually do, when Samuel started talking away in Nzebi, a local Gabonese language. My nurses explained that Samuel was asking to pray for his own cataract surgery. I had never had a patient do this before, but the sterile drapes covering his face and the eyelid holder in place over his eye didn’t hinder him one bit as he prayed fervently for his own operation.
Within the first week, the operated eye, which had been blind, achieved 20/20 vision. But Samuel was still concerned. “I need to read my Bible, so I can share the gospel,” he explained to me insistently with his toothy grin. He said this over and over, just to make sure that he had succeeded at crossing the language barrier. It turns out that Samuel is a “retired” Gabonese evangelist, whose heart is still passionate for his work despite being in his 70′s.
I realized that in order to give him the best vision, Samuel needed a laser procedure done for his other eye. I had been explaining to other patients for months that they would have to come back later, once “the laser had arrived.” Then the laser had been waiting in the capital city of Libreville for an additional month, because the 10-hour drive to Bongolo down often rugged dirt roads would have been too jarring for the delicate equipment. We needed the airplane. But that day had arrived! The Air Calvary plane had gently landed its very first flight just two days before, bringing the laser with it. I smiled at Samuel.
As I escorted him to the laser, I thought about God’s faithfulness in answering Samuel’s prayers. He is “the LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands…” (Ex 34:6-7a).
The regular church service was held, but the message given by the Alliance District Superintendent, Pastor Mbesse, was directed towards the new graduates. At the end of the service the new Graduate Nurses slipped out and went to the back of the church where they entered the church while doing the “African Shuffle”, to music provided by the worship team, an electric keyboard and guitars.
