May 29, 2013.

Our work is done.

We have used our God-given talents to serve others.  1 Peter 4:10 says: "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in it's various forms".

This is the guiding scripture for Hands For God Ministry and describes how this team functioned.  Mark and I used our gifts to ease our patients' pain.  Caroline and Julie were fantastic assistants in harsh conditions.  Michelle examined every patient.  Eileen, Steve, Layne, Tammy, Stephanie, Jason, Danielle and Kayla did eye exams, completed all paperwork, dispensed meds and loved on the kids.  Using their talents to serve God's children.

Thank you to KWO Ministries for inviting us on this mission trip.  Please check out their ministry at www.kwoministries.org.  They are well organized 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is doing awesome work in Kenya.  They are worthy of your financial support.

Sorry that our pictures wouldn't upload.  Visit my Facebook page to see them.

A special thanks to my beautiful wife, Julie.  Her love for me takes her outside of her comfort zone to follow me around the world.  I love her so much.

We are packing the trucks.  A long drive to Nairobi ahead of us.  I will post about our road trip later.

May 28, 2013


What a great finish!

We started early and left at 7am.  We returned to Adingo-Opanga and immediately began to treat patients.  It got hot early.  We had to screen over 110 orphans and widows, so we had to work hard.

Our team's chemistry had gelled and we were moving patients through.  I don't know if I mentioned that we had a physicians assistant with who did full physicals and prescribed medications.  Whooping cough, scabies, ringworm, skin rashes, parasitic cataracts and gastric issues were the main diagnoses.  We were warned to treat every patient as if they were HIV positive.

Mark and I had a lot of tough extractions on the widows, who presented with teeth rotted  below the gum line.  Limited instruments and low light made success difficult.  The sound of the children playing with new soccer balls kept our hearts light.  Several of the orphanage's goats wandered close and started bleating.  I had to answer.  Questions were posed about my sanity.

I passed on the peanut butter sandwich that I had in my backpack, to have my last Kenyan lunch.  Charred pinto beans were added to our menu, so I had the Kenyan version of bean and avocado burrito.

As the end of the approached, the sun was setting in our window, which made it hot, but put warm glow on our patients and actually was brighter than my headlamp.  Was God lighting the way for last few patients?

There was a cheer when Mark finished a very hard third molar extraction.  We had worked longer than planned because we wanted see everyone, but now we had to pack quickly to get down the dirt road before dark.

Today, Mark extracted 42 bad teeth.  Julie and I extracted 21 teeth and filled 22 teeth.  Over 110 kids and widows were screened.  A great day of care.

The Land Cruisers were packed.  The children were hugged.  We waved goodbye.

At 8pm, we returned to the hotel-13 hours after we departed.

Tired.  Happy.  Fulfilled.

Whew... tough day.

Another early start with breakfast at 7am and then a two hour drive to KWO Ministries' Ongoro orphanage.
 
Even though this location had electricity, we had problems.  When we would try to use both units, the main fuses would trip.  So we defaulted to one unit again.

The morning was very hot.  I did most of the screenings outside, using the sun for my light.  This orphanage houses 170 children.  It was very clean and the kids were very polite.  Lunch was (again) white rice, red rice, dough, Texas tortillas, mystery meat and the slowest chicken.

After lunch, we had a short chance to play with kids.  We jumped rope together.  They were fascinated with soap bubbles.  Lots of laughter and smiles.  Today was college t-shirt day, so everyone wore their colors.The afternoon session started with two very tough extractions for both Mark and me.  This tired us and slowed us down.  Then a monsoon hit that was so loud that when the rain hit the metal roof, we had to yell to hear each other.

As it grew later, we were all tired, then a melody began to flow through the courtyard.  The children started singing "You are My All in All".  A new energy flowed into us and we finished strong.  Julie will tell about the singing.

At day's end, we screened 109 children.  Mark extracted 29 bad teeth.  Julie and I extracted 2 teeth and did 21 fillings

Most in our Land Cruiser tried to nap on the way home (impossible with bumpy roads).
Almost to Kericho, Julie looked over her left shoulder and told everyone to look at the sunset.  I grabbed my camera and got a shot of the blazing red glow piercing the clouds.  Maybe God's thank you for a hard day's work?

We returned to the hotel 12 hours later.

Tired.  Hungry.  Satisfied... for serving God's children.


Prayer Warriors please pile on the prayer for strength and safe travel.  We want see at least another 100 children today and we have 4 hours of travel.  Tomorrow we have a 7 hour drive back to Nairobi.

JULIE:
This was a tough day...we are not promised easy. Encouraged by words sent in earlier email from John:  "Work stinking hard. Grow closer to Christ."
Appreciate your prayers and love you all!  :)

What a great way to celebrate my birthday.

We had breakfast at 7am and left at 7:30am.  A 2.5 hour drive to KWO's Adingo-Opango location.  We celebrated Holy Communion with our brothers and sisters on the other side of the world in Kenya.  Two local pastors shared scripture in English and the local dialect.  Children sang for us.  Voices were loud.  Hands were clapping.  No organs. No keyboards.  Just praise.

We didn't know the words, but we felt the Spirit.  It fascinated me that we were a family in Christ, even though we had never met before.  This was truly a God moment.  Eileen, our team leader commented that we (Americans) have a lot to learn about worshipping our Lord.  Amen.

Lunch was white rice, red rice, Kenyan tortillas (my Texas diagnosis), a huge pile of cornbread dough, some brown meat and the slowest chicken.  Then to work.

Again, the generators would not power up both dental units.  We quickly followed yesterday's plan.  We screened 47 patients.  Mark extracted 21 bad teeth and Julie and I filled 21 teeth.  This smaller location was in a 16x24 aluminum building and was hot.  Good thing that I doubled up on deodorant this morning!  Not bad for 2.5 hours of work.

About two hours into clinic, it struck me what a wonderful wife that I had.  One who would travel around the world with her man, to the poorest people, suck spit and blood, sweat, and still smile.  I stopped drilling, looked her in eyes and told her, "I love you".

We had to leave early because the skies had turned black and we had a 45 minute mountain drive on red African dirt roads.  Luckily, we dodged the storm, but saw one wrecked Jeep, and so much small hail that it looked like snow.

The power went for about 30 minutes before dinner, so everyone sang Happy Birthday to me with candlelight and I blew out one of the candles.

A great birthday.

JULIE:
Hard to describe today....for you 4th Dayers....you know that feeling when you first arrive and wonder what you're doing there and then minute by minute, day by day, He shows you.  Worship was truly just that ....worship....I felt very small...very humbled....a good thing.

Though my skills as a dental assistant are extremely limited, I do feel that God is using me as a comforter to His scared and hurting.  Touch is powerful.
I am grateful to be working alongside a man who listens and honors our God through his actions and his gifts.

We are having fun, developing community....all while loving and praying for those of you at home ....we miss you.  Our Internet is supplied by what I'm sure is a very expensive portable wi-fi courtesy of KWO Ministries ( and if you haven't checked out their website,,,DO) ....must try and get some sleep for a very busy day tomorrow....supposed to see over 100 kids tomorrow.  Love you all". :)