December 20, 2004

Dear Friends,

This is our second letter this month. As we approach the birthday of our Savior, Jesus, and we enjoy all of the festivities that accompany our celebrations, we ask that you take a little time to think about, pray for, and do something for the peoples of the world who have nothing in a material way yet abound in faith and give thanks and praise to God for their gift of life.

Yesterday we attended a wedding of a friend. It was an all-day affair beginning with a church service and including a wonderful sermon on the meaning of marriage and commitment, particularly within the context of their culture. This was followed by the procession of honking cars following the bride and groom to the reception where we all ate, drank, danced, and had a wonderful time.

When I returned to the hospital at 10:00 p.m. that night, I went to check on several patients with terrible problems. I learned that one lady had died at 5:00 p.m. We had operated this lady twice due to a horrible infection that she acquired four days after a birth in another center. That morning she seemed to be doing very well. Her wounds looked good and her fever was dropping. She apparently had a sudden internal bleed and died. I am devastated when these things occur but what about her newborn, her family? My personal suffering is insignificant in comparison.

The other patients I checked on were doing well. One was a lady that I operated for cervical cancer. She was doing great, but five days post operatively developed massive bleeding from her stomach and esophagus. She was vomiting large quantities of blood and I thought for sure that she would die. We did what we could to treat this, and she recovered, as do most of those under our care.

Those who survive, such as the older lady with her cancer now treated and her bleeding stopped, are grateful for the care they have been given. For those who die, there is great sadness in the family, a lot of crying and wailing, but nobody curses God or the health care team. There are no accusations of malpractice or negligence. No one blames anyone. Good Shepherd Hospital is running at a huge deficit. How long it can stay afloat is anybody’s guess, yet it is the only hope, usually the last resort, for so many.

If you are interested in reading reporting from the evaluation by the International Rescue Committee, please click here. The conflict in Congo is the most deadly since World War II but receives scant notice. One thousand civilians die here each day. They die mostly of easily preventable and curable disease and malnutrition. Death and suffering are ever-present here yet come Christmas, there will be a joyful noise made unto the Lord that would drown out any you have ever heard in our own country. It is one thing to go to church, sing hymns, recite prayers, share some post service coffee and pastries in the narthex, and it is quite another to make yourself really aware of the needs of others and respond to those needseither in your own community or through missions and advocacy measures concerning those in the developing world. We speak of “faith.” They live it.

It is so easy for us to say, “But, I didn’t cause this, it isn’t my responsibility nor that of my country. We can’t be held accountable for everyone else’s suffering.” We all need to ask ourselves if that will be a good enough answer to God’s questions to us: “How have you loved your neighbor as yourself?”

My apologies if I seem a bit “hard” or harsh with my words today. I have been the only staff physician at our institution during the past week. This means I have witnessed a lot of death that wouldn’t have occurred in a just world and I haven’t gotten much sleep. Sleep deprived people shouldn’t write newsletters! If I went into the graphic details or showed the horrible pictures, no one would ever read another newsletter from us again. There have been many miracles as well. I just wish there could be one for every one of these beautiful people. I wish never again to see a mother holding her dead child or a child crying over their dead mother.

Please pray for our brothers and sisters here. And, please become a voice for those who feel forgotten.

From the Congo,

Mike for Mike and Nancy

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 318