Heal the Sick, Preach the Gospel

“And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.” Matthew 4:23 The Medical and Veterinary Teams from Trinity Baptist Church of Lake Charles, LA traveled to the village of Nenyunga in Tongaland, (western Zimbabwe just south of the Zambezi River). Dr. Mark Byler from Sanyati Baptist Hospital joined in ministering with the medical team. Other local folks also helped with translation and other support work. This is the third trip to Zimbabwe for these teams. Veterinary ministry: Rusty Sittig, who assisted veterinarian Kyle Hebert, shared, “We weren’t sure what to expect the first day. We had been told there probably wasn’t much cattle in Tongaland. But when we arrived at the designated spot the first day it looked like all the cows in Zimbabwe were there! We treated over 1500 cows the first day!” Dr. Hebert added, “Altogether we treated 5754 cows with vitamin injections and dewormed them. We also treated some with pneumonia and I did surgery on one cow with a prolapsed uterus.” Medical ministry: The medical team was made up of three doctors: Dr.Mark Byler from Sanyati, Dr. Richard Landry and Dr. Barry Newton. Assisting them were nurses Mike Reed, Debbie Comeaux and Lynda Riche. Starr Livingstone also assisted Dr. Newton. The driver of the vehicle which transported the volunteers, Shumba, was the first to undergo minor surgery on the first day! He had a lipoma growing on his back shoulder which Dr. Newton was able to remove. Finally being free of this, he could not contain his joy and he said he couldn’t wait to get home to surprise his wife! Starr, the surgeon’s assistant grew up as a missionary kid in Nigeria and Liberia. (Her parents were with SIM). But the extreme poverty and destitution she encountered in Tongaland was shocking to her. She said, “Several men took their shoes off so the doctor could examine their feet and in some cases perform minor surgery. When they did this I saw that their socks were like rags. These were the fortunate ones though, many of the patients we saw did not have any shoes. I just kept thinking of that verse in the Bible – ‘the first shall be last and the last shall be first’. (Matthew 20:27) These are the poorest of the poor, they have so little. Their gracious and thankful attitudes, though they have so little, was quite humbling.” Starr also commented, “Even though many of us on this team have known each other casually through the church, our team really came together in an amazing way and God worked mightily through us.” She was thankful for the opportunity to be a part of this team. Vonceil Sittig and Harlie Sittig assisted Mandi Jordan, the Pharmacist. Mandi said her most memorable moment was when she gave one family medicine to treat their young child for an ear infection. The mother especially showed her deep gratitude by clapping her hands together and then putting her hand over her heart. It was a very touching moment. Dr. Barry Newton was also touched by the gratitude expressed by those being treated. He said, “In the story of the ten lepers in the Bible, Jesus’ experience was that only 1 out of 10 of those healed came back to say thank you. But here it is more like 9 out of 10! It really surprised me when one patient brought me a bag of corn!” Considering what a poor harvest year this has been for Tongaland, that bag of corn was a precious gift indeed! Amy Kerwin, who worked triage and registration for the medical team, shared how shocked she was at how desperate people are to get medical care and how hard it is to come by in rural Zimbabwe. “In the U.S. we really take for granted the availability of doctors and medicines. People in Zimbabwe do desperate things to get medical care! Some of the patients who came to our clinic walked for several days to get there, then waited patiently for up to three days to be seen, sleeping outside under trees overnight.” Logan Bath and Jamie Waterman were the youngest members of the team. Their job was to help keep the lines in order and help people get where they needed to go – to get to the right doctor, to find the pharmacy, etc. Jamie, a university student, said his highlight was being able to spend time with the children and play games with them. At first the kids were afraid because many of them had never seen a white person before, but eventually they opened up and enjoyed themselves. During the 4 ½ days in which the team held clinic, 1379 patients, and did 27 minor surgical procedures. Dr. Newton said one of the most difficult things for him was the patients who needed major surgery that he was unable to help. He was able to remove some small tumors and growths. Drs. Byler and Landry saw a wide variety of patients. One patient was an 8 month old albino baby. The mother was given sunscreen for her baby and taught the importance of putting it on her baby every day to protect him from the sun. Another lady brought her child which was severely malnourished as was evidenced by kwashiorkor. Hernias, back problems, ulcers, cysts and many other needs were seen to. Dr. Landry mentioned he hoped next time they could bring an eye doctor and a dentist as the needs in these areas were great and they were not able to meet them. One of the saddest cases they dealt with was a young child who had been abused and was very sick with herpes. One of the most unusual cases seen was a Norwegian man who happened to be hunting up along the Zambezi River. He had been charged by an elephant and had backed rapidly into a thorn bush. He had quite a number of deep puncture wounds and scrapes. He came back the day after he was treated to thank the doctors and bring them some elephant meat from his trophy! Pastor Steve said one of the things which shocked him was that the business center and shops to the Nenyunga village and clinic is 12 miles away. Everyone has to walk to get there. . . to buy food, to mail a letter, to do anything! Pastors Steve James and Greg Bath had opportunities to meet with chiefs and local community leaders, they were able to share Christ with the Norwegian hunter as well and remind him that God had spared his life. They also shared the gospel through translators to groups of patients who came to the clinic for treatment. One day, they were able to do ministry in the local school. All the school children in the school were assembled to listen to the visitors. The story of Zaccheus was shared and the gospel was shared. Thirty-five children prayed to receive Christ. Afterwards, each child was presented with three exercise books (similar to a spiral notebook) in which they could write their school work. On Sunday, they met with local Baptists and others who came together at the local school for a worship service. During the week, a total of 1075 people prayed to receive Christ through the veterinary, medical, and outreach ministries. SANYATI: One team member mentioned, “On our final morning in Tongaland our devotional reading was from Psalm 121, ‘My help comes from the Lord. . . He will not allow your foot to slip. . . The sun will not smite you by day nor the moon by night.” That day we packed up after spending the morning doing clinic, then headed toward Sanyati. The road was in disrepair and it took a long time to travel in our large overland vehicle. After dark we came to a rocky river crossing where the bridge had been washed out during the rainy season. The driver of our vehicle was quite concerned about crossing the riverbed with all of us in the vehicle so he requested that we get out and walk. It was very dark, with no lights anywhere. Our flashlights were packed in our bags. But just as we began to get out of the vehicle the bright full moon began to rise over us and we could see how to cross the river. God reminded me of the words from Psalm 121 once again as I walked across the riverbed knowing He was with me.” When they finally arrived at Sanyati, they celebrated Dr. Mark Byler's birthday with Red Velvet cake and Lemon Squares. Amy Kerwin, said her highlight was actually getting to Sanyati and walking around the Baptist Hospital there, seeing it for the first time after hearing about it for so many years.