Being Present in God's Calling

There wells up in me a deep gladness, a fulfillment of promise, a joy unspeakable, a wholeness of being present in God’s calling. My spirit which has been so thirsty for this place and these people, now drinks deeply, savoring each moment. I do not walk, but float around Kudjip Station, a silly grin on my face greeting all the hospital staff in Jesus’ name, shaking every offered hand, stopping to rejoice and reunite with this beautiful Family of God. I feel a burden to remember every name and face, but peace in the same moment knowing their love extends beyond my failing memory. There’s a spirit of expectation in these moments of reunion, my own hope to know and love and serve them well in the short time I have here, and their hope an earnest reflection, a desire to be seen and loved, and to connect as family, as wantok. I rejoice now in realizing Rachel and I have been similarly embraced by so many of our missionary brothers and sisters - appreciative we are here, welcoming us into Family, joyfully expectant of what God might do with our time here. Thank you Lord!

This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil—this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them 

occupied with gladness of heart.

‭‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬-‭20‬

Our first week on Station has felt like a whole month, each day heavy laden with activities and conversations and (for me) innumerable medical complexities and mental exercise. The following pictures and stories are just a glimpse, and I hope they stoke your heart and imagination to new depths and heights. You are with us in Spirit when you join with us in prayer, so I encourage you to pray for us and these people as you read, as the Lord leads you. 

Every morning we awake to joyful birdsong, a glowing sunrise, and steaming Highlands coffee. Pennie and Solomon are still tending to wake up early, and Papa gets a heart full of cuddles to start the day, dearly welcome even though this typically interrupts my morning devotions. 

I haven’t yet restarted my usual pre-dawn F3 bootcamp workouts as most afternoons have boasted their own share of fitness, including Friday Kids’ PE (soccer), Saturday volleyball, Sunday “Murph” with the guys (our "warrior faces" pictured below), Monday after school kids’ F3 bootcamp, Tuesday after work hike around the hydro dam (and kids’ river rock collecting), and Wednesday afternoon pickup soccer. It surprises me every time, but I’m so easily winded with the high altitude here! 

My daily hospital routine starts on A Ward (Pediatric Admissions) where I care for a wide variety of complex cases - most commonly young children with pneumonia, diarrheal illnesses, and malnutrition. But frequently more serious cases of Tuberculosis, Meningitis, Malaria, and Congenital Heart Defects. Dr Abigail Ginn is another American Pediatrician serving here at Kudjip and she covers the other half of the Ward. After rounds we circle up with the A Ward staff to pray, placing the healing of these children into the Lord’s capable hands. We are each just a part of the whole so we pray to be united in our efforts, asking Jesus to lead us in wisdom to impart ourselves to one another for His work of healing in this hospital - both physical and spiritual. 

The other day a three week old baby was admitted with combined sepsis and pneumonia, and as I examined the baby the Spirit inspired me to also see the young mother’s desperation. She admitted to being alone at the hospital without family to bring food. I prayed with her and offered to help, then placed a text to my God Squad (Rachel, Pennie, and Solomon) who met me back on the Ward at lunch time with a bag full of groceries for this single mother. Pennie and Solomon then toured the Ward handing out “Jesus Loves You” stickers to all the patients. Every time we serve at Kudjip we bring with us a lot of stickers and wrist bands that say “Jesus Loves You,” and when I pray with patients I will remove the band from my own wrist and place it on the patient’s wrist as a reminder that they are truly loved, and that God sees their need. “Bilas” (decorations) are especially appreciated here, and brightly colored wrist bracelets proclaiming the name of Jesus are always enthusiastically received. Praise His name! 

After morning rounds, I spend the day seeing patients of all ages in the outpatient clinic. My very first patient was a wasted middle-aged man recently diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, who had returned to clinic hoping for a different diagnosis. He had also accepted Christ as Lord in the interim, and instead of changing his diagnosis, I read him some scripture from the Tok Pisin Buk Baibel, and made an effort to commission him to make every breath count for the Kingdom while he yet lived. I’m not sure he was convinced of the joy and peace Jesus can provide in the midst of trial, but we prayed for His heart to be open and healed for the work of Gospel testimony, and I’ll bet he wears that Jesus Loves You bracelet for the rest of his life. 

Procedures are a common accompaniment to my daily routine, and something I particularly enjoy - spinal taps to look for brain infections, placing drains for abdominal and lung TB fluid, incision and drainage of abscesses (picture above of an infected Tuberculoma that volcanoed a huge amount of pus…ew), and of course my highly "specialized" superglue trick for removing foreign bodies from the ear/nose of little kids (this little gal had a smooth pebble lodged deep in her ear). Success!

Most of the outpatient visits are fairly routine - acid reflux that causes worries about the heart, various acute and chronic musculoskeletal pains, fractures that need an xray and casting, refilling chronic case medications (Hypertension, Diabetes, Leukemia, etc), pregnancy complications, new and follow-up cases of tuberculosis, and older folks with exacerbations of COPD and/or heart failure. Yesterday I had a very interesting case of an almost 3 year old boy from way out in the Jimi valley who had developed partial paralysis of both legs a month ago. Among a wide range of possible reasons for paralysis we have to consider Polio here in PNG, as most children are not vaccinated fully. My dear friend Mark Crouch is a long-term Doc here at Kudjip and sits on the Polio Advisory Board for PNG, so he was able to point me in the right direction for rolling out the testing and reporting protocols for Polio. A spinal film later showed a possible abnormality at his second lumbar vertebrae (difficult to see, but follow the vertebral bodies down the line, and you'll see one that's pushed out more to the right of the picture), which makes Potts (spinal TB) a more likely diagnosis. We have started some steroids and TB meds for this boy - please join us in praying for complete healing!

Among many reunions around Station, we have a few friends from the community who regularly pay us porch visits. John Gari and Jon Opa have been a part of our lives on past trips to PNG, and you may recall our amazing $upporters provided for Jon Opa (second picture) to get dentures on our last trip - what a wonderful smile!

We are again hoping to bless these men and many others during our time here with extra funds provided by so many of you. Please pray the Lord reveals the right opportunities and directs our generosity in ways that advance the Kingdom. 

If you have read this far, THANK YOU! It brings us great joy to have you and your prayer power in our corner. We are in this together! 

All our Love, Ted, Rachel, Pennie, and Solomon

And we know that in all things 

God works for the good of those who love Him, 

who have been called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28