Gabon - 2010

Thank you for praying!

We had a relatively uneventful trip over, except on arrival to Gabon we discovered Dianne's visa was in her old passport.

No worries - nearly three hours later, she was not going back to Paris, but entering the country with us. Pastor Serge, the hospital administrator, was in the jungle 12 hours away using his cell phone, and many people were praying. He called a minister of the interior, who called the Chief of Affairs for Gabon, who called the Head of Immigration, who called the Commandant of the hospital, who called the police who were holding her and preparing to evict her on the same flight (within two hours)...and she was allowed out of "jail" and through customs with us.

Meanwhile, Renee and I sat on the metal benches in the empty baggage claim area waiting to see if she would ever come through. We had her bags, and couldn't go through customs - which had already closed by that point.

Welcome to Africa! Where in one night the heads of various parts of the country all "happened" to be home and available, and all were willing to try to help, and eventually Dianne was allowed in with a temporary visa. God IS good! I was especially glad since Dianne is Keir's mother-in-law. Keir is the surgeon I'm coming to fill in for while he is in Kenya and Cameroon for the next three weeks.

Outside of that it has been fairly uneventful. A nice weekend of heat, humidity, couple dips in the pool, church, dinners, and a super-bowl party which started at midnight (since we are 6 hours ahead of the East coast).

Today was 12 straight hours of work - without lunch. Started the morning with chapel, rounds, and then clinic at 9:30 and finished up after 7pm. People with malignant tumors, broken bones, gangrenous wounds, bleeding, pain, prolapsed rectum, hernias, goiters, and constipation. Quite a variety. We filled up the next three days of OR time...and still have the rest of the week to go!

I'm living back in my hill-top house. It is beautiful, small, and perfect for me at the moment. Somewhere to sleep, and easy to keep clean. I'm also used to where all the ants try to come in - and have stopped that activity quite quickly :)

Dr Knutson (Ob-Gyn) is doing remarkably well with all the living and cultural adjustments. She was very busy today in clinic - and many women came just because they heard she was here. I'm very glad she is here too! Most of the cases this week are Gyn-related, so both of us are working in that area for the next few days.

Besides that, the air is warm and humid, fans are working well, electricity is staying on most of the time, and I have internet! I've only seen one snake bite thus far (they say the venom is less toxic in these parts - mostly), and I'm catching up on jet-lag. Looking forward to a very full day tomorrow. Appreciate your prayers.

Thankful for the privilege and opportunity to be here at this time. God knows what is best - grateful to walk with Him.