As I have approached my return trip to the US, a number of feelings have sprung up inside of me. I am excited to see family and friends and to have some much-needed rest. I am sad to leave the many friends that I have met here. I feel guilt over the workload that I am leaving behind to others during my absence. I feel remorse over the ways that I have failed to be the doctor and witness of Christ that this community needs. I am excited about the vision and calling I feel for when I return in June. I am touched by the many memories I have with patients and the friends that I have made here.
I have been thinking a lot about union recently. God has created us for union with Him. We are only made whole, only able to serve and love others out of union with Him. The work I do here in Papua New Guinea can be exhausting and heavy sometimes, more than I can cope with on my own. When I have attempted to go by myself, I have run into burnout and versions of myself that I don’t like, that do not show Christ to the people here. But when I am connected to Him, I feel His sustaining love and joy helping me in my work. It helps me to listen patiently, to explore the pain others are feeling. It helps me to be a better doctor and to see Jesus in those I serve.
I feel a deep ache as I leave. I will miss this place and these people. But I am excited to reconnect with my family and friends in the US as well. I could not do what I do without your support and prayers. Please reach out to me while I am in the US. I would love to talk or video chat to hear about how you are and what you are doing as well as share more of my life.
Life Updates
Stella loves our new chickens! She can’t quite figure out why they do not want to play with her. She has tried to make other friends as well.
We saw a spike of patients in January as most hospitals around the country had limited services due to the Christmas and school holidays. With a limited crew of doctors, we routinely saw 100-150 patients a day!
One of my patients was a little boy who had swallowed a coin two days before coming to the hospital. Our surgery team was able to use a catheter to get behind the coin, inflate a balloon and pull the coin out. Another patient was a young man with months of abdominal pain with worsening over a couple of days. All of his labs and his ultrasound were normal; however I followed an impulse and got an Xray. Praise God that He gave me that impulse because there was a large amount of free air on the Xray (an emergent finding usually due to a hole somewhere in the bowel). In surgery he was found to have an intestinal perforation, likely secondary to typhoid.
I have been leading a book study for a few PNG guys that I work with at the hospital. It has been so good to learn from them and to process some deep questions together. One of the highlights of the last few months was hearing one of them excited about getting a better understanding of how good life with Jesus could be.
I work with a great group of doctors. Please be praying for them, for strength for their work and encouragement as they take care of a large volume of patients.
