A Season of Reconnecting

I was looking over my calendar trying to figure out how it is almost Thanksgiving already.  In doing so I realized that I have been away on  six of the past seven weekends.  I guess this explains why I am so far behind on jobs around the house, updating my blog, etc.  While the past couple months have been exhausting, they have also been a great time to reconnect with so many great friends.  Here is a very brief summary of what I have been up to lately.

 

Prescription for Renewal (PFR) and Missionary Medicine Conference

This is an annual conference held at The Cove in Asheville, NC.  Steph and I were able to attend this conference the three years before we left for Kenya.  This is where we first learned about the work at Tenwek, met people who were/are serving there, and made some great friends from around the country.  This year the conference was packed as Ravi Zacharias was the featured speaker.  We also had the pleasure of hearing from Kent Brantly, Ross Rhoads, and Aileen Coleman among others.

One of the great parts of PFR is the mealtime fellowship.  The food is amazing (imagine butter, bacon, and cheese infused into almost every food) and the conversations are rich.  It is so encouraging to sit around with missionaries (long-term, short-term, and those yet to head to the field) and hear their stories of service.  Steph and I were also pleasantly surprised to see an old friend walk through the lobby door.  One of my best friends from WVSOM (medical school) whom I hadn’t seen in almost ten years.  It was amazing to catch up with him and so many other good friends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACOEP Scientific Assembly

The following week, I was boarding a plane to head to Orlando for a medical conference as I attempt to quickly catch up on continuing education credits for maintaining my license/board certification.  I was able to meet up with another friend from medical school and residency who was also attending the conference.  We attending the pre-conference ultrasound workshop and then spent the next several days hearing about some of the latest advances in emergency medicine.  (One of the challenges for me is trying to figure out what could be feasible in my remote, rural setting of Kenya.)

 

Another great part of these medical conferences is seeing so many colleagues from around the country.  I was able to see former med school classmates, former residency classmates, former partners, and so many other great friends.  The only thing that could have made it better is if there was more time to sit down and catch up with people…all the lectures got in the way a bit.

 

The Saturday after I returned from this conference it was off to Martinsville for a LUCOM sponsored health clinic.  It was an early morning but it was great to have the chance to work alongside our student doctors as they put into practice the knowledge and skills they are acquiring here.

The next day was also quite busy as we attended church with friends followed by trunk or treating.  We then celebrated one year with Joshua and my day concluded with presenting CMDA’s (Christian Medical and Dental Association) monthly webinar.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Global Missions Health Conference

The following weekend we were able to just be home without a full schedule.  I honestly don’t remember what I accomplished at that time….I don’t think it was much.

The week after we were back on the road, this time to Louisville, KY for the Global Missions Health Conference.  While we had heard about this conference for years, this was the first year we were actually able to attend.  This too was a time to reconnect with so many people that we have met over the years (both before leaving for Kenya and while at Tenwek).  Fortunately/unfortunately, we weren’t really able to attend sessions as we spent the vast majority of our time at the Tenwek booth talking with people of various cadres about opportunities to serve at Tenwek.

 

Dr. Ben Carson

The next week provided a unique experience as Dr. Ben Carson came to Liberty University to speak at convocation.  After this he came to LUCOM to tour the facility.  I was able to participate in the tour of the simulation center and of some of the equipment that we are currently using to educate our student doctors.  It was a pretty fun day…and I probably took more selfies that day than every other day in the rest of my life combined.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Samaritan’s Purse Summit

After a few short days back in Lynchburg, we again were on the road heading back to The Cove in Asheville for SP’s Summit.  This is designed to be a time to look back on SP staff’s time on the field and serves as a time of decompression/debriefing.  Only a few of our classmates from our post-residency class were able to attend but it was fantastic being able to catch up with them and also to meet other former (non-medical) field staff of Samaritan’s Purse.  On one day, we were able to go to a ropes course and have a bit of fun doing team building exercises and scaling a three story tower.  It was tiring but very enjoyable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EMS Conference and Speaking at Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

This past weekend as also pretty busy as I was invited back to Lehigh Valley to speak at the annual EMS conference.  I was able to catch a ride in to the hospital with a former co-worker for the emergency department and then spent about an hour or so just saying hello to lots of former colleagues.  It was fun to see the surprised look on their faces when they recognized me.  (Most people didn’t know I was coming.)

After lots of quick hellos, I was able to head downstairs and present several medical cases I saw while serving at Tenwek.  It was so much fun giving that talk and sharing a small taste of the work going on in Kenya.  It was also great catching up with some of my former EMS colleagues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After giving this talk I was able to sit in on some of the conference before heading to central PA where the following day I was able to speak twice at Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church in Spring Run (the church where my dad had been interim pastor for about four years).  The September before we left for Kenya we were able to present here so this also was a chance to catch up with people who we knew and who have been supporting our work at Tenwek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s a quick recap of the past several weeks.  Thank you for your continued prayers as we travel and support raise.  The next few weeks are going to be calmer (I hope) and then we plan to start back with travel and additional support raising as we move into the new year.

 

Prayer requests:

-Pray for our students at LUCOM as they finish exams and approach Thanksgiving break.  They have been working hard and have definitely earned some downtime.

-Pray for the ongoing work at Tenwek.  Things remain busy as always and with several long-term families back in the U.S. on furlough, it can cause additional stress.  Pray for our staff and for visitors who help to fill the gaps.

-Pray for us as we get to travel and celebrate holidays with family/friends for the first time in several years.

-Just pray for the current events making headlines daily.  Pray the Christians will stand up and show the love and compassion that we should be known for.