#14 Cameroon 10-09-05
Dear family and friends,
We are now entering our second month here in Koza.
It seems like we just came and yet seems like we have
been here a long time. French is coming slowly. We
have not taken much time to continue learning and
learning on the job seems to go very slow. But now
that the hospital is getting busier its hard to study
anything not related to patient problems when your
tired. God is blessing the hospital and we are
averaging more than 40 patients now. This is more
than doubled the amount when we arrived. And since
God is blessing the devil is working harder. We have
had some more children die from malaria and other
diseases superimposed on malnutrition. Many are
brought in late having either tried “traditional
treatments†without success or having been at a local
dispensary a few days without getting better. There
are a few that send patients to the hospital in a
timely fashion and others that wait to long.
We were blessed by a visit from James and Sarah Appel
from Bere Adventist Hospital in Chad. If you did a
web search on Bere Hospital you will find their
website and stories. They were in the capital of Chad
and had a chance to visit us. It was so nice to see
friends come into our gate. We had a great and short
weekend. Of course, just half an hour after they
arrived we had to do a surgery, and emergent cesarean
section delivery of a child. They helped with the
delivery. It was great working with them. They also
brought us some equipment from their hospital that
they knew we needed. What a blessing. Speaking of
donations, I want to thank all of you who have sent
money to my father for the hospital. Our last student
missionary arrived about 2 weeks ago and she brought
all of it into the country for us and exchanged it in
Yaounde. We were able to use it to buy medications in
Yaounde (much cheaper rate) and also X-ray film and
developing chemicals. We thank you so much for your
generosity. God is blessing us through YOU!  We also
received medical supplies my parents sent us. We now
have sufficient number of sutures for a number of
months of surgeries. We will also be blessed in that
we have another student missionary coming in one week
and my parents are going to visit in November. We are
enjoying the company and look forward to more. We
just wish for our visitors it was easier to get here.
Also want to thank those hospitals and individuals who
donated medical equipment for the hospital before we
left, that is in our container. It was suppose to
arrive in Douala already. We pray it clears customs
in a timely manner and without fees so that we can get
it up to us as soon as possible.
The weather here is real nice right now. It is still
the rainy season. It rains every few days and things
are all still green. It is very beautiful. The rains
will probably end by the end of October. Then in
December and January it is suppose to get cool (cold
to the people here). Even possible wear a jacket?!?!
It’s usually between 78-85 degrees inside and likely
the same outside. Then in March through June it gets
up to 140 degrees we have heard from a peace corps
worker from the US. That sounds rather miserable. I
hope this is incorrect. But we are enjoying the
occasional rain and the green while it lasts.
Well thank you all for your prayers and generosity.
We pray that we get the ham radio permit soon so that
we can communicate more directly with you all. Until
then please to continue to pray for the permit to come
through. Thank you, The Shanks in Cameroon.
Dear family and friends,
We are now entering our second month here in Koza.
It seems like we just came and yet seems like we have
been here a long time. French is coming slowly. We
have not taken much time to continue learning and
learning on the job seems to go very slow. But now
that the hospital is getting busier its hard to study
anything not related to patient problems when your
tired. God is blessing the hospital and we are
averaging more than 40 patients now. This is more
than doubled the amount when we arrived. And since
God is blessing the devil is working harder. We have
had some more children die from malaria and other
diseases superimposed on malnutrition. Many are
brought in late having either tried “traditional
treatments†without success or having been at a local
dispensary a few days without getting better. There
are a few that send patients to the hospital in a
timely fashion and others that wait to long.
We were blessed by a visit from James and Sarah Appel
from Bere Adventist Hospital in Chad. If you did a
web search on Bere Hospital you will find their
website and stories. They were in the capital of Chad
and had a chance to visit us. It was so nice to see
friends come into our gate. We had a great and short
weekend. Of course, just half an hour after they
arrived we had to do a surgery, and emergent cesarean
section delivery of a child. They helped with the
delivery. It was great working with them. They also
brought us some equipment from their hospital that
they knew we needed. What a blessing. Speaking of
donations, I want to thank all of you who have sent
money to my father for the hospital. Our last student
missionary arrived about 2 weeks ago and she brought
all of it into the country for us and exchanged it in
Yaounde. We were able to use it to buy medications in
Yaounde (much cheaper rate) and also X-ray film and
developing chemicals. We thank you so much for your
generosity. God is blessing us through YOU!  We also
received medical supplies my parents sent us. We now
have sufficient number of sutures for a number of
months of surgeries. We will also be blessed in that
we have another student missionary coming in one week
and my parents are going to visit in November. We are
enjoying the company and look forward to more. We
just wish for our visitors it was easier to get here.
Also want to thank those hospitals and individuals who
donated medical equipment for the hospital before we
left, that is in our container. It was suppose to
arrive in Douala already. We pray it clears customs
in a timely manner and without fees so that we can get
it up to us as soon as possible.
The weather here is real nice right now. It is still
the rainy season. It rains every few days and things
are all still green. It is very beautiful. The rains
will probably end by the end of October. Then in
December and January it is suppose to get cool (cold
to the people here). Even possible wear a jacket?!?!
It’s usually between 78-85 degrees inside and likely
the same outside. Then in March through June it gets
up to 140 degrees we have heard from a peace corps
worker from the US. That sounds rather miserable. I
hope this is incorrect. But we are enjoying the
occasional rain and the green while it lasts.
Well thank you all for your prayers and generosity.
We pray that we get the ham radio permit soon so that
we can communicate more directly with you all. Until
then please to continue to pray for the permit to come
through. Thank you, The Shanks in Cameroon.
Cameroon #14 10-09-05