12-8-06
Hello Family and Friends,
We sit here coming up on Christmas. Oh what we
wouldn’t give to be back in the northeast of the USA
with our families, in the snow, sledding, and getting
ready for Christmas. As those of you who travel
around Christmas may agree, It’s hard to be away from
family and friends especially at Christmas. We have
made some decorations: snowflakes, paper angels, had
some Christmas lights given to us when a peace corps
worker left the country, and have lit the “spiced
apple cider†candle. We are playing Christmas music.
The temperature doesn’t match up for us! Its 85 in
the day and 65 at night. It’s hard to get in the real
spirit of Christmas. Though as I look at the
surroundings, it is very much like I would expect what
Bethlehem was like. Dry, dusty, cool at night, hot
during the day. Cattle, sheep, donkeys, goats roaming
over the landscape with little boys “shepherdingâ€
them. Most of the animals mangy from roaming around
in the dust and foraging for food. It is similar to
what I imagine it may have been like back then.
What are you thinking of at this season? How to make
ends meet to buy the presents you “need� Who to get
gifts for and who to leave out? Who will be offended
if I don’t give them a gift? Though Christians in
general are pretty sure that Christ was not born on
Dec. 25th, that is what the season is all about. What
are you giving to HIM this Christmas. Are we
remembering Him or everyone else, and our wants. Do
you have a neighbor in real need? Do you have a
neighbor with much less than you? Who will you help
at this season? Remember all that Christ has done for
you, as you plan for this season. Please pray for us
also as we spend a special holiday away from you all!
In His Service, Shanks
Shanksteps of Faith #50
11-20-06
Hello Friends and Family,
We are now receiving text only emails at home via ham
radio. Our email at home is ( removed for security resons. if needed email news@missiondocs.org It
cannot receive pics or large documents. It is an
extremely slow download. So if any of you want to
write feel free. Our other email is still active and
checked about every 2-4 weeks.
So I’m in my office and I see two interesting
patients today. One has a involuntary movement of her
neck. Her head involuntarily moves with her chin to
her left shoulder. She says it has happened for the
last two weeks. She is an adult. It appears to be
gone when she is trying to do things that I observe.
But she says that when she carries water on her head
(as everyone carries heavy things here) that it falls
off unless she is stabilizing it with her hands. So
it has significantly hindered her family duties. I
suspect spastic torticollis but have none of the real
meds she needs and she doesn’t have money to go all
the way to Maroua or elsewhere. I gave her Diazepam
and hope her symptoms improve, and will see her back
soon.
Another I saw today came to me because he has leg
swelling of his left leg. He says his right ankle
started hurting a year ago, then it went to his right
knee then right hip. Crossed to the other hip then
down to the left knee with swelling of the thigh two
months ago. He also had swelling and pain start next
in his left knee then pain down to the left ankle
without swelling. So when I look at his leg I see a
normal skinny leg on the right and a huge basketball
sized thigh on the left with swelling of the left
knee. I aspirate and get a yellow, thick, very cloudy
fluid. “Cytology†only shows “thick fluid with some
leucocytes.†So I chose to drain the stuff. I numbed
up the skin and incised it. The liquid shot about 3-4
feet out horizontal from the patient with the pressure
inside. We drained about 10 liters of fluid and
packed the huge cavity. Diagnosis uncertain. I will
do some reading and hopefully come up with some ideas.
It was not attached to the knee joint that I could
ascertain. Any ideas?
We struggle with the descriptions of things many
times. I have patients that tell me that “it†starts
low in the belly then moves up to the epigastrium then
to the chest and then back down. When I ask what “itâ€
is they repeat the same again and again. When I ask
what the sensation is he repeated. When ask if it was
pain he initially said yes then declined. Burning?
Heat?…. each time yes then no not really.
Frustrating. We hope to start learning Mafa soon so
that we can communicate with our patients more
directly. It’s difficult to want to spend time in
language learning after working. By learning the
predominant language in our area it would also help us
with ministry.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we are
busy and dealing with difficult issues with some of
the hospital workers. Pray for our wisdom and
leadership, and most of all that we continue to follow
God’s leading. In His Service, Shanks
Shanksteps of Faith #49
11-8-06
Is the Devil real? Do spirits really bother people?
Are spells cast on people? I believe that the answer
to all of these is emphatically YES! We have seen
more evidence of that here the longer we stay. I
don’t know if it is happening more often or that we
are just more aware of what was already happening.
The nurse asked me to see someone who was convulsing.
The family had just called him for the convulsions
and he grabbed Valium and a syringe and headed for the
room. On the way he saw me and asked me to come over.
When we walked in she was lying there normally. So I
began asking some questions to determine whether or
not she had convulsions. She had had “them†for a
week at a dispensary. They happened more often in
evening and at night. The convulsions were described
as a hiccup that got worse and worse then her eyes
went to the back of her head and she was rigid. I
believed she was conscious with this description so I
asked her what she felt when this happened. The
response was, “I get chest pain and it hurts right
here (pointing to the center of her chest), and its
when the spirits stab me!†So I questioned further.
But she immediately went into one of these episodes
just as was described. I realized this was not a
physical battle but a spiritual one. I placed my
hands on her and prayed out loud. I asked God to talk
away any spirits, to show the family His power, to
drive the devil and his angels away from her and the
hospital. She immediately stopped, PRAISE GOD! After
prayer she looked normal again. Then she started
looking at the ceiling and talking. I asked the nurse
what she was saying. He said that she saw spirits who
wanted her to go with them. They were offering her
suitcases of money, a new car, a mansion of a house.
She kept talking… Then she started saying that she
had grown up all her life without these things and did
not want what the spirits had to offer and she would
not go with them. She refused their gifts and to go
with them. Then she looked normal again. I noticed
that while she was saying this she was fiddling with a
crucifix around her neck. I asked if she was catholic
and she was. I then encouraged her that our God is
more powerful than any spirit and that she should
never accept to go with the spirits. God loves her
and is more powerful than any spirits. This is the
REAL reason we are here, to tell/show Gods love to our
patients.
Why do I tell this story? It is to reinforce in each
of your minds that there is a devil that is trying to
take control of each one of us. But God is always
more powerful and if we accept His power and will in
our lives there is nothing the devil can do but to
leave us alone. I just pray we each one keep
accepting Gods power in our lives. Please pray for
her and us as we try to help our patients heal
physically and spiritually.
In His Service, Shanks
Shanksteps of Faith #48
#48 Shanksteps
10-7-06
Sorcery? What does this make you think of? Here in
Cameroon it is a very commonly used term. We have
heard it described usually in reference to the cause
of a sickness or death. We had another patient
recently that was brought in with a severe headache
and we found malaria in testing him. Apparently he
was at school. A classmates pencil fell on the
ground, he picked it up. The classmate thought he was
steeling his pencil so he cast a spell on him. The
patient immediately felt a severe headache. The
classmate and his father are known in the community to
be powerful sorcerers. When the guy with the headache
went home his mom brought him into the hospital. We
discovered malaria and typhoid and started treating
these. Later his father came home. He heard what had
happened and that the son was at the hospital.
Many people don’t believe in casting of spells or in
the power therein. I know I have not in the past. At
this point in life I very much believe that things
like this DO happen. I believe it is the power of the
devil that is being used for the spell, magic. I also
know that the devil is stronger than I or any other
person. BUT I believe that my God is more powerful
than him. The devil is a created being that was once
an angel in heaven as the Bible recounts. He chose
not to follow God and was cast out of heaven. I
imagine you believe that angels are stronger than you?
So is the devil, without Gods help.
This leads back to the story. So if you don’t
believe in God but you do in sorcery, how is the
hospital going to help in this illness. It wouldn’t.
So this father insisted that he take his son home.
The cure is for a more powerful sorcerer to cancel the
previous spell. We wanted him to stay in the hospital
because we know that our God is more powerful than any
spell, and He heals! Well the father left with his
son and took him straight to the father of the one who
cast the spell to undo it. I’m sure exchange of
money, and sacrifices took place to cancel the spell.
Another thing frequently noted here it that a
sorcerer must “manger†or eat his victim. This seems
not to be a literal eating but more a keeping in close
contact with them to keep the spell active.
Apparently there have been patients in the past who
spells were cast, then they came into the hospital.
Some nurses said they have seen a sorcerer come into
the hospital to see the person they cast the spell on,
then that person died. When we asked if the people
are scared to know or be friends with the sorcerer the
answer is usually no. Everyone knows who they are but
as long as you don’t cross them all is OK.
In the US when we think of an owl what crosses your
mind? Wise? Neat contortionist neck, large eyes,
barns? Here these are part of bad luck. They
represent sorcerers that have metamorphasized into the
owl to hunt out certain people to cast a spell on
them. So when people see an owl they are usually very
afraid that something bad is going to happen to them.
Sorcerers also take the form of black cat, donkey or
pigeons.
So the devil has a strong foothold of belief here.
We believe the devil is very active. The Bible
describes him as a “roaring lion seeking whom he may
devour.†We see evidence of this around us here.
Please pray for wisdom, for us, on how to best combat
the devil on this Cameroonian battlefield. And how to
teach the animistic people in this area about the God
who can save them spiritually and physically from the
harm and fear of sorcery. In His Service, Shanks