Word from Angola

I received word from one of the Short-termers who I was with in Angola. Fernando (who's photo is at the bottom of this page) was able to leave the hospital. He arrived in April with 2nd and 3rd degree burns from his arm down to the tops of his feet. We did skin grafts and dressing changes, he spent 5 months in a wheel chair and his family was such a blessing to me. Praise God he was able to leave the hospital at the end of August. And he was able to walk out of the hospital. What a gift!

Gifts from Above

Never did I realize what a blessing hot running water is for doing dishes. In Angola I had running water sometimes. When we had electricity we even had hot running water but when we didn't have electricity we didn't have any running water other than the water we were carrying as we ran from the big barrel to the kitchen. Here I'm back in Saskatoon and not only do I have constant electricity I also have faithful hot running water. This water is amazing for taking off that stuck on food and grease! Little did I know what a significant choice I made when I decided to sublet my apartment instead of give it up this summer. As I was travelling home people told me about the housing shortage in Saskatoon. This was very surreal at the time but now the I am so grateful that God allowed me to be living here again.
I'm also back in class. For those who don't know I did get into the Anatomy and Physiology class I needed: Praise God. What a gift that was from above! Reminders of gifts from God: yesterday I was riding the bus downtown, it was pretty full. The guy I sat beside began talking to this guy who sat in front of us, who had on this crazy semi-latin american hat. They began talking to me and I asked where he got his hat from he said, "It was a gift from God." He explained how he bought this hat. But it's true everything I have is a gift from God.
My month of August was spent with my family at our farm. My mother enabled me to enhance my skills at the art of cooking. I was able to bake, cook and cann (peaches, pickles, make jam) until my wee little heart was content. I got to do up (snap, wash, cut, blanche, bag, freeze) beans from our garden for THREE days due to the bountiful year of the bean. We were able to harvest about 35 gallons or so- we didn't allow the beans to live on, we pulled out the plants and picked the beans! During this time I was able to think a lot about Angola and process a little bit of what I experienced there- my mom has now heard hundreds of hours about what happened in Angola! However, I'm willing to share with anyone else who wants to listen. I have many photos and stories to share. A huge thank-you to everyone who prayed for me. I had a wonderful, incredible time in Angola and I am forever indebted to you for coming before the Lord on my behalf. It was amazing to see what God did. Here's just a few glimpses:
1. I never knew when it changed. I just knew that in the middle of June I was somehow able to communicate with the Angolans. I couldn't get across everything I wanted to say but somehow we could communicate. What a blessing to have them tease me, admonish me, offer suggestions of people to marry, laugh with me and encourage me. Definitely a gift from God! (I didn't take them up on the offer.)
2. On my last Friday in Angola: there were only 2 of us staying at the flat. We decided to invite one of our Angolan friends for a supper of Canadian food. So Loid joined us, she helped us cook and do dishes and she LOVED the food. She said to us, 'What a blessing it is to have people come here. It reminds me that there are Christians everywhere. We are not just isolated in our little community or city, there are Christians all around the world. Thank-you for giving up your time and your life to come to Angola even for a short time. I know you have a life in Canada that you left to come here. Thank-you. You may not see it now and know what God has used you for but He has used you.'
This was such a gift to hear how this one Angolan was blessed by our coming to Angola! Thank-you for partnering with me in this ministry. God has used you.

Eu chegei. I've arrived.

That is I've arrived back in beautiful Saskatchewan; with its dynamic sky that looms above you and is constantly changing; with its beautiful green and golden fields and lush green trees; with its refreshing rain; and its relatively smooth roads. Angola is not far from my thoughts as I enjoy being with my family and getting into the routine of life here in my corner of Canada. There is something to be said for reliable electricity and hot running water!
God has truly blessed me in many ways, allow me to share one. I was assigned to register for my upcoming classes for the University of Saskatchewan on July 9th. I attempted that day to register and some of the classes I wanted to take were full. This was quite disheartening as I had my life planned out. However, God used this situation to remind me that He is good. So I worried over this (which really isn't a good idea) and prayed over this and asked others to pray too. I was hoping this class would be similar to the Angolan taxis- there's always room for one more. Well, as we prayed God listened. I got back in SK late last Wednesday. On Thursday I believe I sent an e-mail to some of the professors of the course. One of them was kind enough to lead me to the people in charge and they made a place for me in that class. Thank-you to those of you who prayed with me. It is wonderful to see God come through for me again and again. Not everything turns out as I planned and when it doesn't it usually turns out better!
Life on the farm is busy. There is no need for me to sit around and twittle my thumbs. Yesterday I baked until my wee little heart was content. I made muffins, cookies and cakes until the cows came home. I was taking a break by going for a walk. I was merrily walking along and picking flowers as I went- the clouds looked as if they threatened of rain but I didn't believe it was actually going to rain- well it did. Luckily my brother, Stephen, was coming home on his motorbike and gave me a lift. This sort of thing doesn't happen in Angola during the rainy season. O, may I assure you, if you wanted a ride they'd give you one, and if you wanted to pick flowers I'm sure you could BUT it wouldn't be raining.
Today I was able to get all 21 rolls of film developped. I'm willing to show you all of my pictures if you want to see! Just a peak of the Angola I saw and love.

Killing some time!

I never had this problem in Lubango, always lots of things to do, places to go and people to see! Well now I sit in the Heathrow airport in London, and I have a little bit of excess time! The Lord has blessed me with safe and wonderful travels over the past 2 days. I only have one and a half days of travel left- 3 flights down 2 to go! I've been meeting a lot of interesting people- a Jehovah Witness missionary (boy is it interesting talking to them, I met a group of them on the way down to Angola as well) please pray that people will know the truth may they not be sucked into believing a lie. God is righteous, faithful and powerful He will prevail! Please pray for me as I visit with people. May I be able to speak truth in love and may I have wisdom in my words.
I love to see the fluffy white clouds out the window in London. I've had 3 months of beautiful cloudless blue skies so it's nice to see some diversity in the sky!
Love you all see you soon!

Almost Home!

Hey Guys. I'm sorry my updates have been rather few and far between. However, I am alive and well. These last few weeks have been a real blessing for me. Last Monday I was able to go to Tchincombe Farm- it's about 250 km from Lubango. I drove down with 4 Angolans for a vaccination trip from Rio Da Huila. It was wonderful to be able to spend some time in a real Angolan setting. We had real Angolan food for one meal I helped butcher a chicken, watched the women make pirao, did dishes with them. The road to the farm is full of holes it took us about 6 1/2 hours to drive. We stopped at many little villages on the way and greeted people as we went. There was some Portugeuse spoken but more so olumhuila and mgumbwe- so I didn't understand a lot of what was being said but the Angolans were very understanding.
I did all of the prenatal visits with one of the Angolan ladies- Domgingues- as my translator. It was a little unnerving being the one considered the expert. I have done many prenatal clinics with the midwife from CEML but I had never done them without her present. God was with me and as far as I could tell the women seemed to be fine. 19 women came to the clinic- I measured their bellies, took their blood pressure, weighed them and they received iron and folic acid. All women over 5 months got Malaria medication and all women got 2 anti-tetanus shots. Most of these women will deliver in their homes.
The prenatal clinics have been one of my highlights during my time in Angola. As I have said many good-byes already, the Angolans all reply with send greetings to your family, friends and your church. So considered yourself greeted by the staff from CEML, Rio da Huila and the church at nGunga.
I will be flying out of Angola- Sun. Aug. 5 and I will arrive home in Saskatchewan on Wed. Aug. 8. Please pray for safety as well as opportunities to share the love of God on my travels home.

It's crazy to think that I will be leaving Angola in 1 month! As I prepare to register for classes returning to Canada is becoming a reality!
My time here in Angola has been so enjoyable. One of the things I love doing is learning the language and making attempts to communicate with the hospital staff. There are some wonderful nurses at the hospital who's smiling faces I love to see everyday. Many of my attempts of Portuguese, Umbundu and Mhuila (the two tribal languages in the area) are received with confused looks, a small smile or a loud laugh as they realize this white girl kind of sounds like she's speaking my language! At the Rio de Huila clinic we do a pre-natal clinic for around 35 women each week, who will be between 3 and 8 1/2 months pregnant. Shelley, a Nurse Practitioner Midwife, has started the clinic as far as I understand. We take take their blood pressure, weigh them, ask if the babies moving (mopi keta- in mhuila), measure their bellies if they're over 5 months pregnant and listen to the fetal heart rate. Most of these ladies don't speak any Portugeuse so learning a little mhuila is such a blessing for me to have some connection to them!
English class has been going well. Some students pick up the language faster than others. Two of the students have been working on: "Hello, how are you?" for the last 2 months. It seems to be pretty difficult for them, which makes it a little frustrating to teach. However, there are lots of students who are eager to learn and pick things up a lot faster!! We've been singing some English songs these last few days and that seems to be a hit!! Kids songs like: My God is so Big and Jesus Loves Me have great messages and relatively easy vocabulary.
Last weekend we had an SIM Angola retreat. It was wonderful to get together with other missionaries- Esther, another short-termer and I did the music- it was great to be used by the Lord to bless others. We had a good time of prayer, some relaxing time to play Nosht and Rook, and we had a great hike up a nearby rocky hill. On July 1st we sang O Canada and waved a Canadian flag- I think I'm more patriotic when I'm overseas!
I have a roommate- she arrived last week from Belfast, Ireland- Gemma. We've been having a lot of fun as short-termers in our flat. Grocery shopping in a foreign land and in a foreign language have been an adventure.
Thank-you for all of your prayers. Please contintue to pray for language learning as I now translate a little bit at the hospital who know less Portugeuse than I do. Please also pray for patience with English class and creativity in teaching. As I go into my last month here pray that I would know how to best show the love of God to those around me both in words and actions.

Life in Angola

Life here in Angola is going well. I am enjoying my experience at the hospital and teaching English. When I left Canada I was planning on working at the hospital for a while and teaching English later. Well no surprise my plans didn't quite work out like that. I am continuing to help at the hospital when I am not teaching English. So, I started teaching English 3 weeks ago or so. I help teach 2 classes each day from Monday to Friday. These classes were both started by Peter and I am now helping him with class. There are challenges with teaching English, for example somedays nobody shows up or they arrive 10 min. before class is over. But when the students, who are staff from the hospital, come we have a lot of fun together. Next week is the SIM conference- Esther, another Short-termer, and I have been doing some practicing for the music. For the past two weeks I have gone out to Rio da Huila with Peter and Shelly on Thursdays. Here we do an obstetric clinic- this week we had 32 or so ladies out from the villages. Most of these ladies don't speak Portugeuse but they do speak a tribal language, Mumhuila (which we don't speak very well so we use a translator). Each lady is weighed, blood pressure is taken, their belly's are measured and we listen to the fetal heart rate. This last week lots of the ladies were quite far advanced- mostly between 7-9 months.
One exciting thing is that we have electricity most of the time right now. Before we had power for 6 hours and no power for 12 hours but now we have power almost all of the time! So hot showers are more abudant now.
Congratulations to Tim and Erica on their wedding! I hope you had a wonderful day and you continue to see the Lord's blessing in your lives!

Blessings in Angola

Life is going well here in Angola. There have been some amazing stories from people at the hospital. This one girl- Maria about 14 years old- was in the hospital when I arrived in May. She had been walking on the sidewalk and got hit by a car. She had a broken femur and a broken jaw. First they set her leg and we put a cast on (my first experience of putting on a cast). We sent her home to rest up a little more before we were going to do jaw surgery and wire her jaw shut for 6 weeks or so. She came back less than a week later, her mom was telling us how she was eating meat and having a dance party. It was so neat. She had no pain in her jaw and we hadn't done anything. The Lord healed her- there is no other explanation. Another little boy whom I have grown to love is Fernando, 5 years old. He was burned with hot water back in April so he has been in the hospital for over a month. He had some third degree burns but he is doing pretty well. He didn't want to talk to me for a long time- he'd just cry when I tried to talk to him. But now he talks to me, Stacy and Hamilton (a student from Hamilton, ON); last week we discovered he loves cookies- bolachas. So everyday he asks us for bolachas or tells us to go by cookies and come back later. His mom gets him to eat by bribing him with bolachas for dessert!
Last weekend was Stacy's last weekend here- she's has now headed back to the States. So we took a little road trip up to Namibe, which is a port city where there is a beach. The water is a bit chilly but it was very nice to go swimming and sit in the sun. NOTE: when the travel nurse says, "You may be sensitive to the sun because of your malaria medication"- believe her! I have never had such a burn in my life. I must not know how to put on sunscreen or roticerate (spin) in the sun because my whole right side was burned while my left side was still pasty white!
This week I started teaching English to some of the staff at the hospital. So many people here in Angola want to learn English but some days I just don't know where to start. Please pray for wisdom for English class. Please also pray for a way to show these people the love of Christ through my actions and words.

All about Angola!

There is so much to tell you! I have been working at the hospital from Monday to Friday. We start about 8:30 am (or so). First we do rounds around the 40 bed hospital. We visit patients to see how they are fairing, check on patients who were just operated on, make sure that no one has a fever, vomiting and that they're eating, drinking and having bowel movements. The patients I enjoy visiting the most are those who have had vaginal fistula repairs and the pediatric patients.
After rounds we either do consultas or surgery. On Monday and Thursday we do consultations we see patients who haven't seen a doctor, some have problems seeing, some have large abdominal masses, and some have broken bones that haven't healed over that past years or maybe several months. I have been learning a lot and working at the hospital has been very interesting. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday I assistant with operations that means- I hold gauze or forceps that help stop bleeding or allow Dr. Foster to see what needs to be done. Sometimes I'm on light duty- making sure those who need to see during operations (like the surgeon) can see. We've done lots of laparotomies (abdominal), hernia repairs and orthopedic surgeries (bone), some fistula repairs as well as a smattering of other types of surgeries.
Last week- Thurs-Sat.- Dr. Foster, Stacy (my housemate), Hamilton (a university student from Southern Ontario), Tchicuma (an anesthetist from Lubango) and I went to Kalekembe. Kalekembe is a small town with a 200 bed mission hospital, which does not have a doctor but it does have a three year nursing program. We did 44 surgeries in the three days we were there. I saw my first Caesarian section, which was done by the nurses at the hospital; the baby was alive! The mission station at Kalekembe is beautiful, lots of trees-banana, eukalyptus and pine- red roads, and happy people. The running water was only running in the buckets from the well to the house but we did have electricity on occasion. We flew to Kalekembe in an MAF plane, which seats up to 10 people. It was very exciting- I sat directly behind the cockpit!
Thank-you so much for your prayers. I have been healthy for most of my time here. I was not feeling well for a few days this week but I seem to be better. I don't know what was wrong with me. I hope to start teaching English at the hospital soon. Please pray that I would continue to learn to communicate in Portugeuse and that I would be able to build relationships with people at the hospital both staff and patients. Please pray that the fistula patients at the hospital would heal quickly. I have gotten to know some of the women who are in the process of healing from vaginal fistulas. They are so excited at the possibility of being healed and having a life again! It's wonderful to get to know them.
Thank-you to all of you who prayed for me as I wrote the MCAT last month. I have recieved my marks and I did not pass. Please pray for wisdom as I consider the future.
A few things I have learned: Sozinha means alone- I thought perhaps it worked as the word only to. However, I ended up indicating to a patient that I was single instead of asking him if it was only his left leg that hurt.
Sozinho is a nurse at the hospital but he's not alone- he's married.
People laughing in Portugeuse sound like they're laughing in English.

I'm Here

Hello, Hello,
I have arrived in Lubango, Angola and I am doing well. I am still healthy- praise the Lord! I have met many missionaries and spent a day at the hospital. I am living at the guest house with Stacy- a 4th year medical student from Arkansas. Our flat is quite nice- kitchen, living room, dining room, 3 bedrooms. Electricity works either when the city power is one or when we turn on the generator. The guest house is only about three blocks from Dr. Stephen and Peggy Fosters home. Becky Loewen- long term missionary- picked me up from the airport; we dropped off my stuff and picked up Stacy for a grocery shopping excursion. Money here in Angola is very different than in Canada- they use the kwanza but eggs are like 25 K each, bananas 3 for 50 K. 1 USD is equal to 75 K- the value of the K is going up because there will be an election in the next couple of years. Dry goods we bought at the store and fruits and vegetables we bought off the street. When we bought food off the street Becky bartered for us.
The last couple of nights we’ve had electricity from 6:00 pm until midnight and this morning we had also had electricity. We have a hot water heater that has the potential to work- sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn’t.
Yesterday I walked in between operating rooms and observed the happenings here at the Lubango Evangelical Medical Centre. There were people waiting all day. There were line ups when we arrived in the morning and when we closed down in the evening. Some people travel a long way to get medical care here; one boy that was operated on was from Luanda, the capital city in Northern Angola.
I’ve begun reading through Matthew and in Mt. 5 the first beatitude says: Blessed are those who know of their need for God. Since leaving Saskatchewan I have definitely come to know more of my need for God. His faithfulness is evident though through His work in my life. All of my luggage arrived in Angola with me- I was shocked and thankful- 4 flights and 3 airlines and it still got here! I didn’t have too much trouble with airport security in any location and I had no trouble recognizing Becky in Lubango. Thank-you for all of your prayers! God bless.

Flying out Tomorrow

This weekend has been exciting. My life is just one adventure after another! Yesterday I went with my friend from Trois-Pistoles, Quebec, to a quilt show, "Winter Wheat" and to Villa Cornelia, all in the city of London, ON. The quilt show was very beautiful, I do have some pictures, there were many different kinds of quilts. My favorite quilts were of more classic patterns with material that was reprinted from the civil war and the 1920's. Another quilt that was very interesting was made of men's striped shirts! Winter Wheat is a rustic craft shop about 40 minutes outside of London, definitely an escape from city life! Villa Cornelia is an old Victorian house converted into a restaurant.
Today I was able to go to Cynthia's church, an Anglican church close by, and to Sarah's (friend from PRBI) church. It was great to meet many new people and see a bit more of London. What a blessing it is to be able to share with other people what God is doing and to have other people partner with me in prayer! I was able to go to Sarah's soccer game, and here I walked around a park and found a snake, which I fled from. I do not like snakes!!!! We went out for ice cream at "Marble Slab", it was very good. I probably won't be having many of those for a while! We also attended a Bible study with people from Sarah's church and had a campfire and went through the last part of Phil 4:10-end. Such a reminder that being content is a learned emotional state that requires time and energy to develop. The Christian Life is definitely a process.
I watched the BBC news with Cynthia and was saddened to hear of the tornados in Kansas and the riots in France. Please pray for Ariane, my roommate for orientation, as she is flying tonight through Paris on her way to Africa.

I'm almost oriented!

Well I suppose I should be oriented because orientation is almost over. This week has been a huge blessing. There are 7 other girls here who are all heading out on short-term missions trips to the ends of the earth. Tonight we had a prayer meeting with retired missionaries, current missionaries, and short-term missionaries. It was great to be able to share with these missionaries, to be prayed for and to hear some of their stories. Some of these people in the SIM office remember my mom as Dorothy Dyck, from ages ago!
I have good news. One of the girls from orientation, Danielle, will be flying with me from Toronto on Monday until London. We will have a lay over together in London, England. It's wonderful that God has provided somebody to travel with for the first part of my journey.
Today we were able to go to a mosque in Toronto. We were able to hear about Islam and observe their prayer time. It was very hard to see how lost these people are. Please pray for these muslim people, as God loves them very much! Yesterday we went out for Ethiopian food- it was great! The main food in Ethiopia is Injera, which is bread/pancake type of food that is used as a spoon to scoop up different kinds of stew type dishes. It was very good; I would definitely recommend it to anyone!
Through this week we have had lots of time to pray together as a group and share our burdens and joys with one another. Please continue to pray for me: that I would be flexible and that I would remember as much Portugeuse as I can! Love you all!

I'm Ready

The Lord is so good to me! Today at my home church in Glenbush Sk, the Hoffnungsfelder Mennonite Church, they had a commissioning service for Paul, who's going to North Africa, and me. It is such a blessing to have the support of my church family and my family family. (My mom is hemming my scrubs as I write.)
My bags are packed and I'm ready to go. My family has been so helpful; I'm sure I haven't forgotten anything. I've decided to take 2 bags instead of one. I have a big backpack and a suitcase. I may end up using the large back pack as an extra carry on once I get to South Africa, as they only allow one checked bag, as far as I understand. It'll be an adventure and I'll let you know how everything works out.

The end! or perhaps the beginning...

I have finished my last final. It feels good to be done. this year has been great, as I have learned lots and made lots of new friends. School was rather enjoyable most of the time, except when I was madly studying!
Now, I must move on and transition rather quickly into preparing for Angola. I leave on Monday, April 30. Only 3 more sleeps! Right now I'm at my parents farm, I'll be here until I leave on Monday.
On Wednesday I finished packing my suitcase or so I thought. I was rather shocked when I put in everything I had wanted to pack (and more) and my suitcase closed with very little difficulty. I did not realize there was a problem until I lifted it up. It was rather heavy but I thought all of my time spent studying has meant that my muscles have wasted away to nothing. I packed it in my car and drove home. My brother, Stephen, helped carry my suitcase to the house. He stated that it weighed 75 lbs (purely estimation). Upon calculating its weight I have discovered it weighs 75 lbs. I think I can bring 44 lbs. I have a little work to do in the next few days!
Thank-you to all of you who are praying for me, I have been so blessed and encouraged by your support! God bless!

Nearing the End!

Hello folks!
I have now written 5 exams and I only have one more left. Biology 110 on Friday at 9:00 am that means I will be done my first year of University as of Friday 12:00 noon! This year has gone by so fast I'm shocked.
You may know the song "Johnny Appleseed" well today is a great day for me to sing that particular song especially the beginning. It goes like this, " Oh, the Lord is good to me and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need..." You see I now I have someone to sublet my apartment for the whole summer and my English exam is over (which I was not looking forward to but it went well). I have almost everything I need in my suitcase and their appears to be a little room left! I am amazed. Tomorrow Cassidy, my roommate, and I will clean the apartment and prepare to move out. My tickets are booked I leave for Toronto monday, April 30.

It's been a long time since I've informed the world that I'm still alive! Not only am I alive I am doing well. I have finished 3 exams and I only have 3 more left to go! Next Friday I will be done my first year of Univeristy.
This last monday April 16, I wrote the MCAT, which is the Medical College of Admissions Test. Thank-you very much to all of you who prayed for me. If I pass this test I can apply to go to medical school. The test was a grueling 4 hours and 20 minutes with 3 ten minute breaks. It covers general physics, general chemistry, biology, organic chemistry, 2 essay questions and verbal reasoning. I felt the test was pretty difficult but I will find out in 27 days if I passed or failed.
Plans for Angola are coming together. I am half way packed, I have all of my immunizations that I need and I have my plane tickets but no visa. Lord willing everything will continue to come together.
I've been reminded constantly that God's hand is at work in my life. Everywhere I go people offer to pray for me and support me in going to Angola. The first travel nurse I went to was a Christian and offered to pray and to get her kids to pray for me, yesterday I went out for breakfast with my mom and we met one of my friends who I worked with at Redberry Bible Camp and she also offered to pray for me. Why did we go to that restaurant or how did I get that travel nurse? It's definitely God's work, may He be praised!

The semester is almost over. In some ways I can hardly wait for the end but I have many things to do before my last final on April 27.