We are almost closing the first half of 2015 and God has
really been so good to us. He has kept us safe on roads and through bushes on various
journeys as we reach out to the unreached communities with the gospel of Christ.
Thank you for following us and for having FoHA on the list of the ministries that
you pray for and support in Africa. We are honored and blessed!
In this post we are grateful to God to be sharing with you
updates of our previous Medical Mission, thank you for supporting the mission
and for praying with us.We had a wonderful time, screened the women for Cervical Cancer, Treated various diseases, preached the gospel, sensitized people on health and also gave out clothes. We got patients from 9 surrounding villages between 20 to
87 years of age including the children. The common diseases that we treated were
Back pains, Respiratory tract infections and malaria.
Unlike in the previous medical missions, this time we were
able to also screen the women for cervical cancer using VIA method and 50 women
were screened. God was so good that we
did not register any positive cases but got a number of patients reporting with
Pelvic Inflammatory diseases, Candidiasis and Urinary Tract Infections which
were all treated.
Many women refused to get screened because they feared receiving
positive results, others said it was not culturally proper for them that their
husbands would not allow them and others said they felt they were very ok and
there was no need of getting screened. Based on such comments and excuses we realized
a need for intensive sensitization on cervical cancer in communities to save
the women.
We received a number of patients who reported with cases
that needed both partners to get treated but most of them had not moved with
their partners which might predispose
them to getting reinfected since such cases require both partners to get
treatment.
Some of the
challenges we faced during the mission were;
·
Mission
Van: Because we were not able to raise all the funds as per our budget, we
had to reduce on the number of mission days as this would also help us to cut
on the hire fees for the van. We needed to finish much earlier than usual to
avoid paying extra fees for using the van beyond the agreed time. Our prayer is
that God will provide us with the van to help us during the missions.
Public Address:
During missions we preach and also health educate which requires us to have a
public address system. Because of the sunshine, people were scattered and very
hard to hear what was being communicated since we had no speakers and
microphones.
·
Screening
Method: We use a Visual Inspection Method (VIA) with Acetic Acid during the
screening. However some women were elderly and VIA was not possible which
required a Pap Smear which was not Available.
·
Fear and
Little Knowledge: The word cancer
alone scared very many people because they believe it’s incurable. Although they fear it they don’t know much
about it and how it is caused that some said they would rather live with it in
doubt than receive a confirmation that they will be dying sooner from cancer. We
had questions like “Is cancer Syphilis, Gonorrhea or what?” Using medical terms
could not explain it all which will require us to get charts to explain during
the missions. We also found it very hard to explain to one of the male patients
who developed a cancerous wound on his leg to accept amputation of his left leg
which the doctors recommended and he gave excuses that when he dies he wants
his all parts to be on his body that dying with out one of his legs.
In all the mission was successful and the
seed of salvation was planted. We ask you to continue praying with us and also
to consider supporting our upcoming Medical Missions, monthly, quarterly or
with a one time donation. To know more
about Medical Missions and the other
programs; Safe water, Child Sponsorship,
Rural Health Evangelism or YouthOutreaches, visit our website.
We would also love to hear from you, contact us today to know more about
FoHA and how you can GIVE towards our
ministry.