Below is an update written by Dan Everett, a P.A. student from the States, who has been with us here in Magambua just under a week. He’s spending six weeks with us on a short term mission trip, and has settled in really well. Enjoy! – Jon

“Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for all of your prayers, it is doing more than even I know! I also want to thank everyone for the replies and e-mails that were sent back to me! I really appreciate hearing from back home!

I have now completed two days in the clinic, and wow, what an experience! Just being in Africa alone would be a beneficial enough, but now I am able to shadow a missionary doctor. Shadowing and listening to Dr. Eager, would have been enough; but now I am able to actually do a little hands on work (Don’t worry! I am not performing any open heart surgeries, at least not during week 1).

We usually arrive at the clinic around 8:30 a.m., we have a time for a devotional, prayer requests, and even some singing! Dr. Eager starts seeing patients around 9 a.m. I am able to sit in and listen to the patient’s ailments, accompanied by the Dr.’s diagnosis. During the screenings I have been able to listen to the patient’s lungs, and learn what to listen for and what various the sounds mean, and then how to treat them! SOOO MUCH learning, it is great! I have even had the opportunity to work in the lab with the lab technician named Otto! The lab is great! The first patient had various tests that needed to be run, so Otto took their blood and then used it for the tests. The next patient comes in and sits down; Otto shows me the tests that the Dr. has ordered, looks at me and says, “You try?” The exact words that I was secretly, yet hesitantly, hoping he would say! I successfully took the patient’s blood! The rest of the day I was drawing blood and learning how to run various tests such as: malaria, hemoglobin, stool test, white blood cell differential, syphilis, urine test, and typhoid. All this to say that I am very grateful for this opportunity to be in Africa, learn medicine, and what it means to be a medical missionary in Africa!

Just last night I had the amazing opportunity to travel to a village an hour away, East of Magambua ( the place where I am staying). The Hunzikers, Daniel and Elizabeth, work with Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and have been living as part of the Sandawe tribe, working on translating scripture into the local language. Mrs. Hunziker informed me that they were traveling to this village to show the Luke film, that they translated into the specific Sandawe language, and asked if I would like to come along! I immediately jumped on that offer! While in the village Mrs. Hunziker handed out the Sandawe alphabet! I went over to the kids and they started asking me to try to pronounce their letters and words. Instantly there was a circle of kids around me laughing at my pronunciations of their words! It was great to hear a movie about Christ’s death, burial and resurrection, ALL in their own language! Their language is especially difficult to translate because it involves various clicks and tones made with their mouth; however, it is this exact fact that makes their language so beautiful! I honestly can’t wait till every tribe and every tongue is up in heaven praising God, and I hear people praising in Kisandawe!

Some prayer requests:

-Continued knowledge as I try to learn Swahili and have the ability to communicate with the people!

-But since I do not have knowledge of the language, I pray that the local people will be able to see God through my actions!

-If I am presented with the opportunity to share the gospel with words, that I will embrace the courage and boldness that I know I have in Christ. I love how in Acts 4:13, Peter and John are perceived by the high-priestly family to be “uneducated, common men”, and yet because of the Holy Spirit, they spoke with boldness and it was apparent to everyone who witnessed them speaking that they had been with Jesus! I pray for the Holy Spirit to fill me and give me this same boldness!

Thank you again everyone!!!