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Kudjip, PNG

October - November 2024
Follow along as I head back to Papua New Guinea to serve at Kudjip Hospital alongside long-term missionaries and local physicians. Read more
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  • TravelerKudjip, PNG
    Day 1

    Here we go!

    October 28 in the United States ⋅ 🌙 81 °F

    Today starts a month-long mission trip to Papua New Guinea. It’s a long travel day, starting in Lawrence and ending outside of Mount Hagen, PNG (technically I think it’s two days, plus one that’s missed because of time change). I’m headed to Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in the Western Highlands of PNG. Ten years ago I spent a month there on a rotation as a resident. Now I’m headed back to provide relief to local workers and maybe to reconnect with why I went into medicine. I couldn’t do this without the help of my family and friends, who are so graciously caring for my pets and lifting me up in prayer. I’m excited to learn to lean on the Lord more and see him use me as his hands and feet.Read more

  • TravelerKudjip, PNG
    11
    Day 10

    One week in

    November 6 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F

    Good morning from the other side of the world!

    I’ve tried several times to write a new post, but words have failed me. Probably a combination of jet lag and things being so different here. To be honest, my first week at Kudjip was very challenging. Now after one week, I’ve gotten the hang of daily life here and am getting my feet wet with the medical side of things.

    I think I’ll try giving little snapshots of life here in this next several posts- some about where they’ve put me up, what cooking/getting food here is like, work, etc. For now, I’ll leave this post saying that, despite how challenging life here is, I’m thankful to be here. My heart wasn’t at a place I could say that one month ago, but the Lord has been softening my heart. I’m thankful I can come provide some relief to the long-term missionaries and local doctors, that I can learn from locals and from people who live here, and that I am gaining eyes to see the beauty around me.

    I haven’t taken many photos, but I’ll post the few that I do have.    Read more

  • TravelerKudjip, PNG
    Day 17

    Worlds apart

    November 13 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F

    My plans of writing a little blurb every few days were foiled by my GI system rebelling. I still don’t know if I accidentally ate some gluten or if I caught something. Regardless I’m feeling back to normal today, praise God!

    I wish it were easy to share life here in a few words, but when compared to the US or Europe, PNG is a world apart. I did some reading yesterday- PNG is the 29th poorest country in the world. I see the effects of this every day in the hospital and clinic. Medications we use every day aren’t available, people often come in barefoot because they can’t afford shoes.

    People often delay care. I’m not sure how much of this is due to poverty, how much is cultural and/or a sense of fatalism, and how much is the rugged terrain that impedes travel. There are probably myriad more reasons that I simply don’t know of or understand. So I see patients coming in with advanced cancer yet to be diagnosed. People with TB affecting their lungs, their brain, their spleen, their belly. Infections that we rarely see in the US are more common and often more advanced.

    And yet, I also see people who are so grateful for the care they receive, who give a deeper thank you than I hear back home. I hear children laughing outside as they play. I see families caring for their loved ones. And I hear the voices of staff, students, and families praising Jesus. The longer I’m here, the more I see what a privilege it is to be serving here.

    (I hope to share about my daily life and some stories in the coming days. Pictures are mostly devoid of people as I want to protect patient confidentiality. And I’m bad at remembering to take photos!)    Read more

  • TravelerKudjip, PNG
    Day 24

    A day in my life

    November 20 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F

    I’ve been wanting to share what a typical day here is like. On any given weekday, hospital rounds start at 8 am. Monday mornings start at 7:30 with chapel, Fridays at 7:30 with a doctor’s meeting. After rounds on weekdays, generally I’m in the ER seeing patients. If it’s slow, I got across the “hall” to the clinic and help out there. Every 4 days or so, I’m on call. Usually it’s a 24 hour call, with rounds the next morning before having the rest of the day off. Call varies a lot. Sometimes it’s busy, sometimes not. Patients in the ER or those on the ward with some issue are my responsibility. As I don’t do OB care, someone else is assigned to that ward. I always have a long-term doc as backup for help.

    There’s a more or less protected lunchtime, which has been wonderful. It’s nice to have an hour for lunch and not have to eat here and there between seeing patients. After clinic ends around 4, I often go on a short walk before making (or reheating dinner). Dishes get washed and put away, water filtered, sometimes the floor swept. Some evenings there’s a Bible study or prayer meeting. Sundays the single people get together for a food swap, so they have different dishes to eat throughout the week (I go but eat my own food- the socialization is nice).

    I’ve been sick for about 2 weeks with back-to-back crud, so my time off has been less having fun or working out and more laying in bed. I’m on the upswing from a head cold and pray that it’s gone completely before I leave in a few days!    Read more

  • TravelerKudjip, PNG
    Day 30

    Miraculous recovery

    November 26 in Papua New Guinea ⋅ ☁️ 68 °F

    3 nights ago, while I was on call, I was summoned to the ER for a young woman who was having trouble breathing and was very confused. I did all I could think of- putting her on oxygen by face mask and nasal cannula (to mimic a CPAP), breathing treatments, steroids, diuretics. I did an ultrasound of her heart, which didn’t look abnormal. I told her family that I wasn’t sure she would survive. We prayed together and, when I didn’t have anything more to do, I went home. After more prayers for a miracle, I went back to sleep.

    The next morning I didn’t see her on the ward. As I walked to the ER, one of the nurses rolled her by on a gurney, I thought going to the morgue as she looked lifeless. Her family trailed behind, not crying (which is very unusual). I thought she was yet one more person that we could have cared for better back in the States- she would’ve been intubated, scanned, and in an ICU.

    So imagine my surprise when I see her on the ward, sitting up and breathing ok. I had to triple check that it was her. Today I told her that I didn’t think she was going to make it that night. We praised God together that she is recovering and doing well, and that He is healing her.

    It’s so hard to understand why one person is healed and another not, at least not the way I’d like to see. As I’ve struggled through this confusion, I’ve come to the place of thinking that the Lord asks me to come in faith that he can heal, and leave it to Him. If I trust that He knows best, then I can trust that He will see them through whatever happens. Sometimes we’re not healed, and God works through the grief and confusion. But sometimes they are, like this woman.    Read more

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