Urgent Needs & Prayer Requests

Greetings from Waco, TX where Debbie and I are visiting my son, Greg, and our daughter in law, Lily, and our granddaughter, Hannah. We’re having a great time, but a few urgent needs have presented themselves. 

Possible Trainer For Our OR Nurses  

Our good friend, and brother in Christ, Tim Musick, CRNA extraordinaire, who administered the anesthesia for my recent knee surgery, has found a very well trained and experienced Ugandan certified nurse anesthetist whose wife is also an anesthetist, who are perhaps willing to spend one year training our Operating Room nurses in general anesthesia at Hopital de Guinebor ll (G2).

Please pray that this will all work out as having good general anesthesia is one of our greatest needs.

Need a New X-ray Machine 

Our current X-ray machine is broken and inadequate.  

Bill Wright and his team will be at G2 Oct 17-November 7 to install our new solar power system. Bill is an electrical engineer and also has much experience in Biomedical.  

The best price I have seen for a new portable unit is $35,000. One of Bill’s contacts will sell CEF a unit for only $23,000!

As a bonus, Bill and his team will transport the new machine, install it and train our personnel how to use the machine. A gift from the Lord!

But, we need to come up with $23,000 by October 9.

If the Lord blesses and the funds are there in time, Bill will pick up the machine and do all the above.

Having our own XRay machine will greatly improve patient care and will pay for itself many times over.

If you wish to help us obtain the XRay machine please send your contribution (soon!) to:
CEF
PO Box 2652
Lexington, SC 29071

General Anesthesia Machine

We need a general anesthesia machine at the CEF hospital in Chad. We were wrong in thinking there is one from Samaritan’s Purse in either of the containers that recently arrived at G2.

We expect to have anesthetists by January who will train our Operating Room nurses in inhalation general anesthesia, but this cannot happen if there is no anesthesia machine.

There is a portable machine that John Souto, Biomedical tech with WMM/SP says holds up well on the mission field. It is made In Kentucky.

If we come up with $11,100 (the company gives $1000 off to missions), Bill Wright and his team can take the machine with them when they go to Chad on Oct 17th to set up our new solar power system.

There’s no other container scheduled for Chad, so it would be great to be able to purchase the much-needed machines and have these new (not used) pieces of equipment available by October 9.

It’s short notice — sorry — but I just found about all this today myself.

Please contact friends, Sunday School classes, prayer groups, etc of this very real need. 

Travel Mercies & Recovery

We leave Friday for New Orleans to spend the weekend with our med school son, Joel.

Next Monday we return to SC where Debbie will prepare for her return to Chad Oct 7 and I will work on improving my physical condition.

I will return to Chad Oct 14, and I need to be ready to hit the ground running ( or at least limping well) and back to an intense work routine.

Eric and Janet Tangen

Eric and Janet Tangen from our Lutheran Brethren partner in Seattle will leave for Chad for a visit of ten days next week. 

Eric is a builder and is seriously considering serving long-term with us at G2 as our plant manager. I think this will be his fifth or sixth short-term trip to Chad so he knows the project well. This will be Janet’s first trip to Chad. She is considering serving as the manager of the housing and guest facilities as well as in nursing education.

The hope is that the Tangens will be available to serve long-term starting in June 2018 when the Oubres leave.  They are sooo needed!

Join us in prayer that the Tangens’ construction business and home will sell soon.

Thanks for all your prayers! They’re greatly needed! Pass this on, please. 

Blessings,

Bert

 

Post Surgery Praise & Prayer Requests

PRAISE: 

I checked in for surgery at Lexington Medical Center in South Carolina on September 8th at 8 am, went to the Operating Room at 9:30, and was home eating pizzas at noon! I had excellent, friendly, and professional care.

A couple of days later, I started physical therapy and am focusing on getting back in physical condition so we can resume our service in Chad.

I praise the Lord for answered prayers and thank those who prayed. Also to Debbie for helping me through this, yet another medical issue.

And to Gail Ferguson for her “open house” policy in allowing us to stay with her as our out of Africa home again.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Pray for Debbie’s father. He’s not doing well right now. Debbie has gone to Pennsylvania to visit him. Pray also for peace and safety for Debbie.

Pray for complete and quick healing of my knee so we can return to Chad in three weeks.

Blessings,
Bert