Ministry and Home Life in Yei

Yei, South Sudan is a city of about 200,000 people. This city sits near South Sudan's border with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 2001, Harvesters Reaching the Nations founders Dennis and Lillian Klepp moved to Yei to start an orphanage in what was then the country of Sudan. Sudan had been through over 20 years of civil war when they arrived.The Klepps felt God calling them to begin a ministry among the scores of widows and orphans that the war left behind. They were given some land from the EPC church outside of Yei and started their work with an orphanage and school. Harvesters' orphanage now provides care to over 150 orphans. (There are children who need sponsors!) They have also established a Christian school that provides education to an additional 400 children from the area.

One of the missionaries gave us a tour of the school which was fun for our kids and informative for us.

To continue on with their vision, Harvesters began a partnership with Pioneers to establish a medical component to their ministry. A hospital was built and in March of 2012 His House of Hope opened its doors. This hospital serves the women and children of Yei and surrounding areas. During our two week stay in Yei, Marc filled in for one of the physicians who had to take a medical leave of absence. Though he was very busy, Marc really enjoyed his work at the hospital. I was unable to break away from the kids during our stay to take pictures of the hospital and see the medical work, but here are some of the pictures Marc took and some stories he wanted to highlight. Some of his pictures are a little blurry as he took them on the fly with his iPhone while trying to be indiscreet.

While we stayed in Yei, Marc worked alongside a South Sudanese resident physician doing a rotation at His House of Hope. His goal was to learn how to perform C-sections during his stay at His House of Hope. Many African physicians are not able to gain enough procedural and surgical experience during their training and have to learn by trial and error once they are in independent practice in rural locations. Marc really enjoys teaching and one of his passions is medical education in Africa. So, getting to help teach medicine and surgery to a national physician during our stay was certainly a highlight.

Morning hospital staff devotions led by a local chaplain

Incubator for preterm infants

30 week preterm infant doing very well

Marc was amazed at the quality of neonatal care His House of Hope was able to provide with such limited resources. In general, infants greater than 30 weeks had a chance at life. The hospital was able to provide a warm environment (even with the duct taped incubator!), oxygen with a nasal cannula or with nasal C-PAP (through an ingenious device that used a nasal cannula attached to an oxygen concentrator on one end and submerged in water in a pill bottle on the other end to provide positive pressure), umbilical vein lines to provide IV fluid until the baby was taking enough by mouth, nasogastric tube feeds, IV antibiotics, and an apnea monitor. Having neonatal services for preterm infants in remote parts of Africa is amazing and truly life saving. It is a testament to the gifts and abilities of the missionary medical staff at His House of Hope.

A healthy full-term female newborn 

 Labor and delivery ward

On several nights, Marc arrived home when the kids were already fast asleep. He would come in looking like this after finishing a c-section... 

I was always shocked when he told me the surgery went fairly well. He was really missing the water proof gowns he used for surgery back in Galmi, Niger. Those will certainly be on our packing list next time around!

We felt like the temperatures in Yei were not as hot as Galmi (I don't know if we'll ever visit a place quite as hot as Niger) but a little hotter than Bundibugyo. The climate was more arid than Bundibugyo which meant grass was more sparse and a play area for our toddlers was tough to find. There was a dirt pile from construction work right next door to our home that became a source of outdoor fun for our kids. On a many occasions the orphan children from Harvesters joined us for our play time. I loved watching the kids play together. Our hot wheels cars, buckets and shovels were certainly a treat for the African children, but I think having new companions to play with was probably even more exciting. :)

Another favorite activity for the kids was playing soccer

We really enjoyed one of the families we met during our stay from New Zealand. Their boys were close in age to our kids so they joined us quite often to play.

And my little "dirt-ologist" sure had a good time getting dirty. At some point in the past I might have been more concerned about my little boy being covered in dirt...in Africa. But, I think I have loosened up a bit. Maybe it is because he is our third child, or maybe it is because I have lived in Africa and "clean" to me now means "free of visible dirt." I read this article a few weeks ago someone posted on FB that made me feel a little better for the laxity I have gained. Maybe dirtiness isn't so bad after all. :)

The church that was started by Harvesters is located on the mission property. One of the Harvesters' missionaries told us it consists mostly of the children and staff from their school, but we did see some locals and a few patients in attendance on the weeks we visited.

On one of our Sundays at church, we saw two of the women Marc had performed c-sections on a few days before. They nodded their heads at Marc in acknowledgement and I couldn't help but think how differently things might have been for them and their babies if a doctor had not been there, able to perform their surgery. It was encouraging for me to see those faces. Marc's work days in Yei were long. He spent many late nights apart from our family which was a challenge for us all. We learned so much during those two weeks about the need for balancing family and work life in a missionary setting. It is always hard to turn away from the endless medical needs that exist in these challenging places. We have been praying over this issue much since returning home as we decide whether God is truly calling our family to serve in this capacity in the future. One of our wise friends reminded us after we got back that Jesus didn't heal everyone around him with a physical need or ailment. He knew when to retreat to be with his disciples and when to retreat to be alone (Matthew 14:22-23). The crowds always came, but Jesus didn't always stay with the crowds and he didn't always do what they wanted. The crowds and the disciples were not always happy about that, but Jesus had Kingdom priorities that didn't always involve healing everyone. I think that is an encouraging truth we have both been processing lately.

We did some celebrating while we were in Yei! We celebrated Eli's 5th birthday and Easter Sunday. I had packed surprises for both occasions and the kids were quite delighted after a month in Africa to see some fun treats. Marc told me if he had known I had been hiding a bag of Starburst jelly beans for a whole month, the kids would have been without some of their candy on Easter morning. They sure didn't last long once the bag was opened.

Brownies were a treat for all!

Even our new baby girl got a little chocolate fix in her system. :)

Easter buckets full of treasures!

Our family picture on Easter Sunday

We had a great time getting to experience yet another beautiful country. I'm thankful that God showed us in many ways over our two week stay in Yei why he chose for us to make a trip there. We made some great memories, gained some new friends, and learned a few life lessons that we will keep with us. We are thankful for your prayers as well! We know this portion of our trip made many family and friends nervous with South Sudan's travel warning with the recent political conflict and violence. Thank you for praying for us and trusting us to discern God's leading for our family. We know that is not easy! We love you all and look forward to your continued support for our family as we make some decisions in the coming months about where we will be heading next.