So, I've decided that I am in heaven in Kenya. I am currently at Brackenhurst conference center in Limuru, Kenya (www.brackenhurst.com) for a continuing medical education conference put on by CMDA (the Christian Medical and Dental Association). The purpose of this conference is to provide continued education that is up-to-date and pertinent to physicians on the continent of Africa (and beyond) so that we can be good physicians and provide the best possible care for our patients. It is so interesting and topics like "Treating Malaria in Pregnancy" and "Snakebites in Africa" can be found here. What CME conference in the States would provide these?
Another perk to being here is the coffee shop. It's located in a building that is all windows on one side that overlooks the beautiful grounds. And, they have very American food! Yesterday I had nachos for lunch and today I had chicken burritos with chips and salsa! I hate to take so much joy in food, but when you go without certain foods for 6 months, it suddenly becomes very tasty :) They also have ice cream, which is very hard to come by where I'm at. So, I'm planning on partaking of that tomorrow.
Yet another blessing of being here is I've been able to see many friends - mostly other post-residents. It's been joked about that so many of us are in Kenya right now (2 at Kapsowar Hospital, 5 at Tenwek Hospital and 5 at Kijabe Hospital), but I have to say that it is wonderful knowing that I have all of these people here with me. We have become pretty close and it's wonderful having a surgeon, an opthalmologist, a pediatrician, 2 family practice docs, one ID doc, one med/peds doc, one orthopedist, and 3 other OB/GYN's that I can call with questions. It's like our own little multi-specialty group :) During the conference, I am staying with one of the other post-residents and having dinner with the Shirley's, another post-resident family. So, it has been a wonderful time of rest, education, networking, and spending time with friends - both old and new.
There is such a wealth of wisdom and experience here. I'm getting to learn about all kinds of things from both people from the US and greats in the world of medical missions. We (me and the other 2 OB/GYNs here with SP) cornered the OB/GYN that lectured the other day to drill him with more specific questions. He was so gracious and sat and talked with us over coffee for about 2 hours. He also gave me some vacuums (to pull babies out) which is awesome since the ones I have at Kapsowar are metal and we achieve a vacuum with a bike tire pump.
I went to a session yesterday morning about spirituality and medicine. It was very insightful and convicting, as we talked about not forgetting the most important part of being here - sharing the love of Jesus Christ with those we serve. It's so easy to get caught up in the busyness of seeing patients and figuring out what is going on with them without all of the normal resources and forget the most important thing - evaluating and addressing their spiritual state. And this doesn't just apply overseas - it should be just as important to people in the Western world as well. One of the speakers spoke about the verse in the Bible that says (paraphrased) "In all that you do, whether eating or drinking, do it to the glory of God." His point was that if all that we do has the potential to glorify God, then all that we do has the potential to not glorify God as well. So, is it possible to do "sinful ministry" - i.e. ministry that is really not glorifying to God. I'm doing meaningless ministry if I save a woman's life physically but don't ultimately save it by making sure she knows Christ as her savior. It was very convicting to me and something I pray I will remember each and every day - especially during the busy ones.
I have almost another week left of the conference and look forward to all that I will learn during that time.
No comments:
Post a Comment