Michigan and Other News...

(Alicia Typing...)

As some of you may know...Dan and I had the privilege of traveling home to Michigan to see my sister, Angie, and her now-husband, Mike, get married.  It was awesome to see all of our family! 

Our New Family!  C'est Grande!

It was a whirl-wind of a week being back home.  I got to go to Chicago for my sister's bachelorette party and for some last minute packing while Dan went backpacking with his brothers, sister-in-law, and good friend.  

In Chicago

At Highland Lakes in the Huron National Forest

We also got to crash Sarah's (Dan's sister's) prom.  Our plane didn't quite make it in time to see Sarah before prom, so we went and visited her at prom instead.  Doesn't she look gorgeous?  

Some of my friends unexpectedly came to visit me the last Saturday before we left.  It was so great to visit with old friends and to hear the updates on their lives.  I can't believe how fast time flies and how grown-up we all are now.  

Speaking of time flying, Dan and I also celebrated our 6-month anniversary while we were back home.  Can you believe it?

We also were able to speak at Bridge Community Church while we were home and give them an update on what we have been up to in Gabon.  It was great to see all the support we have behind us.  Thanks for all the encouragement!  You guys are great :D.   

In other news...

For the record: it is not actually Mr. Clean that we are spraying on his toe.  It is some kind of  anti-septic that Bongolo Hospital makes...

I performed my first surgery...with the help of one of the missionary surgeons.  I removed Dan's ingrown toenail.  It was so GROSS but so AWESOME at the same time.   I was definitely surprised that Dan let me perform surgery on him.  That's love...right?

Lastly, we have a few new babies on the station.  This is baby Samuel.  His Dad, Jacque, is one of the PAACS residents here and his Mom, Dinah, is one of the nurses at Bongolo.  Aren't they a cute family?

That is all for now...stay tuned for more updates!

Alicia and Dan

Central Michigan University and Beyond!

There is much to update, so we are going to update everything in a 3-blog series over the next week.  Stay tuned...

1. Central Michigan University

Us, CMU team, 2 interns and the Thompsons...with our half-way painted walls.  

(Alicia Typing...)

Well,  the week of May 13th, we finally had our first official team on our own.  Lo and Behold, the team was from Central Michigan University (our Alma Mater).  Fire Up Chips!  It was so great to have some people we already knew come down to the Jungle and to meet so many other great people from CMU.  We also had two interns from Canada (Robert and Reinette), who were really cool and very helpful!

The CMU team was able to do a lot of cool things while they were here.  As some of you may know, the hospital here owns an airstrip a couple of kilometers out of town.  The rain this past season was a bit more than the existing drainage could handle and began running across the runway.  It began creating a small "speed-bump" as we called it in the middle of the runway.  Now, last time I checked, speed-bumps on a runway are probably not a good thing (don't worry it isn't a safety issue, but it could have been after another rainy season).  So our team filled sandbags that we put up to stop the rain from running across the airstrip until a permanent solution can be put in place down the road.   

Shoveling sand into the dump truck

Part of the Sand Bags....Looks like a bunker

The team ended up filling about 140 sandbags!  It was definitely a lot of hard work.  Lots of sweat was lost on this day! 

We also had the team help out with the Sunday School at Bongolo Church.  

Bongolo Sunday School

We taught them the story of Jericho.  After teaching them the story, we took them out to a large field by the hospital and had them help us act out the story.  We were the "walls" of Jericho, and they were "Joshua's army".   

So, they walked around us 7 times, and on the 7th time we shook like the walls of Jericho and all fell trembling down.  

It was so great and the kids loved it!  They couldn't stop laughing. :D

Of course, we also got everyone who wanted to see surgery into the Operating Room.  It was fun to share a passion of mine, even with non-medical students. 

Because this was a team from our home, we thought it would be cool if they helped us make our house feel more home-y.  It took forever to paint! The team stayed strong and got it done.  It was very much appreciated.  It feels great to walk in our house and see nicely painted walls as opposed to off-white walls that were only off-white because of the dirt that had collected on them over the past decade. :D 

There are still more plans in the works, so stay posted.

"Before"

"After"

The team was involved in some other great things while they were here too.  They got to organize and deep-clean some of the nursing stations down at the hospital.  One of the guys on the team was also able to fix a copier/printer for the nursing school.  The nursing staff definitely appreciated all of their help.  

2. And Beyond...

As you may know, we also help out with all the other visitors that come to Bongolo, including: Visiting Doctors, Surgeons, Nurses, and their Families.  Here are some of the things we plug them into while they are here.  

A few weeks ago, I took a visiting nurse on a vaccination run.  Bongolo hospital sends a few of its nurses every couple of weeks into the villages to insure that babies and future moms are getting the vaccinations that they need in order to stay healthy.  The village that we went to was very remote (no electricity).  It was such a great experience for both Carrie and I.  

Some of the Mamas waiting to get their babies vaccinated.  

There were quite a few kids that came around when they heard all the commotion coming from the babies crying.
Their eyes are so intense in this picture!  They loved getting their picture taken and then looking at the photos.

Something else we like to do with the visitors is take them tubing down the Louetsi river.  Here is a picture of us coming towards the end.  It is absolutely beautiful and breath-taking. Although, our tubing season has now come to an end because it is no longer rainy season, so the water gets lower and lower every day.  (It also gets colder and colder everyday....I have even been wearing sweatpants around the house!)  Now, we take our visitors to the Bongolo Waterpark.  (It is not really a waterpark...more info and pictures on that later.)

Our new and most favorite part of our job is getting to take people caving. Aka: Spelunking.  

It is so much fun.  National Geographic has actually come to these caves and mapped out its inner caverns.  It is so cool to be a part of something that only a few people in the world have the privilege of seeing!  It's really hard to get good pictures while you are in there, so you might just have to come visit to totally get the feel of God's secret creations in these caves :D. 

Hopefully, you can kind of get a feel for the caves with these few pictures.  

Getting ready to enter the caves...

Stalactite (it's everywhere in the caves...Stalagmites too)

Random fact:  

We can trace the words stalactite and stalagmite back to the Greek word "stalassein," which means "to drip." This is fitting because it describes how both are formed in nature. Although they look lifelike and a little creepy, stalactites and stalagmites grow simply because of water running over and through inorganic material.

(HowStuffWorks.com)

Some of these are formed over thousands of years!  So cool!

This is Kallie...our tour guide.  Without him,  who knows where we would be in those caves? 

So Dirty!  Notice how pitch black it is in the background!  

3.  Closing Thoughts...

Zoom-in on our newly-painted fireplace

We've had a lot of people ask us about the meaning of the mural above our fireplace.  So I thought I would explain our choice.  Consider this quote by Billy Graham:

"Can you see God?  You haven't seen him?  I've never seen the wind.  I see the effects of the wind but I've never seen the wind.  There's a mystery to it."

The wind is something you cannot see, but you can see what the wind does by the way it moves things, such as the seeds off a dandelion.  The Holy Spirit is also something that we cannot see, but the effects that He has in our lives are the ways that people can see that God truly exists.  The people and teams who visit here are usually here for a short time, but a seed is planted in them .  A seed that we will never know exactly how it has changed their lives.   When they leave, who knows where they will end up...just like the seeds off the dandelion plant.   

"The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8

Just some food for thought...

We love you guys,

Alicia and Dan

Babel

I now have a new appreciation for the term “lost in translation.” Last Friday I was sitting in my house eating lunch when the power went out, since Paul the maintenance director was on vacation the responsibility for driving down the hill and starting up the generator to restore power to the hospital and mission was mine, so I quickly grabbed my keys and rushed out the door. As I approached the warehouse I noticed smoke coming out of the small concrete shed where the high-voltage power cables from the energy company connects to our grid to supply Bongolo with energy. Dr. Thompson and Dr. Thelander were already on the scene and the maintenance workers were quickly finding a way to put out the fire as I pulled up in my heavy-duty golf cart. Although the fire was serious, I knew that it was contained in the tiny concrete-walled shed with no other source of fuel besides the plastic conduit-box and wire insulation that was currently on fire. One of the workers grabbed a water bottle to put out the small electrical fire and as he approached the fire a twinge of terror seized me as I envisioned him being electrocuted as he poured water all over several high-voltage wires! So in my panic I yell at him “no agua! no agua!” he then gave me a funny look and continued to pour water all over the fire putting it out as Dr. Thelander explained to me that the power had already been cut and it was ok.

I then went on to calmly start the generator which restored power to the station, I then replayed the entire event in my head and started laughing when I realized why the worker had looked at me so strangely; I had said to him “no water! no water!” in Spanish! I don’t even know Spanish! When I think of Spanish words the first thing that comes to mind is taco, but somehow in the heat of the moment when my mind was reaching for the French word for water (l’eau) agua is what came out, the mind truly is a mysterious thing.

Because of the fire we had to run the Generator for about 30 hours straight,
burning 200 gallons of diesel fuel. 

Jumping in with Both Feet

(Dan Typing)

I have been busy in the last two weeks, after spending a few days setting up our house I began spending some time shadowing the maintenance director Paul, getting a feel of how that aspect of the hospital runs. Then about a week and a half ago weekend Paul left for a two-week vacation and left me the “keys to the castle.” So far it has been fun and challenging supervising Paul’s staff and keeping things running in his absence. Paul has a crew of about eight Gaboneese workers that really do a good job, and give me a great opportunity to practice my French! 

Some of the guys and I in the Mini-truck

 Last week, I had a neat experience that made me remember how valuable teamwork can be. I woke up one morning and went to brush my teeth only to find that when I turned on the faucet, no water came out.  Paul, the maintenance director and guardian of the station’s infrastructure is on vacation so I am helping fill in while he is gone.  I quickly got dressed and went to go see if I could find out what the problem was.  Dr. Thelander had awoken to the same dilemma and was already at the water filtration system when I arrived. We looked it over and could not understand why the machine was not working, Dr. Thelander had to go on rounds so he left while I called Paul hoping he could shed some light on the situation. After thoroughly checking the system and re-setting it a few times he instructed me in how to by-pass the filter entirely in order to restore water (although un-filtered) to Bongolo until either we could fix it, or Paul got back from vacation in two weeks.

Later that morning Dr. Thelander and I met at the water shed armed with a box of spare parts and a voltage tester…and we took another look at the system. After a good hour of tracing the problem through a complex system of wires and switches we discovered that one of the control panel’s transformers had been taken out by a power surge during the storm the night before, and Paul happened to have a new one in his box of spare parts! After a few more hiccups we were able to get the filter up and running by lunch. The whole experience really taught me a lesson in the importance of teamwork, there is no way I would have been able to fix the problem alone and neither could Dr. Thelander. And we both would have been sunk had we not been able to get a hold of Paul while he was on vacation. On our own we would have been out of luck, but together we were able to get the job done.

It reminds me also of how life can seem overwhelming and confusing, like when I was staring at a mess of complex wiring all on my own, but when we are teamed up with Christ we can accomplish anything, and he can (in His timing) offer us clarity in the most confusing of situations when we stop working in our own strength and look to Him for guidance.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all of your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6

New Water Filtration System

Uuhhhh..... (scratching head)
Diagnosis?  The shiny metal box center top... power goes in, but doesn't come out.
Fix: Replace it!

Good-Bye Libreville....Hello Bongolo.

Alicia Typing...

Hello World!  We realize it has been a while since we have written, and we just want to tell you that the last 2 weeks have been quite an adjustment.  Just to prepare you for what lies ahead...we have posted 29 photos to show you what has been going on the last couple weeks, and how God has been helping us adjust to our new home...Bongolo.  

The last couple of weeks we said good-bye to several people in Libreville.  Some we just met since we got here, and some we have grown to love even more than when we first met them in 2009.  

We said good-bye to our French instructor, Jean Jacque.  In this picture we are giving the thumbs up  because we are now fully fluent in French (wink wink).





This is the guard that works at the guest house in Libreville.  I tried to ask him (in French) if he would take a picture of the three of us (Dan, Jean Jacque and I), but he walked away.  We ended up taking the above picture using the camera's timer feature.  A few minutes later, the guard showed up in his full-on security garb, ready to take a photo with us looking very official.  Apparently, our communication skills still have some kinks to work out!

We also said good-bye to our favorite Gabonaise people.  We had a very nice dinner, danced, and sang the night away.  We truly miss this crew now that we are at Bongolo.  

So then, we packed up all of our stuff and we moved down to Bongolo Hospital where we will be living for the next part of our life.  

This is a picture of the banner that was made as our welcome by two of the missionary children here.  Their names are Sarah and Luke.  In case you can't read the signs, they say, "Welcome to the Jungle, Uncle Dan and Aunt Alicia."

They definitely were not joking when they said, "Welcome to the Jungle".  This is a view from our backyard.  You can see the river in the back that powers the hospital with electricity and gives us our water supply.  

Dan and I also became pet-owners once we moved down to Bongolo.  We now have 2 cats...

Meet Dixie

Meet Domino...Have you ever seen a cat lay like this?  Me neither!

We finally moved into a space of our own.  It is called "Foyer".  It is an old missionary children's boarding house.  It is so huge!  Dan and I find ourselves yelling "Marco" and waiting for the response "Polo" quite often in order to find each other in this house.  We can sleep at least 28 people in beds here, not including the floor space we could use for air mattresses!  It is an awesome space, and we cannot wait for it to be utilized for teams.  

"Before"

We went to work starting to make this space our own, so we did a little re-arranging (and by a little, I mean quite a lot!) Here are a few examples...

"After" 

There are still some things that need to be done...like new paint.  

"After"

"After"

"Before"

Here is our very own Master Bedroom.  We feel so spoiled in here.  We will probably never  have a room like this ever again in our lifetime.  

"After"

This is the view from our bedroom window.  More Jungle!

So, of course we had to orient ourselves to the Jungle, so we did, what we like to call some 

"Jungle-Tromping".

There is a really nice path that leads down to the river.  The jungle is such a great reminder that God truly had His hand in the detailing of His earth.  There are so many things to see in the jungle.  Every time you look somewhere else you discover something new. "Then God said, 'Let the land produce vegetation: seed‑bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.' ...And God saw that it was good." (Genesis 1: 11 ‑ 12)

Bamboo is so BIG!

This is Dan holding a bamboo he chopped down.  The whole
stalk didn't even make it into the picture!

We are still in the process of making our house a "home".   And what makes a house a "home" better than a few get-togethers, guests, and dinner dates?  

We hosted the Bongolo Easter Egg Hunt this year.  It was so much fun hiding the eggs and watching the kids find them.  The little girl on the left (Christine) was so excited when she realized that there were things hidden inside the eggs.  It truly made me smile!

We also got to dye Easter eggs this year.  Yay!  It is the little things that can truly mean a lot.  Dying Easter eggs really helped Dan and I feel a little more at home.  It is hard being away from family, especially around the holidays.  The missionaries here did a great job filling in as family this year.  Everyone is kind of in the same boat around here.  

Speaking of the little things that can truly bring a smile to your face.  We saw this the other day in Libreville.  It reminded me of my sister(she used to drive one)...it instantly brightened my day and I decided to take a picture and post it on the blog.  This is definitely not something you see every day here in Gabon.

Another thing that is truly awesome to witness is the Holy Spirit moving through the Church here.  The people here are so on fire for God, it is truly inspirational and a true testament to what God is doing in their lives.  In saying this, we want you to realize that this also means that church services can sometimes last up to 5 hours.  A few weekends ago, we saw this at church.  How could you not smile?    

That is all for now...

Please stay tuned for a post this weekend on what we have been up to lately.

Love from the Jungle,

The Lewans