The Old Made New - South Sudan Pt 2

2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

I wanted to highlight another one of our patients, John. I was excited to see that our Samaritan's Purse media team also shared his story. Please read it here.

This guy stole a little piece of my heart by simply playing with a small beanie baby lion while waiting for his turn to go to surgery. Even though he was one of the older kids, I think it gave me hope that he still maintained some of his innocence despite everything he has endured.

During his surgery, John's mom paced in and out of the recovery area as at least 2 other patients went in and came out from surgery. She was so concerned even though I reassured her multiple times that is was normal for her son's operation to take longer because of the type of cleft lip defect that he had. When John finally emerged from the OR, his mother sat on the end of his bed watching him sleep. We asked her if she was happy with the result, and her only reply was, "It's okay". Then just a moment later, she covered her face with a scarf and wept.

John's mom giving him his mirror so that he could see his new lip for the first time.

Last but not least, y'all know I love every name change we have the privilege of facilitating, and John was one of many. His name when he came to us was Machiek, which means "deformed". On this one day of surgery we had 8 or 9 patients with this same name. By the time they returned home on the morning following they surgeries, they all received new names and identities, including John.

Don't forget to check out the link above to the SP article for more of John's story and more about the Cleft Lip project. 

Full Circle - South Sudan Part 1

After returning home from South Sudan, I received the top picture via e-mail from our Project Leader in Juba and it brought tears to my eyes. I can't really put into words what it's like to watch these transformations and know that these people have endured so much because of their deformity. This patient, Jacob, almost didn't get his chance, but the plane was able to pick him up after all. Before he left though, his friends covered him in prayer for his journey. I love that his friends were willing to look past his cleft lip and lend their support, and then they were there to greet him when he returned after his successful procedure. Huge thank you to the pilots for sending these pics! It's so great to see things come full circle.

I'm keeping this post short and sweet. The pictures speak for themselves.

For more pics you can click on this link.

Smiles in South Sudan

I am excited to say that I am headed back to South Sudan with the Cleft Lip Team! After our trip last year Sudan suffered through some major political instability, and that's putting it lightly. We knew there were still many people who needed us to be able to come back, but we had no idea if or when we would be able to return. Thankfully things have settled enough for Samaritan's Purse to send the team for another year, and I am so privileged to be able to be a part again.

We have some interesting challenges this year, so please be praying. The operating rooms we usually use, as well as the recovery room, are all being renovated. They have set up a makeshift OR in another area and the recovery will be....somewhere. It's always an adventure :). 

Additional prayer points:

- Consistent power and water supply to these makeshift areas. 

- No lost bags! And smooth clearance through customs. Many of the team members, myself included, are carrying trunks full of medical supplies that we can't work without. 

- Safety and health for the team and our patients. Many of these patients travel miles for several days to reach us and receive their surgery. 

- Security and stability where the political environment is concerned. 

- For our chaplains and the other wonderful Sudanese members of our team. We couldn't do it without them!
- We will be doing slightly more complex surgeries this time. In the past we have done cleft lip repairs only, but this year we are hoping to do several cleft palate repairs as well. It means longer surgery time, more painful recovery and sometimes having to work hard to get the little ones to eat and drink after.

That's all for now. Stay tuned for pictures and stories, as always.