Bus Bombing

If you hear about a bombing in Burundi dont be alarmed. Kibimba hospital is the truma center. We are fine. There are 19 patients here and 25 at other hospitals. Our ambulances were used to transport patients to other hospitals.

FKH mission contiengent

More Hospital Pictures

Here are some more pictures received from Dick Long this morning:

The New Kitchen

The New Storeroom

The New Incinerator

A Little News from Kibimba

Our team members in Burundi have finally gotten access to E-mail! Here is a brief update from Dick Long. (He is having to type on a French-format keyboard, so his messages are short & sweet until he gets the hang of it a little better!)

"We are eating too well and sleeping good. There is not as much maintaince stuff to do so we have not been busy with small work. We have done a lot of planning toward the container placement and where to put stuff. We are going to a meeting this morning for a certificate presentation. Tomorrow we will go to the airport to pick up Fran and Owen. First picture is new awnings. Second is new shop by the generator."

Please continue to pray for safe travel for Fran & Owen Sigley as they make their way to Burundi. Also, keep Fran's husband (Owen's dad) Steve Sigley in your prayers. He had an emergency surgery this morning to remove his gall bladder. Pray for his recovery and for peace for Fran & Owen that they will entrust Steve to the Lord's care.

Burundi Bound

Fran Sigley & her son Owen Sigley will be departing today for Burundi. They have decided that because their schedules would not permit them to go at a later date, they would go ahead and make the trip as planned. The container will not arrive until after they have been there, but they will work at the hospital with preparation for its arrival and doing anything else that Dr. Elisee and the staff there asks of them.

Twila Flowers has postponed her trip to the hospital until after the container's arrival, whenever that may be. We do not have any new information about it, so we are assuming that it is still sitting in Salalah waiting for the congestion at the Dar Es Salaam port to clear.

Several members of the FKH board made a presentation at the Friends Ministry Conference at Friends University on Thursday evening. They showed the DVD that has been used and added information about the contents of the container (including over 500 layettes from Mid-America Friends Women's groups). The report was well-received, and the work of FKH has been recognized in several of the printed reports of various boards of EFC-MAYM. We are so grateful for the support of our Friends churches throughout the region.

Keep watching for updates from the team already in Burundi, the container's whereabouts, and the Sigley's trip. As always, we covet your prayers.

Safe Arrival

The Kellum's, Ferguson's & Dick Long have arrived safely in Burundi, along with their luggage. Here are excerpts from a note received from them this morning:

"Greetings.
We are glad to let you know that we arrived safely and all bags finaly arrived.
We recommand the other team not to come; the container is still in Saudi Arabia.
We met with SODETRA and they have received our money and they have done all they can. We very well welcomed , eating too much , good quarters and you will not recognize the hospital , many good changes , now they have 100 beds .
Best wishes.
David, Mae Kellum and Dick Long"

As you can read above, they were able to confirm what we had thought -- the container is not going to arrive as we had hoped. That means that the travel plans for Fran, Owen and Twila are now "up in the air." We are waiting for further instruction from the Kellum's about that. Please keep praying for clarity from God about this matter.

God Is In Control

Seems that all of our planning has again been overrided by the Master Planner. After several days of wondering, E-mailing across the world, and deciphering messages from New York City, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Salalah, Oman, we have determined that our container is still in Salalah. Furthermore, it is scheduled to be loaded on a different ship than we thought -- the MSC Federica -- which is scheduled to depart now on July 26. The ETA in Dar is now August 2. If it takes a week to get it off the ship and onto a truck, then another week to travel overland to Burundi, it will be at least August 15-16 before it gets to Kibimba. Realistically, we're probably looking at the 3rd week of August. We will just trust that God has a perfect plan for all of this, even though we don't see or understand it now.

The first group (David & Mae, Willard & Doris, Dick) from our team is still traveling to Burundi on schedule. They are leaving from Wichita today and will be working on preparing a site for the container to be placed. They will also be working to devise a method to get the crates out of the container. We don't think the Burundians have any idea what unpacking this container is going to involve!

Willard will also be teaching the training course for chaplains at the hospital. Please remember to pray for him and those who will be in the class. This is one of the most important aspects of our Board's mission & purpose, and one that can easily be overlooked in the excitement of sending equipment & supplies. We must remind ourselves that the ultimate purpose of all of this is to show the Burundian people who come to the hospital the love of Christ. The chaplains will play a crucial role in this.

We will keep you posted on their progress with the preparations. Also, will let you know what Fran, Owen & Twila will be doing about their planned trip. Thanks for your support & prayers!

God is in control!

Still No Word

There is still no word on our container & ship. We will just have to trust that the Lord is once again working in His perfect time, and that everything will come together in just the right way.

We had a great day on Wednesday, July 9, with several people helping to pack trunks with more medical supplies & equipment, layettes, tools and a few personal items for the folks preparing to travel to Burundi to prepare for the arrival of the container. Those who worked were David & Mae Kellum, Gary & Connie Young, Fran Sigley, Owen Sigley, Twila Flowers, Dick & Lorna Long, and Debby McElroy. We packed 10 trunks Wednesday, and there will be an additional 6 that team members are packing separately, for a total of 16 trunks going in the next month.

Please remember to pray for David & Mae Kellum, Dick Long, and Willard & Doris Ferguson, who will depart from Wichita next Thursday, July 17 to travel to Kibimba. They will be making preparations for the container's arrival at the hospital, including some type of concrete pad for it to sit on to serve as storage space. Willard will also be teaching a course on chaplaincy while he is there, in order to fulfill that crucial aspect of the ministry of the hospital.

Fran Sigley, Owen Sigley, and Twila Flowers will be leaving Wichita the following week. They will be helping with unpacking, sorting, setting-up equipment, and storing supplies.

Please pray that God will keep His hand of protection over the container, that the container will arrive at the hospital in a timely fashion, and for traveling safety for our team members. Pray for Dr. Elisee and the hospital staff - that they will be able to quickly learn the most efficient and effective use of the equipment, and that many lives will be touched both physically and spiritually. Pray for Willard as he prepares for and teaches the chaplaincy course.

Thank you for your prayers & financial support. Keep watching for updates!

Somewhere On the Arabian Sea

According to a container tracking website that I managed to locate, the ship with our container departed from Salalah, Oman on Sunday, June 29. It will travel from there to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Please continue to pray for the safety of the ship and the contents of our container.

Also, pray for the members of the Friends of Kibimba Hospital board who will be traveling to Burundi in the next few weeks to assist in unloading, set-up and storing the equipment and supplies.