Maternity Unit Update

Jane worked tirelessly in her attempts to make the Rwandan government
see the value of allowing the clinic provide maternity care to the
surrounding area, however, they have put so many obstacles in the way
that Jane believes it may not happen.  Emilienne, the main nurse there
at the clinic has also put in great effort toward upgrading the
clinic's services to no avail.  Jane, Emilienne and all who are
involved at the clinic appreciate our efforts to help and they thank us
for all we've done.  Josh and Laurie are planning to speak with the
Bishop and the people running the clinic when they are in Cyangugu, to
decide what would be the best way to use the funds we raised in the
community.  Our plan is to still use them for health care of some sort
and to provide needed support for the clinic even though they will not
be improving their services at the clinic.  They plan to advance the
outreach effort from the clinic and provide more care in the
surrounding area that way.  Please keep praying for the clinic and for
God's hand to be on their work.  This may just be another prompt from
the Lord to slow down and let Him direct our efforts. God Bless.

Silent Art Auction for Rwanda

Silent Art Auction a big success   The medical mission team at Cambridge held a silent art auction to raise funds to support the maternity care nurse needed at the clinic in Cyangugu.  We raised almost $1000 and with money already raised we now have enough to pay for the first year's salary.  The new maternity care provision at the clinic will help with prenatal care and provide safer deliveries as well as care for mothers and babies in that area.  It is a much needed addition to the clinic and will help them attract patrons and hopefully move the clinic toward being more self sufficient in the future.  Thank you to everyone who donated art for the sale and to everyone who purchased the art.  The art auction was inspired by Samantha Gompf and Sara Matthews, young artists who came up with the idea as well as providing many of their own contributions to the sale.  God is raising up a new generation of workers to provide ideas and solutions to reach out to our sisters in Christ half way around the world.  Praise be to God for His hand on their lives and the lives they can touch. 

Art Auction

Generous Gift Greatly Appreciated

April 2009 Update:  God has been with us as we work to make the clinic in Cyangugu the best place for maternity care in that region of Rwanda.  We have been having some difficulty with the ultrasound machine there at the clinic.  The Medical Mission Team at Cambridge, along with countless others, have been praying for a solution and God has provided.  Greg Walker from Seimens has again been invaluable to us in diagnosing the problem and going above and beyond with his time and incredible talent.  We have been given a identical Ultrasound unit from which we can salvage replacement parts.  Washburn University in Topeka has graciously given us a unit that they no longer need and is not currently functioning, but has the parts we need to upgrade the repair the unit in Cyangugu. 

This is a generous gift and greatly appreciated.  We have been offered another unit in Bend, Oregon, but are having some difficulty trying to figure out how to get it to KC.  The biomed engineers at St. Joseph Medical Center, who work for Trimedx, have offered to help disassemble the unit for shipping to Cyangugu.  Steve Harper has been generous enough to provide packing materials for the parts to be shipped.  We are so blessed by everyone and we want to thank each person who has provided time, equipment, talent - but most of all prayer.  The Cambridge Medical Mission Team is so grateful and humbled by the support we have been given.

Addition Nurse to join the Mission Team

Exciting news from Cyangugu
Cambridge Medical Mission Team is putting our money to work at the diocese
clinic in Cyangugu.  Dr. Jane Hill has asked us to support their new maternity services by financing an additional nurse for the unit.  Cambridge is thrilled to be able to help our brothers and sisters in Christ in this way.  The clinic is just waiting for their final inspection and they will be able to start offering safe, efficient maternity care to the people in the surrounding area.  Our funds will help to ensure that they have 2 full time nurses on staff and they hope to be able to assist in up to 5 deliveries a week.  Dr. Chris is spending his time getting accustom to the ultrasound unit we repaired December of '07.  The clinic hopes that being able to offer this diagnostic tool will draw women in to the clinic and assist in safer deliveries. 

 

The clinic which is owned by the diocese is also hoping to offer basic dental care starting in August of this year.  Rwanda Aid manages the clinic and funds most of their operations.  They currently have 10 outreach sites that they visit to treat patients in outlying areas who aren't able to get to the clinic.  They offer HIV treatment and general medical care to the community.  This is such a concrete way that Christ is working in Rwanda to improve health care and save lives.  God Bless Dr. Jane and Dr. Chris and the nurses that make this possible. 

Rwanda Photos for Sale

We took some amazing photos on last years Rwanda Missions trip. The Medical Missions Team has established a website where anyone can purchase some of these photos online. This is a great way to promote Rwanda Missions among businesses, friends, and anyone looking to contribute to our efforts in Rwanda. The proceeds will go directly toward improving medical care in Cyangugu province, the remote parts of Rwanda to which we are connected.

You can purchase the images or refer people to http://CambridgeMedicalMission.imagekind.com/. Please share this with anyone who might want these incredible photos or to help us raise money for the medical mission!

Thanks to all and God bless!

Sharon Gompf & Melissa Matthews, Cambridge Medical Mission Team

A blessed trip to Rwanda

The mission trip to Rwanda was an incredible adventure and opportunity to share the abundance the Lord has given us with our brothers and sisters there.  Bishop Geoffrey, Mary and Peter, their son, met us at the airport.  It was so nice to see familiar faces after such a long journey. All of our medical supplies arrived intact and ready to be delivered to the diocese clinic in Cyangugu.  The staff at the clinic were very grateful for the supplies, most of which were donated by St. Joseph Medical Center and Medical Mission Foundation.  The medical staff at the clinic, Noella, Sifa, Isaiah and Leandre, were wonderfully professional and willing to assist me in any way.  Emilienne Nyiraburanga, who runs the clinic, was especially helpful as was her wonderful husband, Emmanuel. Emilienne helped repair of the ultrasound machine and accompanied me and Leslie Treas (a nurse practitioner and Cambridge member) to Gihunawe Hospital for a tour.  Emilienne's hospitality was greatly appreciated. 

We were also grateful for the assistance of Ian Whiteford, who has lived in Cyangugu for a year and a half with his wife, Sheena.  Ian is the Project manager for the diocese and Sheena is the Education services manager.  They are a lovely couple from Scotland, who share our love for the Lord and commitment to service.  Thankfully, with our Lord's help, Ian, Emilienne and I were able to remove the broken monitor from the ultrasound machine and replace it with a working one.  We have to also give credit to our Greg Walker, a service technician from Siemens who, from memory, told me how to replace the monitor over the phone!  I feel blessed to have had such incredible people and an awesome Savior to work with on a repair that would have otherwise been impossible.    The Medical Mission Team at Cambridge is currently looking into how we can best help the clinic and staff.  The clinic is looking to diversify their services and provide emergency care, maternity care, as well as other sonographic procedures, dentistry, and optical care.  We are so blessed in the states to have such incredible health care; we must thank the Lord for our abundance and support those who aren't so lucky.  We continue to look for business partners in this venture.  If you know of any companies that might be interested in helping the underprivileged of this area, please have them contact  Melissa Matthews (jmarkmathews1@earthlink.net) or Sharon Gompf (gomsas@aol.com).

 We feel God has already blessed this ministry and has a hand in the forward momentum of the mission. Praise be to God, and may He continue to guide and direct our efforts in helping our wonderful brother and sisters in Rwanda.