Jarretts Ministry

Jarrett’s Prayer Letter
Volume 5, Number 10
April 17, 2004

Dear Friends and Family:

Thanks for your many notes of encouragement this week. It helps a lot to know that you’re “out there”. It’s would have been an exciting week even without the controversial picture that I posted on the website. Marty will return from safari tomorrow perhaps with new adventures to report, and hopefully she will be mollified that the appropriate measures were taken to correct any false impressions that may have been taken away. For those who have not yet visited the website photo gallery, particularly those who receive our letter by post, you can view the pictures of our ministry, including the picture of Marty feeding the rhino, at http://graphicintegrity.net/jarrettsministry/gallery.php

This week’s activities for me seemed to focus mainly on community ministry, although I’ve worked each day at the hospital as well. I even worked until noon on Friday before I figured out it was supposed to be my day off. Half of the long-term doctors are on vacation; the month of April is often vacation time for the long term staff since field retreat is at the first of the month and many just extend the time. Many have headed for Mombassa, which is where we’ll go next Friday, Lord willing.

Thursday evening, David Kilel and I headed down the road towards Sigor to visit four orphans who are second cousins to Philip, one of our chaplains. He joined us on the way. I’ve never been to Sigor, which is south of here about 30 kilometers, but I know it by the referrals that we get from the sub-district hospital there. Since none of the referrals have ever been good ones — that is, patients who are sent so late in the course of labor that it’s difficult to save the baby — I haven’t had a favorable mental image of the place. As we bumped along the dirt road I began to appreciate some of the difficulty that the hospital there must have in transporting patients, particularly if it’s been raining. This night, the road was dry and we made good time.

In contrast to many of the visits with David to see orphans, this house was pretty easy to reach. We parked the car at the road and walked up a gentle slope about 150 yards. The lane was fenced on either side, and the cows were being driven home just ahead of us. We entered the field next to the house by removing the split rails from the gate. Usually we have to climb over the fences. The house was Philip’s boyhood home, but he now lives near Tenwek. His wife and children are in Nakuru, some 3 hours away, while she furthers her education. We were soon greeted by a variety of children and women, each of whom shook our hands. The home now belonged to Philip’s aunt, a woman probably over 60 years old. The orphans were her grandchildren.

David explained that there were 5 children from this couple who died in 1996. The oldest son was off in Nairobi trying to find a job. They had managed to put him through school for the remaining three years of his education by holding a harrambee [translated – we all work together] — an event where everyone in the surrounding area is invited to come and contribute money to a particular cause. The remaining children, three girls and a boy, were not being well cared for, although the oldest girl was now in high school and receiving assistance from our education fund. She had been to our house at one time. The other children were still in grade school. David had asked me to bring a pair of shoes for one girl and some pants for the boy, Timothy, who is in 8th grade.

We entered the large, round mud home with the traditional thatch roof. This home was large enough to have a dividing mud wall which made the sitting room a semi-circle. Cooking was taking place on the other side of the wall, which had a doorway through into it, as well as an 8 inch peep-hole, the purpose of which was unclear to me. The room where we were seated had an outside window in it, the main purpose of which seemed to be to allow the vented smoke from the other side of the house to recirculate into the sitting room. After our visit, my clothes smelled like I’d been on a weekend camping trip. We sat down in chairs with a small table in front of us. The children all sat on benches that were brought into the room for the event. Soon we were joined by Philip’s mother who still lives in the area. She greeted us all warmly. A few more young women with babies came in, and an 18-month-old boy was put out of the cooking area to join us.

Finally, we were joined by Philip’s ancient grandmother. She has to be in her 90’s. She came in from the kitchen, walking with a cane. She greeted each of us; we all stood and shook her arthritic hand with our right hands, but with our left hands holding our right elbows as a sign of respect for her age and status. [I get that handshake a lot from people, hopefully for my status rather than my age.] She seated herself next to us under the window, and pulled a shawl over her grey hair. Her skin was very black, and her eyes had a very strange appearance with both cataracts and trachoma [eyelid disease]. They looked like two large hollows in her face in the darkened room – there just wasn’t enough light to see the contrasts. Then she began to sing a Christian song that she learned in 1918 from an early white missionary, a man named Anderson, when she was living at Litein, some 40 kilometers north of Tenwek. This was at the same time that Wm. Hotchkiss, the first missionary in the Tenwek area, was ministering.

The routine was familiar. We sang a Christian song in Kipsigis. I have heard it enough that I can sing it fairly well, even though I don’t know what most of the words mean; it’s sung to the tune of “I’m so glad that Jesus loves me”, but I don’t think it’s a direct translation. We all stood up and gave short speeches. Mine was longer, as David asked me to give my testimony. David translated the speeches into English for me. I was the second white missionary to ever be in the home. Another had come during a famine many years ago and had inquired of the family’s welfare. Next we were served chai [milk, tea, and sugar]. Only the adults were given cups – there probably weren’t enough to serve the children at the same time.

I had noticed Timothy’s clothes when we first came. The pants were baggy and worn. The shirt seemed to be a woman’s blouse. I hoped that the jeans that Marty had picked out for me to bring would fit him. While we sipped the boiling hot chai, I gave Timothy the jeans to try on. I also gave the younger girl a pair of used tennis shoes. She came back beaming as they were an exact fit – fortunately, because it was the only pair of shoes I had left that would be for her size. Soon Timothy came back with the jeans – another perfect fit, right down to the leg size — thank you, Lord. Marty had put a shirt and pair of socks in the bag as well, so I gave him the T-shirt as well. This was an official Indiana Pacers jersey shirt, and it really looked great on him. He was really beaming!

It was 6:45 in the evening and getting dark. I gave each of the adults and older children a gospel tract in Kipsigis. We shook hands around again, and started out the yard. A large bull protested loudly that we were coming through his pasture, but made no further threat. We took some of the family down the road to their homes, and picked up a hitchhiking woman with her baby. If he had been wearing a diaper, which he wasn’t, he would have needed a new one. I’d guess there are more than a few disadvantages to carrying a baby on your back all day. The road was very dark with precious little moonlight, yet people were still walking along and even riding bicycles without headlamps. It’s amazing that they don’t end up in the ditch.

As we traveled back to Tenwek, David asked me if I would like to address a group of widows on Saturday morning. The Bomet AGC church was having a women’s conference that day with women from 15 other congregations expected. I could give a two hour talk – that wouldn’t be a problem, would it? Since the plight of widows and orphans is a major concern to us, I said that I’d be glad to do so.

After rounds on Friday, I spent the rest of the day and evening working on the talk. The computer program, PCStudy Bible 4, which I purchased in December on e-Bay is great! I put together the talk with all the scriptures that I wanted to use and had it printed out 15 minutes ahead of the time David was to pick me up Saturday morning.

We drove the 5 kilometers into Bomet on a bright, cloudless day. The conference was to begin at 10 AM, but when we arrived at 10:15, only a few people were there. David asked how many people I was willing to talk to, I said three, since that was how many people I saw. One would have been enough. He suggested waiting a bit, and slowly people began to arrive. Many had come from pretty good distances away. We went inside the new church which must seat 400 or 500 people. They were constructing a new wing as they are outgrowing the facility! About 30 women were present as we began. I gave my testimony as well as answering questions like “Does God love me?”, “Does God know who I am?”, and “Does God care about what is happening to me?” The talk went on for over two hours, much to my surprise. By the end of the talk, over 60 women were present. Then David talked in Kipsigis extemporaneously for another 45 minutes adding to my sermon with issues that he knew to be a problem. The women had many questions at the end. Much of the problem has to do with the culture that they live in. A widow is generally not permitted to remarry – by her husband’s family and by traditions. Very few single men are in the church, and those who are have many never-married women to choose from. So many of the widows end up living in sin and having children out of their desperation. It’s an area that needs a lot of prayer and perhaps cultural change, since the Bible clearly allows widows to remarry. Please pray for these women.

I gave the women gospel tracts and some Bible study material in Kipsigis, and some Daily Bread devotionals for those who read English well. It was three o’clock in the afternoon by the time I got home. I ate some lunch, took a nap, took a bath, and sat down to write you. I also test drove a Land Rover that I’m going to borrow to drive to the national church where I’m preaching tomorrow north of Litein. Two of the clinical officer interns at the hospital, Philip Kosgei and David Sawe, are going with me. Again, my topic will be God’s commandment to care for the orphan and widows. This won’t be a two-hour sermon. I’ll probably give much of the same material and talk faster so it compresses into an hour. I’ve been accused before of covering too much in my sermons.

I had an experience in preparation for this sermon that I want to share with you. Years ago, when I was a new Christian, I was reading the Bible through each year, which I continue to try to do. I’ve lost track, but I think that I’ve been through it about 20 times in my 26 years as a Christian. At that particular time, I was seeking God’s wisdom in a financial decision. Generally, I have been a living illustration of the proverb, “A fool and his money are soon parted”. Even before I was a Christian, it just didn’t seem that I could invest money in things like others did and get any return. Passbook savings accounts were designed for people like me. I even had taken college classes on investing, but never made the right application. We bought a beach lot in Texas in 1972 which we sold for a loss in 2002. Everything else we could have bought would have appreciated greatly.

At this particular time, I had invested money in a natural gas exploration program which had done great until the accountant and developer absconded with the money. Criminal proceedings were supposedly underway. Documents of these actions flowed from the federal court. Then I got a letter from an attorney who was proceeding with civil action against these crooks. He solicited support from the original investors and those who participated in the recovery were to share the recovered assets. I wanted to get out of debt on our home. I was praying to God for wisdom [and undoubtedly should have gotten some advice from friends], but I was trying to be spiritual about the whole thing. My scripture reading that morning was 2 Kings, chapter 4.
2 Kings 4:1-7 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” NIV

Now at that time, I misapplied this scripture as a confirmation that I should go ahead and invest some money in this recovery effort ,and I even borrowed some money from the boys who had a little from their jobs. I felt that God had led me in this direction. Sometimes we hear what we want to hear, rather than what God is really saying. Of course, the good money was lost in sending it after the bad, and I never got a thing from that investment or the legal pursuit. I prayed for that situation every day for many years, and finally, every now and then, I asked God why He didn’t answer that prayer.

Yesterday morning, this was my scripture reading again and suddenly the answer seemed to come from God. Even though the passage is talking at the end about paying off of debts, it seems to me that the real meaning has to do with faith in asking for the anointing of the Holy Spirit, symbolized by the oil. We are blessed according to the measure of faith that we have in asking God for His blessing. The more we trust Him for the things in our lives, the more that He blesses us. I think that this is more along the line of what God was doing in my life – this building of trust in Him for providing everything that I need. In retrospect, it probably wouldn’t have been good for me to have had that prayer answered in the way that I wanted it. It might have pushed me back into my self-sufficiency that God was working hard to eliminate. I think the best investment that I have made in my life is giving my life to God to do with as He wants. The dividends just keep rolling in.

We appreciate so much your prayers and thoughts. Please pray for our safe travel next week and our time in Mombassa. It is an area that has seen its share of unrest with the high Muslim population. Yet each time we’ve gone, God has blessed us by allowing us to lead someone to Christ. It’s supposed to be a vacation, but God’s work doesn’t really have a time out. We’re witnesses for Jesus Christ wherever we go, whether we like it or not. And we do love it, because we love Him. So pray that we’ll be sensitive to the opportunities that He gives us, and that we’ll be faithful and enabled.

Serving Jesus with you,
Paul, for the Jarretts in Kenya for 5 more weeks

Jarrett’s Prayer Letter
Volume 5, Number 9
April 10, 2004

Dear Friends and Family:
Greetings from rainy Kenya! We are finally getting the rain in a more consistent pattern nearly every day. That generally translates into carrying an umbrella when you go out and hydroelectric power round the clock. Thanks for praying for our family; I want to update those requests for you.

Thanks for your prayers regarding my employment for our time at home. Once again it seems that God has closed a door on this. You may recall that I had applied with a locum tenens agency to provide short term coverage for other doctors potentially anywhere in the United States. This seemed an ideal solution in many respects for my need to remain available to God for mission service anywhere He would call me when a need arose for an OBGYN physician. It would have provided some income as well. Since I hadn’t heard anything from the agency after our departure for Kenya, I wrote them a note of inquiry. Apparently, I hadn’t been notified of their peer review board’s rejection of my application. They felt that I needed additional training or experience before re-entry into American medicine. On the surface it might appear ludicrous that after 27 years of practice in the States, I would need retraining, but I can certainly appreciate that a lot can change in medicine in five years. I’m at peace with their decision.

After this unexpected rejection and the experiences in recent years with lost applications for hospital privileges and malpractice coverage, clinic teaching opportunities that dried up suddenly, and unavailability of malpractice coverage for short term coverage outside of a locum tenens agency, it occurs to me that perhaps God doesn’t want me to practice medicine in the States. At least, no opportunity currently seems available and consistent with my objectives of being readily free for mission service. I would appreciate your continued prayers for God’s direction.

Our missing suitcase showed up after two weeks although somewhat worse for the wear and tear. Apparently Gretchen Dickson found it at the airport terminal when she and the girls flew out. It was given to Robinson, their driver who frequently transports our family and guests, to bring to Tenwek for us on his trip this way the next day. He was to be headed to the Masai Mara Safari Camp to pick up a visitor, but was willing to go even further on to Tenwek to deliver the bag as a favor to us. But, as if to prove the axiom that “No good deed will go unpunished”, Robinson and the suitcase were in for more of an adventure than bargained for.

About a fourth of the way here, Robinson was stopped at a police check and detained. He had no papers proving why he had a suitcase that he didn’t own and didn’t want to open for inspection. These roving police checks are set up along the various major roads in Kenya. The police put a spike barricade across the road to stop traffic and then let the cars pass in which they have no interest but detain others. In the past it has been a mechanism where bribes were solicited in order to avoid “trouble”. This seems to be less common now with anti-corruption efforts by the government. The principle activity at present is to check compliance of matatus with new regulations. The police had Robinson drive back 20 kilometers to the police HQ. He was subjected to questioning for an hour; lots of papers were filled out. Finally he was released to continue on his errand of mercy. There was no reason apparent why they had stopped him in the first place. A private vehicle with a lone occupant is rarely stopped; Robinson had never been stopped before. Yet, one doesn’t argue with men with submachine guns.

We were thankful that the suitcase arrived safely, and the contents of used clothing for orphans were intact. The soft-side suitcase had been duct taped many times before, and it was now split out in two new directions. The contents could be inspected without bothering to open the bag. An inner plastic zip-loc packing bag was the only reason the clothing was still in the bag rather than being strewn from here to London. I duct-taped the bag once more and unceremoniously retired it by giving it to our househelper, Richard. The supporter who donated the second-hand bag 5 years ago will be gratified to know that it has provided faithful service over its extended lifetime.

The 2004 WGM East Africa Field retreat at Brackenhurst north of Nairobi is now history. Marty, Betty, and the girls did a wonderful job with the children’s program which was greatly appreciated by the missionary family. Marty worked continuously on the materials for this program for the last month; she worked during and between sessions of the retreat. Now that it is all over, she has seemed to collapse and sleep much of the time. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise. And since we returned immediately to Tenwek and the work schedule here continues, I’m not surprised that she is going to go back to the Mara Safari Club this weekend with the girls and relax a bit. Please pray for their safety. I’ll stay here since I’m scheduled to preach in a national church next Sunday.

Mrs. Margaret Therkelson of Lexington, KY was our speaker for the retreat. She was an excellent teacher on prayer and listening to God. All seemed encouraged by her messages. And we were encouraged by other missionary’s stories of their ministries and lives of service. Particularly encouraging were stories of the expansion of the Africa Gospel Church in Uganda. In the past 5 years, it has grown from two churches to 74, if I remember the number correctly. The construction of a baby home for orphans in Nakuru, Kenya is also well underway. And pastors training programs in Uganda and at the Olderkessi project in Kenya are also underway. A work team from a local AGC church went to Rwanda to build a church in that war-torn country which was a great encouragement to the local people. Missions are being planned to reach into Tanzania to the south and to unreached peoples in northern Kenya and southern Sudan. Volunteers can be useful in many of these areas of ministry. Information can be obtained from World Gospel Mission at www.wgm.org.

One of our missionary ladies, Lynn Adkins, seems to have developed a serious medical condition of pulmonary hypertension and right sided heart enlargement. This somewhat mysterious condition causes extreme shortness of breath on even mild exertion. Just as untreated high blood pressure in the general circulation can enlarge the left chambers of the heart, the high pressure in the lung circulation can enlarge the right chambers. Immediately after the retreat, she was admitted to a Nairobi hospital for oxygen, anticoagulants [blood thinners], digoxin [makes the heart muscle work harder], and hopefully other medication. Please pray for Lynn and her husband, Doug, who is a third generation missionary in Kenya. Their most recent mission project is setting up a Christian radio station which has delayed their anticipated home assignment from this summer until October 2004. Pray that they will have wisdom in dealing with these serious health concerns.

Retreat can be a sad time as well, when missionaries bid farewell as they retire from the field either for reasons of age, health, or a call to other ministry. Larry and Joy McPherson, longtime East Africa Field missionaries, late of Uganda, are returning to the States after more than 25 years of service. Keith and Diane Byrd and Grace Appelby are retiring from the Kenya Highlands Bible College in Kericho. And Tenwek is losing 5 missionaries. Sam and Rachel Powdrill as well as Chuck and Traci Renbarger are headed for other ministry calling. Robyn Moore is leaving this year as well for further training in the States and will likely return to another area of the Kenya field in the future. Each of these individuals leaves big shoes to fill while taking away a piece of everyone’s heart. Each one has been a gift to us from God; our trust in Him assures us that others will be called to fill the void. In fact, 12 new missionaries who are assigned to the Uganda field are languishing in the States trying to raise support. Pray that God will lay on the hearts of His people to support these who have committed their lives to service.

The workload at Tenwek for the missionary family has always been heavy with multiple responsibilities. Not only must the missionaries meet the needs of their own families [or themselves in the case of singles] and their “job assignments”, there are many community responsibilities that must be shared among the average population of 23 full-time missionaries, depending on how many are on home assignment. Hosting the many short-term visitors and volunteers is a big part of this responsibility. With five people leaving and no replacements sighted on the near horizon, the burden on those remaining increases greatly; this seems to fall heaviest on the medical doctors’ wives, although everyone pitches in to try to take up the slack. We see the need for a missionary couple to come here with the primary responsibility of hostess for the guests; perhaps an ideal combination would be for a husband with pastoral skills and wife with a gift of hospitality. Would you pray for God to raise up such individuals who He can use to meet these needs? Is it even possible that He is calling you to meet this need? In the meantime, please pray for strength for the missionaries who are here working.

There was plenty of work waiting for me when I returned on Tuesday. We had lots of stored-up medical problems waiting. I had two major gynecologic surgeries on Thursday, along with four cesarean sections, a breech delivery, and some minor procedures; two ectopic pregnancy operations needed to be done by others when I couldn’t be in more than two places at once. One of the cesarean sections was done in a race with time before the uterus ruptured because of a long obstructed labor. We lost the race by five minutes, as the uterus ruptured on the operating table as we prepared the patient for surgery. The baby couldn’t make it because of a birth defect, but we saved the mother by repairing the tear in the uterus promptly before she bled to death. Two of the choriocarcinoma patients returned Wednesday. Both Kirangare and Grace were doing well, although we couldn’t get the results of Grace’s tests from the reference lab. However, Winny, the patient with an advance local disease, was a no-show at clinic. Please pray that she is able to return to clinic before it is too late. Thanks for praying for our supply of Methotrexate. We have had adequate amounts.

This week we have had a challenge with another type of medical therapy. Most recently we have had three pregnant patients with deep vein thrombophlebitis. This is a painful condition where the deep vein in the leg becomes filled with blood clots. It causes intense pain and swelling in the leg. The mortal danger is of a clot breaking free and traveling to the lungs, otherwise known as a pulmonary embolus. There are two medicines available to us here to anticoagulate patients so the blood doesn’t continue clotting and enlarging the clots. Bed rest with elevation of the leg also is also necessary. Injectable Heparin is the better agent to use before delivery, but oral warfarin [Coumadin] is the drug to use after delivery; it can be taken long term by mouth rather than by injection. Warfarin is the active ingredient in rat poison; controlled doses are used as medicine.

One patient went home on heparin quite improved, but returned with renewed symptoms after having quit the medicine. It’s expensive and difficult to get for our patients. Another delivered successfully, but we have had trouble getting the dose of warfarin regulated. Normally a dose of 5 mg. daily is about right; there is a fairly narrow therapeutic range between non-effectiveness, safe levels, and finally over dosage, and it must be checked with tests regularly. We have finally given 15 mg. daily with no measurable effect. We suspect the medicine sold to the hospital is under strength, but it’s difficult to know for sure. Some patients who have been well regulated on a given dosage have been overdosed when getting the medicine from a different source. Such are the challenges in a land of limited resources and questionable quality control.

A large donation has been pledged for the education fund for our orphans. Please pray that this can be processed speedily and arrive here in Kenya by a courier. I know it will be a great encouragement to everyone. Thanks for your prayers for our orphans.

Please continue to pray for Laura’s Japan trip preparation. She has received much encouragement for which we are all thankful.

Today is the 21st birthday of our 6th and 7th born children, Rebekah and Deborah. It’s hard to be away from them at this special time, but we know that our family and friends are dispensing extra love on our behalf. If you see them, give each a hug from Mom and Dad and sisters in Kenya.

As we approach Easter, we are reminded of why we have hope for the future. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our sins was followed by His resurrection from the dead. Our Savior is alive and reigns in Heaven! We who are born again to new life in Christ have a guarantee of our future and a mighty helper and friend for the present. He is Risen Indeed!

Serving Jesus, our risen Savior, with you.

Paul, for the Jarretts in Kenya