Article: In US Poll, Most Fail a Quiz on Global Causes of Child Deaths

This article speaks to a poll from two years ago, but it is still very true today, I'm sure.

NYTimes Article: "After A Devastating Birth Injury, Hope"

Ideally, fistulas should be prevented, but prevention — which requires education, more hospitals, doctors and midwives, and better transportation — lags far behind treatment. Worldwide, there are still 100,000 new cases a year, and most experts think it will take decades to eliminate fistulas in Africa, even though they were wiped out in developed countries a century ago. Their continuing presence is a sign that medical care for pregnant women is desperately inadequate.

“Fistula is the thing to follow,” Dr. Wilkinson said. “If you find patients with fistula, you’ll also find that mothers and babies are dying right and left.”

While this article highlights a hospital in Tanzania, the problem of fistulas are a big big problem in Africa and Asia (as the article states). Mercy Ships has a clinic especially for fixing fistulas in Freetown, Sierra Leone. So....this is pretty relevant. :-/

Teams

Prayer theme of the post....

The teams who will be going over this spring and this summer! Pray as they prepare, raise support, and then travel over and minister and serve in their various capacities, and then their return (and debriefing process). Pray for the people they encounter in their preparation, travel and time in-country. Pray for their language and cultural learning. Pray.....as you feel led...

Here are the different people going and the timeframe they will be going. If you are among the teams, please feel free to share how you're preparing and what you are looking forward to, etc.

1. Roger & some nurses: April ; Medical outreach (and a lot of other stuff...)
2. Christie: She will be heading back to Jonathan House in May for 15(?) months!
3. Youth Team/Center Street Baptist Church: June