I found the Harvey family and Pioneer Christian Hospital as an answer to prayer a few years ago. I had read an article posted by a friend of mine on facebook about the deeply disturbing effects of evil in Congo and the need for doctors to help. I had been praying for God to show me how to do something to help. And then I found the Harveys. God is so cool, they are missionaries that our church supports. Easy to find! Easy to love.
They heard and willingly answered the call to serve the least of these, to love their neighbors as themselves, to do what needs to be done where it needs to be done. Joe became an MD with the specific intent of becoming a missionary doctor to the Congo. And Becky knew that before they got engaged. They chose this. God called with a hard job and they said yes.
Here is the most recent update of their work in Congo. This is not the worst- I did not seek out the worst things I could find, this is just what is actually happening right now. Please pray for the people in the stories listed below and ask God how He would have you love your neighbors in Congo.
Dear Friends &
Family,
It’s been
another rough week. Yet we are doing fine. Seemed fitting that my sermon on
Sunday was on Lamentations 5. In Lingala Lamentations is called “Songs of
Misery.”
This
week…
·
Our X-ray machine died. It is
just over 2 years old, and no longer under warranty. It was the only
functioning X-ray machine in the Likouala Region, servicing an estimated
population of 300,000 people.
·
The hospital’s only
functioning printer/scanner/copier stopped working. It is just over one year
old, and no longer under warranty.
·
We still haven’t received
delivery of the 4,000 liters of diesel fuel that we paid for on September 17.
The company says they have no record of our payment!
·
We ran out of LP gas for
sterilizing instruments in the OR. Here thankfully we already have some good
news. The grapevine says a boat carrying 180 bottles of LP gas has arrived in
Impfondo.
·
We found out that a bank
transfer made in July still hasn’t been deposited in our account. Working on
this.
·
Our container arrived in
Brazzaville, but the captain of the SS Canopee raised the price 5-fold from what
he had agreed to beforehand. After a full day of negotiations, no compromise
was found. Our transit agent is scrambling to find another boat headed for
Impfondo as soon as possible.
As I shared this information with a capacity crowd in our
chapel on Sunday Morning, I realized that I was preaching to:
·
A young man rejected by his
lover who had tried to take his life by grinding up batteries and eating the
powder. When his stomach started hurting he came to the hospital for
treatment. Sunday morning he was feeling better physically, and took 3 handfuls
of medicine to try to take his life again (escaped from the hospital AMA Monday
evening).
·
A young woman who just lost
her 3 day-old newborn baby to meconium aspiration syndrome (discharged Monday,
and so strong).
·
A 17 year-old girl who just
gave birth to her first child by C-section, and had to have two subsequent
surgeries to stop bleeding that developed 10 days after surgery! (She is doing
well now, with no more bleeding).
·
A 31 year-old woman in
premature labor, who lost all 8 previous pregnancies, and was about to lose this
one too (she gave birth to a 2-pound stillborn boy Sunday night…hopefully next
time we can do a cerclage so she can carry to term…if she comes in time).
·
The mother of a 2 ½ year-old
baby girl who had been raped the night before by her drunk 15 year old cousin
(now in prison).
We
appreciate your prayers. They are working. In spite of all these setbacks, we are not discouraged,
and know that God is at work healing many here. Please fast and pray with us
that the container & contents make it safely to Impfondo soon.
For Health and Hope,Joseph & Rebecca Harvey
Olivia, Claire, Isabelle and Noah
Olivia, Claire, Isabelle and Noah
Pioneer Christian
Hospital
BP 10, Impfondo
Republic of Congo
(Brazzaville)
Global Outreach Mission, Inc.
PO Box 2010
Buffalo, NY 14231-2010
(716) 688-5048GOM@GlobalOutreachMission.org
PO Box 2010
Buffalo, NY 14231-2010
(716) 688-5048GOM@GlobalOutreachMission.org
More ways to contact and support the Harveys and Pioneer Christian Hospital:
facebook:
Email: Jharvey@UUPlus.com
Instructions to the Rich
1 Timothy 6:17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy. 18 Let them do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share, 19 storing up for themselves a good foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.
Where's your treasure?
~Joce
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