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CHUPPLINK MEETS BLOGSPOT
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CHUPPLINK HOLIDAY 2009
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Looking ahead--starting anew
"But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Gal. 3:13-14
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23
As I begin this new year and reflect on how the Lord has guided me through depression and anxiety over the last two years, I am constantly aware of His faithfulness and grace towards me. As this new year unfolded, I began to feel a deep sense of starting anew. The Lord has given me new joy, new hope, new vision, new energy. This is a new year, and a new decade. Our family will begin a new term of service in Kenya this summer.
I have also decided to start this new blog and begin journaling my thoughts and share parts of my life as a missionary wife and mother. My hope is that these entries will be an encouragement to you, as well as a window into the life of a missionary family.
That said, let me just update you on what is happening now with our family. Mike is heading to Kenya the first of February with a group of physicians from Southwestern Medical Clinic here in Michigan. They will be there for two weeks. Mike is very excited to be able to do orthopedic work again, and see his missionary and Kenyan colleagues.
I am beginning a new Beth Moore Bible study called "Breaking Free" at our church next week. I'll be one of the small group facilitators, and I'm very excited to be with this group of ladies again.
The kids are staying busy with school, homework, activities and friends. They continue to be excited about returning "home" to Kenya.
Thanks for your continued prayers and we will keep you updated!
Pam![]()
"Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lam. 3:22-23
As I begin this new year and reflect on how the Lord has guided me through depression and anxiety over the last two years, I am constantly aware of His faithfulness and grace towards me. As this new year unfolded, I began to feel a deep sense of starting anew. The Lord has given me new joy, new hope, new vision, new energy. This is a new year, and a new decade. Our family will begin a new term of service in Kenya this summer.
I have also decided to start this new blog and begin journaling my thoughts and share parts of my life as a missionary wife and mother. My hope is that these entries will be an encouragement to you, as well as a window into the life of a missionary family.
That said, let me just update you on what is happening now with our family. Mike is heading to Kenya the first of February with a group of physicians from Southwestern Medical Clinic here in Michigan. They will be there for two weeks. Mike is very excited to be able to do orthopedic work again, and see his missionary and Kenyan colleagues.
I am beginning a new Beth Moore Bible study called "Breaking Free" at our church next week. I'll be one of the small group facilitators, and I'm very excited to be with this group of ladies again.
The kids are staying busy with school, homework, activities and friends. They continue to be excited about returning "home" to Kenya.
Thanks for your continued prayers and we will keep you updated!
Pam
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2 week trip to Tenwek
This Friday, Feb. 5, Mike will be heading to Tenwek for two weeks. Traveling with him will be Warren and Marcy White, Jim Burczak (Orthopedic surgeon), and Karen Zienert (OB/GYN). Warren and Marcy have been faithful supporters of our ministry over the years, and Warren is the administrator of Southwestern Medical Clinic in Michigan.
Mike is very excited to be returning even for this short time. The timing for this visit is such that the long-term missionary doctors can attend the Christian Medical Dental Association Continuing Medical Education course at Brackenhurst Conference Center outside Nairobi. Mike and the other doctors will help cover the hospital during their absence.
This will be a preparatory visit for Mike as he assesses the needs at the hospital on the general and orthopedic services, and for our future ministry there. In addition, we hope that this visit will provide assurance to our Kenyan and missionary colleagues that we indeed will be returning to Kenya this summer as God provides.
Please pray for Mike and the other visiting doctors as they travel and work at the hospital during this time.
Pam for the Chupp family![]()
Mike is very excited to be returning even for this short time. The timing for this visit is such that the long-term missionary doctors can attend the Christian Medical Dental Association Continuing Medical Education course at Brackenhurst Conference Center outside Nairobi. Mike and the other doctors will help cover the hospital during their absence.
This will be a preparatory visit for Mike as he assesses the needs at the hospital on the general and orthopedic services, and for our future ministry there. In addition, we hope that this visit will provide assurance to our Kenyan and missionary colleagues that we indeed will be returning to Kenya this summer as God provides.
Please pray for Mike and the other visiting doctors as they travel and work at the hospital during this time.
Pam for the Chupp family
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A new thing
"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland." Isaiah 43:18-19
My heart is incredibly full as I reflect on how the Lord has led our family through the past 2 years, and has given us confirmation to return to Kenya. He has definitely done a new thing in my heart as I continue to work on trusting Him and abiding in His Word. What felt like a wasteland in my spirit only months ago is now a stream of joy and gladness. My faith is being stretched, but in return I am learning to trust Him in ways I never have before. I know He isn't finished with me yet, and has "new things" for me to experience and do for Him.
Mike had a wonderful trip to Tenwek in February, and came back with many pictures and stories to tell us which made us even more anxious to return to our home in Kenya.(Above pictures were taken during Mike's trip.) We are continuing to makes plans to leave the U.S. in July, which is only 4 months away! As winter weather is passing, and we are enjoying warmer weather and the coming of spring, our whole family is definitely feeling the "winds of change."
We covet your prayers as we begin to set our sights on transitioning from the States to Kenya again. A few prayers requests are:
- For a good renter to rent our home in St. Joseph, Michigan for the time that we are in Kenya
- For our two oldest children, Steven and Melody, that they will be accepted to the missionary boarding school near Nairobi for the next school year
- For Mike as he continues working with Southwestern Medical Clinic and also support raising for our return to Kenya (we are currently in need of $3,500 a month in additional support)
- For Pam as she helps Mike with support raising and administrative responsibilities, and takes care of family and household needs for Kenya
If you would be interested in joining our support team, please drop us an e-mail at mike.chupp@wgm.org.
Pam for the Chupps
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May update
We want to let you know a little bit about what's happening with us this month. Mike and I were able to go to Washington D.C. last month to visit a supporting church of ours. The great thing was that Mike's mom came to stay with the kids, so we were able to go alone! We had a wonderful couple of days to ourselves, and managed to have a fun day at the Mall, walking and looking at the monuments, capitol building, white house, etc. I think we walked more than 7 miles that day! Our visit with Ambassador Bible Church was wonderful and a great encouragement to us.
Our plans for Kenya continue to fall into place! I have begun doing a bit of initial sorting and packing of our belongings, as we leave the country in less than two months. We were able to purchase our airline tickets, and depart from Chicago on July 9th. The kids have just 3 weeks of school left, after which we will be packing up the house and leaving the area on June 18th. We plan to travel south to see family and friends for the last time before we leave. Then we will return to Michigan for our flight out of Chicago.
As you can probably tell, I really like to know what's going to happen. I like lists, structure and organization, and most of all, I like to PLAN! However, sometimes I have no control over a plan. We find ourselves in this situation now, when the "plan" is a bit fuzzy and not set in stone. The boarding school, Rift Valley Academy, where we hope our two oldest children will go to school next year, still does not have any openings for them. We have received some positive e-mails from the admissions director, and we are hoping to hear that Melody has been accepted very soon. Steven is #2 on the waiting list, but as of now, there is no additional bed space for Grade 11 boys. At this point, we do not see any other alternative for schooling for Steven. This is a huge faith-builder for us, and my prayer life has increased 10-fold because of this need! I know that them getting into the school is totally and completely up to God and that I can do nothing to "speed up" the process. Please join us in prayer for this very urgent need.
In addition, we are working with a rental manager to find someone to rent our home when we leave. We hope to have it rented as of July 1, Lord willing. We are praying for the right people to come along, at just the right time.
Finally, we still lack about $2,000 per month in support. If you have been thinking about supporting our ministry, please let us know, so that we can get a good idea of what we still need to raise.
These issues can weigh heavily on my mind, but I am learning to trust God's timing, and believe that if He wants us in Kenya, these details that look so huge to me are so very easy for Him to manage. I can honestly say God has given me a "peace that passes understanding" because even I don't really understand it! I want to rest in Him and watch what He does and not worry about the "plan".
Thank you for joining us on this journey, and may He increase your trust and faith as He meets your needs in His time.
Trusting and believing,
Pam
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Last two weeks in Michigan
It is Sunday evening, and before the work week starts in earnest and I begin sorting and packing again, I wanted to send out an update. First off, an answer to prayer from my last entry is that Melody was accepted to Rift Valley Academy and Steven is now #1 on the waiting list! We are hopeful that a spot will open up for him soon. Our support is coming in well, and we now only lack about $1,000/mo. in new support. We are also still in need of a renter for our home. God is good, and we know He will meet our needs at just the right time.
Last Sunday Mike was able to share with the children's program at First Church of God in St. Joseph, MI. This was a wonderful new opportunity, and they enjoyed Mike's pictures of Kenya and his gospel "illusions", which he really enjoys doing (see above picture). This Sunday (today) at Berrien Center Bible Church, where we have attended regularly, there was a special time of prayer for our family. Several friends gathered around us and prayed over us, for strength and protection over the coming days and months.
The kids finished up school this past week, and we are gradually saying our good-byes to friends at church and school. This next weekend (June 12-13) we will be in the Indianapolis area for a family reunion and to speak at Mike's home church in Mooresville. Then we head to Heritage Baptist Church in Coal City, IN for a Sunday evening service. Monday late morning we will return home to finish packing up the house, and will be moving out on Wednesday, June 16th. On Friday the 18th we will travel south to spend a couple of weeks with both sets of our parents and extended family before we leave the country.
The only thing keeping me sane right now is repeating the verse "I can do all things through Him who gives me strength", and continuing to remind myself to "just do the next thing", and not worry about what needs to happen a few days from now. I continue to methodically go through the rooms in our home and make three piles of things.....either pack for Kenya, pack for US storage, or send to the Grace Christian rummage sale! I'm definitely making headway, but still feel like there is so much to do. As I type this, Mike is going through the closet, packing up all his winter clothes. The kids have also gone through their rooms this weekend, and have made good progress on packing. Unfortunately, Kayla and Ashley have saved out a few too many stuffed animals for Kenya, and they are going to have to make another cut. You'd have thought I asked them to say good-bye to their best friends!
My devotional book, Jesus Calling, had an entry a couple of days ago that seemed to fit where I am right now. Welcome challenging times as opportunities to trust Me. You have Me beside you and My Spirit within you, so no set of circumstances is too much for you to handle. When the path before you is dotted with difficulties, beware of measuring your strength against those challenges. That calculation is certain to riddle you with anxiety. Without Me, you wouldn't make it past the first hurdle! Regardless of the day's problems, I can keep you in perfect peace as you stay close to Me.
As I continue to face these busy, stressful days, I can count on God's strength to see me through. Thanks to all of you who have prayed over us, encouraged us, and affirmed us during another big transition. We are blessed to have you in our lives!
Pam
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Transition Time
We have successfully moved out of our home in Michigan and after only two showings, have also rented the house to a family who moves in July 1st! Things are moving quickly, and after packing 20 trunks and 4 suitcases, we spent two nights in our good friend’s comfortable home (thanks Dave and Amy!). It is Saturday and we have just dropped off Mike’s work car to his brother Brian who bought it from us. We are all piled in our remaining vehicle, which is still for sale, and we will leave it with my dad for him to sell. We will spend the next few days visiting with extended family members before we head back to Michigan on July 7th.
“Letting go” of material possessions, especially the house for me, has been a lesson in holding things loosely. We moved into our home just 13 months ago, and it has been just the perfect house for our family. I have enjoyed it so much, and packing it up, taking things off the walls, and then cleaning it for our new renters was definitely sad for me. I can definitely say however, that I have felt overwhelming peace in this whole process, and have felt the Lord’s hand on my shoulder as I have packed boxes, trunks, and said good-bye to this home in America. It is not easy to leave what is familiar, begin living out of suitcases again, and saying good-bye to friends and family. Please pray for our family as the next two weeks will be full of making many memories with our families, but also saying good-bye to them for 2 years.
I feel maybe a little bit like Peter might have felt when he “stepped out of the boat”, as we have stepped out in faith, renting our home, selling our vehicles, and going to Kenya, while we are still waiting for a positive confirmation on Steven’s acceptance to RVA. The admissions director told us last week that she was “very hopeful” that a place would open up for him. We know that God is never late, seldom early, but always on time!
(From Mike)
I thought I would jump in and add some updates from Tenwek that impact me and my work at Tenwek Hospital. The Board of Management for the hospital asked me to take on the position of Medical Superintendent in early August shortly after our arrival next month. The current Med Sup, Dr. Russ White, leaves on home ministry assignment in late July so a doctor was needed to jump in the role in his absence. Since I have done the job for over four years in the past, the Board felt that I could best fill this vacancy in Russ' absence for nearly a year. The position is the equivalent of a Medical Director or Chief of Staff in US medical institutions. There are a wide variety of responsibilities and many meetings to attend on behalf of the medical staff which continues to grow at Tenwek yearly. The challenge for me in the past has always been balancing clinical responsibilities with administrative needs of the hospital. I am excited by the fact that we will have fairly balanced coverage in both general surgery AND orthopedic surgery for at least the first six months we return. There are to be two orthopedic surgeons and three general surgeons during those six months (not including me!) plus a urologist/general surgeon. I have had peace in my heart about saying "yes" to the Board's invitation given this kind of surgical coverage at Tenwek. I will definitely, however, request your prayers for wisdom, patience, grace, and a sense of humor as I take over Russ' responsibilities in early August. The CEO, Mr. Geoffrey Langat, has been a dear friend and co-worker in Tenwek administration for several years. His encouragement in years past has helped me get through some challenging times at the hospital. (another reason I said "yes"!)
A recent answer to prayer was the amazing way that God helped Tenwek orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dan Galat, to find special parts for our essential C-arm xray unit at Tenwek. This xray machine provides real time, video type, xray images that make a huge difference in fixing fractures. The unit broke down in late May just before Dr. Galat came home to the US. This caused a great deal of stress for the orthopedic and GI service which both depend on the C-arm for many procedures. The C-arm had worked faithfully for over 5 years with very heavy, daily use by Mike, Dan, and many visiting orthopedic surgeons over those years. With contacts in the xray equipment industry Dan was able to obtain parts to replace the hard drive on the C-arm and get them to Tenwek with visiting doctors. Just yesterday an email came from Tenwek that the unit was operational again and within 20 minutes assisted in the care of a 12 year old girl who fell from a tree and broke her wrists, elbow, and femur! Praise the Lord for providing for such specialized equipment through the hard work of Dr. Galat and the generosity of Tenwek friends in the xray business!
Our prayer requests in summary:
1) Place for Steven at Rift Valley Academy for his junior year starting in late August. He is first on the waiting list at this time.
2) Sale of our mini-van within the next month
3) Reaching the support target that WGM has required us to reach before returning to Tenwek. We remain about $800/month short of the target.
“Letting go” of material possessions, especially the house for me, has been a lesson in holding things loosely. We moved into our home just 13 months ago, and it has been just the perfect house for our family. I have enjoyed it so much, and packing it up, taking things off the walls, and then cleaning it for our new renters was definitely sad for me. I can definitely say however, that I have felt overwhelming peace in this whole process, and have felt the Lord’s hand on my shoulder as I have packed boxes, trunks, and said good-bye to this home in America. It is not easy to leave what is familiar, begin living out of suitcases again, and saying good-bye to friends and family. Please pray for our family as the next two weeks will be full of making many memories with our families, but also saying good-bye to them for 2 years.
I feel maybe a little bit like Peter might have felt when he “stepped out of the boat”, as we have stepped out in faith, renting our home, selling our vehicles, and going to Kenya, while we are still waiting for a positive confirmation on Steven’s acceptance to RVA. The admissions director told us last week that she was “very hopeful” that a place would open up for him. We know that God is never late, seldom early, but always on time!
(From Mike)
I thought I would jump in and add some updates from Tenwek that impact me and my work at Tenwek Hospital. The Board of Management for the hospital asked me to take on the position of Medical Superintendent in early August shortly after our arrival next month. The current Med Sup, Dr. Russ White, leaves on home ministry assignment in late July so a doctor was needed to jump in the role in his absence. Since I have done the job for over four years in the past, the Board felt that I could best fill this vacancy in Russ' absence for nearly a year. The position is the equivalent of a Medical Director or Chief of Staff in US medical institutions. There are a wide variety of responsibilities and many meetings to attend on behalf of the medical staff which continues to grow at Tenwek yearly. The challenge for me in the past has always been balancing clinical responsibilities with administrative needs of the hospital. I am excited by the fact that we will have fairly balanced coverage in both general surgery AND orthopedic surgery for at least the first six months we return. There are to be two orthopedic surgeons and three general surgeons during those six months (not including me!) plus a urologist/general surgeon. I have had peace in my heart about saying "yes" to the Board's invitation given this kind of surgical coverage at Tenwek. I will definitely, however, request your prayers for wisdom, patience, grace, and a sense of humor as I take over Russ' responsibilities in early August. The CEO, Mr. Geoffrey Langat, has been a dear friend and co-worker in Tenwek administration for several years. His encouragement in years past has helped me get through some challenging times at the hospital. (another reason I said "yes"!)
A recent answer to prayer was the amazing way that God helped Tenwek orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dan Galat, to find special parts for our essential C-arm xray unit at Tenwek. This xray machine provides real time, video type, xray images that make a huge difference in fixing fractures. The unit broke down in late May just before Dr. Galat came home to the US. This caused a great deal of stress for the orthopedic and GI service which both depend on the C-arm for many procedures. The C-arm had worked faithfully for over 5 years with very heavy, daily use by Mike, Dan, and many visiting orthopedic surgeons over those years. With contacts in the xray equipment industry Dan was able to obtain parts to replace the hard drive on the C-arm and get them to Tenwek with visiting doctors. Just yesterday an email came from Tenwek that the unit was operational again and within 20 minutes assisted in the care of a 12 year old girl who fell from a tree and broke her wrists, elbow, and femur! Praise the Lord for providing for such specialized equipment through the hard work of Dr. Galat and the generosity of Tenwek friends in the xray business!
Our prayer requests in summary:
1) Place for Steven at Rift Valley Academy for his junior year starting in late August. He is first on the waiting list at this time.
2) Sale of our mini-van within the next month
3) Reaching the support target that WGM has required us to reach before returning to Tenwek. We remain about $800/month short of the target.
Thanks for continuing to journey with us. We'll send another post before we leave the country.
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Answered Prayers
We received a wonderful answer to prayer today. Steven was accepted to Rift Valley Academy (RVA), the boarding school near Nairobi that we have been hoping he could attend for his last two years of high school. We are incredibly grateful to the Lord for meeting this need, as this was the last major hurdle for us to return to Kenya.
Our support has also been rising consistently as several more friends have committed to joining our support team for the next two years. We are within just a few hundred dollars a month to reaching our full support level.
I have wept a few tears of joy and thanksgiving today, and continue to marvel at how God is meeting our needs and confirming our calling to return to Kenya.
This week has been a fun time of R&R with the Chupp clan at Lake James, NC. We are seeing Mike's brothers, sister, mom and dad and their families for the last time before we leave the country. We are then heading to Chattanooga, TN to see my parents and brother's family until July 6th. We are flying from Chicago on July 9th at 5:15 p.m. and will arrive in Nairobi on the 11th. Please pray for the logistics of our travel, getting 24 pieces of luggage to airports, checked in, etc. and for traveling mercies for all of us!
Thanks again for your prayers. God is answering them. We'll write more soon.
Pam![]()
Our support has also been rising consistently as several more friends have committed to joining our support team for the next two years. We are within just a few hundred dollars a month to reaching our full support level.
I have wept a few tears of joy and thanksgiving today, and continue to marvel at how God is meeting our needs and confirming our calling to return to Kenya.
This week has been a fun time of R&R with the Chupp clan at Lake James, NC. We are seeing Mike's brothers, sister, mom and dad and their families for the last time before we leave the country. We are then heading to Chattanooga, TN to see my parents and brother's family until July 6th. We are flying from Chicago on July 9th at 5:15 p.m. and will arrive in Nairobi on the 11th. Please pray for the logistics of our travel, getting 24 pieces of luggage to airports, checked in, etc. and for traveling mercies for all of us!
Thanks again for your prayers. God is answering them. We'll write more soon.
Pam
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Arrival in Kenya!
Ashley on the airplane![]()
Melody, Steven and Kayla before takeoff
Tired girl during 6 hour layover in London (it was supposed to be only 3 hours!)We are so grateful to all of you for your prayers for our family! We are now staying at a missionary guesthouse in Nairobi after 15 1/2 combined flight hours on a cramped plane with no leg room. It was so sad to have to pass all those "caccoon" seats that go all the way horizontal in first class and head back to our "steerage" compartment, where the guy in front of you puts his seat back in your lap. Our flight to Nairobi was delayed in London too, so we spent a few more hours at Heathrow Airport than we planned on! We did survive with several naps and bad plane food, and our good friends and colleagues, Chuck and Amy Bemm, met us at the airport late last night with our van and a mini bus to carry all our luggage (which all made it with us safely) to the Hampton House, where we will be staying until we head to Tenwek on Wednesday. Kayla and Ashley loved seeing their best friends Abby and Lydia Bemm who were also there to welcome us back to Kenya. Tomorrow we plan on visiting RVA to see the campus and visit the teens who are going there now. Steven and Melody are very excited to see their friends who are in their last week of school. We are all fighting major jet lag though, and after getting to bed last night after 2 am, we slept until noon today! Hopefully we will do better than that tomorrow, since we want to be at RVA just after lunch.
We are all enjoying getting acquainted with Nairobi again, visiting our favorite restaurants and enjoying weather in the 70s and 80s (with no humidity!). Mike drove our van today for the first time in 2 years, and did well in the busy traffic avoiding pedestrians, matatus (public transport vehicles), and pot holes. (Steven told him it was just like riding a bike!) It will take me longer to get used to all the near-misses again though. I decided it was better for Mike if I just closed my eyes, because I kept shrieking everytime things were close, and I was making him even more uptight than he already was! :)
We are so happy to finally be here, and have all the packing, moving, saying good-byes and long journey behind us. It will be great to see our Kenyan and missionary friends again in a few days, and begin to unpack and settle into our home. Mike will have his first transition meeting for the Medical Director position on Thursday, just a day after we get there. Please keep him in prayer as he adjusts to his work again at Tenwek.
Thanks again to all of you who have prayed for us. We are incredibly humbled and grateful for your interest in and love for our family. Most of all, we are grateful to our Heavenly Father, who has watched over us and brought us to this place of service again. To Him we give ALL the glory.
Pam
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Joyful homecoming to Tenwek
Greetings friends!
It is hard to believe but we are now entering our fourth full week at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya after arrival here on July 14th. We found our home in great shape and our 1996 Toyota van in good working condition. We have really enjoyed renewing friendships with many missionary and Kenyan families, sharing as many meals together as possible. The months of July and August at Tenwek are busy ones with many comings and goings of visitors and long term missionary families alike. Pam has jumped into the role of hostess for several visitors and families already in the month of August. One of the aspects of life at Tenwek that we really enjoy is getting to know wonderful, humble servants of Christ who come here as short term physicians/surgeons with their families. One such family was the Rowe family who left this Friday. Dr. Glen and Lori Rowe and kids are from Delaware and have been considering long term service in orthopedic surgery now for a couple of years. Glen was so helpful to me in caring for the orthopedic patients as I was picking up many administrative responsibilities from Dr. Russ White, my missionary co-worker since 1997.
We only had one week with our long time friends Russ and Beth White before they left for the US for their one year home ministry assignment. Russ has been the Medical Superintendent here at Tenwek the last 2+ years and handed over to me (Mike) during several power talk sessions on his back porch. Taking over the position of Med Sup after a two year absence has had its challenges but I marvel how God has brought many gifted people to Tenwek to share the load of supervision and work. The medical staff at Tenwek has continued to grow with each department enjoying better coverage from consultants, residents, and interns than ever before. Currently the surgical department is staffed with five general surgeons (including Mike) , a urologist/general surgeon, and an orthopedic surgeon. There are six general surgery residents in their first three years of training as well as an orthopedic resident rotating from Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The orthopedic clinic (which has always been near and dear to my heart) has steadily grown in numbers with more trauma than ever before flowing in. On July 28th we saw 111 patients in 8 hours of clinic. I have already done some challenging cases including stabilizing a cervical spine fracture on a man in his 50's who was in an automobile accident. He accepted Christ as his Savior two days before the operation under the care and help of my intern, Dr. Elijah Terer. He is paralyzed, a quadraplegic, but has now the hope of eternal life. Please pray for him; his name is Julius.
Pam has been very busy getting our house organized and the kids settled. Painting, plumbing, and repairing projects have taken some time but with the great help of Tenwek's industrial department all is going well.
One major event in Kenya this past week was a landmark vote or referendum deciding on a new constitution. Given events after elections in 2007 in Kenya, there was a great focus on prayer by the church in Kenya that this vote would take place peacefully AND IT DID! Now four days after the referendum we have heard of no violence or arrests related to anger or retaliation by the losing side. Praise the Lord! Please pray for Kenyans as they now work under a new constitution, that the church will not remain silent as the details get worked out in the implementation of new Kenyan law.
Since our return, a very dear man of God, the Bishop of Africa Gospel Church and the Chairman of the Tenwek Hospital Board of Governors, Rev. Joseph Rono, passed away due to complications associated with diabetes and kidney failure. Rev. Rono was a wonderful friend of Tenwek and of our missionary staff here in Kenya. I attended one of several memorial services for Bishop Rono in Kericho and found that so many people, Kenyans and missionaries alike, felt so much admiration for this servant of Jesus. His firstborn, Jennifer, works with our medical staff here at Tenwek as our staff secretary. Please pray for Jennifer and the rest of the family as well as the Africa Gospel Church as they recover from the loss of a very humble servant leader.
Steven and Melody are excited to be accepted at Rift Valley Academy (RVA) with new parent orientation scheduled for August 25th. We visited the school our first week in country allowing them both to see potential dorm rooms and meet potential dorm parents for the coming year. Already friendships there are developing with the help of Facebook and email. We continue to thank our loving Lord that Steven was accepted in the "eleventh hour" as his junior class is very large! Some of his future classmates, whom he met during our visit, were amazed that he got in!
As I close this blog entry, I want to share with you all that God was so good and has brought together our support team at just the right time. During July several friends made commitments to regularly support our ministry such that we believe that we have met the goals set out for us by WGM. July was an incredible month for our ministry financially allowing us to begin this two year term fully supported and able to help Tenwek Hospital as special needs arise. In the near future I'll be writing on a couple of important projects that are underway or hoping to start soon. More to follow....
Our new contacts:
Dr. Mike and Pam Chupp
Tenwek Hospital
Box 39 Bomet, Kenya 20400
email: mike.chupp@wgm.org
Phone 011-254-731-566667 (Mike)
011-254-737-688941 (Pam)
Support: World Gospel Mission, Donor services, Box 948, Marion, IN 46952 and attach note "Mike and Pam Chupp ministry".
In His glorious service,
Mike for Pam, Steven, Melody, Kayla, and Ashley
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It is hard to believe but we are now entering our fourth full week at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya after arrival here on July 14th. We found our home in great shape and our 1996 Toyota van in good working condition. We have really enjoyed renewing friendships with many missionary and Kenyan families, sharing as many meals together as possible. The months of July and August at Tenwek are busy ones with many comings and goings of visitors and long term missionary families alike. Pam has jumped into the role of hostess for several visitors and families already in the month of August. One of the aspects of life at Tenwek that we really enjoy is getting to know wonderful, humble servants of Christ who come here as short term physicians/surgeons with their families. One such family was the Rowe family who left this Friday. Dr. Glen and Lori Rowe and kids are from Delaware and have been considering long term service in orthopedic surgery now for a couple of years. Glen was so helpful to me in caring for the orthopedic patients as I was picking up many administrative responsibilities from Dr. Russ White, my missionary co-worker since 1997.
We only had one week with our long time friends Russ and Beth White before they left for the US for their one year home ministry assignment. Russ has been the Medical Superintendent here at Tenwek the last 2+ years and handed over to me (Mike) during several power talk sessions on his back porch. Taking over the position of Med Sup after a two year absence has had its challenges but I marvel how God has brought many gifted people to Tenwek to share the load of supervision and work. The medical staff at Tenwek has continued to grow with each department enjoying better coverage from consultants, residents, and interns than ever before. Currently the surgical department is staffed with five general surgeons (including Mike) , a urologist/general surgeon, and an orthopedic surgeon. There are six general surgery residents in their first three years of training as well as an orthopedic resident rotating from Moi University in Eldoret, Kenya. The orthopedic clinic (which has always been near and dear to my heart) has steadily grown in numbers with more trauma than ever before flowing in. On July 28th we saw 111 patients in 8 hours of clinic. I have already done some challenging cases including stabilizing a cervical spine fracture on a man in his 50's who was in an automobile accident. He accepted Christ as his Savior two days before the operation under the care and help of my intern, Dr. Elijah Terer. He is paralyzed, a quadraplegic, but has now the hope of eternal life. Please pray for him; his name is Julius.
Pam has been very busy getting our house organized and the kids settled. Painting, plumbing, and repairing projects have taken some time but with the great help of Tenwek's industrial department all is going well.
One major event in Kenya this past week was a landmark vote or referendum deciding on a new constitution. Given events after elections in 2007 in Kenya, there was a great focus on prayer by the church in Kenya that this vote would take place peacefully AND IT DID! Now four days after the referendum we have heard of no violence or arrests related to anger or retaliation by the losing side. Praise the Lord! Please pray for Kenyans as they now work under a new constitution, that the church will not remain silent as the details get worked out in the implementation of new Kenyan law.
Since our return, a very dear man of God, the Bishop of Africa Gospel Church and the Chairman of the Tenwek Hospital Board of Governors, Rev. Joseph Rono, passed away due to complications associated with diabetes and kidney failure. Rev. Rono was a wonderful friend of Tenwek and of our missionary staff here in Kenya. I attended one of several memorial services for Bishop Rono in Kericho and found that so many people, Kenyans and missionaries alike, felt so much admiration for this servant of Jesus. His firstborn, Jennifer, works with our medical staff here at Tenwek as our staff secretary. Please pray for Jennifer and the rest of the family as well as the Africa Gospel Church as they recover from the loss of a very humble servant leader.
Steven and Melody are excited to be accepted at Rift Valley Academy (RVA) with new parent orientation scheduled for August 25th. We visited the school our first week in country allowing them both to see potential dorm rooms and meet potential dorm parents for the coming year. Already friendships there are developing with the help of Facebook and email. We continue to thank our loving Lord that Steven was accepted in the "eleventh hour" as his junior class is very large! Some of his future classmates, whom he met during our visit, were amazed that he got in!
As I close this blog entry, I want to share with you all that God was so good and has brought together our support team at just the right time. During July several friends made commitments to regularly support our ministry such that we believe that we have met the goals set out for us by WGM. July was an incredible month for our ministry financially allowing us to begin this two year term fully supported and able to help Tenwek Hospital as special needs arise. In the near future I'll be writing on a couple of important projects that are underway or hoping to start soon. More to follow....
Our new contacts:
Dr. Mike and Pam Chupp
Tenwek Hospital
Box 39 Bomet, Kenya 20400
email: mike.chupp@wgm.org
Phone 011-254-731-566667 (Mike)
011-254-737-688941 (Pam)
Support: World Gospel Mission, Donor services, Box 948, Marion, IN 46952 and attach note "Mike and Pam Chupp ministry".
In His glorious service,
Mike for Pam, Steven, Melody, Kayla, and Ashley
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New Beginnings - RVA and Newborns
Mike and I have just returned to Nairobi after spending two full days at Rift Valley Academy in Kijabe, Kenya attending New Parent Orientation, while Steven and Melody attended New Student Orientation. Our time was spent listening to a panel of RVA staff answer questions about how to "parent from afar". We also got to know some of the staff better, took a tour of the campus, became familiar with the layout of the school, finalized the kid's class schedules, set them up with e-mail accounts at the computer lab, moved them into their dorm rooms, and met their wonderful dorm parents. I was so incredibly impressed at how hard the school staff and administration work to make the adjustment for new students smooth, and how organized and well-thought out each aspect of dorm/school life is. The kids will be very busy, even on the weekends, as there are many activities as well as required study times in the evenings for them to get homework done. Mike and I were especially humbled and overwhelmed by the love and commitment of the dorm parents, who live with their apartments attached to the dorms. They have an open-door policy for the kids to just come into their living rooms and kitchens to make tea, snacks, and visit. I am so thankful for the loving, Godly people whom God has called to mentor and disciple our children in our absence. I am confident that they will "get into their business" as needed and help them succeed at RVA.
Mike and I had amazing peace as we left the kids yesterday, knowing that this is exactly where the Lord wants them, as He performed a miracle in regard to Steven's acceptance there. When we left, they were chatting and laughing with new dormmates as the returning students were arriving. Mike and I will visit on Sunday and go to church and have lunch with them before we say our final good-bye to head back to Tenwek. We feel very blessed to only be 3 hours from them, as many parents of students will leave them and travel to other countries in Africa and won't see the kids until break, 12 weeks from now. We feel a bit spoiled that we can visit the kids quite often, and plan to return on September 11th to celebrate Steven's 17th birthday with him.
We have great confidence that Steven and Melody will grow academically, socially and spiritually as they face the ups and downs of dorm and school life, and know that many of you are praying for them as they adjust to life away from home for the first time. Mike and I will return to Tenwek Sunday afternoon, and begin a very busy week as I start school with Kayla and Ashley on Monday. It is a comfort to know that Steven and Melody are "only a cell phone call away" and they can call whenever they need to. Thanks again for all your prayers as we have entered yet another transition in our lives. We will miss them being home, and it will take time to adjust to a "new normal" at home with just the two younger girls. Life continues to be about changes, but we rest on the One who doesn't change, and know He does all things well. You can send Steven and Melody messages at their new e-mail addresses.
Steven - schupp12@rva.org
Melody - mchupp14@rva.org
They would love to get notes while they're at school!
A MONTH OF PEDIATRIC SURGERY!
Mike jumping in! Sometimes in my missionary surgical career I have noticed that patients come in two's and three's within the same surgical subspecialty. Since I plugged in to the surgical staff at Tenwek at the end of July that subspecialty seems to be pediatric surgery. While on call I have operated on three different newborns with urgent surgical needs (the average weight for the three has been just under 4 1/2 lbs!) and one 9 year old kicked in the abdomen by a donkey with a bowel injury. Two of the babies with their moms are pictured below with their permission. Both of these moms speak excellent English so it has been quite fulfilling to explain each day how the babies are doing and to see their faces light up with news of progress. The Tenwek nursery is a BUSY place with a census of 20 to 35 babies most of the year. I found several brand new baby beds with nice LED monitors and modern warmers. Praise God for these provisions at Tenwek.
Mom and one month old, 5 1/2 lb baby boy named Ramos who had condition called pyloric stenosis.
Mom and baby Enoch, a 4 1/2 lb two day old infant after surgery for condition called malrotation.
My responsibilities at Tenwek for the next 10 months will be to provide leadership to the medical staff as Medical Superintendent while helping out in the orthopedic department as much as I can. Dr. Bob Green is an orthopedic surgeon who has spent many years in many countries providing orthopedic care. Bob will be working at Tenwek through the summer of 2011 when our newest career doctor with World Gospel Mission, Dr. Dan Galat, an orthopedic surgeon, returns to Tenwek. Thus far my surgical experience can be summarized as "baby bowel and big bones"! My administrative summary would be "many meetings and endless email"!
Thank you so much for praying for us! God has done marvellous things at Tenwek and in our family in answer to the prayers of His saints. We KNOW it!!!
We will try and post to our blog once or twice a month from here on out to keep all our family and friends "in the know" about the Chupp family. God bless each one of you and your families.
Serving the King in Kenya,
Mike and Pam Chupp
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Kid's Update
Steven (11th) and Melody (9th) have had a great first year at Rift Valley Academy (RVA). They have only 4 weeks of school left to finish out the school year, and then they come home for a six week break. They have been blessed with wonderful dorm parents, have made many new friends, and have been involved with lots of fun activities.
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RVA is located on an escarpment that overlooks the Rift Valley. The views from the school are breathtaking, with Mt. Longonot in the distance, and the valley spread out as far as you can see. From Steven's dorm room window, he can see the mountain, and watch the antics of the monkeys in the trees.
View of Mt. Longonot from Rift Valley Academy
Their school schedule is September - July, with the months of December, April and August as break months. The December break is usually from Thanksgiving through the new year, so they are home for those major holidays. We have been able to see the kids about every 3 weeks or so, and this has worked very well. They have cell phones also, and we talk to them several times a week. This has allowed us to feel very connected to them and a part of their lives, even though we can't see them everyday. They also have a mid-term break each term when they come home for a long weekend half-way through the term. It always feels like a holiday when they come home for this, as I usually make their favorite foods. These times are always very special and we cram a lot of visiting into those 3 days!
Steven has been playing rugby this term on the school JV team. It is a little like American football, without timeouts and minus protective gear. It is scary to watch, but Steven absolutely loves it, and has had fun on the team. We are slowly learning the game, and enjoy watching the few games we can get to.
Mom and Steven after a rugby match
Melody just finished volleyball season on the Varsity girl's team. Volleyball is my favorite sport to watch, so it was fun seeing her in a few games as well. Their team came away with winning finals this year, so that was very special.
Melody playing v-ball at a home game
Kayla and Ashley are finished with their school year, so they are enjoying a nice, long summer break! Kayla turns 12 this Friday, and I can't believe she will be in Jr. High this fall. Ashley will be in 4th grade. They are at Camp Blue Sky this week. It is a camp run by Christians, and they bring their counselors here from Christian universities in the States for the summer. This is always a very fun time for the kids, and they have lots of activities like swimming, rock climbing, high ropes course, and many fun games. We are very thankful they can have a Christian camp experience in Kenya!
Kayla and Ashley had a wonderful school year with their other MK homeschooled friends at Tenwek. We had a co-op, so most of us moms taught different subjects. This was great, and the kids enjoyed having group classes with their friends. I taught history and band in the co-op, as well as some other individual classes.
Tenwek MK School kids
Kayla is 2nd from left in front
Ashley is 4th from left in front
Thanks so much for your prayers for our children. We feel blessed and privileged to be in Kenya, and are so thankful for the spiritual, academic, and personal growth in our kids this year. We treasure these times, especially with Steven, as he will be a senior in the fall. Please pray that he will sense God's leading for his future after high school.
Blessings and peace,
Pam, for the gang
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September update
As many of you are enjoying cooler weather and a change in the leaves, we are experiencing our short rains, with a lot of green grass and bushes, and beautiful flowers blooming. I have always called this place "eternal springtime", and that is exactly how it feels right now, with cool, sunny mornings, and rainy afternoons and evenings! We are all very excited about the new school year, and I wanted to share with you a little bit about what we are doing this year.
Ashley is in 4th grade, and is a part of five 4-5th graders being taught in a co-op with several different moms as teachers. We meet in the "MK School room" which is a large one-room schoolhouse that was set apart for the missionary children's group classes. I am teaching Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation History to this group, and we have already enjoyed studying "Beowulf" and the Vikings together.
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Kayla is in 7th grade this year, and is doing four online classes with Northstar Academy. She was so excited that this meant she could have her own computer, since her classes are through the internet. This has worked fairly well, although she much prefers her group classes with her friends. She has Math, Science and History classes with other 6-8th graders. I'm teaching the 6-8th grade history class as well (I guess you could say I like history!), so my days are very full with classes and supervising Kayla with her online classes. We are so very grateful that the Lord provides for our children's schooling each year in a different way, and we are trusting that this will be a good year for the girls.
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Melody (10th) and Steven (12th) have returned to RVA this year. They are doing well, and have become very involved in activities already. Melody is playing basketball on the Varsity B team, and Steven is in the senior Small Group chorus, as well as choir this year. He is also working hard keeping in shape for the coming rugby season later this year.
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In closing, I would ask for your prayers for me, as I wear many hats at Tenwek as a wife, mom, teacher, hostess, secretary, organizer, and perform other tasks that the Lord brings across my path each day.
We are incredibly blessed by the Lord that our children are happy, healthy, and growing academically and spiritually in Kenya, the place we call "home".
Pam![]()
Ashley is in 4th grade, and is a part of five 4-5th graders being taught in a co-op with several different moms as teachers. We meet in the "MK School room" which is a large one-room schoolhouse that was set apart for the missionary children's group classes. I am teaching Middle Ages/Renaissance/Reformation History to this group, and we have already enjoyed studying "Beowulf" and the Vikings together.
Kayla is in 7th grade this year, and is doing four online classes with Northstar Academy. She was so excited that this meant she could have her own computer, since her classes are through the internet. This has worked fairly well, although she much prefers her group classes with her friends. She has Math, Science and History classes with other 6-8th graders. I'm teaching the 6-8th grade history class as well (I guess you could say I like history!), so my days are very full with classes and supervising Kayla with her online classes. We are so very grateful that the Lord provides for our children's schooling each year in a different way, and we are trusting that this will be a good year for the girls.
Jr. High History (with our mascot, Bailey!)
Melody (10th) and Steven (12th) have returned to RVA this year. They are doing well, and have become very involved in activities already. Melody is playing basketball on the Varsity B team, and Steven is in the senior Small Group chorus, as well as choir this year. He is also working hard keeping in shape for the coming rugby season later this year.
We are very proud of them both, as they have become quite independent and have adjusted well to boarding school living. It is hard to believe that Steven is a senior and will be returning to the States next year. Please pray with us for him, that the Lord will guide his steps and show Steven His special purpose for his life. He is still not sure what he wants to do, so we are doing our best to encourage him and help him find his strengths and interests. Last week he celebrated his 18th birthday, and we were able to visit him to help him celebrate with his friends.
In closing, I would ask for your prayers for me, as I wear many hats at Tenwek as a wife, mom, teacher, hostess, secretary, organizer, and perform other tasks that the Lord brings across my path each day.
We are incredibly blessed by the Lord that our children are happy, healthy, and growing academically and spiritually in Kenya, the place we call "home".
Pam
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New Year's Blessings to You!
The Lord has richly blessed us in 2011. We thank you for partnering with us in Kenya. Below are a few pictures of our December highlights.
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Below: Pictures of our visit to Mosop Orphanage on Christmas Eve
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Ashley with our family friend and "adopted daughter", Diana, who joined us for the day at Mosop Orphanage
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Ashley's Gingerbread house
Kayla's Gingerbread house
Kayla, Ashley and Abby Bemm setting out shoes to give to the kids
Melody visiting with the 8th grade girls
Steven playing soccer with some of the boys
Happy with their windmill creations!
Trying on shoes for size!
Shoes to give out to the kids
Melody with group from Mosop
Kayla - 7th grade
Below: Pictures of our Lake Naivasha vacation
December 2011
December 2011
Steven - Senior picture
Kids at the pool
picture outside our cottage
Below: Ashley with her sign language class
signing "Mary Did You Know" for
our Christmas program
Steven with Senior Small Group at RVA
Christmas program
RVA choir Christmas program
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
from the Chupp family!
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They lifted Him up - Our symbol of healing
Good Friday at Tenwek Hospital
John 12:32 "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
Those of us in medicine and surgery are quite familiar with the symbol of the serpent entwined around a staff, the ancient Greek symbol of healing from the Greek cult of Asklepios. This symbol, however, was predated many centuries earlier by another serpent on a pole in Numbers 21 when God commanded Moses to lift up the serpent in the desert. That serpent provided healing and life to any Israelite bitten by a venomous snake after God sent these snakes to punish a rebellious and grumbling nation. You know the story. Look and live, God told the Israelites through Moses. What a simple remedy. How I wish we had such a simple and powerful remedy for snakebite here in Kenya! God, in his marvelous way, gave a preview to the children of Israel of the ultimate symbol of healing on a pole on that original Good Friday of Passover Week which we remember today all over the world. This month at Tenwek we have examples of people who have been drawn to the lifted up Savior from all over the globe: believers from Germany, Japan, US, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Great Britain, and Kenya, of course. What a simple remedy but one that requires you and I and all the patients who seek help at Tenwek Hospital to believe that healing of our hearts and redemption from our sin requires us to put all our hope in that saving symbol of Christ on the cross. To be healed from the death-dealing plague of sin, rebellion, disobedience, apathy toward God, we look to the cross in faith and obedience, and surrender to His will for our lives.
Good Friday is a holiday in Kenya as is the Monday after Easter. That doesn't change the nature of caring for hundreds of sick patients this weekend, but it does allow us to change from "busyness as usual" to a mode of allowing staff at the hospital to treat this weekend as special as we "look to the cross" and remember Jesus' resurrection victory. The highlight of the Chupp family weekend will be sharing a sunrise Easter service with our local church and missionary community on the lawn of one of our missionary homes in front of an "old rugged cross" which we will adorn with flowers at the end of the service. This is likely our son Steven's last Easter with us at Tenwek as this summer he graduates from high school at Rift Valley Academy and plans to join the US Army in August/September. His ultimate goal is to become an Army Ranger though he knows the path to that goal is extremely challenging and demanding mentally and physically. Pam and I have great joy that the healing from the cross extends to our four kids (Steven, Melody, Kayla, and Ashley) as each one has decided to accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for their sins.
Children's Bible Quizzing Finale 2012
Last Sunday, April 1st, we had a great time as a family leading, assisting, and participating (Kayla and Ashley) in the final competition of our 2012 Bible Quizzing season. This year nearly 100 children from three schools/communities participated and over 50 of these children memorized and quoted (word perfect) 46 key verses from the first 9 chapters of the Book of Acts. Our theme this year was "We Are Witnesses" taken from Acts 2:32 "God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact." We bought shirts this year for all the kids and you can see the group in blue in the picture below including coaches and quiz masters, Mike and Pastor Geoffrey Musyoka. One of the schools, Mosop Mission School, joined us this year for the first time and entered five teams. Mosop is also an orphanage and provides schooling for many orphans as well as high quality education for many Kenyan national missionary families serving all over the country of Kenya. The school's founder and director, Mr. Elijah Bett, told Mike that the Bible quizzing program this year brought incredible energy and new life to the school. Yesterday at the awards ceremony for Mosop hundreds of children from the school attended as nearly forty quizzers received medals, ribbons, and trophies. It is likely that this excitement will spread to dozens more of the Mosop children and next year should be a big boost in the number of Mosop children who participate. This Sunday the Tenwek kids will receive their medals and trophies for their hard work and dedication to hiding God's Word in their hearts. We are so proud of how dedicated our quizzers were this year to learning the first part of the Book of Acts. Next year we plan on covering Acts Part II. Below are pics of our quizzers in blue at Tenwek and Mosop. Please pray with Pam and I and the other coaches that God will use His Word mightily in these kids lives in the coming months and years.
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Doing Business God's Way
As our family worshipped at Bethesda Church recently our pastor, Rev. Elijah Bii, preached on faith from Hebrews 11. Using the example of Abraham and his faith he challenged us that "our business is to go about doing God's business and doing it God's way". Believing God for hard or even seemingly impossible things is part of conducting His business at Tenwek Hospital. Early in the service I had shared the prayer request for a great need for more help in our Obstetrics department at Tenwek. In June our one and only Obstetrician, Dr. Huber, will be leaving for the US with some short term Ob's covering when she leaves. As the Medical Superintendent people look to me for answers on how we will make sure that pregnant mothers will receive the needed care at our mission hospital. Pastor Elijah looked right at me and challenged me (and our OB department) to trust God for this need of personnel, to ask Him to recruit and provide the consultants/specialists we need at this time. He does, after all, care about these Kenyan mothers and knows that many will need the advanced skills and knowledge of an obstetrician to help them through labor and delivery safely. Our Maternity department is the largest single department at Tenwek with nearly 60 beds and many more mothers than beds usually present. Together with the nursery they make up about 100 of our 271 total beds. I have no possible leads to follow or solutions for this coming need. Would you pray with me that God would provide the critical doctors we need to run Tenwek's Ob-Gyn service?
Testimony from a Trainee, Mr. Joshua Leister
I thought I would share with you a testimony from one of our young clinical officer interns this year who is the first ever American to come to Tenwek having completed clinical officer training in Kenya and then to choose Tenwek as his internship training site. Joshua is a former youth pastor in the US who decided to follow God's call as a missionary and found medicine to be a powerful tool for reaching some of the hardest hearts. Here is an excerpt from a recent devotional he shared with us:
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John 12:32 "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
Those of us in medicine and surgery are quite familiar with the symbol of the serpent entwined around a staff, the ancient Greek symbol of healing from the Greek cult of Asklepios. This symbol, however, was predated many centuries earlier by another serpent on a pole in Numbers 21 when God commanded Moses to lift up the serpent in the desert. That serpent provided healing and life to any Israelite bitten by a venomous snake after God sent these snakes to punish a rebellious and grumbling nation. You know the story. Look and live, God told the Israelites through Moses. What a simple remedy. How I wish we had such a simple and powerful remedy for snakebite here in Kenya! God, in his marvelous way, gave a preview to the children of Israel of the ultimate symbol of healing on a pole on that original Good Friday of Passover Week which we remember today all over the world. This month at Tenwek we have examples of people who have been drawn to the lifted up Savior from all over the globe: believers from Germany, Japan, US, Canada, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Great Britain, and Kenya, of course. What a simple remedy but one that requires you and I and all the patients who seek help at Tenwek Hospital to believe that healing of our hearts and redemption from our sin requires us to put all our hope in that saving symbol of Christ on the cross. To be healed from the death-dealing plague of sin, rebellion, disobedience, apathy toward God, we look to the cross in faith and obedience, and surrender to His will for our lives.
Good Friday is a holiday in Kenya as is the Monday after Easter. That doesn't change the nature of caring for hundreds of sick patients this weekend, but it does allow us to change from "busyness as usual" to a mode of allowing staff at the hospital to treat this weekend as special as we "look to the cross" and remember Jesus' resurrection victory. The highlight of the Chupp family weekend will be sharing a sunrise Easter service with our local church and missionary community on the lawn of one of our missionary homes in front of an "old rugged cross" which we will adorn with flowers at the end of the service. This is likely our son Steven's last Easter with us at Tenwek as this summer he graduates from high school at Rift Valley Academy and plans to join the US Army in August/September. His ultimate goal is to become an Army Ranger though he knows the path to that goal is extremely challenging and demanding mentally and physically. Pam and I have great joy that the healing from the cross extends to our four kids (Steven, Melody, Kayla, and Ashley) as each one has decided to accept the sacrifice that Jesus made for their sins.
Children's Bible Quizzing Finale 2012
Last Sunday, April 1st, we had a great time as a family leading, assisting, and participating (Kayla and Ashley) in the final competition of our 2012 Bible Quizzing season. This year nearly 100 children from three schools/communities participated and over 50 of these children memorized and quoted (word perfect) 46 key verses from the first 9 chapters of the Book of Acts. Our theme this year was "We Are Witnesses" taken from Acts 2:32 "God has raised this Jesus to life and we are all witnesses of the fact." We bought shirts this year for all the kids and you can see the group in blue in the picture below including coaches and quiz masters, Mike and Pastor Geoffrey Musyoka. One of the schools, Mosop Mission School, joined us this year for the first time and entered five teams. Mosop is also an orphanage and provides schooling for many orphans as well as high quality education for many Kenyan national missionary families serving all over the country of Kenya. The school's founder and director, Mr. Elijah Bett, told Mike that the Bible quizzing program this year brought incredible energy and new life to the school. Yesterday at the awards ceremony for Mosop hundreds of children from the school attended as nearly forty quizzers received medals, ribbons, and trophies. It is likely that this excitement will spread to dozens more of the Mosop children and next year should be a big boost in the number of Mosop children who participate. This Sunday the Tenwek kids will receive their medals and trophies for their hard work and dedication to hiding God's Word in their hearts. We are so proud of how dedicated our quizzers were this year to learning the first part of the Book of Acts. Next year we plan on covering Acts Part II. Below are pics of our quizzers in blue at Tenwek and Mosop. Please pray with Pam and I and the other coaches that God will use His Word mightily in these kids lives in the coming months and years.
Doing Business God's Way
As our family worshipped at Bethesda Church recently our pastor, Rev. Elijah Bii, preached on faith from Hebrews 11. Using the example of Abraham and his faith he challenged us that "our business is to go about doing God's business and doing it God's way". Believing God for hard or even seemingly impossible things is part of conducting His business at Tenwek Hospital. Early in the service I had shared the prayer request for a great need for more help in our Obstetrics department at Tenwek. In June our one and only Obstetrician, Dr. Huber, will be leaving for the US with some short term Ob's covering when she leaves. As the Medical Superintendent people look to me for answers on how we will make sure that pregnant mothers will receive the needed care at our mission hospital. Pastor Elijah looked right at me and challenged me (and our OB department) to trust God for this need of personnel, to ask Him to recruit and provide the consultants/specialists we need at this time. He does, after all, care about these Kenyan mothers and knows that many will need the advanced skills and knowledge of an obstetrician to help them through labor and delivery safely. Our Maternity department is the largest single department at Tenwek with nearly 60 beds and many more mothers than beds usually present. Together with the nursery they make up about 100 of our 271 total beds. I have no possible leads to follow or solutions for this coming need. Would you pray with me that God would provide the critical doctors we need to run Tenwek's Ob-Gyn service?
Testimony from a Trainee, Mr. Joshua Leister
I thought I would share with you a testimony from one of our young clinical officer interns this year who is the first ever American to come to Tenwek having completed clinical officer training in Kenya and then to choose Tenwek as his internship training site. Joshua is a former youth pastor in the US who decided to follow God's call as a missionary and found medicine to be a powerful tool for reaching some of the hardest hearts. Here is an excerpt from a recent devotional he shared with us:
"As a student of medicine and the word of God I have been overwhelmed with blessings being a part of Tenwek Mission Hospital. The experience has been incomparable to any other medical involvement I’ve had thus far in my short career. The environment seems to radiate with the presence of God for which I can only give credit to the staff and their individual, as well as corporate commitment to Christ.
This devotion to Christ and His work here at Tenwek is well summed up by my short interaction with a patient name David. This man was an acknowledged alcoholic by all who new him. Living a reckless and self-destructive life he found himself at Tenwek hospital after a severe accident when he was hit by a vehicle while stumbling across the road in a drunken stupor. Too inebriated to even feel the pain of his multiple injuries as he was thoroughly examined in casualty, David was severely injured and completely disregarded it. Like many patients in his shoes David was unaware of his need for a life change and ultimately the need for a right relationship with God.
Over the several days of hospital care and orthopedic management David laughed and joked about his neglected behavior. I had the great privilege of working with Dr. Galat the orthopedic consultant during David’s stay at the hospital. Dr. Galat often said a prayer for David after we discussed his case thus showing his concern. Then one day as we finished examining David and were assured he would be going home in a day or two Dr. Galat took a bold step. In reply to one of David’s childish remarks concerning his drunkenness Dr. Galat arrested his foolishness and began to explain the reality of the gospel in context of the reality of David’s situation. David was truly receptive and expressed in his countenance as well as his humble prayer of repentance, the evidence of a changed man. Even the two days following his decision of faith I was repeatedly taken back by the beaming smile that came from David’s face as he proclaimed his new birth in Jesus.
These are the moments that set Tenwek Mission Hospital above the rest as the staff continue to live up to the motto “We treat but Jesus heals.” I will forever be marked by my experience at Tenwek hospital."
Patient David mentioned above
Mr. Joshua Liester, Clinical officer intern at Tenwek this year.
HAPPY EASTER TO EACH ONE OF YOU!
Mike and Pam
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Suffering at Seven: Two children who need your prayers
Psalm 121: "The Lord will watch over you, he will not let your foot slip."
This weekend I have been on call for the surgery service with a wonderful team of residents, including chief resident, Dr. Agneta Odera, who finishes her five year surgical residency here at Tenwek in December. Dr. Odera has done an incredible array of cases during her tenure at Tenwek with a breadth of procedures that far surpasses any general surgery training in the western world. Last night she independently performed a craniotomy on a young man who had developed a brain abscess after a head injury two weeks ago. The Tenwek CT scanner made the diagnosis quite clear and as as result this young man (who was in a coma with his right side paralyzed yesterday) is now moving the right side of his body and is more awake and off the ventilator.
While passing through our emergency room on Saturday, I was surprised that the place was amazingly serene with only one patient being treated there. The quiet was short-lived as a young girl was brought rapidly through the front door on a stretcher crying and screaming for her mother. The nurse with her, from another small local hospital, reported that she had been hit by a bus not even two hours before and needed her leg amputated. I am usually quite skeptical of such pronouncements but a quick examination of her left leg helped me understand why they felt we should be so aggressive. Her left lower leg just below the knee was mangled and without life and her right leg was also broken though with no wounds. We rushed the seven year old girl named Scholar Chepkemoi to the operating room after briefly explaining the gravity of the injury to her grandfather. Dr. Odera and I closed a wound on her scalp that was bleeding and then amputated her left leg at the level of the knee. It is a sickening procedure and Dr. Odera's prayer at the onset focused on God providing supernatural grace to the family and little Scholar whose life would never be the same. She came through the surgery stable and in not too much pain all things considered. Her Aunt then showed up and was in shock with the news that her little niece had become an amputee that day. In her denial and confusion she asked me when I planned on putting the leg I had removed back! I really don't like these conversations with families as there seems to be no way to soften the blow such terrible news delivers to the family . Overnight Scholar rested fairly well and we trust will make an uneventful recovery from here physically. Her Mom and Dad came today and were quite brave as I explained why we did the amputation and how God had protected her life as she could have easily died after colliding with a bus. In Kipsigis the mother commented that Jehovah was good to save her life and the father agreed. With her right leg broken, she won't be walking for two to three months at the very least. I think you would agree that Scholar and her parents are greatly in need of God's loving embrace and care at this time. Would you pray for her and her parents that we can meet their physical and emotional needs in the coming days and weeks? I have attached a picture below of Scholar this morning in the ICU postop.
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This weekend I have been on call for the surgery service with a wonderful team of residents, including chief resident, Dr. Agneta Odera, who finishes her five year surgical residency here at Tenwek in December. Dr. Odera has done an incredible array of cases during her tenure at Tenwek with a breadth of procedures that far surpasses any general surgery training in the western world. Last night she independently performed a craniotomy on a young man who had developed a brain abscess after a head injury two weeks ago. The Tenwek CT scanner made the diagnosis quite clear and as as result this young man (who was in a coma with his right side paralyzed yesterday) is now moving the right side of his body and is more awake and off the ventilator.
While passing through our emergency room on Saturday, I was surprised that the place was amazingly serene with only one patient being treated there. The quiet was short-lived as a young girl was brought rapidly through the front door on a stretcher crying and screaming for her mother. The nurse with her, from another small local hospital, reported that she had been hit by a bus not even two hours before and needed her leg amputated. I am usually quite skeptical of such pronouncements but a quick examination of her left leg helped me understand why they felt we should be so aggressive. Her left lower leg just below the knee was mangled and without life and her right leg was also broken though with no wounds. We rushed the seven year old girl named Scholar Chepkemoi to the operating room after briefly explaining the gravity of the injury to her grandfather. Dr. Odera and I closed a wound on her scalp that was bleeding and then amputated her left leg at the level of the knee. It is a sickening procedure and Dr. Odera's prayer at the onset focused on God providing supernatural grace to the family and little Scholar whose life would never be the same. She came through the surgery stable and in not too much pain all things considered. Her Aunt then showed up and was in shock with the news that her little niece had become an amputee that day. In her denial and confusion she asked me when I planned on putting the leg I had removed back! I really don't like these conversations with families as there seems to be no way to soften the blow such terrible news delivers to the family . Overnight Scholar rested fairly well and we trust will make an uneventful recovery from here physically. Her Mom and Dad came today and were quite brave as I explained why we did the amputation and how God had protected her life as she could have easily died after colliding with a bus. In Kipsigis the mother commented that Jehovah was good to save her life and the father agreed. With her right leg broken, she won't be walking for two to three months at the very least. I think you would agree that Scholar and her parents are greatly in need of God's loving embrace and care at this time. Would you pray for her and her parents that we can meet their physical and emotional needs in the coming days and weeks? I have attached a picture below of Scholar this morning in the ICU postop.
A second 7 year old, a boy named Amos, has been in the peds ward at Tenwek for several weeks after two operations to remove bowel that had died or was leaking. So much of his intestine has been removed that he is left with only 110 cm of small bowel. This is only barely enough to survive and his nutritional status has been poor for the last couple of weeks. We are working hard with his father, who faithfully remains at Amos' bedside day and night, to feed him through a tube in his nose to his stomach. Still, even with aggressive feedings through the tube, his weight keeps dropping. Our surgery team stopped at his bedside yesterday and asked God to intervene and allow Amos to live even with so little small intestine remaining. One of our second year residents, Dr. Philip Blasto, gave a wonderful and sincere intercessory prayer for Amos. I have included a picture of Amos and his father below. He certainly is malnourished, having lost nearly half his body weight since he first came to Tenwek. Would you pray with our surgery team that God will heal this little guy and allow him to gain weight and survive to His glory?
Pam and I are so grateful for praying brothers and sisters in Christ who have held us up over the last 17 years that we have been WGM missionaries. We face a family transition in three months with our son, Steven, graduating from high school here in Kenya and planning on joining the US Army in August. We plan on being home in the US for five months total with a return to Kenya just after Christmas. We will be needing wheels for those five months so if any of you know of a vehicle that we could use or rent from July to December please let us know.
During our recent WGM annual retreat on the coast of Kenya, our second daughter, Kayla, was baptized in the Indian Ocean by our WGM Regional Director and our former Kenya field director, Rev. Terry Duncan (see pics below). We were also able to spend a couple of extra days on vacation with two other Tenwek families. All three families invested some meal time memorizing the 121st Psalm that starts off "I lift up my eyes to the hills.....where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord the maker of heaven and earth." Adults and children alike in all three families quoted the eight verses of this chapter together and we have been saying those verses to each other even since returning to Tenwek. The Psalm ends in verse 8 with "The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more." What a super promise for our family as we look ahead this summer to saying goodbye to Steven as he enters a career in the military with many comings and goings to and from places that won't be safe from a human perspective.
Enough blogging for now.... God bless you and watch over you this week!
Mike and Pam Chupp
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Update: Suffering at Seven
Many have emailed and asked for an update on the two seven year olds, Scholar and Amos, that I wrote about last weekend. I visited both of these children this morning after worship service and found both looking better now a week out from my last report.
Scholar (pictured below) had to undergo a second surgery on her amputated left leg this week because the closure Dr. Odera and I did wasn't looking good. She now has a formal above the knee amputation which is healing fine so far. Her right leg, with a tibia fracture, is casted and comfortable. All her tubes and catheters have been removed and she is healing physically. Emotionally she is depressed and quiet and not very communicative yet, even with her Aunt pictured below with her. I reassured her that she would walk again with help from people who care about her AND our loving Lord. Thanks to all who have prayed for this little girl who was hit by a bus 8 days ago. Please continue to pray for her spirit and for her emotionally as we encourage her to get out of bed and outside in a wheelchair this week.
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The words from a chorus that we frequently sing in our worship service at Bethesda Church, our hospital worship service, come to mind with these two kids:
"He knows my name, He knows my every thought, He sees each tear that falls, and hears me when I call."
At Tenwek "We treat - Jesus heals". We fully depend on Jesus to make the difference in the lives of Scholar and Amos. God bless you this week.
Mike and Pam
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Scholar (pictured below) had to undergo a second surgery on her amputated left leg this week because the closure Dr. Odera and I did wasn't looking good. She now has a formal above the knee amputation which is healing fine so far. Her right leg, with a tibia fracture, is casted and comfortable. All her tubes and catheters have been removed and she is healing physically. Emotionally she is depressed and quiet and not very communicative yet, even with her Aunt pictured below with her. I reassured her that she would walk again with help from people who care about her AND our loving Lord. Thanks to all who have prayed for this little girl who was hit by a bus 8 days ago. Please continue to pray for her spirit and for her emotionally as we encourage her to get out of bed and outside in a wheelchair this week.
Amos (picture below with his Dad, Festus) actually had better color and was stronger today. He is suffering from having lost most of his small and large intestine and has an ostomy with "short gut" syndrome. This condition leads to poor absorption of nutrients in the food. No matter how much we feed him, weight gain and improvement have been elusive for our surgery team. Dad says he is getting stronger and reports that he has had slight weight gain over the past week. PTL! Thank you for praying. Festus and Amos were encouraged by the fact that I told them dozens of our friends and family in America are praying for him to heal and leave the hospital. Will you continue to pray for his healing and weight gain to God's glory?
The words from a chorus that we frequently sing in our worship service at Bethesda Church, our hospital worship service, come to mind with these two kids:
"He knows my name, He knows my every thought, He sees each tear that falls, and hears me when I call."
At Tenwek "We treat - Jesus heals". We fully depend on Jesus to make the difference in the lives of Scholar and Amos. God bless you this week.
Mike and Pam
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Way to go Steven!! (America here we come)
After much prayer, persistence, and the wonderful blessing of a great Christian boarding school in Kenya, our son Steven graduated from Rift Valley Academy on July 14th, 2012. The graduation ceremony was a great blessing and pointed to a gracious and gift-giving God in so many ways. Steven's small vocal ensemble sang "Give Me Jesus" as part of the opening of the ceremony. Steven joined Nick Manchester and Brenden Steury (all WGM MK's) as part of the RVA Class of 2012 (88 grads). Steven has thought and prayed about joining the US Army for much of the last year and plans on enlisting in August in Tennessee after our return home. His eventual goal is to become a medic within the Army Rangers. Steven graduated as an "Honor Musician" because of his involvement in RVA's small vocal group and choir. Please pray with Steven and our family as we prepare to send him off for basic training next month. Steven has been saying goodbyes over the past few weeks to many friends, missionary aunts and uncles, and to Kenya, the country he has called home from the age of three.
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Mike's final few weeks at the hospital were highlighted by getting back into the operating room more than has been typical for him in the last two years after handing over the administrative responsibilities of Medical Superintendent to our friend and missionary colleague, Dr. John Spriegel (WGM missionary and also from Southwestern Medical Clinic). Two remarkable cases involved children pictured below. The first was a small child who choked on a bean which she then aspirated into her right main stem bronchus, completely blocking off air flow to her right lung. Mike was blessed to have access to a very modern bronchoscopy and foreign body retrieval system to grab the bean and pull it out through the trachea and vocal cords intact. (see pictures below) The little girl was able to go home after 24 hours of observation with a very happy mom who kept the bean as a trophy of God's grace and provision through Tenwek Hospital. The other child, a seven year old Masai boy named Mokita, was running and fell on a stick which punctured his neck. Though not really bleeding, the parents noted milk pouring out of the puncture site when he tried to drink and he was rushed to Tenwek. Mike was on call with surgery resident Damaris and operated on Mokita just after midnight on a Sunday night. A small hole was found in his esophagus which Mike repaired with Damaris' help and a tube was placed in the boy's right chest because fluid and air had entered the chest cavity. The story though got much more complicated as the next day a scope of the esophagus revealed a second hole on the opposite side of Mokita's esophagus where the stick and passed completely through and through his swallowing tube! The stick had then punctured the top of his right lung. Mokita (now at two weeks from the injury) has had a total of four operations between Mike and Russ White to deal with lack of healing of these puncture sites and continued drainage of saliva through his neck. I have attached a picture of little Mokita and am requesting your prayers for this little guy and his family that God will graciously allow him to heal these injuries, avoid further infection, and be able to go home before this month is over.
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Homeland Ministry Assignment
As I compose this blog, our family is in Nairobi in the final hours before our first flight headed home to the US. As a graduation gift to Steven, we will be spending three days in Rome to see many of the famous sites in the "Eternal City". On July 26th we are scheduled to fly from Rome through London and on to Chicago before landing in St. Joseph, MI where our home and Mike's medical group, Southwestern Medical Clinic (SWMC), are based. We will be visiting family in Indiana and then Tennessee where Pam's parents live. Our two younger girls, Kayla and Ashley, will be starting school in mid August for the fall semester in Chattanooga. Our oldest daughter, Melody, will be a Junior at Rift Valley Academy this coming year so she will be returning to Kenya with another RVA family in late August. Mike plans on spending two months in Michigan, September and October, working with SWMC in the surgery department while Pam and the girls live with her parents in Chattanooga. We are scheduled to share and speak in many churches starting in September with meetings nearly every weekend in November and early December. We have return plane tickets for our family to fly back to Kenya on December 29th to resume ministry at Tenwek the first week of January 2013. Please email us or call Mike (US cell no. 269-355-8833) if you would like us to share in your church, home, small group fellowship, school or other venue about the great things God is doing in medical missions in general and at Tenwek Hospital specifically.
Mike (the white guy on his knee!) with a large number of our medical trainees at Tenwek including medical students from Kenyatta University, medical officer and clinical officer interns, a young Korean doctor, and family medicine and general surgery residents
Final Weeks at TenwekMike's final few weeks at the hospital were highlighted by getting back into the operating room more than has been typical for him in the last two years after handing over the administrative responsibilities of Medical Superintendent to our friend and missionary colleague, Dr. John Spriegel (WGM missionary and also from Southwestern Medical Clinic). Two remarkable cases involved children pictured below. The first was a small child who choked on a bean which she then aspirated into her right main stem bronchus, completely blocking off air flow to her right lung. Mike was blessed to have access to a very modern bronchoscopy and foreign body retrieval system to grab the bean and pull it out through the trachea and vocal cords intact. (see pictures below) The little girl was able to go home after 24 hours of observation with a very happy mom who kept the bean as a trophy of God's grace and provision through Tenwek Hospital. The other child, a seven year old Masai boy named Mokita, was running and fell on a stick which punctured his neck. Though not really bleeding, the parents noted milk pouring out of the puncture site when he tried to drink and he was rushed to Tenwek. Mike was on call with surgery resident Damaris and operated on Mokita just after midnight on a Sunday night. A small hole was found in his esophagus which Mike repaired with Damaris' help and a tube was placed in the boy's right chest because fluid and air had entered the chest cavity. The story though got much more complicated as the next day a scope of the esophagus revealed a second hole on the opposite side of Mokita's esophagus where the stick and passed completely through and through his swallowing tube! The stick had then punctured the top of his right lung. Mokita (now at two weeks from the injury) has had a total of four operations between Mike and Russ White to deal with lack of healing of these puncture sites and continued drainage of saliva through his neck. I have attached a picture of little Mokita and am requesting your prayers for this little guy and his family that God will graciously allow him to heal these injuries, avoid further infection, and be able to go home before this month is over.
The bean that blocked the 18 month old girls right lung pictured below still in the recovery room.
Puncture wound in the left neck of Mokita after a stick injury left him with two holes in his esophagus and a punctured right lung.
Mokita in the High Dependency Unit after 4 operations
Our Prayer focus:
Praise the Lord for:
1. The past two wonderful years for our family in ministry in Kenya at Tenwek Hospital
2. Steven's successful completion of high school and a clear direction and plan he already has for his life, serving in the US Army.
3. God has met all our needs in support these past two years through the faithful giving and prayers of God's people. We are so grateful for each one of you!
4. One of our friends in Mooresville, IN has offered us a vehicle to use during our five month HMA after hearing of our need in the last Chupplink to You. PTL!
5. Preliminary news from USAID and American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) looks very promising for a grant of $800,000 to be given toward construction of a new Eye and Dental Care Center at Tenwek. Final confirmation is still awaiting the US Congress to agree to the budget given to ASHA this year. This is also a prayer request!
Please pray with us for:
1. Safety through travel and transition to the US this week.
2. God's perfect timing for Steven's enlistment and start to basic training in the US Army. Also that the Holy Spirit will infuse him with courage and determination to obey God and not compromise His walk with Christ in a challenging environment that is coming.
3. Grace for Mike and Pam through September and October as we live and work in separate states (Mike in Michigan and Pam in Tennessee with the girls)
4. Success while on Homeland Ministry Assignment in several areas including recruitment of new missionaries and volunteers to meet many personnel needs at Tenwek, raising of new support to return to the field in late December, advancement of the Friends of Tenwek organization that is hoping to get official IRS 501C3 status in the next six months, effectively challenge the church and God's people to become champions of cross-cultural ministry whether in the US or internationally to see God's Kingdom grow in great numbers before Jesus returns.
The scripture we read last week that sums up our thoughts and prayers as we prepare to return to the US is found in Romans chapter 1 verses 11 and 12 where Paul told the Romans "For I long to visit you so I can share a spiritual blessing with you that will help you grow strong in the Lord. I'm eager to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. In this way, each of us will be a blessing to the other." We share Paul's desire as we think about the many saints who have stood by us since 1996 when we first came to Kenya and Tenwek Hospital. We can't wait to be encouraged by what God is doing in your life as we share with you what God has been doing in the Chupp family's life and ministry.
Our contacts from July 26th to December 29th will be as follows:
Mike's cell: 269-355-8833
Email address: kenyachupps@yahoo.com
Mailing address: 300 Cyndica Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37421
Support: Mike and Pam Chupp ministry, C/O World Gospel Mission-Donor services, PO Box 948, Marion, IN 46952
God bless you this summer and hope to see you SOON!
One final picture from the RVA graduation..... Steven proudly holds his fresh RVA diploma.
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TURBULENT TRANSITIONS
Safely Home in the USA
The Kenya Chupps landed safely in Chicago on July 26th and were welcomed and escorted to Stevensville, MI by Warren White (Lakeland Regional Health Care VP) and Dr. Ken O'Neill (Medical Director for Southwestern Medical Clinic). All luggage arrived intact and untouched which we were especially grateful for since we had passed through Rome for a few days on the way home(see pictures below). Michigan is a wonderful place to be in the summer so we basked in the sun and enjoyed the White family pool on 95+ degree days as we recovered from jet lag. Other than a severe cold that Mike developed a couple of days after arrival, our first week in Berrien County was great, highlighted by a wonderful visit to our home church, Berrien Center Bible Church, and with many friends in the St. Joseph, MI area. Our kids spent many hours with old friends from Grace Christian School while Mike met up with several physician partners at Southwestern Medical Clinic during the week. God blessed us through the generosity of Dr. David Pfotenhauer of Mooresville, IN who drove a 2002 Acura MDX all the way to Michigan and left it with the Whites so that our family would have a vehicle to use, not only our first week home, but also for the entire five months we are home. Thank you Pfotenhauers and thank you heavenly Father for such generous children of yours!
We made our way south through Indiana, visiting Mike's grandmother (age 96), aunt, and brothers Brian and Rick and their families. We finally landed in Chattanooga, TN to a joyous reunion with Pam's parents, Wayne and Theresa Butts on August 5th. Chattanooga will be our "home base" this HMA (home ministry assignment) as our two youngest daughters, Kayla (8th grade) and Ashley (5th grade) have already started school at Silverdale Baptist Academy about 10 minutes from the Butts home. Some of you will remember that Wayne was very sick in 2005/2006 and basically became blind but was touched by our loving Lord who gave Dad Butts his vision back and amazing health. Mom and Dad Butts celebrated 49 years of marriage yesterday, Aug 17th, on the same day that we celebrated 21 years of marriage. It is SO good to be unpacked, over jet lag, and looking ahead to these months in the States which will be packed with ministry opportunities, God helping us.
Pam and the kids at the Roman colloseum July 25th in front of a cross placed in Emperor Nero's box where he presided over the deaths of thousands of Christians in the first century AD.
A DOOR CLOSING....WHAT NEXT?
Here was a conversation in our car on the way to the Army Recruitment office in Chattanooga for the third time in a week, this time for completion of Steven's application to enlist....
Mike to Steven: "You remember how God spoke to Ernie Steury (first doctor at Tenwek Hospital) just before he got on the Army bus to go to the processing station.....God told him not to get on. He purposed for Ernie to become a missionary doctor and serve at Tenwek.
Steven: "Dad, I don't think God has ever talked to me like that."
Mike: "God doesn't always clearly say something to us like he did with Ernie. Sometimes he communicates his will to us through other people, his word, or by closing doors, but in any case he gives us guidance."
Steven: "Ok."
3 hours later after Steven finishes with recruiter and Mike is sipping coffee at McDonalds......
Steven to Mike: "Its over Dad. I don't medically qualify for the Army because of my, well, you know, I sleep walk. And they say it applies to all the branches of the US military."
Mike (in shock) to Steven: "No way!"
Steven: "Yes, I could maybe do a sleep study or something but they really don't think it will make a difference."
Mike: "Now what buddy?"
Steven: "I don't know, Dad, that is all I ever wanted to do.........."
That conversation took place about 10 days ago and we have been in a period of re-grouping as a family and praying a whole lot more about Steven's future. Steven has described going through the stages of death in loss of this dream/vision, especially working through denial, anger, sorrow over a loss. God has brought some dear people across his path and our path in these 10 days to encourage Steven and us that God has something far better and special in mind for Steven's future as this was an obvious door closure, out of Steven's and our control. Getting a driver's license and a job are top priorities right now but many unknowns are in our minds right now. We would greatly appreciate your praying for Steven and his future as he thinks about what God has in store for him. We really hope that he will find employment in the next month or two before we leave for Kenya at the end of December. Going to college and working locally in Chattanooga seem to be practical steps right now but every Army billboard or TV advertisement has brought pain and disappointment to our son. Pam has been reminding Steven and me of Jer. 29:11 and God's plans to prosper Steven with a "hope and a future". He enjoys Pam's folks church and the program there very much which we feel is a good start. Thank you for praying!
A WEEK OF TRANSITION AND TURBULENCE....
Last week our two younger daughters started back to school at Silverdale Baptist Academy in Chattanooga. This week we will say goodbye to our oldest daughter, Melody, as she returns to Kenya to start the first term of her junior year at Rift Valley Academy. I think this is harder for Mom and Dad than Mel! She is quite eager to get back to RVA, friends, basketball, and a new post as one of four vocalists in a student led weekly Sunday evening worship time at school called Sunday Night Live. As if that change wasn't enough, I (Mike) leave in one week for Michigan for two months to work with Southwestern Medical Clinic and many Christian colleagues there. I already have an appointment with a plastic surgery friend next Wednesday to get started on treatment for a probable skin cancer on my nose that will be a little tricky to remove, given its location. Sometimes when it rains, it POURS!
So, the Chupps have a lot of stuff going on and we REALLY would be grateful for God's people to pray this week. :-)
Melody played guard for the RVA Lady Buffalos JV basketball team last season
OUR HOME MINISTRY SCHEDULE
We will have many opportunities in churches and at conferences to share what God has been doing in and through our family and our missionary team these past two years at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya. Mike will be speaking at his home church (Grace Missionary Church) in Mooresville, IN Labor Day weekend to kick off our HMA time. In October there will be mission conferences in Ohio and in Michigan to attend and then November will be packed with services and conferences every weekend in several states. We will wind up our ministry time about a week before Christmas so that we can spend time with family and friends before leaving for Kenya December 29th, Lord willing. We are quite excited to share with as many of you as possible the growth and advancement of not only the medical outreach/work of Tenwek Hospital but also several other ministries and responsibilities that God sent our way these past two years. A big part of this time home for Mike is looking for more doctors/dentists/medical administration/IT professionals to come along side and help us at Tenwek Hospital both short and long term.
Three young talented Tenwek surgical residents: (L to R) Damaris (2nd year), Liz (1st), Agneta (5th)
OUR CONTACTS WHILE IN THE US:
Mike's cell phone: 269-355-8833
Pam's cell phone: 269-985-8023
Our WGM website: www.wgm.org/Chupp
Our blog: kenyachupps.blogspot.com
Postal address: 300 Cyndica Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37421
Our permanent email address: mike.chupp@wgm.org
Steven's email address: scrummysteve@gmail.com
Our mission address/financial support: World Gospel Mission, Box 948, Marion, IN 46952
Donate on line: https://www.wgm.org/Chupp
LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING YOU SOONEST! WE WILL BE SENDING OUT NEW PRAYER CARDS SOON! HAVE A GREAT WEEK WALKING WITH OUR LORD JESUS. Mike for Pam and the kids
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