March
13 (Thursday)
Howard
Hospital, Zimbabwe
First-year nursing students at Howard Hospital
By the time we finished morning prayers with the nursing staff at 7:30 a.m. andexperienced the heads of department handover meeting, the hospital was crowded
By the time we finished morning prayers with the nursing staff at 7:30 a.m. andexperienced the heads of department handover meeting, the hospital was crowded
with outpatients, adding to those who we
already in the care of the Howard Hospital team. To me, it seemed like a
daunting task, and when I asked, “Will you be able to see all these people
today?” it was pointed out to me that the staff never go home until all the
patients are seen. If the need required it, the doctor would see them.
First, there were the two separate schools, a
nursing school and a school for midwives–over 40 students who upon graduation
will be available to serve the whole country. I am quickly understanding that
Howard Hospital is a gift to Zimbabwe.
The
waiting room at Howard Hospital
Second,
there was a clear focus on bringing healthy children into the world. We were
guided through the facilities where there were dozens of women waiting for the
process to begin, to a place where eight women were about to deliver, to a ward
where moms were learning about postnatal care for three days before taking
their little one home. It impressed me that all of this happens every day, and
a whole community of people is participating in the gift of life.
The
day was not without its challenges. There is real concern about an outbreak of
malaria, which claimed a young child’s life and threatens a pregnant woman. I
will pray for God’s grace for these families tonight.
Third, there was a visit to Howard High School where 820 students excel in decorum and the pursuit of their education. I was overwhelmed as all 820 sang for us and then blessed as the choir sang their song. The back-to-school journey continued as we moved to the primary school, which has 1,220 students. Can you believe this? They stayed after school so we could meet them and see them perform a traditional African dance. Outstanding!
Everything
I have seen and written about is guided by The Salvation Army in Zimbabwe. I am
proud to call these people colleagues and brothers and sisters. No one can deny
the impact that is made on the lives of hundreds every day. God bless The
Salvation Army in Zimbabwe.
*
* * *
March
14 (Friday)
Howard
Hospital, Zimbabwe
Supplies
arrive at Howard Hospital. Commissioner Brian Peddle (left)
is on hand to help
with the container
Nothing
that I write could capture this exciting day at Howard Hospital. Today marked
the arrival of a long-awaited container from Canada and a truck carrying poles
and electrical supplies for a project sponsored by the Canada and Bermuda
Territory. Watching the staff and Howard family hold their breath as the
territorial commander from Canada and Bermuda and the territorial commander
from Zimbabwe pried open the doors to cheers and applause was a personal treat.
I think this is what the phrase “being in the right place at the right time”
really means. Thank God for the generosity of friends all across Canada and
Bermuda. I am more convinced than ever that our Partners in Mission program
really works.
Again
today we were inspired by a hard-working staff that delivers care to a
catchment of 250,000 people. When I visited with the local headman, I heard
praise for past Howard Hospital leaders Major Jim Watt and Dr. Paul Thistle and
for continuing Canadian support. We were welcomed and appreciated by community
leaders. The headman also noted challenges expected in the future and hoped
Canada would continue to offer support. With your help, we can.
In
November 2014, Howard Hospital will move to a new home. I was very impressed
with the new complex and the possibilities it holds for the future. Dr. Peter
Lindgren from Sweden is overseeing the project.
We finished the day with a chapel service. The nurses sang songs of hope and joy, and we heard testimonies of faith and courage and celebrated the fact that Howard Hospital is in God’s hands.
At
the same time, the malaria outbreak has brought more cases and the waiting
rooms at Howard are full. I have lost track of how many babies have been
welcomed since I arrived. I have never stayed at a hospital overnight, but this
time at Howard has been a great blessing.
Home to 431 Salvation Army corps, 110 schools and
four hospitals, Zimbabwe is supported by the Canada and Bermuda Territory
through the territorial world missions department and the Army’s Partners in
Mission Appeal.
Last week Commissioner Brian Peddle, territorial commander, Canada and Bermuda, visited Zimbabwe to observe and support the Army’s work there.
In this blog, we
shares his letter from Zimbabwe and in which he reports: I have new confidence in the
leadership here and the future of Howard.
Commissioner Brian Peddle
Sunday worship in Harare Citadel Corps
13 comments:
Thank you Commissioner for mentioning the fine contribution of Doctors Watt and Thistle to the Howard Hospital. I know both these men and hold them in the highest esteem as sterling Christians and professionals.
So if Dr. Paul Thistle was doing such a great job, why did he receive marching orders, and why was he dismissed as the CMO at Howard?
It's also a huge question as to why all this money to now complete the white elephant hospital that was on the site for 10+ years unfinished, never came when Dr. Paul Thistle was doing such a great job as CMO?
Also where is the missing donation of the Donwood United Church group that in Canada we have read about in the media?
Nothing makes sense in this situation. While it appears to be good news for the future, these questions from the past cannot be ignored if TSA's leadership hope to regain trust and confidence from donors inside and outside TSA.
Notably Commissioner Peddle's report contains no apology to the families who
had relatives who died because of the TSA's abrupt decision to remove Dr. Thistle, thus depriving a quarter of a million people of their highly qualified surgeon. Make no mistake, while our focus as Christians has to be on the present, the past can never be swept under the rug without apology. This element is glaringly absent from the Commissioner's report.
I did not know that Zimbabwe was one of Canada's partner countries - I had thought it was two small nations on the coast - Sierra Leone and another country. This report makes it sound like the purpose of the visit of Commissioner Peddle is because Zimbabwe is partnered with the Canadian territory. ???
What a welcome relief this article is! Whereas I agree with the previous commenter about the past, I was heartened to read about the progress that has been made at the HH in the last 12 months. Dr Paul Thistle obviously had issues with the SA bureaucrats, and maybe it is best that he has moved to pastures new, serving God with his skills.
I would say not to fret about the past - God knows what happened at HH, and He will address the past. He knows what happened to the missing funds. Unrepented sin will not go unnoticed by our Heavenly Father, but He will address it in His time. It will not be ignored. It is great to see the positive activity going on, and I pray that things will continue to improve, so that TSA can fully serve this community which has suffered much at its hands. May God bless the current leaders, as they bring hope - tariro - to the people in this area.
Credit to all those who are working hard to improve the hospital. Many eyes will be watching to see how it develops and if the improvement is sustained.
Uk FORMER
Credit to all those who are working hard to improve the hospital. Many will be watching to see if this effort is sustained.
UK former
Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it. George Santayana
The update has no mention of the people who were neglected and died without a surgical specialist, for a population of 250,000. No apology. No regrets. It was a routine farewell for Dr. Thistle, remember. The ‘primary care’ hospital continues to send its patients to Harare where health care is expensive, a lottery of life and death. The poor in Chiweshe are mourning their relatives in silence, and will continue to do so.
The update has no mention of the administrative lessons learned over the crisis of 2012, the steps, if any, taken to increase transparency, and to resolve missing donations at Howard Hospital after the complaints of past donors. The general public had invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding and professional volunteer services to Howard over the decades. They deserve the report of an independent inquiry not a pre-planned public relations exercise.
If Commissioner Peddle had paid a surprise repeat visit the following week, he would have discovered only a handful of women in that waiting room at the busiest hour of a working day. Workers would post their own 'empty hospital' pictures on the internet, except for the intimidation and victimization of the administration. With unemployment high in rural Africa, their livelihoods depend on their silence.
"Everything I have seen and written about is guided by The Salvation Army in Zimbabwe."
Truer words were probably never spoken.
To John Sullivan, notably the praise for the fine contributions of Drs. Watt and Thistle was actually made by the Chiweshe headman according to the Commissioner's report. Just curious, has any leader of TSA ever praised their contributions? Nonetheless, agreed - it was kind of the Commissioner to pass on this praise from the community headmen.
Yes, anonymous I was quite aware that the praise did not come from the Commissioner, and no in all the months that FSAOF was reporting, I cannot recall one would of praise from TSA leadership. Possibly they may take such commitment for granted unaware when they are in the presence of greatness.
The leadership of TSA are people, who, hypocritically, do not 'practice what they preach' regarding confession of sins and seeking forgiveness (hasn't happened). They get by (under a cloud of secrecy) only because of their ordinary, faithful members who soldier on regardless - the mission being the focus of their lives, ignoring all that happens 'higher up' the chain of command. If the leaders had any moral fibre at all, they would at least apologise for the fiendish activities at Zimbabwe THQ which led to the demonic intervention which resulted in the dismissal of Dr Thistle.
There is no doubt in my mind that the HH scandal was satanic. Whenever things are going well, Satan always has to disrupt them. Another question comes to my mind and concerns me: why is the Salvation Army so universally loved today (on the whole)? The Scriptures say that in the last days Christians will be hated by everyone. Why aren't we? Are we too involved with the world? Just asking.
Dear Literalist Commenter # 9,
Like uh, then did it ever occur to you that maybe we're NOT living in the last days after all (and that you're going to have to die just like everyone else who ever lived before you)?!!
Sven,
I'm sorry that I haven't been on the site for awhile but I've been inundated with tons of work including two writing projects. I should be back on again in about two weeks--unless something else comes up out of the blue.
Excellent articles as usual, especially the gay series. Keep up the good work Sven! I just LUV this site, as do many others. It's top notch and no other site in the Army world can yet be compared to it. (and yes, there are actually some other good ones out there too!)
Daryl Lach
USA Central
"You Must Go Home By the Way of the Cross, To Stand With Jesus In the Morning!"
To Daryl
You must be seriously deluded if you think we are not in the last days. Contrary to your comment, I have no idea when these things will be fulfilled, and yes, I may die before Jesus comes again, I fully accept that, but we are talking God's timeline here, not ours. The Scriptures tell us to discern the signs of the time, not to ignore them, and to watch for the coming of Jesus.
Just a few ACTUAL 'happenings';
China puts more Christian believers in prison or under detention than in any other country - just for being Christians.
The military government in Burma has ordered Christians to be wiped out according to a memo which states ‘There shall be no home where the Christian religion in practised.’ They persecute Christians, burn their churches to the ground, attempt to force Christians to convert to Buddhism, and bar their children from school. An estimated 27,000 members of the mainly Christian Keren tribe have been driven from their homes in eastern Burma. 300 Buddhist monks were allegedly sent by the regime to forcibly convert members of the Chin ethnic group which is mainly Christian.
Iraqi Christians by the tens of thousands have fled north out of Sunni and Shiite strongholds toward the Valley of Nineveh, a few miles from Erbil. A 14 year old boy was crucified for sharing his faith with Muslims and women have had acid thrown in their faces for going to church. There have been calls for safe havens to be set up for Christians in Iraq, many of whom are part of ancient communities which have lived in the region since the days of the early church. Strangely the BBC, which reports on any minor infringement of Muslim human rights, is totally silent on this issue.
When Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, the leader of the ‘Growing in Grace International Ministry’ appears before his followers, they chant, ‘Lord! Lord! Lord!’ He is introduced thus: ‘It’s Jesus Christ himself! Let’s welcome Jesus Christ man!’ De Jesus Miranda says he woke to a vision of two men who announced the arrival of the Lord and came to him and integrated to him. Since then he has said he is a re-incarnation of the Apostle Paul, the Antichrist and now Jesus Christ in person. He preaches that under a new covenant with God there is no sin and no Satan and all people are predestined to be saved. He has more than 300 congregations from Argentina to Australia and claims to reach millions through a 24-hour TV channel. Members of his cult are expected to tithe which helps to underwrite his lavish life style with diamond encrusted gold rings and fancy cars.
The actor Tom Cruise has been hailed by followers of the ‘Church of Scientology’ as a Christ like figure who will spread the word of the religion. Scientology states that extra terrestrial beings were sent to planet Earth by intergalactic ruler Xenu who then blew up the aliens with hydrogen bombs in a volcano.
Hundreds of gunmen and supporters of the Soldiers of Heaven, an apocalyptic Muslim cult, were reported dead after a battle with US and Iraqi soldiers outside Najaf, Iraq, a holy city to Shiite Muslims. The cult’s leader was killed in the fighting. He claimed to be the Mahdi, a messiah like figure who will right injustices in the world according to Shiite Muslim belief. The Iranian leader, Ahmedinejad, has fuelled speculation about the imminent arrival of the Mahdi.
In the Matthew 24 Jesus said that at the end of the age there would be persecution of Christians and false christs and false prophets leading many astray. One of the extraordinary things about our time is the patently absurd things people are prepared to believe while rejecting out of hand the clear and reasonable claims of the Gospel – rejection even by Christians.
These are just a tiny fraction of things happening today. Last days? Definitely. Wake up and smell the evil. The gift of discernment is vital for Christians.
Commenter # 9
Dear Commenter # 9,
Then I must be terribly deluded. Or there's always the other possibility too, that you aren't too well versed in the history of the world or the church to think that the situations you described, in the short microcosm of time you're familiar with and referring to, are automatically signs that we're living in the last days.
If you're a Salvationist you're quite welcome to believe whatever you prefer when it comes to eschatology, but you have no right to assume that all Xians and/or Salvationists see it the same way you do, or that they're deluded or not just as committed to the cause of Christ as you, which unfortunately so many people who do adhere to your line of reasoning, do also seem to think!
God Bless You anyway Anonymous person.
Daryl Lach
USA Central
"You Must Go Home By the Way of the Cross, To Stand With Jesus In the Morning!"
Daryl
Each to his own - diversity is key, is it not? You think what you want - you are not backwards in coming forward with your own version of eschatology at times - it spews from your pen, so to speak. Please allow others the same freedom. Maybe I'm not as well-versed in the history of the world or the church as you are, but I know what I see - a world spiralling into anarchy and brutality towards Christians (except Salvationists for some strange reason), a series of wars - and rumours of wars - everywhere, but increasingly centred around Middle Eastern countries - many turning against faith, increasing wickedness, all of which is foretold - by Jesus, no less - It would not be right, thinking as I do, not to 'voice' my concerns and opinions, just as you do yours. Your response does, however, seem a little unnecessarily defensive.......
Now Commenter # 13!
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