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Summer 2022

Writer's picture: Dr. Dwight Slater, MD & CEO of CEHDr. Dwight Slater, MD & CEO of CEH



Dear friends and supporters of CEH,


As we enjoy the summer weather in Michigan, we take time to provide you with ministry updates. This practice of self-evaluation presses us to be accountable to God and man. It also helps us achieve goals and move forward in projects at Compassion Evangelical Hospital (CEH). We would not achieve these otherwise. Pastor George Slavin, pastor during my teenage-years said that prayer is similar. Quoting him, “Prayer is a lever that moves God to accomplish things that He would not accomplish for us if we did not pray.” God wants us to align our will with His and ask, showing our dependency, so He may answer our prayers for His Glory.


We appreciate you praying and collaborating with us and our Lord in the advancement of God’s Kingdom in Guinea.


Your brother in Christ,

Dwight E. Slater, MD

CEO of CEH


Current Projects:

We are accomplishing many small building projects at CEH and concluding two major ones.


The first important smaller project resulted from our construction workers asking to have a shower and dressing room to clean up in at the end of the long hot days of work before going home. Most of them do not have running water in their homes. We chose to make this a priority and the construction crew participated in the plans and construction of the area to meet their own needs. They are very happy with it!


A second small project was building a courtyard to provide additional privacy to those housed in our Welcome Center, constructed in 2015 to shelter new believers ostracized by their families. We currently have three people benefiting from this service on the hospital campus while learning new skills and working to support themselves.


The third project is building new showers and toilets for the Welcome Center (8 guest rooms). This is also used as an overflow for hospitalized patients when needed.


Photos below: New Showers and Courtyard of Welcome Center






 

The first of the two larger projects is the completion of the professional building house #3, which will be home for CEH’s general surgeon and his wife who serves as the HR director. They helped design the house for their family and are happily moving in this summer. We are also able to provide a small electrical solar unit for the professional buildings #1 and #2, which functioned for several years without electricity. These serve as individual homes for the chief surgical technician and the nurse anesthetist. The proximity of these professionals on the campus allows us to provide emergency surgery more rapidly when necessary.


Photo above: Home for General Surgeon and family


The second major project is the completion of the Child Evangelism Center to be known as CEEVEN (Centre d’Education et d’EVeille des ENfants). Plans are to open in August. Pray for the staff as they launch this new ministry.


These buildings were paid for from operational funds provided through the years and now need to be replenished.


As these two major projects conclude, we are launching Ward F, which will contain 11 beds for surgery / orthopedic / trauma patients. For much of the last year we used the overflow rooms in the Welcome Center for patients. This new ward, adjacent to the surgical building, will allow us to better accommodate patient needs. These temporal investments are focused on serving the peoples' physical needs for the sake of their eternal relationship with God.


In March and April George W. and John C. completed their long list of tasks verifying electrical and plumbing installations in buildings recently erected. Teams from the U.S. were not allowed to travel during COVID. The work was done well by Guinean staff and workers with some coaching and advice from U.S. facilitators. Only a few areas needed their hands-on assistance:

  • The Gator ATV had to be repaired and the second OR’s lights were reinstalled which needed their expertise. Both repairs reopened essential areas of ministry hindered by the lack of functionality.

  • Dental office installations were completed and the new dentist is reopening that service in better facilities.

  • Training of construction and maintenance staff on proper use of the Water Wagon for extinguishing fires was one of the essential steps for use of new equipment.

  • Reviewing the recovery of the solar electrical system and its computerized surveillance system from the lightning strike in August of 2021 and taking measures to mitigate future damages from such events were accomplished. Certainly, the services of Anco, a Dutch Christian Missionary Alliance (CMA) missionary, helped us much in this recovery. He also helped with the new installation of independent solar power systems for the Community Health Program (CHP) office and multiple individual homes. Two Christian Guinean electricians are in training to cover this ministry and installing preliminary electrical wiring of the new buildings in the future on an as-needed contractual basis.

Photos below: Water wagon training; Foundation prep for Ward F, Bricks for Ward F, and CHP office with solar panels:





Medical Services:

Dr. Paul trained in orthopedic trauma last year in Cameroon and is invited to come in October to a Sign Nail conference here in the United States. Lord willing, this will all work out with visas from the U.S. Embassy and reliable airline flights. Please pray for this. CEH is becoming the trauma center for the central area of Guinea. Dr. Paul was asked by the National Director of Hospital Services, Dr. Kabah, when he recently inspected our hospital in May, to present his trauma/surgical capacities to all the regional hospitals so we can become the referral center of the region (about 5,000,000 people).


This was the hope of the Ministry of Health since the creation of the hospital. We finally have the staff and facilities to initiate it. Dr. Paul is also presenting a case study portfolio to several local traditional healers who are the regular persons to whom village people go for trauma care. He saw in the past two years the many complications including loss of life and limbs when these complicated cases are cared for in the traditional ways. Several local traditional healers are receptive to his presentations and recognize that sometimes they have poor results. We guard their dignity by asking them to join this network of referring patients so they can become part of the path to healing through their appropriate referrals. Dr. Paul uses this as the subject of his doctoral thesis in Christian leadership he is completing from a seminary in Abidjan. He completed much of the course work in the last three years. Pray for him and for CEH as we enter new levels of service to the people of Guinea.


Photos: Dr. Paul with patient and her spouse (above)

Patient recovering from fractured femur (below)


 

Nursing School:

The progress toward opening the Nursing School is slow because of the transition of government leadership after last September’s coup. We are receiving final paperwork to open the school

as one of only four new professional training schools approved nationwide. Elizabeth S., HR Director, and Doris N. RN, the key administrative and nurse, are training personnel and launching this new program in October. Several of the CEH doctors and nurses, already serving on staff, will participate in this training in a three-year program. Pray for the selection of no more than 20 students for the opening class.


 

Missionaries preparing to come:

Continue to pray for Dr. Allison and Pastor Daniel Travis working on their French language acquisition in Conakry. They are making very good progress and are eager to join the work before the end of the year. Pray also for Drs. Brendon and Angela Esquibel in Massachusetts as they search out the correct path for their family and their potential service with CEH. Finally, pray for the Courage family. Lindsey and Joseph are nurses offering themselves through the Pioneer Bible Translators (PBT) mission to serve with us in Guinea. They visited other areas in Guinea recently. They met Doris N., reviewed our website, and conferred with their mission leadership upon returning to their home in Texas. They contacted us asking for the potential of being seconded to CEH. We are working through all the details of how this can be done well for our Lord.


Debbie and I are excited to communicate with and encourage each of these wonderful missionary families. Pray for God’s leadership and blessing in all of this. Pray for unity, harmony, humility, and good mutual collaboration as we labor together. Jesus told us to pray for laborers to be thrust into the ripe harvest fields. We prayed and these precious people seem to be His answer to our prayers. We praise Him!


Pastor Moise and Deborah are doing a great job in the MIAPE Chapel, Hospital ministry, and the Fresh Rosee school, since their return to us from Bible School in Côte d'Ivoire last August. Now Pastor and Mrs. Kolier who are the Guinean field leaders of an African based Calvary Mission are coming alongside to participate in the chaplaincy work, regional evangelism, and new church planting efforts. Pray for their integration into the total ministry team in Mamou.



Photo: The Courage Family (above)


 


Financial Needs:

  • Hospital operations and MIAPE support ($9,004/month).

  • The current major project — Ward F/Surgical Ward ($42,000).

  • House construction revolving loan fund for workers ($6,000).

  • Medical & Lab equipment purchase fund ($14,000).

  • Nursing school furnishings and opening budget ($5,000).

  • Solar electrical upgrades ($30,000 remaining).

  • Container and shipment/medical and building supplies ($16,500).

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