Kevin Raymer

One last shout.

Howdy.

 I just wanted to let y’all know that I made it back safe ‘n’ sound.  We had a bit of a delay coming out of Brisbane.  They overfilled the gas tank and fuel started spilling out all over the place.  We were all a bit concerned, but they got it all cleaned up and we took off……about a two hour delay.  I really had to hustle at LAX to make my connecting flight.  I made it just in time and the rest of my trip went as planned.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support.  This was an incredible experience and I hope to share more with all of you when we meet again.

I thought I’d share one more convicting scripture and devotion prior to signing off.

“The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.”  Matthew 20:28

     Paul’s idea of service is the same as Our Lord’s : “I am among you as He that serveth”; “ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.”  We have the idea that a man called to the ministry is called to be dfferent kind of being from other men.  According to Jesus Christ, he is called to be the “door-mat” of other men; their spiritual leader, but never their superior.  “I know how to be abased,” says Paul.  This is Paul’s idea of service– “I will spend myself to the last ebb for you; you may give me praise or give me blame, it will make no difference.”  So long as there is a human being who does not know Jesus Christ, I am his debtor to serve him until he does.  The mainspring of Paul’s service is not love for men, but love for Jesus Christ.  If we are devoted to the cause of humanity, we shall soon be crushed and broken-hearted, for we shall often meet with more ingratitude from men than we would from a dog; but if our motive is love to God, no ingratitude can hinder us from serving our fellow men.

     Paul’s realization of how Jesus Christ had dealt with him is the secret of his determination to serve others.  “I was before a perjurer, a blasphemer, an injurious person”–no matter how men may treat me, they will never treat me with the spite and hatred with which I treated Jesus Christ.  When we realize that Jesus Christ has served us to the end of our meanness, our selfishness, and sin, nothing that we meet with from others can exhaust our determination to serve men for His sake.

To God be the glory.

 In HIM>

kevin.

Well, it’s time to go home.

Greetings once again.

Everything continues to go well here.  Well, everything except for my stomach.  For the past week or so I’ve been on the not-so-regular side of the alimentary canal.  I just started myself on some antibiotics today in an attempt to make my upcoming travel a little more tolerable.  Please be prayin’ that all of this upset stomach stuff comes to an end prior to my departure.

So, the past few weeks have been quite busy.  Three weekends ago we hiked to a cave and did a little Papua New Guinean spelunking.  The cave was super cool.  There many tight fits, crawl spaces, and even a small water fall that we climbed down.  The water fall was pretty intense.  We tied a climbing rope to a large rock at the top of the waterfall and then traversed the 15 ft. waterfall in order to get down to the next level of the cave.  I must admit that I was pretty pumped to go down the waterfall and was even humming the theme to “Indiana Jones” as I went down.  I was just waitin’ for once of us to trip a booby trap and then run for cover as the giant boulder came tumblin’ through the cave!  Let’s just say that it was quite an adventure.

The next weekend I was on call.  My call wasn’t all that bad, but I was definitely ready for some rest once it was all done.  I think I got to do 3 c-sections and we seemed to have a rash of meningitis and cerebral malaria patients.  Oh yeah, I sewed up a gal that had a significant chop-chop to her right arm.  The chop was such that it did quite a number on her bone as well as both flexor and extensor tendons.  We took her back to the operating theatre a few days later to repair all her tendons and to drill some metal wires into her bone in order to stabilize the comminuted fracture.

This past weekend a couple of us attempted to conquer the tallest mountain in PNG, Mt. Wilhelm.  Due to some inclement circumstances (i.e. weather, road washout, and my stomach issues) we were not successful in summiting.  We did, however, enjoy an incredibly scenic hike to a mountain lake.  There were several beautiful waterfalls and grassland like I’ve never seen before.  It had these unusual looking prehistoric-like trees throughout and real “Jurassic Park” feel to it.  I was just waitin’ to see a philoso raptor jump out from the trees.  Man, it really was one of the most unique things I have ever seen.  Our hike back was more of an adventure than our hike there.  After we hiked to the lake, about a 3 hour hike, we hiked another 5-6 hours to a village to sleep overnight.  The next morning we woke up and hiked another 3-4 hours until we found a PMV (personal motor vehicle) to take us back to Kundiawa, were we left our vehicle.  A part of the road from Kundiawa to Mt. Wilhelm had been washed out with all of the recent rain.  This made our travel very dependent on PMVs and very difficult to plan.  We did make it back safe and sound, except for my beat up stomach.  Oh yeah, we also chowed on some very nice strawberries at the base of the mountain.  They were super good eatin’. 

Well, my time here is now coming to an end.  It has definitely been a time that I will never forget and will always cherish.  The medical experience has been outstanding and the weekend adventures have been unforgettable, but it will be the people that I will miss the most.  I feel that I now have many good friends here in PNG, and I hope that God will grant me the opportunity to return to see them again someday.  As one of the security guards told me today, “If we don’t see you soon, we will see you ‘on top’.”  ‘On top’ is heaven.  This is a special place full of special people, and I hope you too will be able to experience it someday.

“Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory because of your lovingkindness, because of Your truth.”  Psalm 115:1

In HIM>

Kevin.

PNG in February

Hello again.  Much has happened since I last posted.  Things continue to go well, and I am definitely enjoying my time here.  A couple of weekends ago we had the opportunity to tour one of the local coffee plantations.  They walked us through the coffee fields and taught us about the entire process of harvesting and preparing the beans for market.  The plantation we visited ships a majority of it’s green coffee beans to Starbucks in the US.  Starbucks then roasts the green beans and ships it to your neighborhood Starbucks for all to enjoy.

Just to prove that I AM working, I thought I would include a few photos from the clinic and hospital.  In the first pic, I am using a portable ultrasound machine to to a sonogram on an expecting mother.  We do tons of sonograms here.  I really can’t recall how many I have done since being here.  We sonogram EVERYTHING.  I had an idea of how valuble sonograms are in mission hospitals, but I had no idea how essential they are for us.  The second pic is of me removing a fatty tumor of some sort from a young woman’s finger.  I actually thought is was going to be a cyst when I started cutting, but much to my surprise it was completely made up of fat.  I just saw her in follow-up in the clinic today, and she seems to be doing well.

This is a pic of my favorite flower on the station, an orange orchid.  The place here is covered with ‘em.

*****It seems that I am now having some difficulty with this blog-site thing.  I’m getting a message that I have used my upload quota.  I’m not too sure what my quota is or what exactly that means, but it’s kinda frustrating.  It’s not letting me upload any more photos.  Hopefully this isn’t a permanent thing.  Any computer peeps out there have any suggestions for me?*****

Let’s see, two weekends ago was my on call weekend.  As always, it was quite eventful.  We did 5 c-sections over the weekend.  Unfortunately 2 of the babies didn’t make it.  One died because the placenta ruptured and the baby was very premature.  The other had been dead for quite some time.  It was a term baby.  Both incredibly sad cases but unfortunately part of the reality of mission medicine.  One of my fears in coming here was that I would have to face the reality of mission medicine again.  We often try to focus on the miracles and the lives saved, and that does happen.  But death is all to often part of life here.  It’s one of those things that makes you hurt down deep, yet motivates you to do what you can to help save one.  Over the weekend another eldery gentlemen was brought to the ER in the end stages of dying.  There was nothing I could do.  Another young boy died of meningitis / cerebral malaria.  Yet another newborn expired after a “normal” vaginal delivery.  These are definitely difficult situations to deal with but, once again, a part of reality.  It’s not easy to share these types of outcomes, but I think it is important to have an idea of the day-to-day life in the mission field.  It is also a reminder that God is always in control and always has a plan for each and every life.  The sign in front of the hospital, “We Treat, Jesus Heals,” could not be more true. 

I just met a fella who is one of the miracles.  He proudly was not a Christian his entire life until about 6 years ago.  At this time, he was diagnosed with throat cancer.  Without knowing what the future held and how much of it there would be, he committed his life to Christ.  A visiting ENT surgeon then removed the cancer, leaving the man without a voice.  Three months later, the surgeon returned with a device the man could use to generate a voice.  This man now thanks God for his cancer!  He feels that the cancer is what saved his soul, for without that he would not know Christ.  How many do you know that thank God for cancer?  It’s reassuring to know that He always has a plan.

Well, just this past weekend we went to a festival in one of the nearby villages.  It was super cool to see the women dressed up in their traditional garb.  

We also went to another bush church this past weekend.  As we walked up to the church, the entire congregation was waiting outside singing to us and greeting us.  IT WAS AWESOME!  After the service we ate lunch with them.  It was actually my first time to eat authenic PNG food since being here!  It was quite tasty!  As seems to be the custom here, they then loaded us up with all kinds of fruit and vegetables.  The people here continue to amaze me with their generosity.  Oh yeah, the pastor of the church was a man I had seen in the hospital.  When we first noticed each other, it was like I was finding my long lost brother or something.  He was quite excited to say the least.

What else.  Oh yes, we went out early Saturday morning to spot some of the “birds of paradise.”  The birds here are like none you’ve ever seen.  If you have a chance, google “birds of paradise” to try to find some outstanding pics of these PNG natives.

Well, I want to close this blog by sharing a devotional with you all that was shared with me by my fiance, Katie.  I hope impacts you as much as it impacts us.

Jan 24th   The Overmastering Direction

“I have appeared unto thee for this purpose.”  ~Acts 26:16

The vision Paul had on the road to Damascus was no passing emotion, but a vision that had very clear and emphatic directions for him, and he says, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”  Our Lord said, in effect, to Paul- Your whole life is to be overmastered by Me; you are to have no end, no aim, and no purpose but Mine.  ”I have chosen him.”

When we are born again we all have visions, if we are spiritual at all, of what Jesus wants us to be, and the great thing is to learn not to be disobedient to the vision, not to say that it cannot be attained.  It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world, and to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me;  I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him.  Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ.  Verse 16 is immensely commanding, “to make thee a minister and a witness.”  There is nothing there apart from the personal relationship.  Paul was devoted to a person not to a cause.  He was absolutely Jesus Christ’s, he saw nothing else, he lived for nothing else.  ”For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

In HIM>
kevin.

Oh yeah…..HAPPY BIRTHDAY TANNER!

Our Journey to the “Bush Church”

This is on our way to the bush church.

That’s the bush church straight away!

Here we are with all of the locals that attend this particular bush church.

Chowin’ down on some sugar fruit on the way home.

Mmmm…..more sugar fruit!

Watch your step!  Narrow walkway bridge ahead.

Looks like I made it!

Now onward home with many views to take in on the way.

Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!

“But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.”  Matthew 6:3-4a

 In HIM>

kevin.

PNG Blog #3

Greetings again from paradise!

I hope this finds you well and in strong relationship with our Lord.

This week has been yet another that I will never forget.  We visited another bush church today, and once again we were not disappointed.  The picture here is of our hike to church.  It was a nice little hike with many spectacular views along the way.  There were also many friendly villagers willing to visit as we trekked the path.  We decided that if we all took this hike every day as the natives do we would likely drop a few pounds and markedly enhance our physique.  Anyway, once we arrived at the church we were warmly greeted by the village.  We sang and worshipped God with many songs in Pidgin as well in the local “tok place.”  As you may know PNG is the most linguistically diverse country on the planet with over 800 distinctly different languages, at last count.  Any one of these distinct languages is referred to as that village’s “tok place.”  If you are not from that village you will most likely have no clue what the natives are trying to tell you.  If you’re lucky someone there will help you out by speaking Pidgin.  Pidgin originated during an era when a thousands of PNG natives were promised work, wages, and housing in various European colonies.  Upon arrival they found the promises to be lies and the work to be demanding.  They were basically slaves.  While in these conditions they were under the influence of various European commands and the languages of the respective countries.  Pidgin soon developed as a hodge-podge of many different languages including English, German, and about a dozen others.  When the natives returned to PNG they found that they could communicate with people from other villages and the language then became more refined and recognized as a legitimate language.  So anyway, you can kind of wrestle your way through a conversation with someone who knows Pidgin. Enough of that and back to our church expedition.

Church here is unique in many ways.  First of all, the women sit on one side and the men sit on the other.  Secondly, all the children attend church with the adults.  I have found this an especially refreshing difference from church back home.  Thirdly, you typically sit on the ground or on a low level plank of wood.  They also tend to worship with an incredibly pure heart.  The come to the Lord, as all Christians are asked to do, with a child-like heart.  Praising with all their hearts, realizing that church is much more than a fancy building with fancy people wearing fancy clothes.  It’s the simplicity of their hearts that I feel we have much to learn from.  This is what I think “church” was intended to be, simple and focused on God.

Prior to leaving the church the villagers made sure that every one of them shook our hands.  They also filled our pockets with bananas and sugar fruit.  The sugar fruit is something worthy of a little explanation as well.  It’s a relative of the passion fruit, which is also here in PNG, and it’s about the size of a large chicken egg.  It has a tough but thin skin and a white cotton-like layer under the exterior.  Inside are a bunch of slimy seeds.  When you eat it, you crack open the exterior and then suck out all of the seeds.  At first contact it’s somewhat unusual, but then you realize that the fruit’s name holds true in taste, and you dive in to suck out some more seeds!

Let’s see, what else should I share with you all?  Well, work at the hospital was yet again eventful.  We did three c-sections this week, and one was on breech/breech twins.  They primarily do vertical skin incisions here, but the rest of the procedure is just how we do it back home.  When I was on call Friday night we had a woman who was 30 weeks pregnant come in with severe preeclampsia.  We basically went about our usual admission as we would back home with the consideration that it would be difficult for us to properly care for a 30 week gestation baby after delivery.  But when I explained the order sheet to the nurses, they seemed to be a bit confused about giving magnesium sulfate IV.  So, I assumed this must be a new practice here and proceeded to calculate how much magnesium needed to be in each bag of normal saline fluid and how fast to give it in order to achieve our goal of preventing the progression of her diagnosis to full eclampsia, including seizure activity.  It really took quite a while to get it all explained.  The next morning I was checking out to the oncoming on-call doc, and I relayed my experience to her.  She chuckled a bit and made me aware that they give all of their magnesium intramuscularly here!  Whoops…..that sure was a lot of unnecessary work for me, oh well.  We also had our fair share of orthopedic cases this week.  We reduced a couple humerus fractures, casted several ulna fractures, and reduced a hip that had been dislocated for 5 weeks!  I also think I’ve been seeing some patients with various filarial diseases, but we have no dependable way to diagnose these diseases except with physical exam and response to adequate treatment.  Hopefully I’ll be able to hone my tropical medicine skills in the next few weeks.  Well, it was definitely an exciting week at the hospital, and I’m looking forward to yet another.

I guess that is plenty for now.

“Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you.”  Acts 3: 6

In HIM>

KKR.

PNG Blog #2

PNG Blog #2

Salutations from PNG!

It’s been yet another interesting and wet week in PNG.  First, let me thank you all for your prayers and support.  It is only by the grace of God that we have the opportunity to experience life like we are today, and I am incredibly grateful for your faith in prayer with this particular experience.  Thank you.

So, I was on-call this past Tuesday, and it was yet another memorable experience with yet another “chop-chop”.  It happened to be a middle-aged woman that was chopped by one of her family members.  This chop, however, was to the head.  It split her ear in two horizontally at the ear canal and extended through her cheek near her nose.  The skull, thankfully, was not fractured, and she just needed some sewing up.  I never realized how difficult it is to make a mangled ear whole again.  But, we got it back together and she seemed to do fine.

Let see, what else?  Oh yeah, I had an interesting case that involved a young woman.  She came into the clinic with her father in much distress due to the fact that she had not appreciated any fetal movement of her current pregnancy for the past 4 weeks.  After questioning her, it became apparent that the baby’s father’s family had encouraged her to have an abortion.  In one of the village “health centers” she received an injection of something intended to terminate the pregnancy.  We then decided to do a sonogram to evaluate the baby.  And when we did we found life!  The baby’s little heart was still beating away and the mother and grandfather wept with joy.  I too was overjoyed to be a part of the good news.

This past week in the hospital has been quite eventful.  From cesarean section to paracentesis to mandible dislocation reduction, each day seems to be quite intriguing.  It has also been somewhat difficult dealing with the terminal cases.  This past week I saw two patients in the end stages of a hepatoma tumor.  One was 32 years old, and one was 16.  Another patient was admitted with newly diagnosed HIV, and another with cerebral malaria.  These are all difficult cases and all opportunities to share the love of Christ.

Away from the hospital I have been spending most of my evenings at the missionaries’ homes.  They’ve been very hospitable and have kept me well fed.  Just yesterday a few of us went on an adventure to “Suicide Rock.”  This is an outcropping of rock that has been divided by a river.  So, you’re supposed to jump of one ledge of the rock into the rushing water of the river and hold your breath as the current takes you and shoots you out downstream!  I wasn’t too sure at first but then decided to give it a go.  It was definitely something I hope to do again before I leave.  Anyways, we then loaded up on some inner-tubes and floated down the river.  This was quite a float trip….unlike any other I’ve ever experienced.

Well, I think that’s about it for now.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you.  Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ ” Luke 10: 8-9.There’s nothing comparable to living the Word of God. 

In HIM>Kevin.

PNG Blog #1 (attempt #2)

PNG Blog #1 (attempt #2)

Greetings all!

I hope all is well back home.  I miss you all very much and wish you could be here to see what God is doing here in the lives of so many.

My first day in clinic was highlighted by a call from the ER for a “chop-chop,” Pidgin for “someone got whacked by a huge machete and is likely bleeding all over the place.”  This poor fella reportedly got into a little skirmish with his brother that resulted in the swipe of a machete.  As we examined the patient we found that the laceration was indeed a deep one that did not spare the underlying bone.  After a bit of ketamine, we sewed him up and admitted him for surgical intervention the following day. 

The ER seems to be a happening place to hang out as there is constant stream of patients to be seen.  The nurses typically take care of “routine” stuff, and they call us if they need help.   There’s been lots of things to stick needles in which usually means plenty of blood and pus to be seen by all.  By all I mean all of the natives that are standing around watching and providing reassurance through their “ooo’s and aahh’s” as we go about a day’s work.

The operating theatre is also somewhat unique in its own right.  There is a window that concerned family or friends can look through to watch the operation and to make sure that their loved one is treated properly and that no funny business takes place during the operation.

Enough hospital stuff for now, the people here have been incredibly warm and receptive to having a new face around.  They seem to be a very warm and loving people.  I usually get smothered in wide smiles and “moning,” Pidgin for “good morning,” as I walk into the hospital.  They have left fresh bananas on my porch and I heard there’s a few that have chickens they’ll happily butcher and deliver for 20 Kina (approx. US$6.00).  Not too bad for fresh poultry, ‘ey?

The climate, foliage, and topography have reminded me of, well, that I’m not in Kansas anymore.  It’s typically in the 80s during the day and down to the 60-70s at night.  They say it’s like this year round!  We’re now in the rainy season and a day has not passed without a substantial rain yet.  The foliage has definitely been one of my favorite things to appreciate about PNG.  Some plants are similar to what we might see in the States, but some are completely foreign and somewhat prehistoric looking.  Many of the trees and shrubbery provide a colorful array of flowers.  Of my favorites are the countless bright orange orchids that adorn the station.  The hospital is located in the Highlands area of PNG and is a part a tropical mountain range.  We are also part of the Waghi Valley within the mountains that provides for an incredible landscape.

It has been quite refreshing to be with docs that pray with their patients on a routine basis.  Most of the patients and families seem to be very receptive and appreciative of this.  We plan to visit one of the “bush churches” this weekend.  I am very much looking forward to this experience, and I hope to get some good pics to share with you all. 

Well, I guess I should find something else to do (this is my weekend off)

Remember, “It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.” Psalm 118:8

In HIM>

Kevin.

Oh yeah….. “ROCK-CHALK-Orange-Bowl-Champ-JAYHAWK!”

test blog

please excuse this unblog-worthy blogginess.  this is simply a test blog and my first experience blogging…….ever!

until next time…..

kevin.

Hello world!

Welcome to Inmedblogs.us. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!