Medical interns Rochelle Werner (left) and Holly Nagasugi with a young Ghanaian girl who had her face painted during a medical clinc in July.

(Aug. 26, 2013 - by Harold Goerzen) Rochelle Werner drew in sharp breaths as she dressed 17 sores that mysteriously appeared on her right hand and later diagnosed as inflamed eczema.

She felt useless as she traveled with a team of HCJB Global summer interns and medical professionals to a remote community in Ghana. Team members were preparing to bring medical and spiritual care to villagers who have limited access to healthcare. But now Werner found herself on the receiving end of the ministry.

"Moving my hand hurt because the sores were in the creases of my fingers and on my knuckles," she explained in her blog. "But my pain did not escape the notice of the [missionary] doctor sitting next to me. As soon as the pharmacy boxes were unloaded, I got oral steroids and antibiotics to treat a staph infection."

Werner's predicament, however, quickly took on a new perspective as she met a patient whose condition was many times worse.

"Truth be told, I didn't have reason or room to complain," she related. "My hand was healing, and I met someone who was suffering more. As I shadowed the doctors, I met a patient with her arms covered in bandages. Apparently three months ago she had a seizure and fell into her cooking fire. She still had open wounds underneath her clean bandages and told us she was scheduled for a skin graft in the hospital. Our clinic offered the best we could: compassionate listeners, prayer, and a little pain medicine."

Carolina Erdstein, a biochemistry student from Quito, Ecuador, reaches out to a youth in a wheelchair.

When the doctor asked the woman, "Do you have any questions?" she responded, "Yes, will my hand be functional? Can the hospital give me fingers?"

"We knew she had severe burns, but the fire only left her with two thumbs," shared Werner, a nutritional science student majoring in dietetics at the University of California, Berkeley. "The doctor answered her questions, but I sat in my chair speechless, dumbfounded, and completely humbled."

This was just one of many poignant moments experienced by nine youthful interns during their ministry in Ghana June 29-July 27. All told, the team saw more than 1,500 patients in five villages plus a medical clinic in Accra that will be officially launched by partner Theovision following long-awaited government approvals. The team also visited Precious Kids Academy, a school in Tema.

Theovision, which helped organize the Akoma Ntoso (Linked Hearts) Ghana medical internship the past three summers, is also working to launch a community development outreach. This complements its ministry of recording the Scriptures for people who don't have a Bible written in their own language and operating a series of community radio stations established with HCJB Global's help in the past three years.

"Many of the indigenous people who have not seen a doctor for a very long time saw a golden opportunity in the free medical care being provided," stated the organization's founder, Theo Asare, in a website report. "They thronged the outreach centers with their friends, household, families, and church members to receive medical care. Among the people were the aged, youth, and children. Many cases of diseases were seen in this area unlike other areas where people without any illness would just come to be screened."

A 'lab in a suitcase,' put together by International Aid, proved to be useful in making accurate diagnoses of malaria.

Emily Ibarra, a media specialist based at the HCJB Global Technology Center in Elkhart, Ind., who helped document the outreach, said it was useful to have the "lab in a suitcase"-a resource pulled together by International Aid that proved to be invaluable for accurately diagnosing malaria and thus prescribing treatment.

"Dr. Tracy Martin [a missionary doctor serving at HCJB Global's Vozandes Hospital in Shell, Ecuador] did blood tests for people suspected of having malaria," Ibarra said. "It was cool to see that innovation. The lab also has a solar panel so they could take it to the villages."

While the doctors encountered numerous patients with fever/malaria, people's complaints also included abdominal pain, itchy eyes, blurred vision, dizziness, weakness, and loss of appetite. Though it was not the patient's primary reason for visiting the doctor, many patients were treated for hypertension.

"Throughout this trip I was been blown away by the incidence of hypertension," observed Rebecca Ackley in her blog." Team members estimated that up to 85 percent of patients had high blood pressure. As British medical student Hannah James put it, "I forgot what normal looks like!"

Trevor McMunn, studying biology and pre-medicine at Indiana Wesleyan University, takes a woman's blood pressure.

"Sometimes it's weight- and diet-related, but other times it's just genetic," added Ackley, a health and exercise science major at the University of Oklahoma. "Either way, people have blood pressures way beyond the normal range and even risk having strokes. We saw a handful of stroke victims with devastating lasting effects. It breaks my heart. But we did the best to tell them the risks and encourage them to get more medicine when the ones we give them run out."

The team also visited three remote communities in the Volta region of eastern Ghana. "We were under this big tree with tables set up," recalled Ibarra. "People came and lined up for hours to see a doctor. At the clinics local pastors would also preach the gospel and the need to repent. One day about 20 people came to Christ. The outreach was a good portrayal of this holistic ministry. Just praying with someone and making them feel important helps to make them be more open to Christ."

Sheila Leech, HCJB Global's vice president of global healthcare ministries, said team members went to villages where Theovision was already holding Bible-listening clubs. "We provided hands-on care," she explained. "Not only were we able to take care of people's physical needs, but we were able to do a wonderful job with our children's workers, sharing about the Lord Jesus Christ."

While most of the interns are studying for careers in the medical field, Jenny Kinzel, whose missionary parents serve as a pastor and nurse in Quito, Ecuador, helped keep hundreds of children busy during the outreach.

The nine HCJB Global medical interns enjoy a much-deserved break during their month of ministry in Ghana.

"Two other women on our team were in charge of the children's program, and they had planned out a great program for them," Kinzel recounted. "But the more villages we went to the more we realized that a structured children's program was not an option. There were just too many kids and not enough workers or supplies [for everyone]. My job basically consisted of doing crafts with groups of about 20 children. The rest of the time we just played games and got to know the kids."

"I loved it because I actually got to talk a little more to the kids whereas it was hard for the medical people to talk to them because they were trying to see so many patients," Kinzel added.

Holly Nagasugi, a nursing student at Seattle Pacific University, said that while the interns took on more responsibilities than they expected, "this pushed us to develop key skills necessary for medical professionals. Working with the missionaries from HCJB Global was definitely a highlight of the trip. Their experiences as full-time missionaries have equipped them with a tremendous amount of skills and knowledge concerning cross-cultural medical ministry."

"The trip was an incredible learning experience," Nagasugi added. "Key lessons I learned were the importance of knowing the local languages and working with local organizations that can continue to serve the people after a short-term team leaves. My life was changed by the people I met and the experiences I had in the rural villages…. My experience has further inspired me to continue learning about other cultures and to seek future involvement in global missions."

Sometimes when facing cultural and language barriers "the best we could do was to give compassion, encouragement, and acceptance, calling them madahmfo (my friend)," Werner concluded. "Others used their gifts of evangelism and still others taught the Bible with such clarity and simplicity. Beautiful things happen when, collectively, we use our talents to glorify God and minister to His people. I was blessed to be a part of this in Ghana and wherever else I may go, including home in the states."

Sources: HCJB Global, Theovision