(December 17, 2010 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) What is hotter than an African day in Bolgatanga, Ghana? For Dr. Steve Nelson it was a little 6-year-old named Ajoh who looked weak and "felt hotter than a pistol!"

"I tucked the thermometer in Ajoh's armpit and waited for the beep, getting a history as we went along," wrote Nelson, who had traveled from Ecuador to Burkina Faso and Ghana with HCJB Global Hands. "Fever for five days-each of which he had attended school-and he was back at school today and probably would have sat it out had the medical team not come through."

Ajoh was running a 106-degree temperature, so Nelson prescribed medications to lower the fever and started him on malaria medicine.

The medical team served as the hands of Jesus, helping meet the health needs of residents in Burkina Faso and Ghana for three weeks. Sheila Leech, HCJB Global's vice president of international healthcare, summarized the team's ministry from mid-November until early December. Here are some highlights:

• Served about 1,000 sick patients
• Dewormed and supplied vitamins to an additional 500 to 600 schoolchildren
• Talked to thousands of children about Jesus
• Reached out in Christ's love to Muslims, including the Fulani people.
• Conducted medical clinics for two radio partners: Radio Evangile Développement (RED) in Burkina Faso and Word FM in Bolgatanga. Team members also did medical checkups at ACTS Ministry, a 75-child orphanage/school/clinic outreach founded and led by Joanna Ilboudou in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. She formerly was a manager at RED.
• Offered stories of Jesus (in video) through RED, which showed these in the communities after the clinics had closed for the day.

"What you have done is an invaluable contribution to the advance of the ministry," wrote Etienne Kiemdé, executive director of RED. "God is not unjust to forget your good work."

Source: HCJB Global