Blessed by a godly Father

In this day and age, it is no small thing to say "I am so thankful for the blessing of a godly father." My dad (Leo L. Pepper, Jr.) is the very best. And I am truly blessed!

I have learned so much from him over the years, through watching his life, from listening (wished I'd listened more as a teen), from hearing stories from and about him.

Of the many things he has taught me, the first is the importance of loving Jesus.  Dad became a follower of Jesus not long after he married mom (1950) and hasn't stopped following Jesus since. Through his life as a follower, I learned much about authentic Christianity.  Not just about 'religion,' but about knowing Jesus.

He taught me the importance of taking time daily to read the bible and pray.  But even more than that, to ask myself what/how that teaching should apply to my life.  I can still hear his and mom's voices early in the morning (before 5AM) as they read the "Our Daily Bread" together and prayed before he left for work.  I have many mental pictures of dad at his desk reading his bible and making notes.  When he discovered something good, he would share it with us.

He showed us (my brother and sisters) how to love through his loving mom.  This year August they will reach 62 years of marriage!

He taught me the importance of work, of giving your very best at it, of living your faith at work, not just on Sunday mornings. To try to do things, even when you weren't exactly sure how to do it.

He taught me to fix things, to take care of things, and always to return a borrowed item in a condition better than it was when you got it (by cleaning it, etc.).  And not to be wasteful.

He taught me to laugh, and to just plain have fun.  Growing up we had many great family vacations together.  He has loved Sally and our kids and has demonstrated that love by regularly praying for us, through making special things for the kids, and being a fun grandpa.

He taught me to not only love family, but to live in a way that our family name would always be respected.  I'm proud to be a Pepper.

The past 4 years have not been easy for my dad.  He has gone from a very healthy man that walked around Clarksville every morning praying as he went, to now walking short distances with a walker.  He has suffered a lot, he's been through some dark times, yet he has persevered.  I am so thankful for these coming months as Sally and I are living in the same apartment complex as mom and dad and almost daily having the opportunity to spend time with them.  I still have a lot to learn and I am ready for more life lessons from my dad...

I love my dad!

Ultrasonic Blessings

Dr. Justin at KBH

Diagnostic ultrasound is such an essential tool for us at Kigoma Baptist Hospital.  Our primary diagnostic tool is the standard physical exam and history(using our hands and our head), but there are times when we need more.  We have a standard X-ray machine which is great for chest  X-rays and broken bones.  For a number of reasons which I won' t go into, we have very limited laboratory capability.  So, having a working ultrasound machine and ability to scan and understand what you see becomes very very helpful.  It helps us look inside the heart, visualize other organs like the liver, gall bladder, kidneys, pancreas, bladder, uterus, and do OB scans. I and a couple of my colleagues have been scanning using a large, hardly portable, very old machine.  It was working, but as my friend Dr. Justin said, it is like driving a Pinto when you could be driving a Mercedes. There is so much that ultrasound is now being used for.  In the weeks before we left Kigoma Baptist Hospital i was scanning every day evaluating heart failure, fluid on the lungs, liver disease, kidney problems, etc., as well as doing 1-2 OB scans/day. 

But that's not the good news.  The good news is that through our partner organization, Baptist Global Response (http://www.baptistglobalresponse.com/), we received funding to buy a new portable Ultrasound machine!  

Then to top that off, Sonosite Corporation (US makers of ultrasound equipment), provided us with an incredible discount through their global health compassionate care program.  Kigoma Baptist Hospital now has an amazing MicroMaxx portable ultrasound machine with cardiac, abdominal, and intracavitary probes, extra battery, and carrying case.  This machine was designed to take quite a beating and work in all sorts of environments.  Needless to say myself and our other clinicians are excited.

So you want to hear more good news?  Last week I had the opportunity to travel to Mayo Clinic Rochester and attend a four day intensive course on echocardiography (heart ultrasound).  It was  excellent training by some of the world's experts.  (I am so thankful for our mission organization's program to assure we maintain the needed skills and training in our areas of work.)  While at the Mayo training I had a very short hallway meeting with one of the doctors running the program.  I briefly shared with him a few of our challenges a Kigoma Baptist Hospital in regards to echocardiography.  He thanked me for sharing and said 'write to me to tell me more please...'

So I wrote to him after returning to Michigan.  And today I received by FedEx a box with 32 echocardiography training DVDs and a signed copy of his echo book!  All of it  'Complimentary of Mayo Clinic Cardiology Education'. Amazingly huge blessing.  These materials will help me with further training and be used by my colleagues as I teach them what I have learned at Mayo Clinic.

Our prayer is that in the end we will be making better diagnoses, and God willing, with this echo information, better treatment for our patients.  And not only echo, but all types of ultrasound diagnoses with our new machine.

So, while in the USA, in addition to sharing in churches what God is doing in Kigoma Tanzania, I will be reviewing echo DVDs, reading the book, and doing as many echos/ultrasounds as I can.  

As is so often said in East Africa, 'God is good, all the time!'

A brief note: Just so I haven't totally confused some, Sally and I are now in Michigan on our Stateside Assignment until after Christmas.  Hope to see you while we're in the USA.

Daily by His grace,

Larry and Sally