Podcast: The Talking McLaughlins

Rachel and I were recently featured on the podcast "World to the Wise: Home of the Culturally Curious" in an interview that we recorded in January, just before leaving the US.  The proprietor of said podcast is a long-time friend, David Durham.

Our lives and work continue to intersect with David's in curious ways.  I grew up singing his songs at our mutual home church in Nashville.  I knew that he had invested many years working to write and produce worship music for the Francophone world.  When I moved to France, I found the local congregation singing his songs in French.  Even now, I'm assuming the Banks and Baskins (our teammates currently in language school in Albertville) have become familiar with his song "Mon Ancre et Ma Voile" (My Anchor and My Sail), among others.  David is perhaps the most prolific linguist I know, speaking seven languages.  While we lived in France, I would skype with him weekly, glad to have his help as my virtual language partner.  Top it all of with his son marrying my sister, and I guess you could call our paths inextricably woven.

As I listen to it, I think the podcast has turned out as a distinct way to share different facets of life here, unique from our writing on the blog.  David's focus being the crossings of cultures, there are some good opportunities to go beyond talking about mission and work, but also about cultures and cross-cultural family life.  Click here to listen.

We’re not the best people for this job…

(by Carlan)

…our students are.

As we say “au revoir” to another group of bright, talented med students it strikes me again how true that statement really is. To watch how natural they are with patients, how easily the adopt the role of educator and advocate, how quickly they laugh and make everyone around them laugh fills me with a profound gratitude for what God is doing here and that we, a ragtag group of knuckle-headed missionaries, get to be a part of it.

One of my attendings in residency liked to say, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a thousand and one words” (to discourage the use of movie clips in grand rounds presentations). Though I would never contest the wisdom of such a seasoned medical educator, I humbly submit to you the following film, prayerfully intended to convey in sound and image what we are hoping to be in word and deed.

Please click here if you can't see the embedded video above or just want to see the bigger, higher definition version.

Book of the Month: A Praying Life

(from Eric)

The current McCropder team book study is on "A Praying Life" by Paul Miller, who helped to found our mission agency, World Harvest Mission.  We've been enjoying it immensely, and I still think the most succinct way of getting at the heart of the book was the first comment I ever heard about it: "Amazing, here is a book about the importance of prayer that doesn't make me feel guilty!"  Though that statement may sound weird to someone who is not a Christian, I would imagine most Christians would have no trouble identifying with the idea.

But to frame a description in positive terms, Paul Miller founds the idea of Christian prayer on the idea of dependency on God, our Heavenly Father.  We pray and we ask like little kids ask their parents, constantly and unashamedly, because we realize how powerless we are.  As our knowledge of our insufficiency increases, we will naturally pray more.  We stop praying when we (mistakenly) think that we are up to the task.  Thus Jesus prayed all the time, because he was supremely aware of his dependency on his Father.  Paul Miller says that he does his best parenting in prayer, which is to say that there is so much in his kids' lives that he cannot control, regardless of his efforts, so what better thing can he do than to bring his needs and concerns to his loving Father, who actually is able to help?

Since starting work at Kibuye Hope Hospital, the percentage of our life over which we have no control has increased.  (And, truth be told, it wasn't overwhelmingly high before that)  To put in another way, the illusion of the degree of control I have over my life has been partially undone.  I can't treat this problem.  I have no way of knowing what is going on here.  This system seems indecipherable to me.  I can't figure out how to explain this adequately in a foreign language.  I don't even know what I don't know, so how do I move forward?  I can't do this.

But we can pray.  And we do.  We pray before we round.  We pray before we head to work.  We pray before we operate.  We pray at bedsides, in conference rooms, and in quiet offices.  We need help.  More to the point, we realize that we need help, and so we pray.

There is so much that we can't do.  But let us fill Kibuye Hope Hospital with a reliance on a good God who is indeed present with us, and who is even now working out his unseen plans among us.  To become "A Praying Hospital" is no consolation prize, and the temptation (for all us) to think of it that way is another evidence of our illusion of control and sufficiency.  Wouldn't it be better to stop praying and get on with doing something about it?  No.  Not really.  Because I can't, really.

All of this would be bad news, were it not for a Goodness and a Grace that is more solid and more real than all the evil and the darkness that is or that ever will be.  But given the reality that is ours, we will come, we will ask, and we will trust.

Book of the Month: Miracles & Moments of Grace

A bit of a disclaimer here...this month's BOTM was actually chosen because it features some authors you may know.  Us. :)  Last year, we received an email from a woman named Nancy Kennedy.  She was interested in writing a book of stories from Christian physicians and had found our blog, wondering if she could use some of our material.  Nancy had just finished a book entitled Miracles and Moments of Grace: Inspiring Stories from Military Chaplains, and was continuing the series by sharing medical stories.  

We agreed to share whatever she was interested in, and so she chose and adapted several stories from our blogs.  One is John's "Sudan on a Wing and a Prayer," Eric's blog on resembling Jesus, and my blog on a miraculous cord prolapse survival story.  Also featured are stories from some of our fellow Post Residents:  Malin and Sara Friess, who worked at Tenwek and Kijabe Hospitals, and Dan Benedick, who worked at Shell Hospital in Ecuador.  

In all, there are 50 different short stories about doctors and their experiences with patients.  I haven't actually read most of it, since it was just published this week and arrived at our house today, but I look forward to reading some more miraculous, emotional, and humorous stories.  I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing you can find at the library, but it is available for purchase on amazon.  

Book of the Month: Children's Books

It's been some time since we reviewed a book on our blog, not for lack of good and appropriate literature to comment on.  But to re-kick off the BOTM posts, I thought I'd post something for our younger readers.  And when I say "readers," I use that term loosely (most will likely need this blog read TO them).  Here goes, Maggie's favorite African books.  There are many good ones, so we just chose two for the time being.

1.  Why Mosquitos Buzz in People's Ears.
This book is a classic that I still remember from my own childhood days.  It's about the story of a mosquito who annoys an iguana and sets off a series of events that ultimately results in the death of an owl baby.  The animals of the jungle must then get together and decide who is to blame.  The book is beautifully illustrated, and won a Caldecott medal for its efforts.  The story is fast paced and has lots of fun onamonapia phrases that are associated with each animal.  Finally, on the last page of the book, the mosquito meets with its appropriate end.  Maggie likes to demonstrate on the last page with a great smack and a "kapow!"

2.  We All Went on Safari
This book was a gift to Maggie when she was born, from Aunt Alyssa.  It's technically a "journey" through Tanzania, not Kenya, but close enough.  Also beautifully illustrated, this book features a group of Maasai children as they go on safari and encounter various animals.  The pages have the numbers 1-10 in both English and Swahili, and there is an additional section at the back that talks about the Maasai people and gives the names of the animals in the book in both English and Swahili.  Eric and I spent more time on those pages than Maggie!


We'll try to post some more recommended kids' books in the month to come, but if you can't wait and need more good African children's books NOW, check out:  Jambo Means Hello, Moja Means One, and Elisabeti's Doll.

McCropder Video

We had put together this video for our home church Knox, but thought that all of you may enjoy seeing it.

Tenwek on National TV

NTV Kenya (a national TV station) came to Tenwek two months ago to do a short piece on the hospital. We weren't able to find the original online, so the video (available here on YouTube) is simply our camera recording what's on the TV. You'll want to turn the volume way up because it's a little hard to hear, especially with comments from the peanut gallery! John is briefly featured in the video. Unfortunately, he is misquoted as saying that the eye unit did 14,000 surgeries last year! Actually, they did just over 2,000 surgeries and saw over 14,000 patients in clinic. The clip is very well done and a wonderful testimony to all the hard work that has gone into Tenwek for over 50 years. It's a honor to play a small part. To God be the glory!

Updated "Media that Informs Us"

A long while ago, at the very inception of this blog, we put together a list of "Media That Informs Us", and put a link on the left sidebar. The link remained, even as the list became more and more outdated. We have updated it now, and added links to a few reviews we have done. When we feel a need to share another review, we'll add the link to the list.

P.S. We're always open to suggestions.

A short list of books and movies that at least some of us found enlightening, inspiring, or at least thought-provoking:

Books:

Africa:

No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith

What is the What? by Dave Eggers

A Distant Grief, by F. Kefa Sempangi

Strength in What Remains, by Tracy Kidder

Cry the Beloved Country, by Alan Paton

Africa Friends and Money Matters, by David Maranz

Theology/Missions:

Eternity in Their Hearts, by Don Richardson

Peace Child, by Don Richardson

Let the Nations Be Glad, by John Piper

Don't Waste your Life, by John Piper

Miracle at Tenwek, by Gregg Lewis

Surprised by Hope, by N.T. Wright

Generous Justice, by Tim Keller

Aid/Development:

The End of Poverty, by Jeffery Sachs

Mountains Beyond Mountains, by Tracy Kidder

The White Man's Burden, by William Easterly

Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond

When Helping Hurts, by Brian Fikkert and Steve Corbett

Miscellaneous:
The Wycliffe Cookbook
The More With Less Cookbook

Wit, by Margaret Edson

The Hiding Place, by Corrie ten Boom

Music by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, especially Paul Simon's "Graceland"
Article: "As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God" by Matthew Parris The Times, click here

Movies:
The Mission
Invisible Children
The Devil Came on Horseback
Amazing Grace
Yesterday
Blood Diamond
War Dance

The Ghost and the Darkness

The Constant Gardener

Hotel Rwanda

The Lion King (we'd be lying to say it didn't inform us)

Recommended but Minimal Relevancy to Africa:

Toto's "Africa"

The Gods Must Be Crazy (I and II)

David Wilcox's "Johnny's Camaro"

The Tawny, Scrawny Lion, by Tengreen

The awesome action sequence in Madagascar at the beginning of "Casino Royale"

Practicing Retina in the Developing World

An interview with Dr. Ben Roberts (career ophthalmologist at Tenwek, currently on home assignment in the U.S.) & John....

http://bmctoday.net/retinatoday/pdfs/1110RT_business_fellows.pdf

Eye M.D. to 10 Million

Click here for a great article on John's work from the American Academy of Ophthalmology's Online Magazine. It has some great Q&A with John as well as a chance for him to use all that cool, obscure lingo that only ophthalmologists use, like "VR surgery with ILM peels." Awesome.

Philly Inquirer, Part II

Some of you may remember that John was featured in an article in the 2008 Philadelphia Inquirer, written by one of his fellow ophthalmology residents. Just today, the same paper ran a follow-up article on his experiences here at Tenwek. Here's the link.

The McCropders and Beyonce

I have never made much of a secret of my life ambition to be in a magazine that featured Beyonce on the cover. However, I thought when I decided to pursue a career in African medical missions, that I would have to put that aside.

But no! This month's Ambassador magazine, a Detroit-area publication, had its annual 'hot docs' section (a series of personal interest stories for area physicians, and a somewhat embarrassing title for said 'docs'), and the Mc---Ders found their way into it, with a photo shoot in the McKitchen, and a few words from the crew.

Questions from the peanut gallery:

1. Why was Beyonce on the cover? She was filming a movie in the Detroit area, apparently.

2. Did you notice that Eric is wearing slippers, and that they called him 'Erica'? Yes, we did.

3. Did you have to take a lot of photos to get such a cute picture of Anna staring at the camera? Well, they were all cute, but the 'staring at the camera' took a while.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

I'll beat John and Jess to the punch and post this link from the Philadelphia Inquirer on us. We're surprised and honored for the attention. Welcome to anyone who found their way to this site via this article. (Note: great picture of John in the 80's found at the link.)

There's also a summary of the article on the Republic of Togo's website (in French).