“Now I will kick a football,” she laughed as she moved her new knee.

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This is  sweet Birhana from the Jinka area; which is located near the Kenya border. She has endured 14 years of pain. Birhana came to Soddo Christian Hospital 3 years ago and was told she needed a new knee, but at that time a total joint replacement was not an option here at SCH, and the replacement parts she needed were not available anywhere in Ethiopia.

This week Dr. Clint Barnett from Texas arrived at our hospital and 18 knees were completely replaced. 3 men and 15 women were given the opportunity to have a life without pain, (something so many of us take for granted).  These knees were done using total joint replacements. Birhana  was among those so happy to be called this week to come and receive a new knee!! She could barely contain her joy, as she smiled and laughed.  “Now I will kick a football,” she laughed as she moved her new knee. “I love you and Soddo Christian Hospital.”

Birhana shared at Soddo Christian Hospital chapel, her joy and thankfulness shining so bright. Dr. Clint Barnett shared, "These are just replacement parts, made  by man, and of metal, not made of bone. They give the opportunity at a better life, one without pain and with more physical capabilities. However God longs to have our hearts, to heal our hearts, and more important than having a new knee, is knowing that you have eternal life." God is doing beautiful things here at SCH, both through physical healing and through spiritual salvation. All the glory is His, He is mighty to heal, mighty to save!!

Fun fact: The average size of a replacement knee for women  in the US is #5  but our Ethiopian friends were smalls. Dr. Barnett did five #1's in one week!   In fact, we had to send for more small sizes from the US and our recent visitors brought them while Dr. Barnett was here. 

 

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God is using a CT scanner to reach five million Ethiopians with the Gospel

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In 2013, an anonymous donor gave nearly $1 million in equipment to Soddo Christian Hospital. While the donation contained dozens of important items, the gem of the collection was a brand new computed tomography (CT) scanner. By itself, this one piece of equipment is helping us spread the Gospel to the five million people in our region of Ethiopia.

Here’s how.

CT technology produces tomographic images (literally layered slices) of the inside of a patient’s body. Think of a standard x-ray machine, such as the kind you might have experienced if you broke your arm as a child. That type of machine can produce only one snap shot of a patient. But a CT scanner can produce a picture of each layer of the patient, giving us a vastly greater amount of information, which in turn helps us make much more accurate diagnoses, and guide more effective treatments for patients. It’s not hard to see why a CT scanner has become an important tool for any hospital to have.

And, currently, we have the only CT scanner for our region of five million people.

What does this mean in practical terms? It means that patients from all across our region, many of whom lives hundreds of kilometers away, come here to Soddo Christian Hospital for their treatment because they require a CT scanner. And each one of these patients receives the Gospel message from our staff. In fact, orthopedic patients (those needing treatment on their bones) are the most frequently in need of CT imaging, and these patients tend to have long hospital stays (often lasting weeks) as they recover from surgery, which means we can share the Gospel with them over and over again, and disciple those who receive Christ!
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Recently, two of our physicians - orthopedic surgeon Duane Anderson and radiologist Karl Roth - performed an extremely advanced procedure using the CT scanner. Called a CT-guided biopsy, this procedure is only performed in a handful of hospitals in the US. In February, a patient named Dagmwi came to us with a suspicious bone tumor in his pelvis. Guided by images that Dr. Roth produced on the CT scanner, Dr. Anderson was able to accurately insert a needle into the tumor and extract a sample for analysis. The root issue turned out to be an infection, and Dagmwi was placed on antibiotics. Without the CT-guided biopsy, Dagmwi would have had to undergo a complicated surgery in order to diagnose the problem.

This story is just one example of the power of the CT scanner that God has blessed us with. He’s using this tool to draw patients like Dagmwi to our hospital for treatment. We’re able to provide high-quality care, and we’re also able to share the love of Jesus Christ. It’s a winning combination that is seeing Ethiopians brought to Christ every week. We praise God for this gift, and we look forward to using it for His glory for years to come.

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