June 2023 Medical Outreach

As our medical outreach team arrived, we started getting a chance to share some really great devotional time in the evenings after dinner and a handful of “village walks” where we simply go around the village STEMM is located in to meet and pray over people we come in contact with. This devo time was a sweet chance to share what we experienced throughout the day from each person’s different perspective and is common amongst all trips made to the STEMM Mountainview Retreat Centre. This particular team was able to pre-screen some patients in our chapel that came to the STEMM for surgical referrals and then split up on Sunday just before we embarked on the major medical outreach projects.

Most of the team went to the Maasai area that we have been working with to attend their church service, followed by a visit to a new health center being built near the Nakwani Sisters shop – then they spent the day experiencing Maasai culture and even got to participate in a tribal goat roast for lunch. Then it was time to come back to STEMM so we could all begin preparing the needed supplies and materials for the week’s outreach clinics – starting with the plan to work in our local clinic all day on Monday. God blessed the team with supernatural endurance to see over 350 patients in a period of 5-6 hours in that clinic, followed by 2 days of surgery in Arusha with patients that were identified over the weekend.

Immediately after finishing up the final surgery in Arusha, everyone was loaded into a bus that traveled 7 hours to central Tanzania where the STEMM staff had setup a massive campsite on a 50-acre property belonging to one of the organization’s founders. Upon hearing of all the work that these staff members had done in a short amount of time to prepare for our next project – members of our team laid hands on the Tanzanian Director (Daniel Michael) who led the staff in this endeavor. We asked Our Father to bless this man and the numerous men & women that assisted him and asked Him to fill our staff back up after the exhausting work so that we could all be at full strength for the 2-day medical outreach “in the bush” of Singida Tanzania.

We arose early on Thursday morning for a quick breakfast and began sorting out all of the supplies that were procured for this large-scale effort to reach the unreached with medical care and the love of Jesus Christ. Hundreds of people were waiting when we arrived, so we quickly setup the clinic, gathered for prayer, and started seeing patients right away. Over the course of the first day, we were able to address hundreds of physical issues and identified some truly spiritual issues.

As the day went on and the lines seemed to get longer – we started to realize just how predominately Muslim this village was and began to direct our prayers more specifically toward God empowering our team to directly reach these people in the name of Jesus through the medical care that was being offered. One member of our team (Kathy Carter, ARNP) shared the following story with us that happened amongst the busy-ness of our time in Singida:

“We were all tired, hungry, hot, and thirsty after seeing over 1000 patients in Pohama - but God called us to see His precious 29-year-old man at the end of the day amidst dignitaries and politician visits. Dominic (4th year medical student) came to me to consult on his case. Dom identified and diagnosed him with heart palpitations, anxiety, and panic attacks. This young man was losing hope despite the fact that He was a Christian and had a Bible. I asked the interpreter to ask this man if he had thoughts of self-harm or harming others. The interpreter really was reluctant to ask this questions, but with a little persistence, he did. The young man admitted he had thoughts of self-harm. I knelt down in front of him and asked him to have eye contact with me and instructed the interpreter to repeat exactly what I said. The Holy Spirit said, “You are precious in God’s sight. He created you in His image and has great plans for you. Many people all over the world have sadness and anxiety but that is the devil waring against you. Your hope in in Jesus Christ and you must not harm yourself. You are showing great courage by sharing with us and that makes you an even stronger man and warrior!” We helped him develop a toolbox of skills when he has self-harm ideation:

1. Play soccer - 2. Pray - 3. Read the Bible - 4. Listen to Gospel music - 5. Talk with family, friends, and/or pastor

We prescribed Prozac 20mg daily for anxiety and to read a Psalm each day. The interpreter, Dom, and I spent time with this young man and shared God’s love & compassion for him. Praise God for this opportunity and for STEMM.”

The second day was even more busy than the first because we included a training session on ‘Days 4 Girls’ menstrual hygiene kids, and also due to the fact that we had several visitors from the Tanzanian government – including the Deputy Minister of Health who has been an avid supporter of STEMM activities over the years; along with this region’s Member of Parliament, Regional Medical Officer, District Medical Officer, local village leaders, and the bishop of a church in this locality.

As our team wrapped up their medical efforts, the Minister addressed the large crowd of people that had gathered to hear from the government officials in attendance and to thank them for their work involved with the STEMM staff to create a great environment for the medical professionals to volunteer their time and talents.

The Minister of Health and Member of Parliament for this region were so pleased with the turnout that they encouraged the local health officials to continue providing services “in the bush” after our team left – and they obliged, so we donated the unused supplies toward this effort and headed back to the STEMM campus.

In the days following this massive undertaking, we found several stories in the Tanzanian media praising the efforts of everyone involved and thanking all of us for being able to meet with and care for over 2200 patients – 1200 of which were seen by our team in the first 2 days of this 4 day remote outreach clinic!

The entire trip was filled with amazing glimpses of God’s providence and many stories were shared by members of the team visiting from the USA as well as the dedicated staff at STEMM Tanzania, and we look forward to doing this again very soon if it be His will for us. Each time we plan trips for medical work, we find more ways to improve our processes and look forward to an even better medical outreach experience in the future…if you’re feeling called to participate, please do not hesitate to reach out to our trip coordinator at trips@stemm.org and if you’re not feeling led to serve in this way - you can always make a financial contribution to these efforts at www.stemm.org/donate