A Real Man of Faith

I (Jason) want to introduce you to Dr. Jean Yaradouno. He is a fourth year surgery resident at the Bongolo Hospital where we are heading tommorrow. We have been staying at the same guesthouse in Libreville, Gabon for the last three days. He and his wife are from Guinea (Conakry) His wife is a nursing student at the Bongolo Hospital, and they have a very young daughter. He left today from here to go to Benin to board a Mercy Ship, the Africa Mercy, the world's largest charity hospital ship. He will be joining other health care providers to share the love of Jesus with the poor of Benin and the surrounding countries.

He is a real man of faith. When he came to join the residency in Gabon, he was given the wrong visa, and was stuck in Gabon. But Jean refused give up. Instead, he got on his knees several times a day and prayed for a miracle. His friends and family back in Guinea called almost daily begging him to give up his calling to be a surgeon for God. After two months, immigration officials finally demanded that he be put on a plane and sent home. Then a miracle happened. Just hours before the plane was to leave, a high government official heard about Jean’s situation and intervened. Jean got his visa, and four months later he and his wife—who came with the right visa--were finally reunited!

Please pray for him-that God will use him mightily to serve the poor of Benin. Please also pray for his wife and daughter, that they will have courage and peace while he is away serving.

On a personal note, I went the airport with the Gabonese mission administrator tonight to try to retrieve our bags. One was there, one was not. The baggage label for the one that was not had been stuck on a random baby seat that was also in the lost luggage room. The airline agents say it's still in Paris and should arrive Thursday. It's an expensive uninteruptable power source for the HIV/AIDS lab instrument we're carrying. Please pray that it will arrive Thursday intact so it can be then driven the 8-12 hours to the hospital. The lab instrument will have the potential to save many lives of those living with HIV/AIDS once it gets up and running.