January, 2022: New Year Update

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Hela Mwaka Mpya!! Rebekah and I pray that this update finds you well and leaning into a new year filled with the new mercies of the Lord!

PRUF:

-Recovery from COVID- both Bek and I were struck with the blight this week. In typical fashion I felt tired for a couple days (Rebekah here. I’m on here editing this before posting and saw this and just want to say hold on JUST A MINUTE - Josh was acting REALLY weird! Stranger than I’ve ever seen him act, ever! He was miserable. It may not have lasted more than a short whiff of time, but he was definitely more than “tired for a couple days”. Just wanted to set that record straight!) , then recovered, while Rebekah continues to feel like she got hit by a truck. She is recovering, but slowly. We pray that the virus doesn’t spread outside the house, especially to our more vulnerable friends and team-mates.
-Friends A and O: these are two guys of Muslim background that I(Josh) have been talking to a lot and sharing the gospel with regularly. Please pray they would find answers to their questions and come to see Christ as the Way!
-Home-life: Rebekah continues to struggle to find a rhythm here in Africa. There are a variety of reasons for this, but please pray for: enriching relationships with women here; increasing comfort in running a household in a new place, and confidence in the calling to be here.
-Ministry goals: this month has been one of setting goals for the year. As we continue to learn language and culture, we also are planning and casting vision for what long-term work we can be starting now. We need wisdom and knowledge as we try to figure this “missionary thing” out!

What a month! My last update was on Dec 20, and since then:
- Rebekah turned 39, and we had a little family party to celebrate. The boys and I made her a Psych-themed towel hanger, which was a hit.

-We celebrated Christmas, which was a rough day for us. There were some COVID exposures, so our team Christmas dinner was cancelled, and we were definitely feeling the homesickness that day! We made the best of it, had dinner with the McDonalds, and got to open some sweet gifts sent to us from abroad. Thanks SO much to those of you that sent cards, pics and gifts. They mean more than we can say! We are trying to learn how to do traditions here- melding together what we hold dear from the past without making ourselves crazy trying to recreate US culture. Certainly haven’t found that balance yet. The lack of language is part of the challenge, as we would love to celebrate with our brothers and sisters here in Africa, but still can’t follow along with the services.

-We took a trip to Dar Es Salaam for restocking, medical visits and vacation. What a sweet trip! Pics and more description below.

-Luke turned 8! What a joy this guy is! He’s mischievous and fun, and always down to play. He’s a relational chameleon and loves to play practical jokes and tell riddles. We celebrated with our dear friends the Lees, who went out of their way to give him a really special party and cake. We’re so grateful for them!

-We returned from our trip and got back to work. The next week, a missionary friend of ours tragically died due to a sudden illness. She went downhill very quickly, and due to the limited resources here, she didn’t survive to get on the medievac plane. Her death was a stark reminder of the risks of living in a place like this. I’ll write more about the medical aspect below, but she might well have survived in a different context. Julie knew that Kigoma is a risky place to live, but chose to come here anyway out of obedience. She counted the cost of obedience, and knew that Jesus is worth it.

-We’re trying to figure out what ministry here looks like. One outreach we do is a ministry to invalid or palliative patients. We will visit them at home, share the gospel, and give them a 5 gallon bucket with palliative care supplies(bedding, cleaning supplies, hygiene items, etc). This is a great way to meet physical needs and develop relationships with a community.

-We got COVID- apparently all the cool kids are doing it. Honestly don’t know where- possibly during traveling to Dar Es Salaam. We’re doing well, and suspect it was the Omicron variant.

-We started work on a back patio and an outbuilding. Our house doesn’t have much in the way of storage, so we’ve found it difficult to fit things thus far, and know that when our crate gets here it’ll be worse. We also will need a place to put tools, etc. So our pastor friend Onesimus is helping us to build a garage/storage room in the back corner and laying down a back patio. We hope to have many a shin-dig on the back patio in this idyllic weather and Rebekah has dreams of outdoor living space decorating dancing through her head. It’ll also provide a really peaceful area for morning quiet time.

-In the coming months we’ll be trying to progress in language, develop a rhythm for ministry and life, and I(Josh) will be completing an orientation to the hospital. Thanks for your prayers!

We took a week long trip to Dar es Salaam to visit our friends the Lees, stock up on some supplies that we can’t get in Kigoma, and do a medical visit. The first afternoon there we went to the beach and randomly ran into a missionary couple from here in Kigoma, Harold and Coni. It was a truly providential encounter, and the next day we spent the day with them at an island off the coast. We had a blast, and they really were a blessing to us. They’ve been in TZ for nearly 20 years and are so encouraging to talk to! They also really loved the boys well, which was sweet. We look forward to continuing our relationship with them as partners for the gospel in Kigoma!
We stayed at a guesthouse in Dar that is right next-door to the Lees. Richard and Karen were our trainers(Missionaries In Residence) at our big training in Virginia before we came to the field. They have an incredible amount of experience on the field and are pros at navigating Tanzanian culture. Our visit with them was so refreshing and sweet! We did some big city things like visiting the waterpark, going to the movies, and out to dinner(sushi!). We are so thankful to have people like Richard and Karen to mentor us along as we struggle to figure this life/job/thing out!

Lastly, a medical note, for those that care:

The month I saw some MORE crazy stuff at the hospital, including bacterial meningitis in.a 14 year-old(did great), a cholera outbreak(ongoing), and endocarditis with a 1.7cm(and growing) mitral valve vegetation. The challenges in practicing here are numerous. For example, we weren’t able to do blood cultures on the patient with endocarditis(though we tried!), so you’re left guessing on an antibiotic regimen that the patient will have to continue for 4 weeks. We went with Penicillin in the hospital, and since the patient didn’t fever again, we assumed that we were dealing with a susceptible strep species, and did ceftriaxone for her outpatient injections. In another context she would have operative options, but the only place in the country that could do the surgery is Dar, a 3 day trip, and the cost is completely prohibitive.
The limitations were especially obvious with our friend who passed- she presented with classic signs of sepsis, but the antibiotic availability here is very limited. We suspect she had Gram- sepsis, and the coverage with amoxicillin/clavulanate and gentamicin didn’t do the trick. The bigger hospital in town does have ventilators, but the personnel don’t know how to use them.
In the medical system here, you have to pay for everything before you receive care. The doctor may see you in the ER and order some lab tests, but you need to go to the cashier and pay for the labs and then take that receipt to the lab in order to get them completed. This is a huge adjustment coming from a US system where you give care first, worry about payment later. It also can be frustrating to order a lab, imaging or even treatment for a patient, only to come in the next day and find that it wasn’t done because the patient can’t afford it.

I’m learning the system bit by bit, and look forward to taking a more educational role in the future, and to shore up some of the hospital processes to provide a higher-standard of care.

That’s it for the update this month! Thanks for taking the time to read, and may God bless your new year!

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Storey Family
Box 1155
Kigoma, Tanzania