ZOE Medical Mission to Zimbabwe 2010

God moments

2010-01-22T22:27:00.003+02:00

Many God moments here in Zimbabwe. Everything is running smooth as we look forward to another day with the children at Mahviza. Yea, God.

Charles

God is Here

2010-01-22T22:17:00.002+02:00

I sometimes think God holds Zimbabwe's people close to his heart. For there isn't any other ready explanation for their openess to us as foreigners, their spirtualiy, and their good positive attitude in the face of the difficulties they encounter on a daily basis. I was afraid that since this was my third time I might not feel the same impact as on previous trips, but in fact as near the end of the first week I find I am moved even more by the children we see than before.
I miss my wife, Sandy and want to send her my love.

Bill

Trip Update

2010-01-22T22:07:00.004+02:00

We are all doing well here! Today was our fourth clinic day. We were granted our clearance and were able to visit the schools in the diamond mines region. Today was our second day at Mt Makomwe. We saw over 500 students in the past two days. Yesterday when we arrived we were able to see the ZOE feeding program, an amazing program that provides food for the children at the school, some of these children did not have bowls and were not able to eat. Today we bought bowls to take to these students, so they can eat too. We have all been truly blessed to be a part of this trip, continue to pray that all goes well.

The Team

Clinic Days

2010-01-20T11:05:00.002+02:00

Hello team

Today is our second clinic day!! We have be at the first school ZOE ever visited. We were not able to go to our first school because we are waiting on clearance into the Diamond Mines Region. Please Pray that that clearance comes through so that we may see the children in the most need. This school is a true testament to how well the feeding program is doing. We saw about 270 children and 70 of them were well and did not require any medication, Praise God.

Our accommodations are really nice and the food is great! Everyone is doing well and sends love home. No one has gotten sick Praise God. We are still waiting on the 3 missing bags, hopefully they will come soon!!

It is so wounderful to see the smiling faces, and pure exictment on the faces of all the children, not to mention how well behaived they are. They will sit quietly on a bench for over an hour and not complain.

Grace and Peace all the team members

Hi famfam and fellow followers!

We are in the middle of nowhere- google earth doesn't do it justice! But I am having a great time. We have a wounderful team and the kids are great! Wish you could all be here!

Love lots Casey

To our Families and Friends

Things are not nearly as desire as I was imangining here in Zimbabwe. A true testament to the love and great works for the ZOE ministry at this school. I miss you all, and am giving hugs to the hids here! I am having a great timeteaching high fives with a Fonzie Heyyy! to the children.

Love TB

Internt access is poor it requires a drive into Mutare or Africa University so post may be few and far between but we are all doing well!!!

ZOE team

Welcome to Zimbabwe!

2010-01-18T08:31:00.002+02:00

Hello All! We have made it to Zimbabwe in one piece! It was a LOOOOOOONG flight! Our trip from Washington to Dakar was full, but some of us were able to score two seats together to stretch our legs from Dakar to Johannesburg. We has some questionable in flight food, but the great movie selection made up for it. I think everyone watched Michael Jackson's "This is It" which got us all ready to bust a move! We made it into Harare at 11pm. We calculated up about 24 hours of travel from take off in Raleigh to touch down in Harare.

We have enjoyed getting to know each other and are confident that God is directing our ZOE family to do great things. We stayed in Harare last night at the beautiful Mandle Training Centre. It truly an oasis in the middle of the city. The grounds are beautiful with lots of flowers and even a pool! We are missing three bags-- both of Tim's and one of Jean's team bags. We may be able to recover it before we head out to Mutare.

We are getting ready to travel to Mutare where we have a day full of sorting and packing to prepare for our first clinic day tomorrow. Thank you all for the warm send off and continued prayers. Know that we take YOU our FUMCC, OUMC, family and friends are here with us in Zimbabwe! Until the next internet find….

Casey and the whole team

It's All Yours God

2010-01-15T17:23:00.003+02:00

The faces of the many children we will see!

Final Preparations

2010-01-15T16:08:00.002+02:00

As we all cram the last few things into our luggage and get ready for our travels Tim would like to remind all our family and friends, in case we are not able to post updates to the blog of what we are doing and how we are, this video is why I am going to Africa. Please imagine that I am right now giving a kid a hug just for you, and that when we all return I will give you a hug from one of these kids!

Love TB

Trip Itinerary

2010-01-13T19:37:00.001+02:00

Saturday January 16 Depart from RDU for Zimbabwe
We will be traveling first to Washington DC to catch a flight to Johannesburg South Africa and then our final flight to Harare
Monday January 18 Travel to Mutare where we will stay at La Rochelle our hotel
This will serve as our home base for the trip. We plan to organize our supplies, and meet the local Dr. at Old Mutare
Tuesday January 19 First Clinic day at Mt. Macomwe and also visit Murange
Wednesday January 20 Second Clinic day at Mt. Macomwe with a Program for all kids in afternoon
Thursday January 21 First Clinic day at Mavhiza
Friday January 22 Second Clinic day at Mavhiza with a visit to Chapayama
Saturday January 23 First Clinic day at Munyarari with a Program for all kids in afternoon
Sunday January 24 A day of rest
We will attend church at Old Mutare , rest and setup a small clinic for staff at La Rochelle
Monday January 25 Second Clinic day at Munyarari
Tuesday January 26 A morning activity with children - Claire School. In the afternoon we will all be traveling back to Harare. Where we will spend the night at the Mendel Training Center
Wednesday January 27, a group will travel on to visit Victoria Falls @ 12 noon. Others will depart for home
Thursday January 28, Thurs the group traveling directly home will arrive in RDU at 9:42 AM
Friday January 29 The group that stayed to visit Victoria Falls will arrive in RDU at 9:42 AM

Team Members

2010-01-12T22:57:00.021+02:00

Helen Papageorgiou is the trip leader for 2010. She has worked in Finance through 25 years of ups and downs at Nortel and was recently acquired by Ericsson. Helen and her husband, George, have a son and daughter, have been blessed with a son-in-law and daughter-in-law, and three precious grandchildren. She has been a member of FUMC for about 18 years. During those years, she has been involved in a Sunday School class, church administration, Bible study classes, and most importantly missions. Some of the missions that she has supported with her time, energy, prayers and financial support include Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network, Alliance Medical Ministry, the Dorcas Shop, and the Center for Volunteer Caregiving. ZOE is the first international mission in which Helen has participated. Helen writes “the children in Africa touch my heart in a special way, and I hope that we can bring a little sunshine, joy, and hope into their lives. Praise the Lord for assembling a very talented medical team for our trip to Zimbabwe. My medical experience consists of kisses, hugs and bandaids, which I intend to put to good use on my third trip to Zimbabwe.”

Bill Black has a degree in agricultural engineering from Montana State University, but spent most of his career working in biotechnology, retiring in March 2009. He and his wife Sandy now live in Nebraska to be near her parents in Lincoln and their children and grandchildren in Colorado and Wyoming. Bill and Sandy are members of Trinity UMC in Lincoln, NE and look forward to introducing the ZOE ministry to the people of the area. Sandy and Bill were members of the first ZOE mission teams from FUMC Cary in 2006 and 2007. Bill wrote “Like most, if not all, of us who have been part of this mission I have bitter sweet memories of the people of Zimbabwe and especially the children. More nights than not I wake in the middle of the night back in Zimbabwe; sometimes to the joyous sound of the children singing; sometimes to a heart breaking vision of a hungry child. And more often than not it takes a long, long time to fall asleep again, if I do, as image after image of the children and our friends there go through my mind. I worry for them and pray for them; that they are well and protected and not too cold or alone at night.My heart seems to be inseparably bound to the precious suffering children of God who by chance are where they are in the world and with lives they have - not by their choice. I am so excited to return to Zimbabwe and so very thankful to be allowed to be a part of this team. I worry we may find the situation more dire than expected. But, with God's guidance and blessings we will mitigate some suffering, give hugs and care and love, and return home with persuasive testimony to convince many, many others to join in caring for the vulnerable children there be they orphan or not. I envision thousands and thousands of caring people as far as the eye can see in all directions and beyond, lining the shores - and making a difference.”

Shirley Duvall has worked at Duke for 12 ½ years, currently as a nurse in neurology. She was awarded the Nursing Excellence award by the Duke Friends of Nursing in 2008. Before God made her a nurse, she was a preschool teacher at OUMC for several years. Shirley has been to Zambia & Kenya with ZOE and has also done some local mission work with OUMC, where she has been a member for 24 years. Her husband Joel does property management & sales in Chapel Hill & Carrboro. She has two sons -- Matthew is 23 years old and works as a prop designer in Little Rock, AR and Robbie is a freshman at UNC-G. Her third “child” is a dachshund! Shirley is EXCITED to be going to a country that has not had a team visit for a long time and hopes we will be able to make a SMALL dent in the need there!

Linda Folger and her husband Cleve are partners in TriSure, a Raleigh independent insurance brokerage and risk management firm. They have a daughter, Meredith, who lives in Colorado and one granddaughter, Ava, who is 3 years old. Linda and Cleve have been members of FUMC since 1998. Linda has been on one ZOE trip to Kenya with the OUMC group and Tim Baughman, aka “The Huggie Monster”. She has been a NCSU fan for over 35 years, a true testament to her strength since it can be a tough road to be a Wolfpack fan! One of her many passions is scuba diving – she has been diving since 9th grade, is already a Divemaster, and will become an Instructor after her exam on November 22nd. She is most excited to see God at work in the people of Africa and the members of our mission team just as she experienced on her previous trip to Kenya. She feels blessed to a part of this team and prays that we put ourselves aside and let Jesus Christ shine through each of us!

Sharon Guerry is a chemotherapy dispensing pharmacist at UNC Hospital and has worked as a pharmacist at Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, GA and for 4 years at drug stores in Aiken, SC. She is married to Robert, an engineer at Duke Medical Center and has two children – Brian is 2 2 years old and is a mechanical engineering/physics major at Georgia Tech and Melissa, 18 years old, is a freshman at Furman University in Greenville, SC. has been a member of OUMC for 15 years. She is a fan of the University of South Carolina and has an unusual hobby, collecting thimbles from as far away as India and Switzerland. This will be her first mission trip and her first time traveling internationally, except for a trip to Canada in the past. She is most excited to be a part of this mission team and is most anxious about the long airplane ride.

Jean Hedrick is a respiratory Therapist/LPN at Durham Regional Hospital. She has two children, David 44 and Traci 40, 4 grandchildren and a great granddaughter! Jean joined OUMC in 1990, then left in 1993 to work in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for 8 years. She returned to OUMC in 2007. She did volunteer work in Ohio as a clown with the Good News Bears and started a clown business in Saudi Arabia, working evenings and weekends. Jean says “I'm most excited about doing the amount of clinics scheduled in Zimbabwe.”

Shannon Jones is a Registered Nurse in the Emergency Department at Durham Regional Hospital. She is married to Patrick, who is also going on the trip to Zimbabwe. They have one furry, four legged “child”, Lance, a beagle who will be 5 years old in April. She and Patrick both graduated from Appalachian State University and are avid ASU football fans! They have been to all three National Championships, and though they didn’t make it to Michigan, one of Patrick’s groomsmen did (and there are photos of the trip in their wedding album!). They also identify themselves as “true blue Carolina fans”. Shannon has been a member of OUMC for 1½ years, but notes that Patrick was raised in OUMC and his family is one of the “founding families”. Since nursing school, Shannon has wanted to do medical missions and last year was able to go to Kenya with ZOE. Shannon writes “I am always excited to do mission work, but this year it means even more. Last year, it was impossible to spend the duration of the mission trip in Kenya without being touched by the passion that one man has for t he children of Zimbabwe. That man is Tim Baughman. I hope that we are able to make a difference in the lives of these children and that we allow God to work through us to share our passion for caring for the orphans of Africa as Tim does.”

Patrick Jones is an IT associate for a great company in Research Triangle Park, MDB, Inc. This will be his first in ternational mission trip. He is looking forward to this amazing trip to serve the children of God in Africa. His wife brought home so many great stories from her mission to Kenya last year that he decided that he had to go and experience this for himself. He graduated from Appalachian State with a Business Degree and has a long term goal of being a college professor. Though he may not be a medical person he brings great organizational skills to the team. He is looking forward to seeing the many faces of the children in Zimbabwe!

Tim Baughman (TB to his close friends) is a Civil Engineer who works at NCSU in a transportation extension service, providing safety and technical training for highway maintenance and construction crews. He and his wife Sherry have been married for 29 years and have two children, Walt, 24 years old and Lena, 18 years old and two dogs, Ginger and Ziggy. He is an avid South Carolina Fighting Gamecocks fan! Tim has been a member of FUMC for 16 years and has been on the Appalachian Service project twice, serving in Tennessee and West Virginia. He has been on two ZOE trips before, once to Zimbabwe and once to Kenya with OUMC. Tim says “I can't wait to see and hug our kids. I pray that our clinics and activities are effective.”

Cheryl Irwin is a registered nurse in the preop area of Same Day Surgery at Duke Raleigh. She graduated from Southern Illinois University in Edwardsville, IL and has been a nurse for 30 years, working for many years in the ER before going to the "calm" of Same Day Surgery. She has one son, Nick 25 and a new daughter-in-law, Payton. Cheryl grew up in a big family, one of 6 children, 5 girls! The trip in January will be her 4th mission trip. She did one medical trip to Honduras and 2 trips to Zimbabwe that included building & working with the children. She has been a member of FUMC for about 15 years. People that have been on trips with Cheryl know that she is afraid of cows (horses too!). She is most excited about the medical aspect of this trip, since her first trip to Zimbabwe was suppose to be a medical trip, but they could not come up with the right team. Cheryl writes “I have seen such a HUGE need for a >medical team that I am thrilled to see it come to fruition. I am most anxious about having my heart broken again by the conditions in Africa. While I am anxious about it, I think it is good that my heart be broken lest I forget the suffering that is going on all around us.” She feels honored to be a part of this great team and part of God's mission.

Teresa Nuttall has been a registered nurse for 17 years, primarily working in research. She has pediatric experience, and her first love is Pediatrics. She is currently working as a Phase I Nurse Consultant for UNC’s Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is a “True Blue Tar Heel”! Teresa is very happily married to David – they will celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary on Feb 3, 2010 just after our return from Zimbabwe. They have 3 children, Daniel age 14 and Stephen and Elizabeth ages 13. They also have two 4 legged children, Bailey is 5 and Luna is 7 (both dogs). Teresa has been a member of OUMC for 20 years. She has travelled twice with ZOE, once to Zambia and once to Kenya. Teresa used to be very shy, but after taking a class in nursing school called “Pack Your Own Parachute” her shyness is gone. Teresa is very excited to get to Zimbabwe. It was the original destination of both of her other trips and then they were relocated to Zambia and Kenya. She is also excited to see Farai again. Teresa writes, “At this point I am not anxious about the trip. I feel that God is calling me to go on this trip and I have put my faith and trust in Him.”

Rick Kibler is a Civil Engineer by trade, and has worked for John A. Edwards & Co. for the past 31 years, years before that with B.P. Barber & Assoc. in Columbia, S.C. He also has a residential contractor’s license, and loves to do odd jobs. Rick has three children, Richie-42, Stoney-37, and Courtney-31 and 4 grandchildren, Noah, Isaac, Dayton & Landon. He enjoys snow skiing, scuba diving and riding the ATV with his grandkids and can be found pulling for NCSU, South Carolina, the Hurricanes, the Yankees, and the Carolina Panthers! He has been a member of FUMC since 1959 and has participated with the Appalachian Service Project for the last 20 years serving people in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia. He has also worked with the Methodist UMCOR agency with hurricane relief in North Carolina, South Carolina and Mississippi and has been on one trip with ZOE to Zimbabwe in 2007. Rick says “I am excited about seeing and playing with the children again, anxious about how to help on a ‘medical trip’, and I look forward to getting to know each of you better and seeing how with God’s direction we can make things just a tad bit more tolerable for some of the ‘Least of Us’.”

Alice Finnell has been a member of OUMC since 1989 and this is her third ZOE medical mission trip to Africa. She writes, “When I first volunteered to do this job, I thought it was a stretch. Could I go half the way around the world and practice medicine in a third world country, share in the fellowship with Christians that I had never met before, and come home safely? Well, here I go for the third round! It is truly a life altering experience and a humbling one. The friendships that I have made, trusting God, seeing how prayer changes things, and having a lot of laughs are only a part of what motivates me to return. I never stop learning.” Since 1988, Alice and her family and have lived in Chapel Hill, NC. She works as an emergency medicine doctor at Alamance Regional Medical Center in Burlington, NC. Her husband, John Wurzelmann, is a physician also and does research at Glaxo Smith Kline in RTP. Alice and John have three children -- Dan, Sam, and Mary. Dan is a second year medical student at UNC-CH. Both Sam (4th year) and Mary (1st year) attend UNC-CH, so they are definitely Tar Heel fans at her house!!!! Their two dogs keep them company at home since the kids have left and they are delightful muts, Otis and Woody.

Charles Barrow lives in Snow Hill and is a research specialist at the Cunningham Research Station in Kinston, NC, an NCSU agricultural research station. He works with all vegetable crops. He is a member of Webb Chapel UMC and has been on numerous mission trips to Hyde County to repair flood damaged homes, to Mississippi to repair homes due to Katrina, to Zambia and this will be his 5th trip to Zimbabwe! He enjoys scuba diving and is an avid NCSU fan! Charles writes, “I am excited about seeing Farai, Martha, their family, Solomon, and all the others that I have met through the past trips, and of course the children that are in my prayers daily.” He is anxious about the long plane ride.

Sherri Zimmerman has been a Pediatrician at Cary Pediatric Center for 3 years, and previously worked in Pediatric Hematology at Duke University Medical Center for 12 years. She is married to Mark, an Obstetrician/Gynecologist in Raleigh and has 3 children, Matt 16, Parker 9, and Maggie 3 years old, adopted from China in 2007 and one labradoodle named Jack. She is an avid Tar Heel fan after spending 8 years of college and medical school in Chapel Hill. Sherri has been a member of FUMC for 10 years and has been involved as a Sunday School teacher, VBS volunteer, fair booth volunteer and as a member of the Administrative Board. This will be her first mission trip, although she has supported her husband and oldest son through several trips to ASP, Bolivia and Guatemala. Medical missions have been something Sherri has wanted to do for a long time, but until this trip, all of the circumstances hadn’t quite been in place. She feels anxious about the travel and time away from her family, but trusts that God has a specific purpose for our group and will carry us through the challenges we might face.

Al Mooney is a husband, father, grandfather, and semi-retired physician living in Cary. He and his wife Jane have been members of Cary First United Methodist Church for nearly a decade, and Al has been a Methodist all his life. He specializes in addiction and family medicine, and has practiced medicine in North Carolina since 1977 when he did a residency in Family Medicine at UNC Chapel Hill. He still serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Family Medicine at UNC.

He currently serves as the Medical Director of the Healing Place of Wake County and Clinical Director of Five County Mental Health Authority. As Chairman of the Willingway Foundation, the charitable arm of Willingway Hospital, he strives to create more awareness of addiction, the country’s number one health problem. He has led international projects to spread effective treatment of the disease of addiction to several foreign countries, including Russia, Romania, Serbia, New Zealand, England, Scotland, Egypt, Bosnia, and Ghana.

Hobbies include photography, fly fishing, and computers. He is an avid aviator and flight instructor. He and Jane are looking forward to the arrival of their third grandchild in March.

Casey Baughman is back to Africa! Casey is a nurse a Duke—the better blue-- in the Emergency Department. Previously, she worked in the surgery/trauma ICU and will be the only team member taking a text book in her carry-on. Classes for anesthesia school don’t wait while we are abroad! Casey has found her church family within the OUMC ZOE group in travels on their two previous ZOE missions to Zambia and Kenya. She is most excited at the possibility of forging rivers, eating fresh goat, and of course the sun tan :) Casey would like to thank the OUMC church family, FUMCC church family, and her real life family for their incredible support of this mission. We take your spirit of love, community, and HOPE to all those we work with in Zimbabwe.