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Baptismal service at our church.
Greetings family and friends,
The start of 2021 brought some of the best and some of the worst days we’ve had in Mbingo since we’ve been here. We have seen several young people in our church make decisions to become Christ-followers and experience their new life in Him. We have also experienced the death of a special friend who came to our house most every Sunday for discipleship. We miss him greatly. We know God gives and God takes away and we do not always understand why.
We are now in Orlando, Florida, the new home of our daughter Jeanna’s family. They moved here from Nashville due to a new job opportunity for Ryan. We have been enjoying time with Jeanna, Ryan, Mia, and Trace and are lending a hand with the unpacking and of course some babysitting, which we love. Next week it will be on to the Nashville area, where we will enjoy time with our son’s family, Jess and Faryn and Caleb, Josiah, Daniel, and David. Plans are to return to Cameroon in late March after attending a family reunion to spread Deb’s mother’s ashes in Grand Lake, Colorado.
CIMS residents and other trainees in morning sessions.
We thank God for how He is sustaining the work of Mbingo Baptist Hospital. Despite severe challenges related to the ongoing conflict in the northwest and southwest regions and the COVID‑19 pandemic, patients continue to receive needed care and the training programs of Internal Medicine and Surgery continue to function well. And what’s more, the work on the hydroelectric project has continued, and we believe is within a few months of completion! All praise and thanks be to our wonderful Lord! Another praise is the fact that several volunteer medical professionals (surgeons and a nurse) have been willing and able to brave the difficulties of travel during the pandemic and have rendered service in Mbingo in the past few months.
The pathology service remains busy, and thanks to the telepathology system, reports are continuing to be provided by generous colleagues who are volunteering their time and expertise to read the slides during our time in the US. One of these has also recently volunteered to go to Mbingo and do the work on site during late February and March! Pray that all the necessary requirements for his obtaining a visa and traveling to Mbingo will be met in time.
Deb and coworker.
Debbie continues to have opportunities to share Christ’s love in her ministry, both to patients and to staff in the clinic. We have had some drug shortages, so start praying again for adequate drug supply.
Sharing Christmas story with patients.
We are so grateful to all of you who encourage us and make it possible for us to serve in Mbingo through your prayers and giving. We feel, as they say in Cameroon, “over blessed.” May the Lord bless you richly in 2021, and may we all be His faithful servants in whatever we do, wherever we are.
Joy in Jesus,
Rick & Debbie Bardin
Prayer
- Completion of hydro project scheduled for April.
- Adequate staffing of drugs and supplies for hospital.
- Resolution to NW/SW conflict.
Praises
- Pathologists that are covering for Rick while he is gone.
- Opportunity to be with family February and March.
- Good health and COVID not being a big factor in our area of Cameroon.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
Job 1:21 (NIV)
Rick & Debbie Bardin
PMB BOX 42, BAMENDA, NORTHWEST REGION, REPUBLIC OF CAMEROON