Steve in Kenya

Dear Friends and Family,

I am sure many of you have heard that Steve has been medically evacuated from Soroti to Nairobi, Kenya. Our home office at World Outreach Ministries has encouraged us to send you and emergency update and let you know about our current situation and ask you to prayerfully consider sending extra donations to go towards our additional medical and travel expenses. It is difficult to ask for more donations, but I am thankful that they are pushing us to do so, but right now we also covet your prayers for answers. Let me give you a glance at our last 48 hours and before.

On Saturday, October 29^th, Steve became very weak. He was found to have malaria and was treated accordingly. Unfortunately, he did not show signs of improvement. We then made several trips to the hospital, but all the blood work came back fairly normal. He did not have high white blood count, and the malaria was not there. He had a chest x-ray and that revealed that he had significant amounts of fluid on his lungs. His pulse oxygen was low and we put him on oxygen, but the oxygen was not enough to get his levels above around 83. Our teammates, Jennifer (nurse) and Daniel (veterinarian) suggested that we need to have Steve medically evacuated. They then started working on that process for us. The plane did not have enough time to land in Soroti and make it back to Nairobi in the needed amount of time so we had to wait until the next morning to have him evacuated out. I slept at the hospital and woke with Steve about every hour to check his oxygen levels. The nurse at the hospital was very diligent also and for that I was so thankful. I then went home at around 5:30 to shower and then came back to the hospital to wait for the plane. Jennifer and Daniel were also back at the hospital by 7 am and we consulted with Dr. Juventine and we were all very glad he was being transferred to Nairobi. The plan had a little trouble getting security clearance to fly into Soroti, but they eventually got and arrived at Soroti airport at around 11 am. Dr. Juventine was driving us to the airport in the hospitals new ambulance and we were all so thankful, but then the engine died about half way to the airport. We quickly found another form of transportation via a Red Cross truck. The driver of this truck also knows Steve and was more than happy to rush him to the airport. We finally arrived and the doctor on the airplane assessed Steve. He was then put on oxygen and finally his levels went above 90. We then took off on the bumpiest plane ride that I have experienced. Due to Steve’s oxygen levels dropping when the plane was to high, we had to fly at a very low altitude that makes it very bumpy. I proceeded to empty the contents of my stomach in a little white bag when we were about 15 minutes from landing. Finally, we landed in Nairobi and took an ambulance ride to Aga Kahn hospital. We have been treated very well, and they are doing a ton of tests. Right now they say that he has pulmonary edema (?), but they are still trying to figure out the cause. The blood work is showing no infection, so right now he is on a strong antibiotic, but I think they will stop that because it doesn’t seem to be the cause. They started him on Lasix today and they are also giving him something so he doesn’t form any blood clots.

This is where we are now; please continue to pray for answers! I am so thankful for all the prayers and comments. It helps to know people are surrounding us in God’s power. I am also so thankful for my friends in Soroti who are surrounding my kids and us with comfort and wisdom. God is good and we praise him in this storm!!

I am going to try to keep updating on my blog so I can just put one thing out there.

If you are feeling led to help us financially you can donate to World Outreach Ministries at this link World Outreach Ministries. Or you can send monies to:  

World Outreach Ministries
   PO Box B
   Marietta, GA 30061

In the memo, you will want to Steve Tiesenga.

Thank you so much for your prayers and keep them coming!