- Population: 5.8 million- 87% live in rural areas.
- High infant mortality (7 children in every 100 die by the age of 5)
- Approx. one doctor per 10,000 people (mostly in urban areas).
- Rural health services are poor.
- Strong beliefs & fears around spirit involvement in life & health.
Rumginae
Rumginae is a former mission station, consisting of the Rumginae hospital, a Community Health Worker School, Bible school and Primary School, as well as a Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) base. The 60 bed hospital is a church-run but government funded ministry to the remote rural community. Along with fifteen associated aid posts and the support of MAF, it serves much of Western Province. It is staffed by two or three expatriate doctors with the remainder of the staff from throughout PNG.
Rumginae HospitalWhy am I going?
Rumginae is w
here God has directed me to do my ‘elective placement’ as part of my medical studies. The elective placement is an opportunity to experience medicine and healthcare in a different setting to the UK NHS, and many students link with ‘mission’ hospitals to serve God in a medical context.
I believe that my medical training is part of God’s plan for my life, so I see my placement in Rumginae as an opportunity to serve Christ and the people there, and also to build up my knowledge and experience for the future. I am excited to rely on God in a very rural and resource-poor setting with lots of challenges, and to see his faithfulness continue to provide.
The Christian charity MAF has a base at Rumginae, and is closely linked with the hospital. I will be involved in emergency air evacuations of patients, and will get to know some of the MAF families based in PNG.
Prayer points
- I am going to PNG on my own, so please pray for God to place the right people around me during my time there.
- Pray that God will speak to me in my vulnerability, through people I meet and challenges I face.
- Indigenous people in Papua New Guinea have a strong emphasis on involvement of spirits in life and health, so pray for wisdom and protection as I am confronted with these issues.
- Pray that I will gain a deeper understanding of, dependency on and love for God through my time in PNG.
- Pray for wisdom and opportunities in how best to communicate my experiences when I return.
- Pray for the staff in Rumginae and that healthcare will continue to be delivered to people in PNG in Jesus' name.
I pray for the Papua New Guinea spirits who are involved in life and health, that you won't feel a need to consider your God as superior to them. As surely as your spiritual life informs your medicine, may you respect the spiritual life of the people who have lived far longer with their spirits than with you. Christianity arrived there in the 1950s and has eradicated many of the traditional practices, but has not yet eradicated the role of healers, so may you have the privilege of learning from their healers. May you find yourself an equal among equals, a person who experiences strength in your relationship to the Holy Spirit as surely as they experience strength in their relationships with spirits. I understand the extent to which fear of spirits can limit a person's horizons. I understand that some traditions cause real human suffering and that your medicine might be able to help people. I hope that fear of their spirits won't limit your horizons. It really is time for Christians, particularly those with medical degrees, to quit conquering other people's traditions. I pray that you can listen to the land, to the people, and that you will arrive knowing that you are somewhere else and have not been asked to cloak the area with your God.
ReplyDeleteI have prayed for you Lydia though I may not know you we are all one in Christ. I do not agree with Mary as our God Is and none can compare. The spirits the natives seek after are not of our God. May God bless you and keep you.
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