Vanovers' Travels: Special Times

Over the course of our 15 years serving at Tenwek Hospital there have been some individuals who are recognized to be “giants” among those who have served here. These individuals are testaments to what God can accomplish through dedicated, obedient servants. Some of these servants we have worked alongside, and some we have only read and heard about. It’s impossible to talk about Tenwek Hospital without mentioning the contributions of some of these special individuals.

Ernie Steury MD – Dr. Steury was born in Indiana in 1935. He attended medical school at Indiana University School of Medicine and graduated in 1953. He was initially trained in general practice and after marrying his wife Sue, they joined the Africa Inland Mission in 1959. They went to work in a rural medical outpost near Bomet Kenya, and with an RN who was already stationed there, Dr. Steury began providing medical services in an area where very little care had been previously available. He quickly discovered that he needed additional training in surgery as well as OB/GYN, pediatrics, and tropical medicine. During the course of his service, he returned to the US for some additional surgical and family medicine training, then returned to Kenya. The medical outpost where he was serving was called Tenwek, and he and his few staff provided an extensive array of medical services to the local tribes (primarily Kipsigis and Maasai, and to a lesser extent Kissi and Luo). He was a dedicated Christian missionary and in addition to providing medical care, he was known to evangelize and provide spiritual care as well. It was his intention, that none should pass through Tenwek without also hearing about Jesus. His initial service required extraordinary effort and dedication – he lacked electricity and thus would have to operate at night by candlelight or kerosene lamps. He and his staff faced additional dangers as they were sometimes caught up in the middle of tribal disputes and warfare. In 1996 a book was written by Gregg Lewis about Dr. Steury and the remarkable struggles, stories, miraculous recoveries, and divine interventions which he witnessed. The book was called “Miracle at Tenwek” and provides some fascinating stories and descriptions of life in rural Africa during that time. He and his wife remained faithful to this calling until he developed a malignancy of the brain which necessitated his return to the U.S. He died in 2002. At the time of his passing, the hospital had grown to 260 beds and had developed a reputation as one of the most outstanding mission hospitals in Kenya. Additionally, the Ernie Steury school of nursing was opened in 1999 and had begun to train and equip Kenyans to provide much needed services to their fellow Kenyans. In 2003 the Steury memorial primary school was opened in nearby Bomet to commemorate his faithful service to the area. Upon our first visit to Tenwek Hospital in 2010, evidence of this one man’s faithful service could be seen everywhere we looked.

Dr. David Stevens- Dr. Stevens earned his medical degree at the University of Louisville School of Medicine. He trained in family medicine and in 1981 began his medical missionary career at Tenwek Hospital. He served there with Dr Steury until 1991 and during that time oversaw growth and expansion of medical and surgical training programs, hospital and infrastructure expansion, and development of community health programs. One of his infrastructure assignments was to oversee the development of a hydroelectric plant utilizing the local Mara River and its waterfall as a reliable source of energy. This project was completed in 1986 and subsequently expanded to double its capacity in 2017. During one of our stays, we had the opportunity to meet and hear stories from the original engineer who worked on the project with Dr. Stevens. It was originally planned that Dr. Stevens would take over for Dr. Steury at some point, but God had other plans for him (Dr. Stevens). In 1991 he accepted an offer to become director of World Medical Missions which is the mission arm of Samaritan’s Purse. This is the sending organization that we work with when volunteering at Tenwek Hospital. In 1994 Dr. Stevens became the CEO of CMDA and served until 2004. He was replaced in 2004 by Dr. Mike Chupp, another long-term missionary from Tenwek Hospital that we have had the privilege to know and work with. Dr. Stevens is the author of two books: “Jesus M.D.” and “Beyond Medicine.” He is currently speaking on issues of faith and conscience, as well as advocating for ethical positions on abortion, euthanasia, and transgender topics. He continues to have a passion for international medical missions.

Dr. Mike Chupp – served at Tenwek Hospital from 1996 to 2016. Dr. Chupp received his medical training at the University of Indiana School of medicine, and his surgical residency at Methodist Hospital of Indiana. In 1996 he began his service as a medical missionary at Tenwek Hospital and completed his time there in 2016. While at Tenwek, he served as a general surgeon, trauma surgeon and later oversaw the early development of the orthopedic program. He was instrumental in helping to train medical students, clinical officers, interns, and residents. He was later the chief medical officer, and presided over further expansion of the hospital, its services, and training programs. He left the mission field in 2016 and later replaced Dr. David Stevens as CEO of CMDA in 2019.

Barbara Pinkley R.N. – Barbara is a long-term medical missionary who served at Tenwek Hospital for over 39 years. She grew up as a missionary kid along the Mexican border. She was inspired in her missionary career by Dr. Ernie Steury. She began her service at Tenwek in 1979 and retired in 2018. During her years at Tenwek, she served as a nurse, a nurse midwife, and in later years primarily as a nursing educator and mentor. She also played a big role in developing and overseeing the Tenwek College of Health Sciences, which continues to produce a new class of nursing students each year. During her time at Tenwek, she was known to host a weekly Sunday brunch for all visiting staff as well as the occasional noon luncheon in her home. Marilyn and I have fond memories of times spent gathered around her small table, sharing our personal stories with other visiting staff, and enjoying her Sunday morning homemade Danish pastry. On each occasion, she would share a scripture passage with the group, ask us to share what we were thankful for, and have us sign her visitor book so she could stay connected with us and pray for us after our departure. After retirement, Barbara returned to Marion Indiana to live near her beloved World Gospel Mission headquarters and has continued to serve others. She has been teaching virtually “English as a second language” to students in various non-English speaking countries throughout Central America and Asia. I’m sure that in addition to language skills, they are also receiving the Gospel message! We had the chance to visit Barbara in her retirement in Indiana and bring her some of her cherished belongings from Kenya. As frequent visitors, we have often served as couriers for the long-term missionaries – either bringing needed items to them in Kenya or transporting home to the U.S. some of their belongings. In her retirement, she maintains the same welcoming smile, the same warmth, concern, and joy that we have come to associate with her over the years.

Dr. Russ White – born to medical missionary parents serving in Congo, he later attended medical school at the University of Michigan, received general surgical training at Brown University, then completed a cardiothoracic fellowship in Bristol England. He came to Tenwek Hospital in 1997 and has been instrumental in caring for patients with esophageal cancer (which occurs with a very high frequency in this part of Kenya) and rheumatic heart disease (which also has a very high incidence in Kenya). He assisted in the development of the general surgery residency program and also was responsible for the creation of a cardiothoracic surgery training program – the first of its kind in Kenya. Through his influence and connections, he has also brought many cardiac surgery teams from the U.S. to serve at Tenwek for short periods of time. While we have been here this month, we have had the opportunity to serve alongside a team of pediatric cardiothoracic surgeons, cardiologists, critical care nurses, perfusionists, and pediatric anesthesiologists from Vanderbilt University. Many such teams have come and gone over our years of serving at Tenwek. The crowning achievement of Dr. White’s career will likely be the development of the Cardiothoracic Center at Tenwek, which was just completed and dedicated in October 2024. The CTC, as it is known, is scheduled to see its first cardiac surgical patient next week. This is the largest hospital of its kind in Sub Saharan Africa and has added approximately 176 hospital beds, 39 ICU beds, state-of-the-art cardiac cath lab equipment, and six operating theaters. Marilyn and I had the opportunity to tour the hospital last week and were “wowed” by the scope and enormity of the project. We can report that it would be considered “state of the art” in the U.S, and any western or European country – it is truly a magnificent facility and hopefully will provide much needed cardiac surgery for patients throughout the continent of Africa. This hospital has been a joint partnership between Tenwek Hospital, Samaritan’s Purse, and numerous other philanthropic donors and supporters (including the 2018 L’Chaim Prize for Outstanding Christian Medical service– an annual prize of $500,000 awarded through the African Mission Healthcare organization to Christian doctors serving throughout Africa). The progress that we have witnessed in this area over the last 15 years has been truly astounding. Dr. White continues to serve at Tenwek and has presided over the training of many outstanding Kenyan physicians, who will become the future of this program.

Dr. Agneta Odera- Dr Odera is one of these outstanding Kenyan physicians. She obtained her general surgical training at Tenwek Hospital and graduated from her residency in 2012. She has subsequently received additional training in pediatric surgery, and pediatric cardiothoracic surgery and is now one of two physicians leading the team at the new Cardiothoracic Center at Tenwek. She plans some additional training over the next year in New Zealand. Dr. Odera has been one of the most inspiring graduates of Tenwek’s training program. Marilyn has observed her on many occasions in the middle of the night while up delivering babies – she is often seen sitting vigil at a critically ill patient’s bedside following cardiac surgery and may be up all night making minute by minute adjustments to their care. She is compassionate, caring, and dedicated and exhibits the love of Christ in caring for all her patients.

Dr. Elijah Terer – Dr. Terer is another exemplary Kenyan physician who stands out among his peers from Tenwek Hospital. Dr. Terer has been through multiple training programs at Tenwek. He has been trained as a nurse, a clinical officer (similar to a physician assistant), a medical officer (general medical doctor), and lastly has been through a family medicine residency program. Marilyn describes him as being the “ultimate Kenyan physician” – kind, compassionate, knowledgeable about the nuances of the culture, and beloved by his patients. He has risen from humble beginnings and recently moved into the CEO position at another nearby hospital in Litein. Under his leadership, Litein Hospital is expanding, has recently partnered with Samaritan’s Purse, and has begun to develop training programs for general surgery and family medicine residents. He is also passionate about mental health problems, and wellness education. His vision for Litein is to develop an outpatient and inpatient facility for mental health disorders (which would be the only such facility in this region of the country). In addition, he plans to expand community education and wellness programs to help patients better understand how to remain well and healthy. This is an ambitious plan, but one that I can see him bringing to fruition in the future. Marilyn and I recently visited Dr. Terer and toured his hospital this past week – his energy and enthusiasm are contagious, and we found ourselves wondering how we might help him achieve his goals (even transiently thinking about coming back to serve!). The current status of his hospital reminds us very much of what Tenwek looked like when we first started visiting in 2010. We look forward to seeing what “miracles” might be in store for Litein Hospital.

Dr. Matilda Ong’ondi- Dr. Ong’ondi is an internal medicine physician that I had the pleasure of working with on our first trip to Kenya. She is a wonderful physician of deep personal faith who mentored me and helped me “survive” that first venture into medical care in Africa. She was the director of the inpatient medical service at the time but had dreams of specializing in hematology and oncology. Her caring manner, and practice of praying with patients and their families at the bedside endeared her to many of the staff (and visiting staff), students, and patients. On my second trip to Tenwek I was disappointed to find that she had transferred to Kenyatta Hospital in Nairobi (one of Kenya’s national hospitals) and was developing a program for hematology and oncology patients. In exchange for financial assistance with additional training, she pledged to return and head their hematology/oncology service. During one of our subsequent visits to Tenwek, Dr. Ong’ondi “just happened” to stop by when returning to the area to visit her mother. She came into the OB area to visit one of the long-term missionaries and encountered Marilyn. While talking together, it was discovered that Dr. Ong’ondi was planning a trip to Texas for an observer-ship position at the Health Science Center in San Antonio and was going home to tell her mother goodbye. On further questioning it became clear that she was leaving for SA in 2 weeks, had no arrangements for a place to stay, and no local contacts other than the program director at the Health Science Center. We were also due to leave in about 2 weeks and discovered that she would be arriving in SA one day before our own return. At this point Marilyn informed Dr. Ong’ondi that she would be staying with us (for 10 weeks) and that we would arrange for someone to pick her up and get her settled into our home before our return the following day. Thus began one of our most precious friendships with one of the local Kenyan physicians. Matilda quickly became like family – she participated in our weekly CMDA bible studies, attended our weekly family dinners on Sunday nights, and spent many weekends at our hill country home in Fredericksburg. Since that time, we have made a special effort to touch base with her in Nairobi during any return visits to Kenya and Tenwek Hospital. Our most recent visit was 2 weeks ago, and we immediately felt like no time had passed since we had last been together. This will likely be one of the most difficult aspects of not returning to Kenya in the years ahead. We will miss our dear sister in Christ but know that we will someday be together again – either in this life, or the one to come.

Dr. Cheryl Cowles and reverend Dean Cowles – Dr. Cowles is an obstetrician/gynecologist, and her husband Dean is a pastor, Tenwek ambassador, and fund-raiser extraordinaire. Cheryl and Dean initially served at Tenwek from 1990-1992. In 1991 Dean was instrumental in developing the Chaplaincy Training School. The school trained chaplains to serve in the clinics, hospital, and prisons throughout Kenya. His goal was to place chaplains “at the bedside and beyond.” Tenwek still has an active chaplaincy program today, and they are very helpful in assisting families through stress and grieving. They are on call 24/7 and have been called many times in the middle of the night to accompany me during family counseling after a death. After returning to the U.S. and entering private practice from 1996-2015, Cheryl and Dean felt the call to return to Kenya and Tenwek Hospital. Tenwek was in the process of developing an OB/GYN residency program, and Cheryl’s help was needed with this effort. Since their return in 2015, the OB/GYN residency has been approved by PAACS (The Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons), and they are currently about to graduate their first group of residents. Cheryl has been assisted in her efforts by two other US physicians and long-term missionaries – Dr. Meghan Steen and Dr. Mozelle Stark (as well as several short-term volunteers like Marilyn). The goal is to graduate “40 by 40” (40 residents by 2040)…an ambitious goal, but one that appears to be on track! Cheryl and Dean have become dear friends over the years – we have shared many meals with them in their home in Kenya, and Dean has visited San Antonio, stayed at our home, and spoken at our church and with our local CMDA leaders. In addition, we have visited the Maasai Mara game reserve together and viewed many of God’s magnificent creatures during “game drives.” Their hearts are devoted to Jesus and the Kenyan people, and they have been a big part of our continued service at Tenwek.

The Kenyan People associated with Tenwek Hospital – lastly, but not least, are the Kenyan people themselves. They are such a lovely group of people – quiet, soft spoken, gentle, welcoming, loving, and faith-filled are some of the descriptors which come to mind. They are quick to smile, which lights up their entire face, and they are always welcoming and grateful. It is truly a joy to visit them, work beside them, and care for them when they are ill. It will be difficult to leave here and not expect to return – they have so endeared themselves to us over the years…they truly have become “brothers and sisters” in the faith. There are so many that I cannot begin to list them all here, but they have coordinated our visits, provided shelter and prepared meals, cared for our laundry needs, driven us to and from various places that we have needed to go, grown and procured our food, cared for us spiritually, and always buoyed our spirits with their smiles and optimism. They will never be forgotten and will always be near to our hearts and in our prayers. Mungu akubariki (God bless you in Swahili)