Dear friends, Easter has passed, but the hospital celebrated its own sort of Passover in the Jewish sense. Passover is a time in which the house must be cleaned, and the old leaven thrown away. It is a new beginning in the house and in one’s own life. It is no coincidence that the resurrection ran parallel to this time. Jewish and Christian life form a unit together.

Before Easter, Dra. Amparo Torres took over the management of the hospital. As a newbie, it took her some time to get to know each area before making any changes. During this time, the Ministry of Health visited for the annual inspection of the organization. First the fire brigade must give its approval, and then everything is checked. While we did get permission to continue our operations for another year, there were some painful things in the process. First, it hurts that our ultrasound doctor can no longer work at the hospital because she does not have the officially required title of X-ray specialist. We have been able to carry out these tests for years, but now it is no longer possible. Once the Ministry officially announces a ban, we cannot act differently. A second disappointment is the renovation of the external facade of the hospital. We wanted to postpone it because other things are more important. BUT now our team of craftsmen is busy spraying the facade and, if it doesn’t rain, repainting. Other improvements are also required by the Ministry of the Environment.

With the new leadership, cleaning also included the many rooms with old equipment and “valuable rubbish”- devices and “gifts” that have accumulated over the years that can be useful, but some of which have expired. That can lead to problems, and so the new management has “disposed of” everything. Hurts some, but it is safer. So, the house is “cleansed of the old leaven”- inside and out. The renovation

team, therefore, did not have time to finish the guest house for working visitors. We continue to postpone this for now, even though it is necessary for foreign short-term employees to come. 

The last team from Germany in March left its mark. One of the participants now wants to study medicine in order to work at the Shell Hospital someday- a future vocation. We want to expand that. As soon as the house is finished, we are looking for students, groups who want to help practically, and others in the health sector. As already reported several times, Shell is to become an international meeting place. We are not looking for tourism, but such experiences show that many young people travel after high school or in vocational training. Travel educates and often enough these people then find a calling, sometimes for a lifetime.

After the international guest house, which is still lacking some funding, the sewage system is now pending. It is difficult to ask for prayer and donations. When you think of a mission hospital, who thinks of sewage first? But it is necessary. First, the wastewater from the residential buildings behind the hospital needs to be separated and tied in to the public sewer system. This separation costs approximately USD $10,000.00. Then the hospital will need its own wastewater treatment plant, which has to be monitored and maintained- costs: around USD $40,000.00. The future of the hospital depends on it. The hospital cannot do that out of its ongoing operations’ costs. For this we need your help.

With the new management, the personnel merry-go-round has also turned a little, and it is now a matter of integrating the new people into the team. It is an important issue that does not take a backseat to the spiritual side of a mission hospital. Recently, we had a three-and-a-half-hour board meeting. The finances need improvement. We are looking for more doctors, and there is hope for another general practitioner on the team.

Please pray for more spiritual input for patients, families, and staff. We are excited to see how the restart goes. Hope has grown. New leaven can now grow again after Easter to make the hospital new again.

This is also shown by the Jewish Passover. And then we see the resurrection on the horizon. Jesus is Lord also in Shell. Thank you for all prayers and gifts. Shell Hospital still needs your help.

THE SHELL TEAM

Eckehart & Klaudia Wolff  and Jessica Morse for the English version

Donations: Lightway Medical Foundation

PO Box 8066 Fort Wayne, IN 46898

Checks can be mailed there, or you can donate through the websites. 

LightwayMedical.org/donations.  

HospitalShell.org

Hospital Shell participating in local fiestas. We are part of the community.