Dear friends,
Jesus Christ did not find a new religion. This developed over centuries. People compiled the writings of the New Testament, arguing about what belonged and what didn’t. The Church evolved through councils, schisms, and various developments, not always for the better. Most disputes stem from differing personalities and their power structures. The conflict was then officially waged theologically. This gave rise to a worldwide movement, which even today is not always peaceful. This is how a vibrant diversity has emerged. Currently, there is less conflict.
We are finding that this diversity is also an enrichment. Hospital Shell is also experiencing this development. There are some quiet disagreements that cause suffering for individuals. An important issue is inpatient treatment. We believed that this would change with Dr. Eras’s arrival. This has not been the case to date. The reasons are manifold. This became clear in recent personal discussions. The best solution would still be a dedicated, full-time internist who would also be a good fit for the team. As long as this issue remains unresolved, we will not be able to utilize the hospital’s full capacity. We still face a deficit of approximately USD 100,000 per year, which we must cover with donations. This is currently the biggest challenge for the management. We continually need prayer that we will learn to think bigger and differently. However, a change is on the horizon: Dr. Stephen Morse and his father visited the hospital. Now the plan for this American family is clear. They will be joining the team as new missionary doctors. This summer, they plan to visit the hospital as a family with young people from their community. They need to expand their network of friends and spread the word about Shell Hospital to more young people in North America. The family hopes to relocate completely by early 2027 at the latest. They especially want their four children to feel at home here.
A technical conference regarding a photovoltaic system on the hospital roof was recently held with two friends of the Bezemer family from the Netherlands. They are engineers in this field and are calculating the project. One of them will visit Shell in October of this year. Then we will present the plans. It is intended to be another milestone in the hospital’s development.
We are grateful for the hospital’s inspection by the Ministry of Health in April of this year. New requirements are constantly being imposed on the staff. For example, someone now needs to be found who can provide official certification for ultrasound. Therefore, we continue to ask, first and foremost, for prayers for the hospital’s leadership, for unity, and for wise planning. We will still need external financial assistance in 2026, even though it is gradually decreasing. We are waiting for the Morse family to develop their visits into ongoing collaboration and for more people from North America to become familiar with this work.
We are delighted to welcome young people from Germany who will once again be supporting the team this summer with short- term assignments in medicine and practical work.
Thank you for your help in so many areas.
The Shell Team
(Eckehart & Klaudia Wolff)
Donations: Lightway Medical Foundation
PO Box 8066
Fort Wayne, IN 46898
Checks can be mailed there, or you can donate through the website.
LightwayMedical.org/donations.