Posted: 2/16/07
| Don Meier of First Baptist Church in El Paso sees a patient at the Black Lion Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. |
El Paso couple train Ethiopian medical personnel
By Carla Wynn
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—In overcrowded outpatient clinics in Ethiopia, patients wait many hours to see medical personnel. When their needs are too complex, they’re often referred to Black Lion Hospital, where Ethiopians travel often hundreds of miles for treatment. And thanks to a Texas couple, more Ethiopians might see healing happen.
Don and Patsy Meier of First Baptist Church in El Paso recently went to Addis Ababa, where they helped introduced new and more effective medical procedures to personnel at Black Lion Hospital.
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| Patsy Meier helps train hospital personnel in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. |
“Our goal in going to Ethiopia was to demonstrate in tangible ways God’s love to the people of this country through a ministry of healing and medical education in Jesus’ name,” said Meier, a professor of pediatric surgery at Texas Tech University.
It was their second trip this year, having gone in February 2006 with David Harding, one of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Global Missions field personnel who serves as international coordinator for disaster response and has facilitated water purification and medical relief projects in Ethiopia. On their February trip, the Meiers “were so overwhelmed with the needs we saw … that we went back on our own,” Meier said.
In their 10-day follow-up trip, the Meiers assisted in 22 operations . Meier showed Ethiopian surgeons new surgical techniques, and his wife, a retired operating room nurse, helped facilitate procedures and show nurses new skills.
“It’s what the Meiers do best—empower local medical personnel,” said Harding. “That is the heartbeat of their ministry.”
By teaching doctors and nurses, the Meiers contribute to long-term change. They don’t accomplish as much numerically as other medical volunteers that perform surgeries themselves. However, “in terms of impact on the local community, I think (teaching) is a far better way for me to do things since the expertise that I leave behind will continue after I have returned to my U.S. practice,” Meier said.
The Meiers also volunteer with a mission hospital in Aldama, Mexico, and have helped equip four operating rooms, which will open soon in medical clinics in Aldama and Chihuahua, Mexico.
Other Fellowship involvement in Ethiopia includes Water is Life, a water supply and purification initiative launched by Harding. It is committed to implementing sustainable solutions to bring clean water to Ethiopian communities.
More that 55 million people in Ethiopia do not have access to safe drinking water.
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