March 2008
A delegation from a (very) major international organization
visited Kudjip several years ago as part of an effort to rethink
their strategy for providing aid to PNG. They were frustrated by
the lack of national progress, especially in regard to health and
education, despite the considerable financial assistance they had
poured into this country over many years. After six hours of observation,
questions, and discussion, the team leader pulled me aside and asked,
'Somehow NHM has found a way to make this (health care) work, something
we haven't seen anywhere else in PNG. Off the record, if money were
no object, how far could you go? How much health care could you
manage?'
I was tempted momentarily to espouse a grandiose vision in hopes
this major donor partner would endow us with the financial resources
to make it a reality. But light broke through my foolish pride and
ambition. I answered him, 'Money is not the object. Committed people
are the key to our success.' He sighed in agreement, recognizing
that money, of which his organization had plenty, could not buy
the changes PNG needed.
In recent days, I heard a similar question, this time from PNG's
head of state, Governor-General Sir Paulias Matane. He was here
as the guest speaker for the graduation ceremonies of Nazarene College
of Nursing. Afterwards, sitting across the table while eating lunch,
Sir Paulias questioned me about the different missionaries serving
at Kudjip. After listening carefully to my responses, he closed
with a final question, 'But why? Why do you do it? Why do you leave
your homes to serve here in PNG?'
" Why? Because we take Jesus seriously."
Jim Radcliffe is a wonderful father, husband, son, friend, musician,
scholar, athlete, missionary, teacher, preacher, physician, and
much more. Among the people of PNG, though, Jim is best known as
a surgeon, or 'dokta bilong katim.' For the past 23 years, Jim has
given himself and his considerable surgical gifts to bring healing
to the sick and hurting people of PNG.
Such sacrifice is costly. Jim's intense investment of himself in
each patient exacts a heavy toll when outcomes are not good. The
needs are endless. Demanding work-loads and long hours, many in
the middle of the night, often exceed the limits of one's physical
and emotional strength. It is a rare missionary who can persevere
under such pressures.
Jim isn't perfect. Especially when he is tired, Jim can be grumpy,
quick-tempered, and occasionally something less than sweet-spirited.
But everyone who has been on the receiving end of Jim's 'moments'
has also received his follow-up apology, heartfelt and deeply sincere,
always before the setting of same day's sun. I could only wish that
I kept my own relationships so clear and uncluttered.
One cannot overstate how much Jim, his wife Kathy, and the Radcliffe
family mean to this mission. And so it struck us especially hard
when Jim suddenly became ill in January of this year. Severe tonsillitis,
fever, cough, and chest pain were certainly enough to cause concern.
But then several joints became swollen, hot, and painful, and when
a chest X-ray showed enlargement of Jim's heart, we were faced with
uncertainties about his future as a missionary. The possibility
of losing Jim Radcliffe was, for me, staggering.
Jim is one of the world's leading experts on a disease known as
'pigbel', rare outside PNG, but a very real killer of young children
here in PNG. During the height of Jim's illness, we had two youngsters
in hospital with severe pigbel, Alista and Gason. Both needed surgery,
both needed Jim Radcliffe. Jim took a generous dose of Tylenol and
Advil, propped his left leg with swollen ankle on a short stool,
and performed the operations, removing 30 inches of dying/dead intestine
from Alista and freeing the adhesions from Gason's bowels. Both
children recovered and returned home with deeply grateful parents.

We consulted several excellent physicians in the
USA by email about Jim's illness and received some good advice.
Jim is doing well. His symptoms have resolved, his heart size has
decreased (good change), and he is once again a major force on the
basketball court.
Day in and day out Nazarene Hospital is far better because of this
amazing man with a serious commitment to Jesus.
Photo Album of Recent Updates
in our Kudjip Family:
|
Great
Progress on New Hospital Construction

|
|
 |
|
Great
crowd for the College of Nursing graduation

|
|
Ray and Karen
Comstock recently completed 18 months of great service in
PNG.

|
General Superintendent
Dr. and Mrs. Middendorf
in a recent visit to Kudjip

|
|
Aden Riggins
- Photographer

(For the adventures of
Aden and Wiley, see adenandwiley.blogspot.com)
|

Dr. Erin Meier exploring
nearby cave
erininpng.blogspot.com
|
|