He has also been active in the community, formerly teaching at the high school and running for political office. He will be greatly missed by his family, the community, the hospital and all of us who knew him.

Please pray for Alando’s family, for the hospital staff and for the community.

Amy Elrod

Amy is a family Nurse Practitioner who is currently at BMC. She came for four months and has been a big help.

Andy McGovern

Andy is a final year medical student from England. This is his second trip to work at BMC.

Bob and Anita Gillchrest

Anita is a Nurse Practitioner and Bob is a pastor in a church in California. They came and worked with us for several weeks.

Danielle Steenvoorden

Danielle is a final year Dutch medical student who spent two months with us. We enjoyed having her with us.

Deborah Buchli

Deborah is a Swiss medical student who spent about a month working with us.

Dr. Andy Norman

Dr. Norman returned to work with us for a short time. Dr. Norman is a former missionary and has been to Nalerigu several times. He is a gynecologist and enjoys doing VVF repairs when he comes.

Dr. Chuck Miller

Dr. Miller is a Pediatrician who comes to us through Samaritan’s Purse. He will soon be leaving BMC after two months. He has been a big help during our busy malaria season. He reported seeing 192 patients during a recent clinic.

Dr. David and Shirley Chupp and Hannah Chupp

Dr. Chupp is a pediatrician from Alabama. He and his wife Shirley and daughter Hannah came to work with us for a couple of weeks. It was the Chupp’s first trip to BMC but maybe not their last.

Dr. Erle Kirby and Debbie Klatt

Dr. Kirby returned to BMC this year and was a big help with surgery and in clinic. Dr. Kirby is a physician from Canada who has been coming to Ghana for several years. Debbie is a nurse practitioner who came with him on her first trip to BMC.

Dr. Matt and Megan Jones

Dr. Jones is a third year surgery resident who has been to BMC in the past. He has been a big help in the surgery department. Megan is learning Mampruli and is trying to get a library set up in town. They are presently in Nalerigu and hope to stay until sometime in December.

Dr. Pat Conarro , Ryan Conarro and Paul Woody

Dr. Conarro is a surgeon from Dahlonega, GA who made a return trip to Nalerigu. This year he was accompanied by his children, Kyle, Kelly and Ryan and his son-in-law, Paul Woody. They were in Nalerigu for only a short time, but we enjoyed having them and their help.

Dr. Paul Shumpert

Dr. Shumpert returned to BMC and as always was a big help. He and his wife Dr. Cindy Shumpert continue to big big supporters of BMC through the Faile Foundation. Dr. Paul works in the emergency room in Rome, GA.

Dr. Pranav Shetty

Dr. Shetty is a third year ER resident from California. He came for several weeks and was a great help in clinic and on rounds.

Dr. Ravi Morchi

Dr. Morchi is an ER physician from California who has been on a number of volunteer trips to other hospitals in Africa. this was his first trip to BMC. He spent most of his time in the OR trying to improve his surgery skills.

Dr. Steve and Melinda Emerson

Dr. Emerson is an OB/Gyn from Arkansas. This was his first mission trip and he worked very hard and was a big help. Melinda works with Pure Joy International. She brought craft supplies and worked with some of the women in the area.

Dr. Zsila Sadighi

Dr. Sadighi is a pediatric neurology fellow at UT Houston. She returned for a three week visit and was a big help teaching and seeing patients.

Drs. Justin and Sommer Parschuer and Dr. Gordon Laird

Dr. Gordon Laird, a general surgeon came with his daughter Sommer and her husband Justin. They were in Nalerigu only a short time but we appreciate the help Dr. Laird was able to provide by doing surgery for us.

Marshall Early

Marshall is a third year medical student who came with Dr. Laird.

Gayle Pageau

Gayle is a fourth year medical Student who also came with Dr. Laird.

Erin Potter

Erin is a graduate student in music therapy. she came with Vicki Barnes and her team. Erin helped in and around the hospital in various ways. We enjoyed having Erin with us for a few days.

James Coxon

James is a final year medical student from England who worked with us for about a month. He not only helped out in the hospital, but also helped repair our internet connection when we had problems.

Jodi Little

Jodi was a fourth year medical student who came with Dr. Sadighi for two weeks.

Rachel Golin

Rachel was a fourth year medical student who has since started her residency. She spent a month with us in April.

Rev. Harold Shoulders

Rev. Shoulders is a retired Navy chaplain. We enjoyed his visit with us as he worked with the hospital chaplains and shared with the missionary staff.

Tiffany Harms and Jenny Thompson

Tiffany and Jenny were both fourth year medical students. They did not come together but were both in Nalerigu during most of the month of July. They both did well and we enjoyed having them with us.

Tommy and Vicki Barnes

Tommy and Vicki came for a few days and we enjoyed their visit. Vicki has been working for a long time with the Ghana Bandage Project and she was with us shortly after our latest container of supplies arrived (see earlier post). Tommy spent time with Tommy Harrison in the villages.

Yaar Levi and Hadassah Troen

Yaar and Hadassah are Jewish medical students who spent a month with us. We were able to learn from them and it was a pleasure to have them with us. They did well adapting to American and Ghanaian culture.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the character and ministry of Baptist Medical Centre this summer. We wish each of you the very best and hope to see at least some if not all of you back some day.

First there was a football match between the hospital women and teachers from the local secondary school.


Later a delegation went with Dr. Paysinger to say goodbye to the Nayiri, who is the paramount chief for the Mamprusi people.

Later, there was an official farewell where there were speeches, dancing and gifts.





First Baptist Church also had a special farewell service for Dr. Paysinger.

Nalerigu station also had a farewell dinner and gifts for her.

Dr. Paysinger left Nalerigu with several new outfits and several citations/plaques. She is now living and working in Tennessee.

We greatly appreciate all the hard work everyone puts in to see the project succeed. And we appreciate the support of Tabernacle Baptist Church. And of course the hundreds of people across the country who tear sheets and roll bandages are the ones who make the project possible. Thanks to everyone!!

Thanks to Tommy and Vicki Barnes, Erin Potter and Shirley Chupp for their help in unpacking, sorting and storing the contents of the barrels. We enjoyed having you with us for a short time.

Ms. Amy Pennington

Amy Pennington is a final year pharmacy student who came and worked with us for several weeks. We enjoyed having her and wish her all the best as she begins her residency at Vanderbilt University.

Dr. Alan Heins and Kaye

Dr. Alan Heins and his wife Kaye spent several weeks with us. This was a return trip for them and we appreciate their continued interest and support. Alan is a family practitioner and Kaye is a Family Nurse Practitioner so they both worked in clinic and made rounds as well as helping with minor procedures.

Dr. Dewey Dunn and Dr. Roy Renfro

Dr. Dewey Dunn and Dr. Roy Renfro also returned to work with us for several weeks. As usual it was a pleasure to have them and we appreciated their help and support. Dr. Dunn is a gastroenterologist and Dr. Renfro is a retired surgeon. They both worked very hard and were a big help. Dr. Renfro celebrated his 79th birthday while here!

Dr. Fred Rushton, Dr. Robert Battle, Debbie Battle, William Cauthen, Jessica Gullung, and Taylor Byrd

Dr. Fred Rushton, a surgeon from Jackson, MS and Dr. Robert Battle, an anesthesiologist from Jackson returned for another visit. They came with Will Cauthen and Jessica Gullung, fourth year medical students and Taylor Byrd, a fourth year college student. Robert’s wife Debbie also came and cooked for the team. They all worked hard and did a lot for us during their time here.

Dr. Jennifer Neuman

Dr. Neuman is a third year family medicine resident. She spent several weeks with us and was a lot of help in clinic, making rounds and taking call. We don’t know how much help we were to her in preparing to go to Alaska after residency, but hope she learned some things that will be useful wherever she goes.

Dr. Kristiana Kaufman

Dr. Kaufman is a fourth year emergency medicine resident from Cincinnati, OH. She worked hard and did a lot for us. We certainly appreciated her help and interest. She helped with call, seeing patients in clinic and doing minor procedures and ultrasounds. We wish her all the best wherever she goes next year when she finishes her training.

Jeff and Jean Ingram, Susan Lee and Cynthia Munisteri

Jeff Ingram and his wife Jean came with Susan Lee and Cynthia came for a week. Jeff is an associate pastor at First Baptist Church, Fairhope, AL. They visited patients and worked with the chaplains in the hospital. They also visited churches in the surrounding villages with Tommy Harrison. We enjoyed having them and appreciate their contribution to our ministry here.

Micah Flint, James Perry, Rick Friesen and Lawrence Lawerty

Micah Flint from INMED came with James Perry, Rick Friesen and Lawrence Lawerty from Abundant Life Baptist Church, Lee’s Summit MO. Many of our volunteers, medical students and residents come through INMED and Micah came to see what we are doing and what it is like at BMC. His wife Jennifer came to work with us several years ago as a medical student. Rick Friesen is the executive pastor of Abundant Life Baptist Church and James Perry is the Missions Chairman. They have expressed some interest in helping to support BMC and wanted to see for themselves what we are doingand what our needs are. Lawrence is a college student whose parents are Ghanaian. We enjoyed getting tomeet every one and are excited about the possibilities of working together in the future. Of course we look forward to more excellent help from INMED students. Thanks to all of you for your interest and support.

Special thanks to Vicki Barnes and Tabernacle Baptist’s support of the Ghana Bandage project, Pat Howard for much of the medical supplies, Tarak Garas for the incubators, Steve Rutledge of Luke19-10 ministries for an autoclave, the Oxygen Store and Clear Choice in Rome, GA for donated oxygen concentrators, the numerous volunteers who roll bandages and send envelopes, and all of you who have helped with your financial contributions!

This was provided through the George Faile Foundation . Visit their website to see how you can support medical missions in Ghana.

Dr. Sam Gillis

Dr. Gillis came to help out again when he was very much needed. He stayed for a couple of months and did a lot of surgery during that time. He also got very sick and we are glad that he survived his stay.

Drs. Paul and Cindy Shumpert

Dr. Paul and Dr. Cindy Shumpert came to help out again. They have continued to support BMC not only by coming to volunteer, but by helping with getting supplies and equipment and overseeing the Faile Foundation. It is always a joyto have them come. They were here together for part of the time.

Dr. April Anderson

Dr. April Anderson is an ER resident. She was with us for several weeks and we appreciate her help and support.

Dr. Jim Howard

Dr. Jim Howard is an ER physician from Texas. He has been to Ghana a number of times with a team from his church, but this was his first trip to BMC. We hope that it will not be his last. He was a big help.

Dr. Fuller Robinson and Claire

Dr. Fuller Robinson is a dentist who has been coming to volunteer at BMC every year since 1982. This time he brought one of his grandchildren with him. It is always a pleasure to have Fuller with us and we always look forward to his visit each year. It was nice to get to know Claire a little.

Dr. Wim and Rita Sneller

Dr. Sneller is a urologist from the Netherlands. This was his sixth visit to BMC and the first time he brought his wife with him. Dr. Sneller was help to help us with some of our urological problems and did several VVF repairs.

Jay and Mary Brittain Blankenship

Jay and Mary Brittain are 4th year medical students. They did a good job and we enjoyed having them with us for several weeks. Jay is planning to go into emergency medicine and Mary Brittain is planning on doing internal medicine.

Dr. Nima Mitorabi and Dr. Meera Jayarajan

Nima and Meera are Canadian Family Practice residents. They spent several weeks with us and were a pleasure to have working here. They heard about BMC from Dr. Erle Kirby who has been here several times in the past.

Tim Manzo

Tim is a fourth year medical student who is with us for almost two months. He is doing a good job and we are enjoying having him here.  We appreciate his help.

Others who have been here in the past few months are Dr. Bertha Velandia, Dr. Bill Lee and his wife Janice, Kristen Thornton, Sarah Cooper and Scott Miller. Dr. Velandia is a Family Practice resident, Dr. Lee is a practicing physician from the US. Kristen and sarah are fourth year medical students and Scott Miller is a final year pharmacy student. I hope we will be able to add pictures of them soon.

Dr. Joel Dickens, Hollie , Colt and Abigail

In November the Dickens family joined us at BMC. Joel is an OB/GYN and they are planning to stay with us for two years. Hollie is home schooling Colt and taking care of Abigail and the rest of the family. Not only is it great to have an extra doctor, but the rest of the family is a welcome addition to the mission family. Please join us in praying for their continued adjustment to life here and pray for Hollie as she is expecting their third in a few months.

NALERIGU, Ghana (BP) — Missionary Cherry Faile smiles when she hears villagers singing songs in the Manpruli language about how to properly nurse children or cook nutritious meals.

In a place where accurate statistics are tough to track, the songs affirm that the public health programs she helped develop at the Baptist Medical Centre in rural Ghana are working.

“You’d hear them singing those songs everywhere,” says Faile, daughter of the doctor who helped found the hospital 50 years ago. “You’d be surprised how quickly those messages spread and become part of the thinking in the community.”

That’s just one example of the unique public health programs the hospital uses to educate and minister to the masses, most of whom still live in mud huts and have little formal education.

As Faile began putting up a public health building years ago, she realized, “I really wanted [it] to belong to the people so they would feel comfortable coming here.”

So she invited village chiefs to send villagers to help with construction. Together, they built the traditional huts used as exam rooms and administrative offices.

Since then people have been coming from miles around to weigh their babies, get AIDS tests, prenatal care and more.

But reaching beyond the walls of the hospital is just as important.

Public health workers make rounds on motorbikes three times a week, traveling on dusty, dirt roads to villages as much as two hours away. They carry all the vaccinations, basic first aid and prenatal care kits they can manage.

The workers also hit the road to train traditional midwives and give health talks at schools on subjects ranging from typhoid to HIV.

Ghana’s HIV rate is about 3 percent. That’s not nearly as high as other African countries; however, traditional practices including polygamy and unhygienic male circumcision rituals remain a problem. While public health information is helping change those behaviors, between 30 and 40 patients at the medical center tested positive for HIV in the first six months of 2008.

Public health nurse Florence Wuni must sometimes break the bad news to patients but often also shares God’s message of hope.

“Some will weep,” says Wuni, a Nalerigu native. “Some will deny it and say our test was wrong. But I tell them to have faith in God and follow their treatments, and they will be OK.”
Besides the motorcycle outreach, the hospital offers two other special health programs.
A rustic pavilion beside the hospital provides a place for mothers to nurse their malnourished children back to health.

Every morning the mothers sweep camp, attend devotionals and learn how to prepare healthy meals using local foods. Each afternoon, with babies strapped securely to their backs, the women prepare the food in giant cast-iron pots.

“They come every day until their children reach a healthy weight,” Faile explains. “They may stay six weeks.”

About a half-mile away, a secluded village offers a refuge where patients suffering from tuberculosis can stay with their families while they recover.

Patients with coughs or strange spinal growths are often devastated when they’re told they must complete a tuberculosis treatment lasting six to nine months. But the hospital has an 85 percent survival rate for tuberculosis patients. In other parts of Africa, 75 percent of tuberculosis patients die.

The village, called Alafia Tinga, or “Village of Good Health,” has a unique caretaker. John Koffi Boateng was treated for tuberculosis at the village more than 25 years ago. He married another patient and, thanks to daily devotionals led by hospital staff, “I was truly born again.”

He decided to stay in the village where few others were willing to work. He ministers to his neighbors daily.

“It is not just the medicine that heals here,” he tells them. “It is Christ.”

Photos by William Haun

NALERIGU, Ghana (BP)  — Villagers line up outside the Baptist Medical Centre in northern Ghana as soon as the sun peeks over the mountains of this mud-hut town.

A baby sweating with malaria fever. A woman with a cough that could be tuberculosis. A farmer bitten by a cobra in the fields. Hypertension, hernias, tumors — just a few of the ailments among the 600 patients waiting on the outpatient porch.

“Looks like it’s going to be another long day,” says missionary doctor George Faile III, one of only two doctors on staff at the hospital, which was founded 50 years ago by the International Mission Board.

The hospital could sure use more hands to help cover the patient load, says Faile.

According to the World Health Organization, the United States has about one doctor for every 400 people. Ghana has about one doctor for every 6,600 people. Even then, the Ghanaian doctors tend to stay in the more developed areas of the country instead of villages like Nalerigu.

The medical center regularly recruits doctors, residents and fourth-year medical students to volunteer as little as two weeks or as long as a year. Nearly 200 came in 2008, but the hospital needs even more.

“They really help us manage the load,” says Faile. “Even though a lot of them are students or residents, they are able to help us see patients in clinics and take calls at night. They also do rounds and some of the minor procedures.”

The IMB offers a Medical Receptor program for medical residents and fourth-year medical students who want to offer their services overseas. The program covers nearly all costs for those who are active in a Southern Baptist church and agree to serve eight to 12 weeks.

That sounded perfect to Heidi Haun, a member of Seminole First Baptist Church in Florida and a fourth-year surgical student who is considering a call to missions. Before she headed to Ghana, she attended a Baptist Global Medical Alliance conference sponsored by the IMB. The gathering offers Southern Baptist medical professionals an opportunity to discuss becoming volunteers with medical missionaries from all over the world.

“I thought that if I am planning on pursuing a career in medical missions, this was a great way to get my feet wet and to reconfirm my passion,” said Haun, who came to Ghana for 12 weeks with her husband and child.

During her stint at the hospital, Haun treated snake bites that would have resulted in death without anti-snake venom. She cleaned abdomens perforated by advanced typhoid. When she diagnosed patients with terminal cancer, she shared about eternal hope in Christ.
Moments like those helped confirm Haun’s calling.

“I remember walking back to my house from the hospital one night and thinking, ‘I could feel at home here.’”

That blend of medical and spiritual treatment is a unique draw to the hospital.

“We’re unlimited in how we can approach patients spiritually,” explains Earl Hewitt, the other doctor on staff at the hospital. “In the States, you might not be able to present the Gospel. That might be considered infringing on patients’ rights. Here, we are free to [talk about Jesus], and we do it as often as we can.”

Haun enjoyed praying with patients before every surgery. Julie Myhren, a fourth-year pharmacy student who attends Oak Grove Baptist Church in Bel Air, Md., was invited to lead the daily devotional for hospital staff and patients. Myhren volunteered for 12 weeks at the Ghana hospital.

And Dr. William Prine, who has been practicing medicine in Clarksville, Tenn., for 34 years, had a unique opportunity to share Christ during his two weeks in Nalerigu.
A patient who had broken his leg weeks before — and did not seek medical attention —finally came to the doctor when infection set in.

Prine, who attends of First Baptist Church in Clarksville, Tenn., noticed the man needed blood. Prine’s blood type was a match.

He gave his own blood and took the opportunity to tell the man about Jesus Christ, the ultimate blood donor.

“I began talking to the man by acknowledging that I had given him blood to prolong his physical life,” Prine said. “I then told him I wanted to tell him about the blood Jesus had shed for him.”

The man prayed the sinner’s prayer and received Jesus as Lord and Savior. The next day, he asked Prine for a Bible.

“I have never felt so in the presence of God as during my time in Nalerigu,” Prine said. “I want to see more volunteers there. They need two other doctors there 52 weeks of the year. “

NALERIGU, Ghana (BP) — Dr. George Faile III was just 8 years old when he started tagging along as his father treated patients at Ghana’s Baptist Medical Centre 50 years ago.
Young Faile saw countless patients with malaria or snake bites. But instead of seeking professional medical help, many villagers in Nalerigu visited spirit doctors who treated ailments with herbal remedies, libations and skin-cutting rituals.

Today, Faile — who serves as medical superintendent of the hospital his father helped start with the International Mission Board — has seen things change not only medically but spiritually. People are more willing to seek access to modern medicine. Through the years medical missionaries have started more than 70 churches and continue to bring news of the true Healer.

That ministry is why Ghanaians turned out to celebrate the hospital’s 50th anniversary this fall. Villagers from all over northern Ghana converged for a weeklong celebration, which culminated in a grand outdoor event that drew 3,000 people.

“I have seen Baptist medical facilities all over the world,” says IMB Executive Vice President Clyde Meador, who spoke at the event. “I don’t know of another that has served in a more challenging place and yet has made such an impact on the community. I give thanks to God who has made it all possible.”

And that impact runs deep in an area where there’s only one paved road and most people live in mud huts.

Medically, infant mortality rates in northern Ghana continue to decline as mothers receive prenatal and postnatal care. Public health education prevents measles and meningitis epidemics. About 85 percent of tuberculosis patients recover fully, thanks to a secluded village on hospital grounds where patients stay with their families to complete their six-month treatments. That tuberculosis recovery rate is at least 10 percent higher than the average for Ghana and higher than nearly every other country in Africa, according to the World Health Organization.

Spiritually, missionaries and medical staff have brought countless people to faith and paved the way for other Christian groups to start working in the area. To continue the medical center’s spiritual impact, U.S. churches have made long-term commitments to return regularly to areas around the hospital that are still unreached with the Gospel.

Economically, Nalerigu has flourished. Faile witnessed the arrival of electricity, telephones, cars and motorcycles. He’s watched the town swell from 3,000 to more than 10,000 people, evidence of development he doesn’t see in other villages nearby.

And government officials praise the hospital for employing more than 200 Ghanaians.
“This hospital has made a huge contribution to the human resource base of this region,” says a Ghana government official who spoke at the anniversary ceremony. “[Baptist Medical Centre] is regarded as a trailblazer that has set the pace for other health care providers in the region.”

Public health nurse Florence Wuni has been a staff member for nearly 35 years. But that’s not the only connection she has to the hospital. As a child, she received treatment for eye infections. As an adult, she gave birth to five children at the hospital. She also gave her life to Jesus at a church started by hospital staff.

“[The hospital] is a part of all of us,” she says. “It has enlightened people to health. It has brought the Word of God. It has changed so much here.”

The staff works under the leadership of the hospital’s only two doctors, Faile and Earl Hewitt. Together, they see about 2,000 patients per week with ailments from hypertension to typhoid. Malaria season often fills all 123 beds. IMB pharmacist Jane Paysinger prescribes nearly 80,000 Tylenol tablets each month.

Faile also performs around 1,200 major surgeries every year. In fact, Faile had to miss some of the anniversary festivities to treat a man attacked by a hippopotamus.

Someone is always on call to treat such emergencies. “There has never not been a doctor on duty in 50 years,” says Faile.

A handful of current and former missionaries who have helped keep that record intact came back to celebrate the hospital’s anniversary. Among them was IMB worker Cherry Faile, daughter of the hospital’s founder and sister of George Faile. She spent 16 years developing Jesus-centered public health programs in Nalerigu before moving to serve in Niger.

The missionaries pray more doctors will come because George Faile plans to retire soon. The work is not yet finished.

That’s evident when patients arrive wearing leather fetishes and stone charms to invoke healthy spirits.

But as they wait in line, they hear of another Healer. Ghanaian hospital chaplains and volunteers host devotionals where some people hear about Jesus for the first time. The chaplains, who are from the area, also visit wards to pray with patients and seek opportunities to share the Gospel.

“People don’t just come here from far away because they know they will have their needs met,” says John Koffi Boateng, who works in indigent patient administration at the hospital. “They come because they know we pray here. They know we have a different kind of love. It’s the love of Christ that has changed our lives.”