Answering God’s Call Brings the Joy of New Life
Christian Connections for International Health member Soddo Christian Hospital provides care to those in need in one of the most densely populated and impoverished areas of Ethiopia. Here we share a recent story from the hospital of bringing new life into the world. Please join us in prayer for mothers and their children.
Mulamesh had been through five pregnancies. All had ended with the heartbreak of delivering a stillborn baby at home. When she arrived at the Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia near the end of her sixth pregnancy, obstetrician Dr. Mark Karnes was not going to take any chances. He evaluated her and induced labor, keeping a close eye on the baby’s vital signs. When the fetal monitor revealed the baby was in distress, Dr. Karnes performed a Cesarean section.
“We saw that the cord was tied in a knot and wrapped around the baby’s neck. I am sure that if she had delivered at home the result would have been another stillborn child,” said Dr. Karnes. “Instead, we can praise God for Manasseh, the healthy baby boy Mulamesh delivered that day.”
The Soddo Christian Hospital is located in southwestern Ethiopia, about 200 miles from Addis Ababa in the city of Soddo, home to roughly 80,000 people. The Wolaitta region has about 2.5 million inhabitants and is one of the most densely populated and impoverished areas in Ethiopia. Dr. Karnes came to the hospital in early 2011 after practicing as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Michigan for 25 years, but his story of mission work and answering God’s call began well before he arrived in Ethiopia.
“My wife and I got married in 1974, two days after I graduate from medical school,” explains Dr. Karnes. “We went to Lancaster, Penn. for my internship and I attended a meeting held by Northeast Campaigns for Christ where I learned of a program in Cameroon. My wife and I moved there and I worked at a mobile clinic treating patients and sharing the gospel.” Karnes was 25 when the couple moved to Cameroon and his wife was seven months pregnant with their first child. They lived in Cameroon for five years, always knowing they would return to Africa when their children were older. “Africa gets in your system and we were hooked,” he said.
“After our youngest child graduated from college, we knew it was time for us to go back to Africa. We went to the Global Missions Health Conference in Kentucky and learned about a program operated by PAACS (the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons) to train local Christians in Ethiopia to become surgeons,” said Dr. Karnes. “To save the life of a mother by performing an emergency C-section is one thing, but to teach others to do that so they can save many more lives is extremely rewarding.”
The couple traveled to Ethiopia and fell in love with the climate and the people. “I would recommend young people considering mission work do a survey trip to the place where God is calling them,” he says. “Go to the Global Missions Health Conference to see what is available. There are short-term missions and longer missions. Practitioners who go on short-term missions may not get to experience the culture as much, but they can be very effective in teaching a specialty in a training session that lasts two to three weeks and strengthens the skills of local health professionals.”
After deciding that Ethiopia was where he and his wife wanted to be, Dr. Karnes began teaching in the PAACS program at the Soddo Christian Hospital. He says it is rewarding to share his knowledge with the Ethiopian students and he is always humbled by their faith and desire to serve. When asked how the hospital demonstrates the gospel in its work, Dr. Karnes said, “We care for all people, despite religion or anything else. We share God’s love with everyone. I have heard Muslims say they are amazed by the way we treat them. They feel we are treating them as if they are one of us.”
To help a family continue to have healthy children after the birth of a baby, Dr. Karnes said, “We talk to every mother after delivery about the importance of healthy timing of future pregnancies and giving the baby she has just delivered a chance to grow before another pregnancy occurs, and we can help them delay pregnancy with contraceptive services until they are ready.”
The hospital has had a large impact in the community, delivering approximately 600 babies every year. A Maternal Benevolence Fund supports deliveries in cases where mothers cannot afford to pay. As word of the hospital’s service and demonstration of Christian love continues to spread in the region, it is likely more mothers will share the joy Mulamesh experienced with the blessing of a healthy baby.
The Soddo Christian Hospital has an immediate need for doctors specializing in obstetrics in October to December of 2014. Visit www.soddo.org for more information and to see a video of the story of Mulamesh and baby Manasseh.
Christian Connections for International Health member Soddo Christian Hospital provides care to those in need in one of the most densely populated and impoverished areas of Ethiopia. Here we share a recent story from the hospital of bringing new life into the world. Please join us in prayer for mothers and their children.
Mulamesh had been through five pregnancies. All had ended with the heartbreak of delivering a stillborn baby at home. When she arrived at the Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia near the end of her sixth pregnancy, obstetrician Dr. Mark Karnes was not going to take any chances. He evaluated her and induced labor, keeping a close eye on the baby’s vital signs. When the fetal monitor revealed the baby was in distress, Dr. Karnes performed a Cesarean section.
“We saw that the cord was tied in a knot and wrapped around the baby’s neck. I am sure that if she had delivered at home the result would have been another stillborn child,” said Dr. Karnes. “Instead, we can praise God for Manasseh, the healthy baby boy Mulamesh delivered that day.”
The Soddo Christian Hospital is located in southwestern Ethiopia, about 200 miles from Addis Ababa in the city of Soddo, home to roughly 80,000 people. The Wolaitta region has about 2.5 million inhabitants and is one of the most densely populated and impoverished areas in Ethiopia. Dr. Karnes came to the hospital in early 2011 after practicing as an obstetrician and gynecologist in Michigan for 25 years, but his story of mission work and answering God’s call began well before he arrived in Ethiopia.
“My wife and I got married in 1974, two days after I graduate from medical school,” explains Dr. Karnes. “We went to Lancaster, Penn. for my internship and I attended a meeting held by Northeast Campaigns for Christ where I learned of a program in Cameroon. My wife and I moved there and I worked at a mobile clinic treating patients and sharing the gospel.” Karnes was 25 when the couple moved to Cameroon and his wife was seven months pregnant with their first child. They lived in Cameroon for five years, always knowing they would return to Africa when their children were older. “Africa gets in your system and we were hooked,” he said.
“After our youngest child graduated from college, we knew it was time for us to go back to Africa. We went to the Global Missions Health Conference in Kentucky and learned about a program operated by PAACS (the Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons) to train local Christians in Ethiopia to become surgeons,” said Dr. Karnes. “To save the life of a mother by performing an emergency C-section is one thing, but to teach others to do that so they can save many more lives is extremely rewarding.”
The couple traveled to Ethiopia and fell in love with the climate and the people. “I would recommend young people considering mission work do a survey trip to the place where God is calling them,” he says. “Go to the Global Missions Health Conference to see what is available. There are short-term missions and longer missions. Practitioners who go on short-term missions may not get to experience the culture as much, but they can be very effective in teaching a specialty in a training session that lasts two to three weeks and strengthens the skills of local health professionals.”
After deciding that Ethiopia was where he and his wife wanted to be, Dr. Karnes began teaching in the PAACS program at the Soddo Christian Hospital. He says it is rewarding to share his knowledge with the Ethiopian students and he is always humbled by their faith and desire to serve. When asked how the hospital demonstrates the gospel in its work, Dr. Karnes said, “We care for all people, despite religion or anything else. We share God’s love with everyone. I have heard Muslims say they are amazed by the way we treat them. They feel we are treating them as if they are one of us.”
To help a family continue to have healthy children after the birth of a baby, Dr. Karnes said, “We talk to every mother after delivery about the importance of healthy timing of future pregnancies and giving the baby she has just delivered a chance to grow before another pregnancy occurs, and we can help them delay pregnancy with contraceptive services until they are ready.”
The hospital has had a large impact in the community, delivering approximately 600 babies every year. A Maternal Benevolence Fund supports deliveries in cases where mothers cannot afford to pay. As word of the hospital’s service and demonstration of Christian love continues to spread in the region, it is likely more mothers will share the joy Mulamesh experienced with the blessing of a healthy baby.
The Soddo Christian Hospital has an immediate need for doctors specializing in obstetrics in October to December of 2014. Visit www.soddo.org for more information and to see a video of the story of Mulamesh and baby Manasseh.
