by Rachel Sviggum
The town of Kapsowar sits in the Rift Valley area of Kenya at about 7500 ft elevation. Red dirt roads meander through town, climbing up and down the hillsides and through lush green vegetation. A morning run will leave you breathless from both the steep inclines that are impossible to avoid and the incredible beauty around each turn. It’s nothing short of magical. Shortly after celebrating Christmas in Minnesota, our family embarked on an adventure that led us to this town and specifically to Kapsowar Mission Hospital.
My husband, Hans, was given the opportunity to serve at Kapsowar Mission Hospital alongside a friend from residency who is a plastic surgeon. The rest of us were able to join him and spend time with his wife and children, who are dear friends of ours, serve as we could in the hospital and community, and experience a different culture and view of God’s beauty in people and scenery. It was a trip filled with new smells, new tastes, new rules (Don’t flush the toilet paper! Power outages are common and instant coffee is your new best friend!) and most of all, many sweet memories that we pray will be carried with our family as we strive to walk with God and share what He has given to us.
It is hard to put into words all that we experienced in the nineteen days that we were away from our home and comforts in Minnesota. Highlights include the beauty of community and the family-oriented set up of the mission community at Kapsowar. Both Thor and Kaia were able to join Hans in the operating room on a regular basis. Kaia was gifted a week of time with another short-term missionary group – a visiting OB and two labor and delivery nurses from Alabama. She participated in numerous deliveries, scrubbed in for a twin caesarean section, and held babies as much as she was able.
A personal highlight of mine was the privilege of walking lunch to Hans every day at the hospital. I carried his black lunch box in through the side door to the “Theatre” and poked my head into each operating room until I found where he was hard at work. He sometimes found time to sneak away and eat outside with me, but other times, I just stood with him in surgery for a time and observed him in action – a scenario unafforded to me in Minnesota. What a gift! I also learned to order groceries delivered to me on a “matatu” (think Instacart, but not quite!), bake in an oven where I couldn’t tell what the actual temperature was, and navigate caring for six children in an environment which was unfamiliar and less convenient than we are used to in the U.S.
Hans experienced the difficulties of caring for patients where medications and supplies were lacking. He missed his support staff that he has at Mayo but thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be creative and care for patients who both deserved and needed quality medical care. There were a number of patients from war-torn South Sudan. One patient was a young man undergoing facial reconstruction after significant burns. Despite his major injury, he expressed gratitude for the care he received and joy at learning the gospel of John shared with him during his days of recovery.
The younger kids took full advantage of the beautiful weather and the center community area at the Mission Station where we stayed. They ran, jumped and played every day with the missionary children living at the station, along with some local Kenyan kids. Relationships were formed over crafting, tennis, basketball, and highly competitive games of “Capture the Flag” each day. The beauty of friendships despite extremely different cultures is another way we saw the Lord working through our time at Kapsowar.
As we packed up to return home, our baggage count significantly less in number without all the medical supplies we brought with us, we could reflect on a number of ways we felt the Lord provide. The blessing of spending time with and experiencing the hospitality of our dear friends and allowing us a glimpse into their lives on the mission field was life-changing. We felt God through His creation as we hiked and explored the outdoors on the other side of the world. We were humbled to observe how life is experienced by other cultures, particularly one that despite being significantly less wealthy by Western standards, is full of joy and peace. The Gospel is being shared and lived out at Kapsowar Mission Hospital by providing medical care to those who otherwise wouldn’t receive it. God’s love and kindness shines through the relationships between cultures and provides hope for all of us.
Rachel Sviggum is married to Hans and a homeschooling mama to six kids ages 3-15. A good book, a cup of coffee and a spot on the deck is her recipe for a great morning!