Mama Cory
In God's eyes, success as a wife and mother, is far more important than success in a career.
Her children rise up and call her blessed ; her husband also, and he praises her. Proverbs 31:28
A women with a heart as big as Africa, that loves everyone. Unconditional love for the people, the kids, and for the country. A giving spirit that goes far and beyond the call of duty. Willing to do anything she is asked to do without hesitation and question. I know I could learn a lot and apply it to my life, from her character. A character after Christ. A women that left everything. All the comforts of her life to sell everything and follow the calling of God. To go to a continent around the world that she had never been to. Moving past her fears, tho they were there, to follow were she knew that she was being called. Mama Cory is just not special to me but the people of Chad Africa. I praise the Lord daily for having our paths cross in our own separate lives. So that I would find my soul mate and live our lives in the work of the Lord. I am a blessed man. I am so proud of her and look forward to seeing how much we can accomplish in our life time doing Gods work. She is the very best wife, mother, friend, and coworker any one could every hope for. I look forward growing old with Mama Cory.
HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!
Jamie
Monday, April 5, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Mar 29, 2010
Dear Friends and Brothers in Christ.
Hello!
How are you doing? I hope you are all doing well. Before telling you something that comes from my heart about Jamie and Tammy Parker. I want you to know me first. I am Nang-Dueye Kedere Tabah, but American people know me under the name of Fredrick. I am 27 years old. I am married with two children. I am an Adventist Christian. I am an educated guy. I learned English in Nigeria for a while and that is why you can see me writing in English language. Dear friends and brothers in Christ, my family and I thank you so much for your kindness towards us and thank you so much for Jamie and Tammy's stay in our city Bere'/Chad. They are helping everybody. It is really God's plan to bring Jamie and Tammy in our town Bere'/Chad. We will be praying for you in the states to keep helping them and we will be praying for Tammy and Jamie to stay here in Chad forever and ever, because they are very kind towards people here in Bere'. They are helping orphans, not only orphans but everyone in situation by enrolling them in schools, by digging wells for people to have clean water, they are taking care of sick people. I don't know how to appreciate what they are doing for us here in Chad, but God knows very well.
Dear friends and brothers in Christ, we Adventist Christians want to make relationships with you. Please e-mail us through Jamie and Tammy's e-mail.
That's all for now! Say hi to everybody in the states. May God bless you.
Your brother and friend Frederick in Chad
My phone number is: 235.66.11.54.95
Hello!
How are you doing? I hope you are all doing well. Before telling you something that comes from my heart about Jamie and Tammy Parker. I want you to know me first. I am Nang-Dueye Kedere Tabah, but American people know me under the name of Fredrick. I am 27 years old. I am married with two children. I am an Adventist Christian. I am an educated guy. I learned English in Nigeria for a while and that is why you can see me writing in English language. Dear friends and brothers in Christ, my family and I thank you so much for your kindness towards us and thank you so much for Jamie and Tammy's stay in our city Bere'/Chad. They are helping everybody. It is really God's plan to bring Jamie and Tammy in our town Bere'/Chad. We will be praying for you in the states to keep helping them and we will be praying for Tammy and Jamie to stay here in Chad forever and ever, because they are very kind towards people here in Bere'. They are helping orphans, not only orphans but everyone in situation by enrolling them in schools, by digging wells for people to have clean water, they are taking care of sick people. I don't know how to appreciate what they are doing for us here in Chad, but God knows very well.
Dear friends and brothers in Christ, we Adventist Christians want to make relationships with you. Please e-mail us through Jamie and Tammy's e-mail.
That's all for now! Say hi to everybody in the states. May God bless you.
Your brother and friend Frederick in Chad
My phone number is: 235.66.11.54.95
Mar 16, 2010
Dear Friends and Family,
Thank you all for the encouraging words and prayers. They were exactly what I needed. That was why I wrote in the first place because I needed to be up lifted. And I really was, thank you.
I want everyone to know that the doctors here are taken back by my recovery this last week. My foot is almost completely healed. The wound was probably at an inch or more deep and so infected that they had to go back in 3 times to open it and get the junk out. I am so happy that God has heard my cries. For the first time last night I walked on it with no pain. I am still going to baby it cause I don't want to it to reopen or who knows what but for now I am doing great.
Please continuing praying for all of the missionaries here. Satan has really been working hard in trying to discourage us through illnesses. Other missionary families are being attacked right now too. That must mean we are doing something right. I think Satan knows his time is short and he needs to get us discouraged however he can.
Jamie, right now, has malaria for the 6th time. He is doing really good with it though and trying another new medication for it. Monday he flew up to Abeche with Gary and met James there. This is the place that James is working on building a new hospital. The story here is very interesting cause the Muslims heard about the Adventist Hospital here in Bere and visited and wanted James to build them a hospital and run it for them. They gave James over 25 acres and all James has to do is tell them what to do and they will get it done. So right now all of the guys are there telling them where to put the well and what to clear and whatto get done.
Many are wondering the details on what is happening with the Bere Adventist Hospital. James and Sarah will be on vacation in the states starting next week and they will not be back until June. When they come back they will be working in Moundou mainly. They have moved everything out of their house. It is a weird feeling not to have them here. Right now we have a couple of doctors from the states that are going to be helping out until the end of April. After that we are on our own. Tony's grandpa (Samedi) will be doing all of the surgeries still but he does have his limits. There is a new couple coming in November that will be taking the place of James and Sarah. Jamie and I had the pleasure of meeting them this summer when we first got here. They were going to different places to see where they wanted to stay after school and they chose Bere. They are a young couple with a little baby boy that is around a year old. Olen and Denay are their names. I don't have their last name at the moment but I will give you more information as I get it. They are both doctors which is so great for the hospital. She is an OB doctor and he is family practice. We are looking forward to see what kind of changes they will be making for the hospital.
Again, I just want to thank you all for everything you are doing. We miss you all and can't wait for the day we get to come back and visit.
Love, Tammy
The Parkers
Jamie, Cory and Brichelle
Thank you all for the encouraging words and prayers. They were exactly what I needed. That was why I wrote in the first place because I needed to be up lifted. And I really was, thank you.
I want everyone to know that the doctors here are taken back by my recovery this last week. My foot is almost completely healed. The wound was probably at an inch or more deep and so infected that they had to go back in 3 times to open it and get the junk out. I am so happy that God has heard my cries. For the first time last night I walked on it with no pain. I am still going to baby it cause I don't want to it to reopen or who knows what but for now I am doing great.
Please continuing praying for all of the missionaries here. Satan has really been working hard in trying to discourage us through illnesses. Other missionary families are being attacked right now too. That must mean we are doing something right. I think Satan knows his time is short and he needs to get us discouraged however he can.
Jamie, right now, has malaria for the 6th time. He is doing really good with it though and trying another new medication for it. Monday he flew up to Abeche with Gary and met James there. This is the place that James is working on building a new hospital. The story here is very interesting cause the Muslims heard about the Adventist Hospital here in Bere and visited and wanted James to build them a hospital and run it for them. They gave James over 25 acres and all James has to do is tell them what to do and they will get it done. So right now all of the guys are there telling them where to put the well and what to clear and whatto get done.
Many are wondering the details on what is happening with the Bere Adventist Hospital. James and Sarah will be on vacation in the states starting next week and they will not be back until June. When they come back they will be working in Moundou mainly. They have moved everything out of their house. It is a weird feeling not to have them here. Right now we have a couple of doctors from the states that are going to be helping out until the end of April. After that we are on our own. Tony's grandpa (Samedi) will be doing all of the surgeries still but he does have his limits. There is a new couple coming in November that will be taking the place of James and Sarah. Jamie and I had the pleasure of meeting them this summer when we first got here. They were going to different places to see where they wanted to stay after school and they chose Bere. They are a young couple with a little baby boy that is around a year old. Olen and Denay are their names. I don't have their last name at the moment but I will give you more information as I get it. They are both doctors which is so great for the hospital. She is an OB doctor and he is family practice. We are looking forward to see what kind of changes they will be making for the hospital.
Again, I just want to thank you all for everything you are doing. We miss you all and can't wait for the day we get to come back and visit.
Love, Tammy
The Parkers
Jamie, Cory and Brichelle
Mar 04, 2010
Ok so it was awful!
I first want to say thank you for all of the letters and prayers. It was so encouraging to see that you all are with me in spirit. It really touched me and made me not feel so alone in all of this.
We went over to the hospital and went into the surgery room. We had a hard time getting started because the three doctors that were helping me were all new as of this week and we couldn't find everything. We finally got things ready to go and here I am with three doctors and they don't normally start IVs in the states. One of them tried and after feeling a little like a pin cushion they went and got one of the local nursing aides to help out and he took care of me with no problem. Yeah! So now they are ready to get started. I laid down on my stomach and propped my head on a couple gowns and tried to relax. The first thing they put in the IV was dyasapam (not sure of the spelling) which chilled me out like Valium but it burned like fire going into my veins. Then came the crazy stuff, Ketamine but this time it didn't make me as crazy as the first time and I just went right to sleep. Eventually I end up waking up to several voices and one being James Appel. As I try to focus and get my bearings straight I was instructed by all four doctors that I am not suppose to let my foot touch the ground for at least a week. Also I am to lay down and get up for nothing but potty breaks. I wasn't prepared to hear all that yet. They put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me over to the house. I was still very confused and having a hard time focusing on much of anything being said on the way. We got to the front door and Jamie and Michelle helped me up the steps and then I hobbled through the house to the couch where they let me go. At this point all I could think or feel was pain and the pain was getting stronger and stronger. I felt like I had to hold my breath and work through it. I began to moan and then come the tears. Oh! No! I need pain medication right now. Each of my kids came and did whatever they could to help me and get me what I needed. Finally Dr. Liz came over with some glorious pain medication and after about 45 minutes the pain started to let up. Thank you, Jesus!
The part that bothers me the most is that this is going to be a long road of healing. I understand that because the infection is so deep that they have to keep it an open wound for a while so that means I will be getting a dressing change every day. But the problem with that is that the way they keep it open is they stuff the wound with sterile packing and remove it and repack it every day. I am going to need prayer for strength to get through those dressing changes. I wonder why it is that God wants me to understand what the local people are going through at the hospital when the hospital is doing this sort of thing on so many people every day. I admit it, I am not as tough as the people here. I have no idea how I am going to do it. The first time they packed it and Jamie and I took the packing out I cried through the whole thing trying to get that out. I don't know, this will be interesting how my life is going to be this next week. I will keep you informed on my drama though cause it sounds like I won't have much of anything else to do.
Till tomorrow, I am getting tired real fast now. Thank you for everything.
* Love, Tammy
I first want to say thank you for all of the letters and prayers. It was so encouraging to see that you all are with me in spirit. It really touched me and made me not feel so alone in all of this.
We went over to the hospital and went into the surgery room. We had a hard time getting started because the three doctors that were helping me were all new as of this week and we couldn't find everything. We finally got things ready to go and here I am with three doctors and they don't normally start IVs in the states. One of them tried and after feeling a little like a pin cushion they went and got one of the local nursing aides to help out and he took care of me with no problem. Yeah! So now they are ready to get started. I laid down on my stomach and propped my head on a couple gowns and tried to relax. The first thing they put in the IV was dyasapam (not sure of the spelling) which chilled me out like Valium but it burned like fire going into my veins. Then came the crazy stuff, Ketamine but this time it didn't make me as crazy as the first time and I just went right to sleep. Eventually I end up waking up to several voices and one being James Appel. As I try to focus and get my bearings straight I was instructed by all four doctors that I am not suppose to let my foot touch the ground for at least a week. Also I am to lay down and get up for nothing but potty breaks. I wasn't prepared to hear all that yet. They put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me over to the house. I was still very confused and having a hard time focusing on much of anything being said on the way. We got to the front door and Jamie and Michelle helped me up the steps and then I hobbled through the house to the couch where they let me go. At this point all I could think or feel was pain and the pain was getting stronger and stronger. I felt like I had to hold my breath and work through it. I began to moan and then come the tears. Oh! No! I need pain medication right now. Each of my kids came and did whatever they could to help me and get me what I needed. Finally Dr. Liz came over with some glorious pain medication and after about 45 minutes the pain started to let up. Thank you, Jesus!
The part that bothers me the most is that this is going to be a long road of healing. I understand that because the infection is so deep that they have to keep it an open wound for a while so that means I will be getting a dressing change every day. But the problem with that is that the way they keep it open is they stuff the wound with sterile packing and remove it and repack it every day. I am going to need prayer for strength to get through those dressing changes. I wonder why it is that God wants me to understand what the local people are going through at the hospital when the hospital is doing this sort of thing on so many people every day. I admit it, I am not as tough as the people here. I have no idea how I am going to do it. The first time they packed it and Jamie and I took the packing out I cried through the whole thing trying to get that out. I don't know, this will be interesting how my life is going to be this next week. I will keep you informed on my drama though cause it sounds like I won't have much of anything else to do.
Till tomorrow, I am getting tired real fast now. Thank you for everything.
* Love, Tammy
Mar 03, 2010
Well friends and family,
I find myself under a situation that I have to go back under the knife. There is a lot of infection deep down in my heal. It is causing me a lot of pain. It is not getting better but worse with redness and lovely oozing. Nice huh? Well around here we talk to each other about all kinds of body functions. Dr. Liz (a new volunteer doctor from the states) is going to try and put me under again with that tripping medicine and then cut right into me and try to clean out the infection. This will all take place in a couple of hours when things die down at the hospital. I tell you all of this cause now I am feeling concerned and I need prayer warriors for my foot. I see now how fast it can go from bad to worse in such a short time. I know it is going to kill me too to not be able to walk around. Any of you who know me know what I am talking about. I am going to have to keep my foot up and not walk on it. Boring!!!
I want to thank all of you who sent me encouraging letters. I feel so blessed to have so many good friends. I miss you all so very much.
Love,
Tammy
I find myself under a situation that I have to go back under the knife. There is a lot of infection deep down in my heal. It is causing me a lot of pain. It is not getting better but worse with redness and lovely oozing. Nice huh? Well around here we talk to each other about all kinds of body functions. Dr. Liz (a new volunteer doctor from the states) is going to try and put me under again with that tripping medicine and then cut right into me and try to clean out the infection. This will all take place in a couple of hours when things die down at the hospital. I tell you all of this cause now I am feeling concerned and I need prayer warriors for my foot. I see now how fast it can go from bad to worse in such a short time. I know it is going to kill me too to not be able to walk around. Any of you who know me know what I am talking about. I am going to have to keep my foot up and not walk on it. Boring!!!
I want to thank all of you who sent me encouraging letters. I feel so blessed to have so many good friends. I miss you all so very much.
Love,
Tammy
Mar 01, 2010
I spent my Saturday afternoon at the hospital in the surgery room. I have been having some real trouble with one of my feet on the heal. Something at one point got inside and then it got really infected and I couldn't walk on it anymore. This place is so hard on your feet. Jamie has always had soft smooth nice feet and now they are sometimes unrecognizable. Your feet are in the dirt so much there is just no way to keep them clean. No way! And they are so dry and messed up. I can't wait to come back to the states and get one pedicure after another.
So there I am on the gurney and I have all my family there plus 3 American doctors, 1 anesthesiologist, and 2 nurses. I was in good hands. But when the anesthesiologist tried to numb my foot it was just not getting it (and I was being a big baby) so they decided to put me out with some crazy, crazy tripping medicine. It felt like at least an hour but they said it only took 10 minutes to open it up and clean it out. Dr Appel had to go really deep to get all of the infection out so I am very sore and glad it is over. By the time I was waking up everyone had left and gone to the river. Jamie, Michelle and Franklin the anesthesiologist stayed behind to be sure I was going to wake up okay. I did (of course) but it was quite the experience. This place is so hard on your body in so many ways. The rest of my night was spent feeling out of this world.
I just wanted to share my pain with all of you that I care about. Just another episode at the Parker house in Africa.
Love you all and miss you very much!
Tammy
So there I am on the gurney and I have all my family there plus 3 American doctors, 1 anesthesiologist, and 2 nurses. I was in good hands. But when the anesthesiologist tried to numb my foot it was just not getting it (and I was being a big baby) so they decided to put me out with some crazy, crazy tripping medicine. It felt like at least an hour but they said it only took 10 minutes to open it up and clean it out. Dr Appel had to go really deep to get all of the infection out so I am very sore and glad it is over. By the time I was waking up everyone had left and gone to the river. Jamie, Michelle and Franklin the anesthesiologist stayed behind to be sure I was going to wake up okay. I did (of course) but it was quite the experience. This place is so hard on your body in so many ways. The rest of my night was spent feeling out of this world.
I just wanted to share my pain with all of you that I care about. Just another episode at the Parker house in Africa.
Love you all and miss you very much!
Tammy
Feb 23, 2010
I just thought I would share one of my days in Africa with you.
Yesterday I took Cory and Tony on my new scooter that Jamie recently got me, to Lia. It is the closest town from here. Usually it takes around 20 minutes to get there. But when you leave here that is when the adventure starts. One of the reasons I wanted to go was to take Tony cause he has never been anywhere before. It is hard for me to think of the little town of Bere being my life and that is it. So anyways here goes the three of us on the scooter in the sand. We start out well and then a little less than half way there our tire pops. We pull over and try to think what in the world are we going to do. Well I of course call Jamie. He tells us to flag down another motorcycle and see if they have a pump and if so try to get to Lia then get it changed. So we did and the first guy didn't have one. The second guy didn't either but had a better solution. First of all the guy driving was a mechanic and the guy on the back was the tailor at the school that is making all the uniforms and he recognized Tony. Thank you Jesus! They were headed back to Bere and said that they would get me another tube and the mechanic would come back and put it on for me. It took him a while to get back and I told the boys that he may have made his quickest 2000F and kept the money or that he is just enjoying a nice cold coke in the market as we sit here out in the middle of literally nowhere. They laughed! I gave the guy 2000F to get me another tube in faith that he would come back. He did! He changed the tire and we were on our way again. Once we got into Lia I got stopped by the police. I thought ok here we go what do they want. I knew that I had all the papers I needed to be legal. We have only had the scooter for about 1 1/2 weeks and have been stopped two times already. Let me explain, if you don't have all their proper papers then you get charged for each piece of paper you don't have. I had confidence cause I knew already that I had all the right papers. I did know that I kind of went through my first stop sign coming into Lia. I am not use to stop signs anymore and whoop there one was. Anyways I think the boys got a little shook up but I didn't. Thank you Jesus again cause I think it came across that way too in the way I dealt with them. So he wasn't stopping me cause I went through a stop sign so, he stopped me cause I am not suppose to have 3 on a scooter. Now if I was a regular motorcycle then it would be ok. So I told them that I didn't know that rule cause the scooter was new. They talked a lot among themselves and kept asking me questions. They finally got to the question about where I worked and if I worked for the hospital in Bere. I told them no but that I was a teacher at the school and that my husband worked at the hospital. Something like that piece of information is very good information to share. As they were trying to decide what to do with me cause they were telling me that I had to pay 3000 F for having three people. I sent the boys on to the market and I told them I would meet them there. Right after they left they told me that they were going to let me go without a fine. Esp. since we are from the hospital. Yeah! I got to go without a fine. As I am driving the scooter toward the boys near the market I thought to myself. "I cannot believe I am doing all this." I promise 6 months ago I would never leave Bere alone. What was I thinking? What would my mother think if she could see me now? Well we got to show Tony around Lia and do a little shopping. We had a really good time after all the drama. It was fun to see Tony "out in the world". I could tell that he was a little out of his comfort zone but I think it is good for him. I am still not use to the market in Bere and am out of my comfort zone. And most of the people in the market are Arabic and Tony does not know a lot of Arabic so he could feel what we feel everyday at the market in Bere. One outfit, one mat, one pump for the scooter and some limes later we were on our way back to Bere but not all three of us. Cory took a "klondo" a motorcycle taxi back to Bere. He was really afraid to do it but when we saw him in Bere he had faced his fear and was happy he did it.
It is just one adventure after another here. You never know what one day after the other is going to bring you. That is surprisingly one of the things I like about this place. I feel like I am really living! This has really been the best experience of my life. Yes, I have been out of my comfort zone and yes, I have done things that I never thought I would but that it part of the fun. To look back and say yes, I did it! I look back at everything we all have experienced here and it is just an amazing thing. Not easy that is for sure and yes, I have shed a lot of tears but nevertheless it has all been worth it.
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