LEAP Foundation

India 2012! Part two

fulladmin — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 10:46:27 +0000

As LEAP left the hospital in central India, the patients and their families left their respective tents in the make shift “camp” to form a line and give our team members love and gratitude for what we were able to accomplish in our short time in India. We were told by the locals that God had answered their prayers to bring these children to a new life through surgery. Parents misunderstood why God would allow their children to be born with deformities and were further misled by myths within the village which proclaimed curses as the root cause. As a result, many of these children are dismissed as valuable members of society, denied an opportunity to interact with others in the village, and offered little hope for the integration. However, our hope is that through education and these corrective surgeries this village can experience God’s presence in a new light and see that even those born with deformities are valuable.

The word of the LEAP mission, now 10 years old in India, and through the reach of CICM’s 900+ churches there is now a huge stretch for patients from farther and farther away to seek aid on each new trip. LEAP strives for excellence in providing life changing surgeries in some of the poorest and most neglected regions of the world, but that is merely our toolset; our mission is to share the love of Christ and show these people, who ultimately show us, our God knows no boundaries.

Check out our Facebook page for many more photos from the trip.

The people of LEAP – volunteers, donors, prayer partners, and supporters – are who make these trips transpire. One great example is Jackie Reed. Jackie is a living legend! From working months to make things perfect in the warehouse for every surgery, to keeping things moving efficiently during the trip, to packing 30 plus trunks in less than an hour so we don’t have to deny anyone surgical time, and so much more — no one else can compare. Jackie’s presence and efforts were crucial on this trip and LEAP can’t thank her enough for all she does.

What an incredible week in India! Part One

fulladmin — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:05:16 +0000

We are sitting at the Children’s Home, resting from an incredible week. Three of our team members left this morning, seven will leave tonight by train, and the rest of us will leave in the morning by bus. In sum, it can get pretty interesting logistically to arrange travel for nearly 40 people to a remote place halfway around the world! We evaluated and treated 150 patients on evaluation day and selected 78 for surgery. Due to the speed and efficiency of the team, we were able to add 14 cases from a waiting list and completed 92 major surgeries!

Many of the patients presented to surgery with cleft lip and palates, while some returned for further repairs on primary clefts, which often prove to be much more complex surgeries. We also did several burn reconstructions, including one little girl whose wrist and thumb were folded into a nonfunctional ball of scar tissue. The majority of these children would not have been operated in the United States due to anemia, poor nutrition, runny noses, and other issues. All surgeries were successful with beautiful, life changing transformations safely done – a tribute to world-class anesthesia, recovery room nurses, operating room nurses and techs, respiratory tech Haley Forman, dedicated surgeons, excellent pediatricians, and many others who comprised this LEAP team. We were aided greatly by “Mr. Sony,” our friend and Indian operating room technician who repaired anesthesia machines, Bovies, suction machines and many other essential tools that would have been deemed irreparable under normal circumstances. The Indian nursing students were essential for translation. They were great and enthusiastic helpers and sponges in soaking up the lessons our nurses taught them. Our hosts at the Children’s Home and the hospital raised the bar for helpfulness, graciousness and support.

Dr. Cheryl Cermin and Nora Hooks ran a very effective orthodontic clinic, placing orthodontic feeding appliances in seven infants, orthodontic appliances in two more, complete braces in three patients, and treating 19 patients overall. A very exciting part of their work was training the dentists at the hospital. According to Dr. Cermin, their skill and enthusiasm was at the highest level. These dentists are from the region and are committed to the Lord and to our partner CICM for the long term–a rare thing to find in this area of the world.

Drs. Ana Tran and Yuri Cook provided pediatric care to the LEAP patients at the hospital, more than 150 children in three different villages and to an outreach ministry at the Children’s Home. Having a pediatric team definitely increases the level of excellence in medical care in LEAP missions and opens up multiple levels of ministry.

The LEAP ancillary team attended the graduation of the senior nursing students and were guests of honor, giving the devotional prayer and handing out the diplomas. LEAP and the CICM nursing students are great partners in every LEAP Central mission. The LEAP surgical team was visited by the mayor of the city and the cabinet minister of this region of Central India, two political leaders in India, who praised the LEAP team for their excellence and service in providing life changing surgeries to children in one of the poorest regions of India.

One of the greatest blessings was hearing the testimonies of five pastors, partnered with CICM, and leading churches in different areas of Central India. The stories of transformation, persecution, persistence and growth of the body of Christ were beyond imaginable, in many ways mirroring the difficulties and success of the church during the time of Acts. We are excited to share more stories, photos and videos of this amazing trip in the near future. Stay tuned for more on Facebook and here!

Headed to India!

Katy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:30:28 +0000

Today, LEAP is excited to send a team to India! This year, we have expanded our medical team to have four operating rooms and are planning on completing 50-100 surgeries. For the first time, we are taking two pediatricians to go to the villages and complete physicals. Other trip members will be showing God’s love by handing out an outfit to each person we care for. We anticipate going to two villages, each with about 250 people.

This week, we would love prayers for:

A safe and healthy trip for our team and patients.
Blessings upon the family members and friends supporting our team members here in the USA.
Travel mercies, including a smooth walk through customs.
Gratitude for our partners CICM: for the work they have done in preparing for our arrival and in making it a successful trip.

Be sure to stay tuned! We will update the blog with news from India during and after the trip.

Ecuador: A Note from Dr. Mitchell

Katy — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 20:57:33 +0000

The LEAP team is back from a successful first trip to Ecuador! Thank you to everyone for the prayers and support we received through out the process.

Dr. Mitchell, Director of LEAP Latin American Development and Ecuadorian team leader, has written to share a bit more about the trip:

“We brought to Ecuador the most complete and experienced LEAP team to represent our foundation. While we had planned for a greater volume of patients, instead we had the opportunity to touch the lives of those that had long been abandoned. Our surgeries went well, the patients were safe, and we had the time and disposition to work with the hospital staff. This allowed us to show our Ecuadorian partners ( the hospital, the church, and the university) what LEAP is truly about. I am encouraged about the relationships that were fostered and the possibilities to reach out to many more patients in the future.”

Alejandra Garcia de Mitchell, MD

Thank you, Dr. Mitchell! It seems your goals were accomplished in Ecuador.

God Delivers the Unexpected

Katy — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 02:43:45 +0000

Day One proved to be quite unexpected in Ecuador! Although the LEAP team went to Ecuador to repair cleft palates and facial deformities, last night they helped the Ecuadorian doctors and nurses with a C Section and experienced the gift of new life.

What a way to start the LEAP Ecuador program! We are so glad we were able to begin our trip with the birth of this precious little boy.

World, meet baby Abraham.

Headed to Ecuador!

Katy — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:39:31 +0000

LEAP is overjoyed to be sending their first team to Ecuador this week! After a request was made for LEAP doctors to assist with cleft lip and palate cases, we are finally on our way. Dr. Ale Mitchell and Azita Madjidi will lead two full surgical teams during the trip, January 12th to January 20th, at Hospital Madre Berenice in the city of Guayaquil. Be sure to stay tuned! We will update the blog with news from Ecuador during and after the trip.

This week, we would love prayers for:

A safe and healthy trip.
A quick and speedy recovery for all of our patients.
Our Mission Team: that God would establish the work of their hands.

Want to greet our team at the DFW aiport when they return? Flight 0588 will arrive at 8:40 pm on Monday, January 20. We hope to see you there!

Africa 2011

fulladmin — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 03:47:49 +0000

On September 15-25th, LEAP will partner with Celebration Health to transform the people of Africa, one life at a time. 19 of our specialized volunteers will return to Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, to continue the work we started three years ago. We are blessed to have this opportunity to work hand-in-hand with these beautiful people, and don’t forget to stay updated with stories, pictures, and the progress of our trip. Tatenda!

Baby Orleans is Back!

fulladmin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 15:23:09 +0000

Alan with Baby Orleans, Baby Tania, and Fabienne.

Mother Fabienne and baby Orleans surprised our team yesterday at Hospital Espoire. They drove in from Petitgoave, their new home just under 2 hours away. What a great surprise!

It’s amazing to think such a beautiful baby that was pronounced dead months ago is now flourishing back in Haiti. To learn more about baby Orleans story, click here.

Inspirational Hannah

fulladmin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 02:05:32 +0000

Hope found it’s way to Haiti today. A Haitian lady told our team her daughter would never be married, beautiful, or normal, due to her cleft lip. As she began to cry, Cliff, our Haitian coordinator, asked the lady to politely hold on as he ran to grab a young lady from our team named Hannah. As Hannah stood before the lady, she asked, “Why did you bring this lady to stand next to me.” Cliff calmy replied, “She had a cleft lip, and the same surgeon who performed her surgery will operate on your daughter tomorrow.” She looked at Hannah and shed tears of joy.

August 11th- From DFW to Port-Au-Prince

fulladmin — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 04:18:25 +0000

5:00am- Team arrives at DFW.
5:30am-Hit with box embargo.
5:31am-Pray.
5:40am-Have confirmation to fly with medical supplies.
5:41am-transfer supplies to “acceptable” containers and head for gate.
7:10am-Off to Miami to meet up with more team members.
11:15am-Bound for Port-Au-Prince…
12ish- Arrive in Haiti!
1:00pm- Team reaches Hospital Espoire.
3:00pm-Dr. Harrison, Dr. Drum, Dr. Bruce, and Riley arrive at Hospital Espoire.
3:00-7:00pm- Finish evaluations.
7:10pm- We meet, greet, and EAT…
11:00pm- Lights out! Ready for a full day of surgery tomorrow…

First day pics: