Happy Birthday Sekuru!

Happy 81st Birthday Dr.Roland Stephens! Or as he is affectionately known "Sekuru", which means grandfather in Shona. We just celebrated Sekuru's 81st birthday on January 24th. Roland Stephens is still working hard here at Karanda, and shows no signs of slowing up! He operates 8-10 hours a day, takes call with frequent C-sections in the middle of the night, and still runs 3 miles three times a week.

I guess 81 candles was just too much!

Sekuru has been the stabilizing force at Karanda for the last 40-50 years. After finishing his surgery residency in the early 60s he and his wife Kathy, and there 4 boys came to a very small bush hospital in eastern Rhodesia called Karanda. They both felt called from the Lord to spend there career serving others on the mission field. Its was at Karanda where Sekuru operated quite faithfully for many years. In the late 1970s as the civil war erupted in Rhodesia, violence threatened Karanda Hospital. In those days they would frequently hear mortar rounds right outside the gates. Sekuru had no intention of leaving, and he continued to operate through the violence for many months. He felt that was where God wanted him, and that God would continue to protect him. As the war escalated, and violence near Karanda continued to worsen the "powers that be" finally were able to persuade Roland Stephens and his family to leave. In 1979 Roland Stephens and his family were flown out of the war zone, and shortly thereafter Karanda hospital closed.

A rare smile by Sekuru Stephens

In the years that followed Dr Stephens and his family continued to follow the Lords calling on his life, and spent most of the next several years working in other bush hospitals all over africa. His heart however, was always at Karanda. Karanda had since reopened in the country that was now called Zimbabwe.  In the early 1990's Roland Stephens returned to Karanda to work with his son, Dan, who followed in his fathers footsteps as a missionary surgeon. Here at Karanda, Roland continues to work quite tirelessly at one of the busiest hospitals in the country. He still performs 5-15 surgical cases a day, rounds on multiple wards, and has been on call as the only physician for several months straight over the last year.

Beau, Gracie and the Reimer kids patiently waiting for some cake!

Dr Stephens doesn't do all of this for accolades, notoriety, or fame. In fact, if he knew I was writing about him he would probably just crack a small smile, shake his head, grunt, and walk the other direction. Sekuru Stephens does this because he loves the Lord. He felt a calling on himself at an early age, and has never looked backed. At an age when most 81 year old surgeons would be counting there retirement saving, playing 4-7 rounds of golf a week, or worse yet, sitting in a nursing home with a diaper and some milk, Sekuru Stephens keeps working..day after day...after day. He has no plans to slow down either. As long as God gives him the strength to get out of bed, a brain that works, and the ability to pick up a scalpel, you can be sure Sekuru will keep going. He is a tremendous example to me, and should be to all of us. The most important thing to realize though, is he doesn't do it for himself nor for you or I. He does it to bring Glory to our Lord!