In my previous post, we covered the Lord's faithfulness that was evident in Dr. Andrew Stenhouse's Medical Studies. Now in this segment, we'll cover the residency that he did after returning from his special assignment to Roratonga in the Cook Islands.
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Following his fifth-year placement, Dr. Andrew
Stenhouse entered the formal two-year residency phase that immediately follows
graduation and medical school capping. For his second-year residency, Andrew
felt a distinct call from the Lord to serve in Murupara—a remote bush
settlement where no resident doctor was stationed, and the local hospital
focused strictly on obstetrics.
Out of all his peers, Andrew was the sole doctor
who stepped forward to take the assignment, embarking on a uniquely demanding
and formative year. Because he was isolated deep in the bush—with the nearest
full obstetrical hospital fifty-five miles away—he found himself handling
whatever medical needs arose. With a large population of Māori residents living
within a twenty-mile radius, expectant mothers would regularly appear at the
clinic day or night, ready to deliver with no prior medical history or
risk-assessment records available.
Despite having performed only ten to twelve
supervised deliveries during his training, Andrew relied entirely on divine
guidance. Supported by experienced local maternity nurses, he managed every
complicated delivery successfully and never lost a single baby. Because he
routinely administered local anesthetics, the grateful mothers affectionately
dubbed him "the painless doctor." The gratitude of the community was
so profound that many parents asked if they could name their newborns
"Andrew," resulting in a generation of young children running around
the bush area carrying his name.
Among the local stories was a humorous recurring
incident in the delivery room:
"I’ll give you a story about one of the babies
that came out—a beautiful child—and the mother started to cry," Andrew
recalled. "And I said, 'What's wrong, dear?'"
"And she said, 'Oh, he's done it again!'"
"And I said, 'What did he do again?'"
"And she said, 'He's given my baby away.' ...
Because the hospitals and government gave them about seven dollars or ten
dollars a month for every child they have. And he was using the future child's
money for betting. So, she was crying because of that—I mean, he cried because
of it, too. But I didn’t say anything to him because they were bigger than
me."
Beyond obstetrics and minor surgical repairs,
Andrew’s duties in Murupara unexpectedly extended into dentistry. Operating out
of a small clinic, he treated severe dental issues using a single, heavy-duty
pair of extraction pliers dating back to the late 1800s, left behind by a
German missionary. Guided intuitively, he learned a simple technique to make a
small fracture on the thinnest side of the jawbone so problem teeth would slide
out safely. In addition to his primary post, he traveled weekly to run a
practice in the nearby town of Kaingaroa—navigating
nighttime roadways where logging truck drivers would occasionally speed behind
him in an attempt to run him off the road. Through every hazard, his faith
remained his shield.
Upon completing his grueling year in Murupara,
Andrew transitioned into the registrar phase of his medical career—consisting
of two supervisory years following residency. Invited back to the teaching
hospital in Dunedin,
he applied for a position in the Department of Medicine.
The Lord orchestrated a remarkable advancement.
Unbeknownst to Andrew, the chief of the hospital had secretly contacted the
chief medical officer in Hamilton
to inquire about his reputation, receiving the strict advice: "Don’t put
anyone else but Stenhouse in that position." As a result, Andrew bypassed
the standard junior registrar entry level and was placed directly into the
senior registrar position, working closely under the chief professor of medicine.
The unexpected elevation sparked professional
jealousy among peers who had waited years for the role. Some colleagues
attempted to burden him further by calling in sick on their on-call days, or
citing chronic medical flare-ups to avoid shifts. Yet Andrew maintained his
composure, relying on humility and faith rather than defending himself.
As a senior registrar in a major teaching hospital,
his responsibilities were immense:
- Supervision: Overseeing all junior doctors and residents on the hospital floors to
ensure appropriate patient care and treatment plans.
- Emergency Admissions: Evaluating emergency room admissions to verify that incoming patients
were appropriate for the floor and prescribed correct medications.
- Clinical Education: Teaching not only junior residents, but also medical
students—frequently instructing individuals who had held medical licenses
longer than he had.
Though the workload required working through the
night and keeping pace day after day, Andrew deflected all personal credit. Reflecting
on how God exalted him after his humble service out in the bush, he continually
emphasized that his success was never about his own strength, but about
maintaining a willing heart to please the Heavenly Father.
Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus. Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15). He preached that we must repent and believe.
Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"
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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International. He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.
