All are invited to join in a special vespers on Oct. 17 at 7:00 p.m. in Damazo Amphitheater, Centennial Complex. Focused on Ebola, this vesper program will feature two deferred mission appointees (DMA) who have just returned from West Africa.
Loma Linda University School of Medicine alumni Gillian Seton, MD, class of 2008, and James Appel, MD, class of 2000, have dedicated their lives to serving others. Working as DMA’s through Adventist Health International, they have been on site in Monrovia, Liberia.
Seton and Appel worked tirelessly in the heart of the Ebola outbreak at Cooper Adventist Hospital. Until a few weeks ago Cooper, an Ebola-free zone, was the only hospital still operational in Monrovia.
The two doctors continued to treat non-Ebola related illnesses, such as malaria, until the hospital was forced to close down when it was suspected that several staff members had contracted the disease. After a three-week quarantine, plans call for Cooper to reopen as a maternity ward.
Seton has served at Cooper Hospital as a general surgeon since February of this year, and is now in the United States on leave. While home she will travel to Loma Linda University, where she will join other hospital administrators from around the world for the Global Healthcare Conference; Appel will also attend this event. Having worked for AHI for nearly a decade, Appel was serving at Abougoudam Adventist Hospital in Chad when he was asked to transfer to Monrovia to help during this crisis. He agreed without hesitation and went on to work at Cooper for nearly two months prior to its closing.
Both Seton and Appel have given their time and lives to serving those in need. Even as they faced the threat of contracting the disease on a daily basis, their determination and caring attitude helped them to be a source of help during a time when help was scarce.
For more information please visit www.ahiglobal.org.