Southern Baptist brings healing, hope to shepherds, farmers in Central Asia

Flies circle the sparsely equipped operating room in the middle-of-nowhere Central Asia hospital. One lands on an instrument tray, strutting the length of a scalpel just seconds before the previously sterile instrument plunges beneath Jalal Hossein’s skin.   “Allah!” the 28-year-old mullah (Islamic teacher) moans through a haze of local anesthesia that obviously has failed to kill the pain. The…