Hebrews 12:1-3 New International Version (NIV)
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
I have always found the comparisons of the human life and experience to a race to be quite accurate. "The race marked out for us" mentioned in verse 1 is never compared to a sprint like a 100 yard dash. It's never said to be without obstacles like if we were running around some kind of 400 meter track. Quite the opposite, life is much more like a marathon. The courses of marathons are quite variable. The course is marked out, but it can vary depending upon the circumstances and weather of that particular day and time.
This verse from Hebrews encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on someone who has already run this race, Jesus. He endured all the challenges life has to offer including all kinds of opposition even to the point of dying on a cross. He conquered death, as we recently celebrated His resurrection during Easter. This text says to consider Him, so that we do not grow weary and lose heart.
This particular scripture encourages me when I'm struggling with challenges, fear or uncertainty. I'll be honest, the current COVID-19 pandemic has given us here in Togo and the rest of the world plenty of uncertainty. While living overseas we try to plan a break about once a year. Since we are living in a challenging climate and environment this would preferably include traveling outside of Togo. This month we had planned to attend a medical missions conference in Greece. Unfortunately for us, and many colleagues all over the globe, this conference and any kind of travel quickly became impossible. Some of our colleagues here in Northern Togo were asked to evacuate, since we did not know if flights would be possible to return to the states for an extended period of time.
Here at the Hospital of Hope, we began making preparations in March for receiving patients with COVID. Togo closed its borders and significantly limited travel within the country shortly after having only one positive case. However, over the past month, the number of cases here have started to climb. As of today the country has registered 109 confirmed cases, with 7 deaths and 64 patients who have recovered. We are thankful that the outbreak here in Togo has not been worse, since we have no ventilators and are always in a resource limited medical system. There has only been 1 case diagnosed in the northern region of Togo. While that was nearly a month ago, we have not seen any further cases in our region. We are a little more isolated here in the north compared to the capital city which sees many international travelers. This may be analogous to the rural areas in America who have not been effected to the extent of large cities. We do not know what the coming months will bring here in Togo and throughout the rest of the continent of Africa. However, the current travel limitations will significantly impact us and most other missions hospitals ability to have volunteers come and help. In reality, missions hospitals provide a significant amount of the medical care across the continent. We will all be looking for ways to continue providing compassionate healthcare during these changing times.
We are still planning to return to the USA in June. With the current restrictions and social distancing, we will be flexible in considering how we can best communicate with you. We hope that will be in person, but we will wait and see what life looks like there! We hope to communicate some of the events that have happened in the past 5 years since the opening of the Hospital of Hope. In February we celebrated all that God has done here in the first 5 years. For this occasion, there was even a song written in the local language which was God honoring and a lot of fun!
Prayer Requests
Our family
Many of our plans for our furlough have been affected by the current pandemic. The uncertainty of the housing market has affected our ability to find housing for the year and we are still in need of a vehicle. We know the Lord will provide, but it is difficult to make plans while these two key pieces are still largely unknown. Please pray with us for the Lord's provision in these areas. Please pray with us also for guidance as we seek to use our time back in America to rest, reconnect, and prepare to return to the work and ministry here in Northern Togo.
Our team
As mentioned above, the changing travel environment has affected our team greatly. The next 6 months will be short in many areas with limited options for short term help. Not having volunteers also affects our ability to get supplies. Please pray with us as we look to find alternative options to continue the work here. Please also pray for our coworkers and patients who are currently fasting and praying during the day for their holy month of Ramadan. We hope to minister to them well, especially during this time.
I have always found the comparisons of the human life and experience to a race to be quite accurate. "The race marked out for us" mentioned in verse 1 is never compared to a sprint like a 100 yard dash. It's never said to be without obstacles like if we were running around some kind of 400 meter track. Quite the opposite, life is much more like a marathon. The courses of marathons are quite variable. The course is marked out, but it can vary depending upon the circumstances and weather of that particular day and time.
This verse from Hebrews encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on someone who has already run this race, Jesus. He endured all the challenges life has to offer including all kinds of opposition even to the point of dying on a cross. He conquered death, as we recently celebrated His resurrection during Easter. This text says to consider Him, so that we do not grow weary and lose heart.
This particular scripture encourages me when I'm struggling with challenges, fear or uncertainty. I'll be honest, the current COVID-19 pandemic has given us here in Togo and the rest of the world plenty of uncertainty. While living overseas we try to plan a break about once a year. Since we are living in a challenging climate and environment this would preferably include traveling outside of Togo. This month we had planned to attend a medical missions conference in Greece. Unfortunately for us, and many colleagues all over the globe, this conference and any kind of travel quickly became impossible. Some of our colleagues here in Northern Togo were asked to evacuate, since we did not know if flights would be possible to return to the states for an extended period of time.
Here at the Hospital of Hope, we began making preparations in March for receiving patients with COVID. Togo closed its borders and significantly limited travel within the country shortly after having only one positive case. However, over the past month, the number of cases here have started to climb. As of today the country has registered 109 confirmed cases, with 7 deaths and 64 patients who have recovered. We are thankful that the outbreak here in Togo has not been worse, since we have no ventilators and are always in a resource limited medical system. There has only been 1 case diagnosed in the northern region of Togo. While that was nearly a month ago, we have not seen any further cases in our region. We are a little more isolated here in the north compared to the capital city which sees many international travelers. This may be analogous to the rural areas in America who have not been effected to the extent of large cities. We do not know what the coming months will bring here in Togo and throughout the rest of the continent of Africa. However, the current travel limitations will significantly impact us and most other missions hospitals ability to have volunteers come and help. In reality, missions hospitals provide a significant amount of the medical care across the continent. We will all be looking for ways to continue providing compassionate healthcare during these changing times.
We are still planning to return to the USA in June. With the current restrictions and social distancing, we will be flexible in considering how we can best communicate with you. We hope that will be in person, but we will wait and see what life looks like there! We hope to communicate some of the events that have happened in the past 5 years since the opening of the Hospital of Hope. In February we celebrated all that God has done here in the first 5 years. For this occasion, there was even a song written in the local language which was God honoring and a lot of fun!
