Will the current Ebola epidemic effect your upcoming trip to Togo? This has been a common question we have received lately. I will address this question, but first let me update you on our past month.
It's now been two weeks since I separated from the USAF. This has a lot of implications. The most obvious, we no longer have the many benefits of military service like income, great health insurance, and amazing colleagues! However, this also gives us a lot more flexibility and we are now able to travel to Togo. We are planning to leave in less than 1 week. Another implication is we have moved. Where is complicated, but currently we are staying with family and friends until we leave for Togo. When we return we will be living and working in Lafayette, Indiana as we make the remainder of the preparations to serve in Togo long term.
This past week we were in Harrisburg, PA, ABWE's home office, for a very good training on Church planting, called EMC. It was great and helped us think through what a church would look like in Mango, Togo. In case you wondered, it would probably look different than what we typically think of when we look at our own church. We would love to tell you more, so please call or email us with any questions you may have in this area!
Now to our current trip. I attached a map of Togo, to show the cities where we will be traveling. We are flying into Lome the capitol of Togo. From there we will be traveling to Tsiko, where the current ABWE hospital, HBB, is located. We will be staying there for the majority of our trip. Mid way through our trip will be a strategy meeting to discuss some of the questions about what the work in Togo will look like in the coming years, and we are excited to meet many of or teammates and learn about a lot about the current work. After the meeting we will be traveling to Mango our future home. We will be spending about 1week there. This will be our first glimpse of Mango in person. We will also get to see the progress in the hospital which is scheduled to open January 2014. We are scheduled to be in Togo for 7 weeks total.
Now back to Ebola, let me start by letting you know Togo is in West Africa. Its still separated by two countries and about 800 miles from Liberia. However, there was a passenger from Liberia who stopped in Lome, Togo before later getting off in Nigeria, where he died of Ebola. This raises the possibility that someone on the plane may have been exposed to Ebola, got off the plane in Togo, and could develop the disease. In fact, the team there is preparing for just that scenario.
So how do we deal with this scenario. Honestly, our initial reaction was fear. Why? Well we feared for the safety of ourselves, our children, and parents who we are going with us. Our next reaction was to ponder the various scenarios, and based on this try to calculate the risk involved. Was this the right way to react?
Honestly, I don't think so, and it's been a great test for us that will be invaluable in the future. You might wonder what I think was wrong. Was it Ok to have fear? Yes, that's a natural response, and I don't think it's avoidable. So what was wrong..... How should I deal differently with fear and tough decisions when they arise in the future?
My first reaction should have been to ask for God's help through prayer, reading scripture and seeking wise counsel. I believe that even in all of the earthly knowledge that I may gain or possess, my creator has infinitely more wisdom than me or any man on this earth. Job 38:4 gives God's response to Job's questions: "Where were you when I laid the earth's foundations?" This verse and the rest of the chapter gives us but a glimpse of the difference in our knowledge vs the wisdom of our all knowing God. Recently I've been praying for wisdom to make the right decision on whether to cancel our trip or to go.
In the past few weeks prior to learning about the risk of Ebola in Togo, I read Risk is Right: Better to Lose Your Life Than to Waste It by John Piper. If anyone is interested it's very short and very profound. I've started doing his daily devotional on desiring God. Yesterday the title of the devotion was Afraid of Death No More. Its based on Hebrews 2:14-15 and discussed how Jesus has destroyed the power of death, and can "deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery." In reality, I was scared of the possibility that one of my family members could die of Ebola. I was afraid of the possibility of death. Today the verse was 1 Corinthians 6:20, "For you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body." The way we live in our body should glorify God in all we do.
Through all of this, God has once again amazed me! Phillipians 4:6-7 says don't be anxious but pray about everything and the peace of God that passes all understanding will guard our hearts and minds. In the past few days, we now have peace that at this point we are to continue on our trip to Togo. To some this might not make sense. My answer to this, it makes perfect sense to follow an all knowing God wherever he leads. In case any of you are really worried about us, the risk of getting Ebola is probably extremely low. Only God knows what that risk is, and at this point we feel he wants us to go!
Please pray for us and our trip. Please pray that we would continue to rely on God for guidance in all that we do. Please pray for our family's safety. Please pray that the meeting in Togo would be led by God. Please pray for our trip to Mango that we would be able to gather important information to prepare to return in the future.
Thank you all for your partnership through prayer and support!
Thanks for your faithfulness and your example in following Jesus and His Word.
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