Nattier News September 2014

We have a had a very busy and enjoyable few weeks.  Last week we had meetings Monday through Wednesday to discuss the reasons for and potential impact of a surgical training program, ie PAACS in Togo.  It was a great time to meet many teammates and learn about what God is doing in Togo.  We were given the go ahead to begin making a proposal of how it could work at the hospitals here in Togo.  Please continue to pray for us as we seek God's guidance in how to use surgical training as a way of preparing Christian surgeons to be leaders and to someday take our place. 

The following day we set off on a 10 hour car ride with 15 people to our future home, Mango Togo.  The route was full of interesting sites.  It was also very clear that progress was being made in the form of road improvements.  The first two hours was spent on a dirt road with deep potholes.  The next 8 hours was a mixture of paved roads with scattered potholes, mountain passes, and newly paved roads.   When we finally arrived in Mango we were immediately amazed at the sight of the hospital.

We had some ideas of what Mango might look like from pictures and what others had told us.  In spite of that, I was completely amazed by the hospital and especially the operating rooms.  This will be an amazing facility for this area and we pray that God will use it to do great things.  You enter the surgery building through the outpatient holding area and recovery room, a significant upgrade from the facility in southern Togo.  Then there are 5 operating rooms that are very modestly sized.  All in all it would pass for an outpatient surgery center in the USA, which says a lot when you consider Togo is a third world country.

We greatly enjoyed spending time with some of our teammates.  Unfortunately about half of the team was home on furlough or taking a short break before the hospital opens.  There is still a lot of work to be done before the hospital opens.  Due to the Ebola situation, some of the work teams coming have canceled further complicating things.  Please be in prayer for those who continue to labor diligently on the hospital.  Please pray for our team that continues the hard work and many preparations to start a hospital in this very challenging environment. 



One of our goals for our trip was to figure out our housing situation.  We were able to stay in one of the houses on compound.  Most of the providers who will be taking call live on the compound.  We were also able to visit several of our teammates houses in the community.  There are upsides and downsides to each.  Right now there are no other houses suitable for a family of six on the compound, so we will have to wait on God's timing to figure this out. 

We are almost half way through our time here in Togo.  So far it's been a great time of fellowship, and yet we have done almost everything we were hoping to accomplish.  Natasha has been busy working in the hospital, so she is getting the hours she needs for recertification.  I have also spent time in the operating room, and it continues to amaze me at how much I have to learn.  The practice of medicine and surgery in Africa is quite different than in America.

Thank you for your continued support, and we continue to rely on your prayers!  We are excited to announce we are now at 71% of our monthly support.  We continue to be amazed out how God provides.  When we return we will be looking for churches to share about the work in Togo.  Please be in prayer for open doors with churches and individuals.  We still need to reach 85% by March for our next training.  If you want to hear more about the ministry in Togo, please contact us.  As always, we love to hear from you!  I'm going to try and post a picture from our trip every day for the next few weeks as the internet permits, so check back frequently.