December Nattier News

As another new year approaches, we wanted to take a few moments to reflect back and share with all of you, a bit more of our life/work here in Togo and a story of how we have seen God at work this past year. We hope that all of you had a very merry Christmas and were able to spend time with family and friends celebrating the birth of our Savior.  We miss you, think of you all often, and as always, we are very thankful for your continued support.  We have been staying quite busy with our work here in Togo, but we have still found time to enjoy a few festivities with our friends.  We were even able to run a Turkey Trot here in Mango!  Everyone in the family was able to finish, and it was a lot of fun.  Some of our Togolese friends joined us for the run as well.

The first part of December, we had the privilege of hosting all of our coworkers from the Operating Room and their families for a holiday party.  A good time was had by all.  It was great to play games with them and their families.  The kids had fun swinging and jumping on our trampoline, which are pretty uncommon activities for most of the kids here.  The guys played an intense game of can-jam and the women were able to enjoy good conversation in between keeping a close eye on all the adorable littles  We were so busy enjoying the evening that we didn't think to snap any photos until the end of the night with a few of the babies.  This first little guy with Natasha is just 3 weeks younger than Mély.  There are lots of babies within our team~ here was Bryce's little buddy.

It has been hard to describe some of the things we face here on a daily basis.  Many of these things are good, others are challenges that can be frustrating but become just part of life here.  For example, car problems are normal anywhere, but here we add not having access to needed parts or mechanics who have the necessary tools and training to repair the problem well.  There is also a great difference here in the suffering that we see.  Often times, this is linked to medical problems that have not been treated in a timely matter due to lack of money or access to medical care.  Some of these can have good outcomes in the end, while others do not.  Yet amidst all the frustration and suffering, we sometimes get a glimpse of how God is at work.
Here is a situation we recently experienced~   During our last trip to Lomé, to get our van repaired (for the umpteenth time), we experienced a number of challenges.  One included the car dying at 5 AM in the morning, just after having received it back from the mechanic.  It refused to start again, which was even more problematic because we had already loaded the car with all of our supplies and people to head back to Mango.  I called the mechanic, who drove over right away, though it took a little over an hour.  When he arrived, he needed to call an electrician to get the car started.  While we waited, we started making small talk.  I talked a little about the work in Mango, and he started to tell me about his older brother who had broken his leg about 6 months ago.

He had broken his leg in a moto accident, and initially had gone to a hospital in Lomé.  While there, he was probably told he needed a surgery, but that he would need to pay the money in full before the surgery would be done.  The cost of the surgery was around 3-4, million CFA (roughly 6-8 thousand dollars).  This is obviously a lot of money, even to many in America.  He decided to see a traditional healer instead since the cost was much less.  His leg was placed in a splint with wood and a bandage and the leg was massaged often.  His fracture didn't heal, so 6 months later he still couldn't walk, and he still didn't have enough money to get the surgery in Lomé.

I proceeded to explain that we perform this surgery at the Hospital of Hope and our cost is about 1/10th the price.  My mechanic talked to his brother, and they made the 8 hour trip from Lomé to Mango for a consultation.  His brother was brought in on a stretcher.  He really couldn't move around on his own.  He wasn't even walking with crutches like many of our patients with similar fractures when they arrived.  They came ready to have surgery, so we scheduled it for the following week.   We performed the surgery, removing the unhealed edges of the fracture and placed a Sign nail inside his femur to stabilize the fracture until it healed.  You can see this well with our digital X-rays, which are a huge help and much better quality than at the other hospitals in our area.

He returned for his visit two weeks later, and he was already able to walk a little without crutches.  In the mean time, his brother the mechanic returned to Lomé with my car and made further repairs.  He returned to pickup his brother after his appointment.  We were able to share a meal together at our home and hear a little more about their experience while he was here in Mango getting to know other patients from all over Togo and Burkina Faso.

This highlights just one of the many stories we are able to experience here in Mango.  In fact this is 1 of nearly 100 cases of fractures that have been fixed this year with the Sign nail system at HOH.  Many of these patients come in unable to walk, or would not have been able to walk for months or years.  Roughly 1/2 of these are new fractures and others are weeks or months old.   Most of them hear about our hospital from former patients or their family and friends.  It is a blessing to be able to provide care to patients who otherwise could not afford it. Many times this is life changing on many levels. 

Many of you are part of these stories as well through your giving, and we would like to again say thank you!

We would also like to let you know about an opportunity to further support the work and the patients here in Mango.  We are currently trying to raise funds for more housing for our patients while they are staying here (ie: to receive treatments, ongoing wound care, and/or for those awaiting for or recovering from surgery).  There currently is not enough space for all of the patients who come.  Many of them end up sleeping outdoors.  We also are also hoping to make some needed improvements to the floors in the operating room to improve sterility and reduce infections for our patients. Here is a link if you are interested in giving in this way. https://hospitalofhope.cmail19.com/t/ViewEmail/d/DEA52BED5A4348C72540EF23F30FEDED/649C44CD1643B15105263A35EB2CBB57

Praises and Prayer Requests

Family

We recently picked up Natasha's parents who are with us for 5 weeks to include Christmas.  We are excited to spend some time with them and show them all that is God is doing here in Mango.

Medical work

We are very thankful for your prayers for surgical coverage.  There are several surgeons who will be coming to help Bryce over the next few months.  John Briggs, our other surgical provider recently left,  and we have already had the first surgeon arrive to help.    

August 2018 Nattier News

Since our last update we were able to spend a wonderful time with family in America.  Natasha's youngest sister got married, and this was a great opportunity to see our family and take a little break/vacation.  It was very special to spend time together, introduce Mély, and meet our new nephews and niece.

Our trip back to Togo became a bit of an adventure with our initial flight being canceled due to our "would be plane" being struck by lightning on its arrival to Atlanta.   We subsequently had flights rescheduled for the next day.  In addition when we finally arrived in Togo, all of our luggage, containing supplies for the next couple of years, was lost.   It did all eventually arrive over the course of the next 2 weeks.  Added to that, our van, which we had left in the Lome, the capital of Togo, wouldn't start.  So we ended up spending a few extra days in the capital city.  On our drive back, our clutch started going out in our van. We were thankful to arrive safely in Mango, but the car couldn't safely be driven back to Lomé where there is better access to parts and mechanics.  We were able to find someone in Mango who could do the needed work, although he had to search in Ghana for several days before finally finding the parts in Accra, the capital of Ghana.

The Lord has been teaching us many lessons on this journey, but one of them is to take these challenges one at a time.  Many times we have a tendency to worry or be anxious about these details when problems arise.  When many of them come up in a small time frame they can certainly become overwhelming.  It has been so helpful to trust these details to the Lord, and take them one by one as they come.  Jesus says in Mathew 6:34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble".  This verse has been a really good reminder for us.  It's also been a good challenge for us to see what we are putting our hope, our faith and our confidence in.  If it is in our own self, our own strength, or our own abilities, we have reason to worry.  However, we put our hope in the Lord who is all knowing, all powerful and who is able to do all things.  When we truly trust these details to Him, there is no reason for worry even when problems come.  This is not to say that everything is always going to go the way we want it to go, because it doesn't.  However, God is good, He doesn't change and we can put our confidence and hope in Him and his plans for our lives.    

This month we celebrated 1 year in Togo.  In many ways it is hard to believe we've already been here for a year.  We have already learned a lot about this country and its people, but we still have so much to learn. We are thankful for the opportunities we have to build relationships and become a part of the community here.  We work with a wonderful group of people at the hospital from all over Togo and the world. It is a blessing to play a small part in the work God is doing here. Our children are also becoming more invested in our community, making friends, and enjoying their last few days of summer break. It is common here for young girls to help take care of their younger siblings while their mamas work. Sofia is determined to get Mély on her back soon, like her friends- this is no small feat.

Praises and Prayer Requests

Family

August 2 we also celebrated 15 years of marriage. We are beyond grateful for all that God has taught us and done in our lives these past 15 years, and we look forward to many more years of service/growth together.  Natasha started back to work this past week after taking some time off after Mély's birth. She is excited to be seeing patients again but with every transition comes new challenges. Our three oldest children will also start back to school this coming week. Please continue to pray for us as a family, as we once again attempt to settle into a new "normal" schedule and desire to be  good ambassadors for Jesus to our community.

Team

Please be praying for our two teachers as they wade through all the challenges of beginning a new school year and attempt to teach children of all different ages in just two classrooms.
Medical: We continue to see a steady stream of patients with wide ranging medical problems.  In fact, recently it's been extremely busy on the surgical service.  During the rainy season we see patients with holes in their intestines caused by typhoid infections they get from drinking contaminated water.  Please pray for our patients, many of whom are very ill, that they would see God's love through the care they receive.  We recently had a patient from several countries away who came with a non healed leg fracture.  He had heard about the care here from a former patient who had the same problem.  He came a few days later, and we will soon repair his femur fracture.  With this increasing word of mouth advertisement, we need help when the other surgeon here takes a 4 month break.  Please pray with us for God to provide surgeons to help Bryce from December 2018 through the end of April 2019 as he will otherwise be the only surgeon here during this time.  Please also pray with us for two surgeons and their families who will be starting language learning in France this month before coming here to join us in a little more than a year.

April/May 2018 Nattier News

We are excited to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Mélyna 

(May lee na) Hope Nattier.  She was born on April 7, 2018 weighing 7 pounds 2 oz or 3.24 Kg. She was the first baby to be born from our team at our hospital. We have seen God's hand of provision in many ways and we are so thankful for all those who provided such excellent care as our sweet little Mély entered the world. We were blessed to have a wonderful delivery team.  

Mély was part of a record setting month here at HOH with more than 80 other babies being born.  Two of these babies were born to our friends and colleagues who work with us in the operating room and labor and delivery.  It has been especially fun to go through this with them over the past 9 months and now watch these precious children as they grow.

Natasha's first trip to the market with Mély on her back.  She was a little concerned that she would become the first white women to drop her baby in the market........  all went well.

Since our last newsletter we have seen a change in the weather here in northern Togo.  We are currently in the midst of HOT season. So much so that our baby monitor is constantly alarming that the temperature is too hot- lol.   This was one of the things we weren't sure how we would handle individually and as a family.  We are thankful that in many ways the first half of the season has been a bit milder than normal this year, but it's still very warm.  We have also been blessed by a few rains.  After over 4 months without rain, it's so nice to have these cooler breezes and a reprieve in the temperatures that last for a few hours.

We have been seeing a steady stream of patients at the hospital.  There are always ups and downs, but in general the word seems to be getting out about the compassionate healthcare being provided here.  During first 4 months of this year we have fixed over 20 fractures with Sign nails.  This is a program in the USA that donates orthopedic equipment in exchange for providing followup data about our demographics and surgical outcomes.  This is especially helpful as this sort of equipment would otherwise be very expensive, and it's higher quality materials than many of the other facilities in Togo are able to offer.  Recently there have been strikes in the healthcare sector for several reasons, but partly due to the lack of access to many of the supplies needed to provide medical care in even the larger hospitals.  During these times, our hospital has been the only choice for many types of emergency and surgical care.  Please continue to pray with us for improvements in the infrastructure and healthcare here that would greatly decrease physical suffering of those around us.  Please also pray with us for wisdom to know how to best help in this low resource environment.  Some of you may have read a book called When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor.... And Yourself.  We often wrestle with many of the issues raised in this book here in Togo.

The beginning of May brought with it several occasions for celebration. We had the opportunity to celebrate our department supervisors and to recognize them for all their hard work and leadership. Also, the 1st of May is the Togolese labor day. This is a big event here, celebrated with a parade through town, matching tee-shirts for all hospital employees, a picnic lunch and games. We had a lot of fun celebrating the day with our team, colleagues, and friends.  

Our kids have been working very hard this past school year and continue to work diligently as the end of another grade is now in sight. The past 6 weeks they have each been working on a big project called the living wax museum. They each chose a character of interest, someone who has made a difference in history. They read books and researched their people, wrote reports and speeches, created posters, collected props, and created costumes transforming themselves into their characters (we have to get a little more creative here with no walmart, target, or amazon to save us at the last minute). The culmination of all their efforts was an open house this past Friday when all the children, 1st grade through 8th, set up their booths and became their characters in order to share the impact they have made in history. They all did such a great job!

Elli as Amelia Earhart

Andrew as George Washington Carver

Sofia as Annie Oakley

In just a few short days we will be headed back to the America to attend the wedding of Natasha sister. We are so looking forward to this this event, seeing family, meeting and introducing new family members, and some much needed/anticipated R&R. Amazingly, it has been 2 1/2 years since we’ve been in the States. While we wish we had time to visit with each of you, this trip will be all too brief. We do, however, greatly look forward to catching up with all of you when we are home on furlough in 2020. And as always, we DO love hearing from you whether via emails, letters, etc, so please let us know what’s new and how we can be praying for you! 

Praises and Prayer Requests

Family

We are so thankful for God’s protection of Natasha and Mélyna during the birth here in Togo.  She is such a precious blessing.

The passport application for Mély went smoothly and quickly and her passport is now in country and ready for our pick up. Thus, she will soon get her first glimpses of the US. Thank you for all who were praying for this specifically.

We are also thankful for DSL internet.  Limited internet has made many things here challenging.  This will improve our ability to communicate and get things we need for the work here.  We are thankful for even these small improvements in the infrastructure.

Team

We are so thankful that up to this point God has protected us from Lassa Fever.  We haven’t had a case at our hospital this year!   We are still on the lookout, since there have been many cases of Lassa in Nigeria, and we regularly see patients coming from even this far away.

Our team is currently doing well.  We have recently had a new medical teammate arrive, and we are looking forward to the return of others soon.  This will lighten some of the heavy loads being carried.   We still have many needs especially in the surgical department.  We can always benefit from short term surgeons from the end of 2018 and all of 2019.  We have many patients who could especially benefit from surgical subspecialties like urology, pediatrics plastics, and orthopedics.  We also need nurses!  Please let us know if you would like more information.

January Nattier News

Happy New Year from Togo! 

With a new year now upon us, we reflect back on all the many ways we have seen God at work in our lives and the lives of those around us, and we look forward with anticipation to how He will continue to work in the days, months, and years ahead. This last year has once again brought a lot of change for our family as we have finished language school and our time in France and have begun transitioning to life and ministry on yet another continent. Through it all, we have clearly sensed God’s provision and protection in our lives and while the change has not always been easy, we know God is growing and changing us through the process. We are especially thankful for the relationships we are developing and beginning to deepen with our teammates and Togolese friends. Relationships often take time to develope and sometimes the process can seem slower than we would like, but we are seeing progress and this has been a great source of encouragement to us. 

A few days after arriving at our new home, we met a man who is skilled at gardening, so we asked him if he would be willing to help us start a garden. The ground and climate are very different here than in the States, so it has been very helpful having someone knowledgable help us with this process. A few months ago, our gardner arrived at our home early one morning to tell us his wife had just delivered her 8th child. She delivered unexpectedly at home the night before but came to see Natasha in clinic the next morning. The baby needed to be admitted to our hospital for a week during which time we were able to visit her frequetly and begin getting to know her. When they were released from the hospital, we had the privalege of taking them back to their home in town, where we were invited in and able to meet the rest of their family and many of their neighbors and extended family. We were also later invited to a baptism ceremony for their son. We are thankful for the opportunities we have been given to get to know this family and are excited to see how God will continue to grow our relationship with them. 

Life here/daily tasks seem to be more labor intensive and take longer than they did in the States. With no grocery store or fast food restaurants near by, everything must be planned for in advance. Thinking of making a quiche for dinner, you know, the one that only takes 5 minutes to throw together. Think again, first you must prepare and shred the chicken as there is no canned chicken here. Then you must clean the eggs in bleach water which take about 20 minues and crack each one individually into a seperate bowl before adding them to the bunch to avoid throwing out the mixture due to a rotton one. Then you must shred the cheese by hand and make sure you have enough cream because it cannot be purchased locally. For some of you reading this, this might not seem like a big deal but for this girl, who was used to purchasing pre-made pie crusts, packages of shredded chesse, and canned chicken, this has been an adjustment. Getting away from the topic of food, we currently find ourselves in the season of harmattan. This means cooler temperatures during the nights and early mornings, but also lots of dust and allergies. For example, our floors can be mopped and every surface wiped down but in a short amount of time they will once again be covered with a fine layer of dust in which we could write our names. We provide these examples with an edge of humor but for us, this is life. For this reason, we are extremely greatful for several ladies who work alongside us in our home, enabling both Bryce and I to work in the hospital and clinics as well as fulfill other ministry commitments while attempting to find a sustainable pace in it all. They also provide great French practice as they are not afraid to correct us, which is still very much needed. These women and their families have become good friends and important part of our family. We enjoy working alongside them and socializing with them as well. 

In December we were able to enjoy a movie night together and also bake and decorate Christmas cookies with them and their children. We are so thankful for their friendship, the help they provide, and these relationships that are growing deeper. 

We spent a few days around new years with colleagues in the capital city of Lomé.  We had the wonderful job of welcoming new teammates, our friends from language school, the Wreesmans as they arrived in Togo.  We have been very short on medical providers at the hospital, so they will provide a much needed help there.  We are also excited to have another long term family here on our team to build relationships here in Mango.  God is at work here.  In the past few months we have seen fruit from the work here in Mango in the form of several baptisms.  This is especially encouraging as we work hard to meet the very significant medical needs in this part of the world.

I have been amazed to see the size of the region we serve here especially on the surgical service.  We regularly treat patients from the capital city of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou.  It's about 6 hours away by bus.  This would be a little like people coming from Chicago, IL for medical care in smaller Dayton, OH.   We also see patients coming from the capital city of Lomé which is 10 hours away.  This would be a little like people traveling form New York City to Dayton.   Dr. Huber, my surgical partner here has named our surgical group Big Radius Surgical Group (BRSG) due to the large area thtat people come.  It seems pretty fitting.  Here is a picture of the two of us operating together.  We are so thankful for him and his family being here.  They are such a huge encouragement to us in many ways.

Several have asked us recently for more of a glimpse into our lives and ministries here in Togo, so we hope we have been able to do that in this letter. We are thankful for the opportunity God has given us to be here in Togo, and we are excited to see how God is going to continue to work this next year.  Thank you for those of you who faithfully support us in this work.   We wouldn't be here without you! As always, we love hearing from you and how we can be lifting you all up in prayer. We have been asked if we can receive mail, and the answer is yes. Let us know if you would like our address!

Prayer Requests

Family

Please continue to pray for Natasha to have a healthy pregnancy.  She is due in early April.

Our newsletter was finished over 4 weeks ago.  We have been unable to publish it due to the poor internet.  Please pray that a company named Togotelecom could finish running DSL to the hospital and the houses on our compound.  This could help many of us on our team save a lot of time that is spent trying to send and receive important information.  This is something we definitely took for granted before living here in Togo.

Team

Our team is currently a bit short handed.  We are expecting more medical providers this next summer, but we have significant needs until then.  After the summer, Bryce may be the only surgeon here at times.  Please pray for more short term surgeons like the Hubers.  If you know of medical or surgical providers or nurses who may be interested in serving alongside us, please contact us.

Please also pray for our team as we are preparing for Lassa Fever.  It's still relatively new to our team and this region, and we are working to be well prepared this year.  Please pray for stamina, wisdom and protection for our staff.