The last several months have been quite eventful. Unfortunately, some of these things we are unable to share in this format, but suffice it to say, God has been at work here in Mango. We will give you a glimpse of a few of the recent events:
The Hospital of Hope celebrated its 10th anniversary the end of February. It is difficult to even begin to do justice to all the the Lord has accomplished in the past 10 years. From incredible highs of seeing new believers from unreached peoples, to the lows of losing teammates and mentors. One thing has been clear, God is accomplishing his mission in this region, and he is using the Hospital of Hope. We are thankful for the opportunities to see his faithfulness and provisions during many different seasons over the years.
Backing up a few months- Christmas is a time of year when we really miss family. This past Christmas, we were blessed to be able to celebrate with Bryce's youngest sister, her husband, and our niece and nephews. The holidays were full of sharing experiences of our Togo life and ministry, working together in the hospital and clinics, eating local foods, and embracing some of our Togo holiday traditions. Additionally, we saw the benefits and blessings of having a physical therapist here. Jordan was highly sought after and his training has enabled one of our nurses to continuing doing some physical therapy with a few of our patients. Elise put her PA skills to work in the OB/Gyn and surgery clinics as she worked alongside both of us. They were both great additions to our medical team. It was such an encouragement to our crew to have family here with us.
In our last update, we had shared about a family with three children who required major abdominal surgery for holes in their intestines due to typhoid infections. Three others were also suffering from typhoid fever, but did not yet have perforations. We thank the Lord for his protection of this family. The oldest brother in the family, speaks their mother tongue, Konkomba and French well. We have gotten to know him and his family over the past few months. It's complicated with his father having children with 5 different women, 4 of them who are his current wives. It was the children from the youngest wife, who we were able to treat. The father is the brother of the chief of his village. The entire village has been watching as this family went through this time of physical illness. They were actually shocked that none of the children died, but rather have all returned to the village with some in better health than before. Praise the Lord for this testimony. They gave us the opportunity to share the Jesus film in their village. This village is a bit remote, and we needed to wait until after the river dried up to go by car. During the showing of the film we had more than 500 people come and watch attentively. They clapped and cheered as Jesus preformed miracles and engaged as the story unfolded. Please pray for this village, that the Lord will continue to grow the church there. It's more than a 1 hour drive from the hospital, so it's difficult to go regularly, but the Lord has allowed continued opportunities to invest in the older brother. There have also been continued opportunities for our national partners to work in this area. They are looking at doing a bible study training in this region in the coming months, to train leaders.
Another update from our last newsletter, Afi has returned to Mango. This was initially due to an infection related to her operation. However, the Lord has used this challenge, to allow her opportunities to develop skills she can use in the future. To make a long story short, she trained as a seamstress in Niger. Unfortunately, her certification is no good here in Togo. Additionally, due to her illness, she really hasn't been around people for the last 5 years plus. She has been trying to figure out her life, and what's next. Natasha has been able to come alongside her in several ways including a weekly bible study with several women of various faith backgrounds. They are currently studying in Luke. Additionally, we were able to connect Afi with a trainer in sewing who can allow her to get the necessary refresher course, enabling her to take the exam and receive certification in Togo in a shorter time than would normally be required. God has been doing so much in her life to show her He is the one true God and that he cares for her deeply. If you'd like to hear more, we would love to share. She has decided to stay here in Mango and is living with an ex-pat friend. Please pray for her as the Lord continues to work in her life. Pray for his leading as she works out future plans.
We had mentioned Abou in our last update. His medical and social situation was beyond complicated to say the least. We are so thankful for the team at Bethany Kids in Kijabe, Kenya who cared for him through a long process of pneumonia, surgical resection of his esophagus that lead to a long complicated course on the ventilator postoperatively. Sadly, Abou passed away, but it has been clear that he has touched many of us in the time we cared for him. We don't know ultimately all that God accomplished in our midst, but we continue to pray for his mother. She comes from a very difficult family situation, but our teammates have continued to pour into her life. Please pray for her and our teammate Katelyn. During a recent trip to Kenya, we were able to visit Abou's grave, which was provided through a ministry in at Kijabe called "He turns graves into gardens".
We just returned from an annual conference for PAACS first year residents in Kenya. They additionally hold a faculty development tract and course for spouses and children. It was a great opportunity to hear from other programs around the continent of how God is working, but also how we can be praying for and supporting one another. Many of us have similar challenges within our work. It's an encouragement to hear how not only how God is working, but also how he has provided solutions in some of these situations. It's helpful as our program is still just in its infancy. We welcomed our third class of residents this past January, who have already been great additions to the program. PAACS is built on 2 Timothy 2:2. "What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also". Here we can see multiple generations and the idea of discipleship in passing along what we have learned to the next generation. During the conference, I was able to introduce these first year residents to one of my mentors from residency, the chairman of surgery at the Medical College of Georgia during my training, Bruce Macfadyen. He impacted my life in many ways including connecting us with ABWE and the work in Togo during my final year in residency. It was neat to introduce these two to Dr. Mac, and cast a vision to them for continuing to pass on our faith along with the practice of medicine and surgery to future generations.
Prayer
Our Family: Please pray for our preparation for return in May 2025 back to Greenville, SC. There are many details to be worked through as you can probably imagine. We would greatly appreciate your prayers. Please pray for us as we attend the debriefing conference as well. There are many blessings but also many challenges to the medical missions work we have been doing during our time overseas. We are hoping to work through some of the struggles we have faced during the past 10 years as individuals and as a family. There will be others in similar situations from around the world, who will be attending. Please pray for the Alongside staff who will be working with us as well.
Our Team is currently going through a season of great transition. Our team leader and his family left to return to their home country a few weeks ago. Our team here is currently searching for a new team leader to help lead one of the largest teams in our mission. Please pray with us for this search.
Our PAACS team: We praise the Lord for our current group of residents. Please continue to pray for them by name: Sweni, Arung, Patiente, Josue and Franck. It's clear that they are growing in many ways during their time in the program. It's not easy, and the 3 seniors listed first will be sitting for exams in September 2025 with the College of Surgeons of Eastern, Central, Southern Africa (COSECSA). They are required to pass or will be required to repeat the 2nd year of training. Please also pray for their spiritual growth as we serve together at our two Togo hospitals.
