Togo Photo Diary Day 2

 

A mountain pass south of Kara on the main Togo highway.  It's about 3-4 hours south of Mango.

Togo Photo Diary Day 1

Since making my last post the internet has been down.  Our IT expert, Jon Edwards, returned today and its now working again.  Thank you Jon!

 

Additional seating Mango, Togo style.  Thanks to Josh and Jenny Farver for their hospitality!

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.

Nattier News August 2014

Our family and all of our bags have arrived safely in Togo!!  Thank you all for your prayers.  It's been 1 week today, and we are finally starting to get over jet lag. 

The kids have found lots of friends here to play with.  They have been chasing lizards, playing soccer, and attended a birthday party this week.  The older two started school Thursday.  My mom has been a huge help, because Natasha and I have both been busy at the hospital. 

The hospital and clinics have been booming, and the wards were completely full until yesterday afternoon.  It's busier than I remember from our trip three years ago.  The full time general Surgeon here, Dr. Eric Miller has fixed 4 femur fractures with Sign nails just this week.  I was able to help with two, and hopefully I will be proficient at this procedure by the time I leave. 

While the medical interventions do help to improve the lives of most, the stark realities of poor preventive healthcare and people presenting very late is everywhere.  As a result, one of the other short termers relayed, he has had at least 1 person die every day for the two weeks he has been here.  Almost everyone sees death all around.  One patient's brother relayed that this reality helped him make the decision to place his faith in Christ!

Ebola has still not entered Togo or it's neighbor's borders.  However, there is lots of false information going around on the radio.  One of these myths is that drinking hot salt water with onions may somehow prevent Ebola.  Several patients have come in sick from trying this home remedy.  Our chief of staff had educational meetings with the  hospital staff this week to try dispel these myths.  Please continue to pray for the affected countries, and the rest of West Africa during this Ebola epidemic.

The weather here has been very nice.  It's actually been unseasonably cool!  Highs in the low 80s, lows in the 60s with mist or rain every other day or so.  I still feel like it's hot in the hospital and operating room though it could certainly be worse. 

Today it's cool and raining.  In this picture you can see the mountain in the background has clouds and mist around the top of it.  In the front of the screen is a small termite hill.  There are some 3 and 4 times this tall around the area.    In the middle is the newest guesthouse.  We are staying in one that is very similar. 

Many of you have asked what we will be eating here in Togo.  This was our Friday night cuisine, Pizza.  The kitchen staff here are amazing cooks.  We do get some Togolese cuisine mixed in as well. 

There are a lot of teammates traveling for the meetings starting Monday - Wednesday August 25-27.  Please be in prayer for safe traveling and for a productive meeting.  It's very exciting to have so many teammates together and we want to seek God's direction for the medical ministries in Togo.  Please pray for wisdom and unity to be gained during our time together.

The day after the meeting we will be traveling to Mango.  Please pray for us to make the most of the 5 days we have there.  We are excited tell you all about Mango, our future home, very soon. 

We are so grateful for your continued partnership!

Nattier News July 2014

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!

Nattier News June 2014

Have you ever experienced God working through the events and happenings of your life?  Many times I take for granted the gifts and good things God sends our way.  Our recent experiences have absolutely blown us away and been a confirmation for us of God's calling.  We started sharing with people about 6 months ago the monetary needs we had in order to begin serving in Togo.  Our first church presentation was only 4 months ago.  In march we had less than 10% of our required monthly support.  We needed to have 50% of our monthly support by June 30th to attend the next required training.  To be honest, I had serious doubts whether we would reach that goal.  In the past month through the help of many of you, we have reached and exceeded 50%.  We have also been working hard to complete the other assignments.  Yesterday we got the official invitation to register for the EMC conference July 28 - August 1!!!!

This is not something that was accomplished through our hard work, though we have been working.  It was through God moving and meeting this need!  We are so grateful to our Lord and to those of you who are making the monetary sacrifice to partner with us. 

The past few months have been a learning experience for us.  We are gradually learning more and more to rely on God to provide.  He is Jehovah Jireh, and He will provide as we follow Him.

 

In just over 6 weeks we will be leaving to travel to Togo once again.  We will be spending 7 weeks there this time.  Please pray for us as we take our 4 kids, and my parents who have never been out of North America to remote West Africa. 

During the trip Natasha and I will be working at the hospital for the first few weeks.  Then we will be joining many of the missionaries there and some of the Doctors who are preparing to go for a Missions Summit.  We will be discussing the ministries of the two hospitals in Togo, vision, and strategies for the future.  We are very excited to meet other members of the team both missionaries and Togolese leaders and hear how God is already working in Togo.  Following that meeting we will be traveling to our future home in Mango.  We have never actually been there, so this is exciting for us.  Pictures can only show you so much, and we are ready to see Mango and the hospital with our own eyes.   We recently saw a picture of the hospital and were amazed with the progress.  

 

Please continue to pray for the construction team that they would be able to put the finishing touches on the facilities in time for the opening in January.  Please pray for the medical team who is working to get all the medical equipment to Mango and then setup.  Pray for our trip in August and September for safe travels, effective ministry, and for God to guide the strategy meeting. 

 

After July, our last required training is offered in April and November of 2015.  We must be at 85% in order to attend this training.  After that we will have met all of the training requirements and be ready to leave for language school after reaching 100%.  We are hoping to be ready to start language school in France at the beginning of the school year (September 2015).  For this to happen we must reach the 85% mark before the April training.  Please pray about whether God is leading you to partner with us as we take the Gospel to the unreached people groups in Northern Togo, Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso.  We know that God is already working in Togo, and we will be there full time whenever He is ready for us to start. 

 

Thank you for all your prayers and the encouragement we have received thus far.  We love to hear from you.  Our new ministry email is nattierstotogo@gmail.com.  Please send us emails with any questions you may have about us, our ministry or Togo.  We are beginning to schedule church visits for after we return from Togo in October.  If you or your church would be interested in learning more about how to partner with us in ministry, we would love you tell you more in person.

Nattier News April 2014

"God is good all the time. All the time, God is good." This line, taken from the recent hit movie God's Not Dead, has greatly impacted our thoughts lately. In doing a little research on this quote, we discovered that it actually originated in West Africa amongst Christian facing horrible persecution. It is incredible to see God at work all the time and a blessing to be able to join Him where He is working. As our excitement to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the people of West Africa is growing, the preparation that must be done often seems daunting. But even through the tedious endeavors God is continuing to reveal Himself and is teaching us to fully rely on Him.

At the time of our last post, we were at 18% of our required monthly support. In the past month, the Lord has increased this to 46%. He has done this through the faithfulness of many of you. God is good!

We count ourselves very blessed to have such great people partnering with us each step of the way. We couldn't do this without those of you whom God has called to share in this journey. We want to specifically thank our friend, Zach Santmier, who designed our prayer card (see updated back of card below). We would most certainly still be working on this without his help.

 

Since we last wrote, we celebrated the birthdays of our oldest two, Elli and Andrew (8 & 6). We all strapped on a pair of roller skates and had a blast just trying to stay on our feet. Their birthdays were a reminder of just how fast our time on earth goes... a good reminder to make our time here count. 

 

During spring break, we traveled to South Carolina and Georgia and were able to spend some time with family, friends, and Togo teammates. We came home from the trip physically tired but very spiritually recharged. We enjoyed reconnecting with close friends from our days in residency and an opportunity to speak at Edgefield First Baptist Church in Edgefield, SC. We were so warmly welcomed by all and feel very blessed by the chance to share about what God is doing. Our last stop on our trip was to see the Kendall's, our dear friends who will be serving with us in Togo. Our children (9 of them between our two families- all very close in age) were able to meet for the first time. How precious to see them all interact so sweetly and to become close friends so quickly.

 

 

 

 

Praise: Safe traveling and growth in monthly support

 

 

Prayer Requests

Please be in prayer for our teammates in Mango.  They are working hard to try and have everything ready for the hospital to open January 2015.  This is still not a guarantee.  We learned recently that they send about 15 patients every two week to the ABWE hospital 6 hours south who have urgent medical needs.  These are patients who can afford the trip.  They also relayed there are at least that many people just in the local area who can't afford the trip and are dying of treatable problems.  It is heartbreaking to hear this news, but it's taking a toll on them seeing the needs and not having the capabilities to intervene. 

 

Please pray for our trip to Togo in August.  We will be meeting many of our future team members and having a meeting to discuss goals for the medical ministries.  Please pray for us to see how God is directing rather than make plans from our limited human perspective. 

 

Continue to pray that we could reach 50% by July to attend the next training.