March Nattier News

There are several biblical references to our life being like a race.  One example is Hebrews 12:1-2.  "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

The ministry in Togo was recently compared to a Triatholon which has 3 very different components that are all part of the race: the swim, the bike and the run.  In order to open a new hospital in Mango, Togo 5.5 million dollars had to be raised - The swim.  Then the hospital and supporting buildings had to be built, which required about 6 years of construction to complete - The bike.  Well this Monday, March 2, the marathon of operating a mission hospital in a 3rd world country officially began.  On the first day around 200 patients were seen, the clinic visits for the rest of the week were filled before lunch, 9 patients were admitted to the hospital and 2 patients needed urgent operations.   We are already hearing exciting stories from our teammates of the amazing ways that God is working through the hospital ministry. 

 

Here is a picture of some of our teammates American and Togolese that were working diligently to make all the preparations needed to get the hospital running and now operate it day to day.

Here is a picture of the Togolese hospital staff in their clothes made of the Hospital of Hope fabric for the opening ceremony.

Our journey to start meeting the physical and spiritual needs in Togo is progressing as well.  We are a little earlier in the process with the triathlon analogy.  We are still in part 1 of 3, which entails raising funds to cover the costs of living and working in Togo. There have been many new people partner with us on the journey, and we are now around 90% of our monthly support.  We continue to be amazed at those of you who are joining our team and those who continue to faithfully give.  All the funds that are given now continue to accumulate towards our one time expenses.  

The second part of our race will involve moving to France to study French.  The national language of Togo is French.  It is spoken by the educated half of Togo and will allow us to communicate.  There are a number of tribal languages spoken as well, but we will wait to learn those to some extent in Togo.  After we complete an intermediate level of French training we will head to Togo to begin this journey of ministering in Togo.  We have really enjoyed answering questions like these as we have been with our sending church, University Baptist Church, this past week.  If you have other questions please feel free to email us.  If we see a recurring question, it will help us to share it in a format like this with others who may be interested.

Prayer Requests:

1.  Our Family - We have had a brief break in our travel that was much needed, but we are hitting the road again in the next few months.  We will also be separated from our kids for a number of weeks for training.  Please pray for us, our kids, and our parents during this time.  Please pray for good health as we've recently battled some colds that is even more challenging with traveling and being away from kids.

2.  Our Ministry - We are praising God for many new partners.  Please continue to pray for us as we share the needs in Togo.  Our team is still in need of teachers, nurses, surgeons and anesthesiologists to name a few.  If you know people that are interested in short or long term service in Togo contact us or check out the link for Hospital of Hope's website here http://hospitalofhopemango.org/.

3.  Our Team - We are praising God for the success of the opening ceremony which included a visit from the President of Togo.  The opening of the hospital seems to have occurred with great success as well.  Please continue to pray for our team as they begin the grueling task of meeting the great medical and physical needs of the area. 

Upcoming Events:

March 15 - Ten Mile Baptist Church

April 1 – Woodland Baptist Church

April 27 – May 7 - Field Prep Seminar in Harrisburg, PA

May 30 – June 6 – Crescent Project in Minneapolis, MN

December Nattier News

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

 

 

Have you ever had an aha moment?  As I have been reflecting on Christmas this year, I have had a few.  First off, it is so easy to forget about the gift of Christ during all of the hustle and bustle of Christmas.  Second, Christ coming to earth was a model for Missions.  Listen to what Jesus said in his prayer in John 17:18, "As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world."  Jesus came and he changed everything.  He left perfect Heaven to come to earth as the incarnate Christ, and he delivered from the father "the words you gave me" John 17:8.  Some of these most important words include the Great Commandment (to first love God and to second love others) and the Great Commission (to go tell this good news and make disciples).  As disciples of Christ we are to always be about this mission.  So this Christmas as you remember the gift of Christ coming to earth, let's also consider the mission that He started and that He sent us into the world to do!

We were blessed to have the opportunity speak at Harmony Baptist Church in Frankfurt Indiana last Sunday.  We are excited to be at Valier First Baptist Church in Valier, IL this coming Sunday December 28.  We still have lots of open Sundays, and we are looking for churches who would like to know more about what God is doing in Togo.  If you would be interested, please contact us soon because our schedule is filling up!

We are so thankful to report we are up to 82% of our monthly funding.  Thank you to all of you who have helped us get this far.  We are only 1300 dollars per month from being completely funded.  Would you consider partnering with us as a monthly financial supporter to help us meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people of northern Togo and West Africa?  We also have a large need for our one time expenses.  We are at 52% of the needed funds.  This will cover our language school, our plane tickets for round trip, a vehicle, a house, and a container with shipping to deliver our household goods.  All of the money you are contributing now goes to meet those needs.  However, with just the current giving from our monthly support we will be waiting until 2016 before being fully funded in our one time expenses.  Would you consider giving a one time gift?  If you mail or process electronically before December 31, you can still get tax credit for the 2014 calendar year.  The link to give is http://www.abwe.org/give and our id/account number is 0135751.

Prayer requests:

1)  Our Family - We still have many things to be done in preparation.  Please pray that we would be able to be efficient and glorify God in completing the sometimes daunting list of necessary tasks to prepare to leave.

2)  Our Ministry - We have been amazed at how God provides and we want to praise him for this.  Please continue to pray for open doors and opportunities to share about the ministry in Togo.  Would you pray that churches and individuals would partner with us financially, in prayer, and with their time to bring the hope found in Jesus to Togo.

3)  Our Team - The opening of the Hospital of Hope on March 2, 2015 is quickly approaching.  Praise God that a group of short term American nurses have arrived, which is a huge boost in manpower.  There is still a lot of work to be done in sorting and organizing supplies.  There is also a lot of training to be done for the nursing aides and ancillary staff.  Please pray for them as they make these necessary but not always enjoyable preparatory steps.

4)  Ebola - Please pray that the current epidemic would come to an end.  Pray also that God will use it to move in amazing ways in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone.

Upcoming Events:
December 28 - Valier First Baptist Church
February 22 - Oak Street Baptist Church
March 1 - University Baptist Church
April 27 - May 7 - Field Prep Seminar, Harrisburg, PA

 

 

November Nattier News

The past several months have been extremely eventful in this journey the Lord is leading us on.  We left the military, moved out of our house, traveled to Togo, moved to a new city (Lafayette, Indiana), and started a new job.  While it has been exhausting mentally and physically, we are so thankful for our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has protected and sustained us throughout the constant change. 
We are also thankful to all of you who are supporting us through your prayers and financial gifts which helped us to travel to Togo.

God worked greatly during our trip this summer. We had a chance to work with the new anesthetists, nurses and surgical techs that are preparing for the Hospital of Hope in Mango, Togo. They are a great group of young Togolese Christians, and we are so excited to minister to them and with them in the future. The opening of the hospital had to be delayed from January 8th to March 2nd, due to a combination of challenges to include delayed arrival of necessary equipment and work teams canceling in response to the Ebola epidemic.

 

This picture was taken just outside the gates in front of the Hospital of Hope (Hopital de l'Esperance).  The hospital construction continues to progress despite the delayed opening.  Here is a couple of pictures from the center of the hospital building.

 

 

 

The nurses station will be centered where you see the work benches in this last picture.  Since this picture the ceilings have been placed and the nurses station has at least been started.  Please continue to pray with us for the many people that are laboring on all the tasks it takes to open a new hospital.  There is still much work to be done before the March opening.

 

Our monthly support is up to 76%.  That means we are only 24% from being fully funded.  Many of you have asked us what we have left before we leave for our language training in France en route to Togo.  We have a couple more required trainings in the spring.  Our next financial deadline for training is 85% support before March, 2015.  The current Ebola epidemic has brought to the public eye the great medical needs of West Africa.  Will you help us, so we can begin to meet the great physical and spiritual needs in Togo?  You can learn more about how to partner with us in meeting these needs at the following link http://www.nattiers.blogspot.com/p/give-now.html

 

If you or your church would be interested in hearing more about what is going on in Togo, please contact us at nattierstotogo@gmail.com.  We will begin listing our upcoming speaking events at the bottom of our posts.

 

Prayer requests:

 

1) Our family - Please continue to pray for our family as we prepare to go.  We are spending a lot of time in the car on the road.  Please pray for safe travels and wise parenting within the confines of our van. 

 

2) Our ministry - Will you please pray with us that God would lead people to provide the remaining monthly support?  We know that God has called us to go, and he has called people that will help us go through their financial support.  Please pray that we would share the great needs of Togo clearly and appropriately with individuals and churches.

 

3) Our team -  They are in the final few months of construction and preparations before the grand opening March 2, 2015.  Please pray for the arrival of the remaining equipment and teams to finish the physical plant.  Please pray for all of the new Togolese employees as they will be moving their families 10 hours north from the current hospital in Tsiko to Mango.  Please pray for the setup as they begin putting all of the equipment and donated supplies in place to start providing medical care. Please pray for this preparation and their unity throughout the many stresses.

 

4) Ebola - Please pray with us for the 3 countries of Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, which are battling this horrible virus.  We were just at a medical missions conference in Louisville, KY last week.  We heard stories from the Brantly's and others about the harsh conditions and fear in treating this disease.  Their is great fear of Ebola in this country even though we've had only a few isolated cases. Imagine the reality of living in the three effected countries who are witnessing the devastation of Ebola in family, friends, and neighbors daily.  Please pray with us for these people who are truly suffering.  Please pray for the healthcare workers that are trying to provide much needed medical care.  We recently learned that a Christian surgeon who was trained in one of the PAACS surgery training programs and returned to his home country of Sierra Leone has tested positive for Ebola.  Please pray specifically for Dr. Martin Salia. 

 

Upcoming events:

November 16 - Shandon Baptist Church, Columbia, SC

February 22 - Oak Street Baptist Church, Flora IL

March 1 - University Baptist Church, Beavercreek OH

 

 

 



Togo Photo Diary Day 15

Here is Natasha with Lydia Pfenniger and the OB nursing staff.  It has been very hard as we say goodbye to the wonderful team here!  We start the road back home today as we head back to Lome, the capital of Togo to spend some time with our Regional director.

Togo Photo Diary Day 14

Finished up my last day in the operating room today.  Then I had a very special treat.  Eric Miller and I were able to take out all of the surgical techs and Anesthetists (except David and Pataka who held down the fort at the hospital) for burgers in Kpalime.  It was a great time of fellowship.  The van ride with 16 people was full of craziness.  Everyone in the first picture will be leaving Tsiko for Mango in the next few months.  I have really enjoyed getting to know my future Mango team!

 

This is Dr. Eric Miller the full time general surgeon here in Tsiko with the whole crew (Missing David Dagadou and Bataka).

Togo Photo Diary Day 13

Natasha took this photo while she was waiting to receive the baby from a C-section.  Fred Pfenniger in the blue and his wife Lydia, sent with Samaritan Purse's post residency program, have been helping me to become proficient with C-sections.  Moussa the surgical tech on the right will be working in Mango!

Togo Photo Diary Day 12

Natasha has been working on the OB ward and with the newborns there.  She has enjoyed it, and the staff and patients seem to enjoy working with her as well!