August Nattier NEWS

It's been a while, since our last update.  To be honest, we have wanted to write since our return to the USA, but it's been a whirlwind in may ways.  As you all have no doubt also experienced, COVID 19 has had a great effect on many aspects of life for us and our work.  It has definitely had a drastic impact on international travel.  As a result of this, from the outset of the pandemic, there has been a great deal of uncertainty about the future of the medical work in Togo, especially due to the challenges for short term volunteers to come.  Initially, it was unclear whether or not flights would continue to depart from Togo.  They stopped from some of the other countries in our area, but they never did stop completely from Togo.  However, passengers were no longer allowed to come to Togo from the USA.  As a result, our teammates were unable to return as planned in April.  This lead us to consider delaying further our return to the USA.  Ultimately we kept our return flights which were purchased preCOVID.  Our teammates were able to return to Togo about 3 weeks later, which was a huge answer to prayer for us and our team.  The border to Togo has now reopened to returning passengers with some modifications like COVID testing on arrival.  Please continue to pray with us for our teammates, especially our surgical team pictured below.

Our last several weeks, ended up being very full with packing up our home and working until just before our departure.  However, we had some special times saying goodbyes to many of our friends.  It was interesting seeing this part of the culture, which is a bit different than our culture of origin.  We first visited them in their homes, and then they would come visit us in our home up until the day we left.  We are thankful for these relationships that God has allowed us to develop over the past 3 years.

Since arriving here in the states, we spent a couple of weeks quarantining in SC, before we moved into our home for the year.  This was a nice time to rest and decompress a little.  We had a few days to move into our home in Greenville, SC, and then we hit the road for variety of trips to see as many of our friends, family, and supporting churches as we could before school started.  This was a special time which included meeting two new nephews.  Natasha was able to be in VA for the birth of a 3rd nephew.  After helping with some training at our mission's headquarters in PA, we headed to OH to reconnect with our sending church. We greatly enjoyed meeting the new staff and many new members of our home church, UBC, in Beavercreek, OH.  

We have been extremely excited to catch up with so many over the past few months.  We could probably even say we have been in a state of euphoria.  However, with the arrival of a new school year with many changes due to COVID, I'm starting to wonder if we are going through a little reverse culture shock.  It's hard to know if everyone is struggling to figure out what their kids are supposed to be doing while e-learning or if it's just us, but this has been a significant challenge while trying to get settled. We've noticed how technologically behind we are. 

Prayer Requests

Our family - Please pray for our family, as we readjust to life here in the USA for the next year.  This may not be news to some of you but, our family is excited to announce that we are expecting our sixth child, a boy!  Both the boys and the girls are excited for arrival one more boy in the family. Please pray for Natasha and a healthy last trimester of her pregnancy.  She is due the beginning of December.  

Our stateside ministry - With the current pandemic and school starting, we are trying to find a healthy way to share about what God is doing in Togo.  We have a few events planned in the Fall, but we will probably wait until the Spring for a big trip to visit a number of churches in Southern Illinois and the Peoria area.  If you would be interested in having us come and share with your church and small group, please contact us at bnnattier@abwe.cc.  

Our team - Our surgical team recently welcomed another new surgeon and family- the Chmil Family.  Please pray for them as they get settled and begin ministry in Mango.  Please pray with us for our medical providers as well. They have a serious shortage until the arrival of two families early next year.  If you are a medical doctor and would be available around a month or more, please let us know.  The current quarantine in Togo, makes shorter trips too challenging for the moment, but we hope this will change in the near future.

  

April 2020 Nattier News

Hebrews 12:1-3 New International Version (NIV)

12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

I have always found the comparisons of the human life and experience to a race to be quite accurate.  "The race marked out for us" mentioned in verse 1 is never compared to a sprint like a 100 yard dash.  It's never said to be without obstacles like if we were running around some kind of 400 meter track.  Quite the opposite, life is much more like a marathon.  The courses of marathons are quite variable.  The course is marked out, but it can vary depending upon the circumstances and weather of that particular day and time.  

This verse from Hebrews encourages us to keep our eyes fixed on someone who has already run this race, Jesus.  He endured all the challenges life has to offer including all kinds of opposition even to the point of dying on a cross.  He conquered death, as we recently celebrated His resurrection during Easter.   This text says to consider Him, so that we do not grow weary and lose heart.  

This particular scripture encourages me when I'm struggling with challenges, fear or uncertainty.  I'll be honest, the current COVID-19 pandemic has given us here in Togo and the rest of the world plenty of uncertainty.  While living overseas we try to plan a break about once a year.  Since we are living in a challenging climate and environment this would preferably include traveling outside of Togo.  This month we had planned to attend a medical missions conference in Greece.  Unfortunately for us, and many colleagues all over the globe, this conference and any kind of travel quickly became impossible.  Some of our colleagues here in Northern Togo were asked to evacuate, since we did not know if flights would be possible to return to the states for an extended period of time.  

Here at the Hospital of Hope, we began making preparations in March for receiving patients with COVID.  Togo closed its borders and significantly limited travel within the country shortly after having only one positive case.  However, over the past month, the number of cases here have started to climb.  As of today the country has registered 109 confirmed cases, with 7 deaths and 64 patients who have recovered.  We are thankful that the outbreak here in Togo has not been worse, since we have no ventilators and are always in a resource limited medical system.  There has only been 1 case diagnosed in the northern region of Togo.  While that was nearly a month ago, we have not seen any further cases in our region.  We are a little more isolated here in the north compared to the capital city which sees many international travelers.  This may be analogous to the rural areas in America who have not been effected to the extent of large cities.  We do not know what the coming months will bring here in Togo and throughout the rest of the continent of Africa.  However, the current travel limitations will significantly impact us and most other missions hospitals ability to have volunteers come and help.  In reality, missions hospitals provide a significant amount of the medical care across the continent.  We will all be looking for ways to continue providing compassionate healthcare during these changing times. 

We are still planning to return to the USA in June.  With the current restrictions and social distancing, we will be flexible in considering how we can best communicate with you.  We hope that will be in person, but we will wait and see what life looks like there!  We hope to communicate some of the events that have happened in the past 5 years since the opening of the Hospital of Hope.  In February we celebrated all that God has done here in the first 5 years.  For this occasion, there was even a song written in the local language which was God honoring and a lot of fun!

Prayer Requests

Our family

Many of our plans for our furlough have been affected by the current pandemic. The uncertainty of the housing market has affected our ability to find housing for the year and we are still in need of a vehicle. We know the Lord will provide, but it is difficult to make plans while these two key pieces are still largely unknown. Please pray with us for the Lord's provision in these areas. Please pray with us also for guidance as we seek to use our time back in America to rest, reconnect, and prepare to return to the work and ministry here in Northern Togo.

Our team 

As mentioned above, the changing travel environment has affected our team greatly.  The next 6 months will be short in many areas with limited options for short term help.  Not having volunteers also affects our ability to get supplies.  Please pray with us as we look to find alternative options to continue the work here.  Please also pray for our coworkers and patients who are currently fasting and praying during the day for their holy month of Ramadan.  We hope to minister to them well, especially during this time. 

     

January 2020 News

We hope you had a Merry Christmas and happy New Year.  We had a nice time with our family and friends here in Mango.  We were also thankful for several opportunities to share why we celebrate Christmas with some of our local friends.

It is a bit hard to believe that we have now entered into 2020.  I can remember thinking of this year as extremely far in the future and wondering what the world might be like.  You may have read some of the predictions that had been made for things that did not come true like flying cars.  This has given a chance for us also to reflect back on all that God has done during this past decade.

The Hospital of Hope

It's mind boggling to look back at the changes that have occurred here in our area of Mango from the time the ground was broken for construction in 2009, to the inauguration and opening in 2015, to today.  This year will mark the 5th anniversary of the hospital opening.  There have been some extreme highs and lows for the team here during that time, but we are thankful that God is faithful and still at work here in our midst today.  During that time, over 56,000 patients have been treated.  There have been over 5,000 surgeries performed.  We have seen God bless many with healing, both physical and spiritual, that would likely not have been possible without this ministry.

Surgery Department

There have been many challenges in our department to include the death of our leader and visionary, Todd Dekryger in 2016.  We have seen our department go from dependance on those who could come for weeks or a few months, to three full time surgeons for a time this year.  We also anticipate the arrival of two new surgeons this next year from language school.  This has allowed us to do 50% more surgeries this past year than any prior year on record.  We are especially thankful for the faithful work of our Togolese colleagues who have been the real stability and solid foundation of our department.  We have been able to add two OR aides this past year, and we hope to soon add another anesthetist.  God has definitely sustained us, and we wait in anticipation to see what these next years will bring.

Our family

In 2010 we were living in Augusta, Georgia while Bryce finished his last year of surgery residency.  It was during that year at the medical missions conference in Louisville, KY that we first learned about the work going in Togo and met Bob Cropsey and Todd Dekryger.  In 2011 we traveled to southern Togo for the first time to see what missions looked like in a mission hospital.  After 3 years in the military and 1 deployment, in 2014 we returned to Togo and were first able to visit the Hospital of Hope while it was nearly finished with construction.  After 3 more years of preparation, including 18 months in France learning language, in 2017 we arrived to work here in Mango full time.  During the past 10 years, our family has experienced quite a number of challenges and changes.  It is only by the grace of God's work in our lives that we have been able to overcome the many obstacles and participate in what God is doing here in Northern Togo.

We are looking forward to our upcoming furlough during 2020, and the chance to share with many of you in person more details about God's work here.  Please let us know if you would be interested in hearing more in person.  We are planning to travel back to the states to Greenville, SC in the middle of June.  We hope to travel to our sending church, University Baptist Church in Beavercreek, OH and visit others in the midwest (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois) the end of July and first part of August before school starts for our younger children in Greenville, SC.

Prayer Requests

Our Family

Since we will be traveling back to the USA in 5 months, we have already started making preparations for the work here during our time away.  Togo has in many ways become our home, and it's hard to imagine being gone for a little over a year.  Please pray for us as we prepare to hand over our ministries to others.  It's a good reminder to us, that this is God's work and it will go on without us.  However, we do desire to have as few disruptions as possible and smooth transitions for our Togolese colleagues who don't take these long times away. Please also pray for us as we make preparations to live stateside- housing, vehicle, schooling for our children, etc.

Our Team

We have continued to see an ever growing number of patients, many with very complicated problems.  Often times these patients have been to other hospitals and come to us in the late stages of their problems, or after all other options have been exhausted.  We are thankful for this opportunity to help them in their darkest hour and time of need.  This past month, intermixed in a record high number of surgeries, have been many such complicated and challenging cases.  Please continue to pray for strength, endurance, and patience for our team here, both Togolese and expat.

October News

We have been staying busy here in Togo with a summer break for the kids that seemed to fly by all too quickly.  We were blessed to have Bryce’s parents and our oldest niece here during the month of June.  It was fun seeing our life here in Togo through her eyes.  The kids loved the time they were able to spend together, and we all learned a new game, Monopoly deal.

We continue to see an increasing number of patients at the hospital and many who are coming specifically for surgery.  We recently saw the 55,0000th patient since the hospital opened just under 5 years ago.  We are thankful to be a part of what God is doing here in northern Togo.  As we have mentioned in the past many of these patients are coming from Burkina Faso to our north, which has experienced increasing instability this year.  Please be praying for our friends there.

We want to update you about a story we shared with you in our last post.  Our friend M is doing well so far.  He is still healing, and he was able to start school this year.  He and his mom are very pleased with his progress, and it’s a joy each time they come for a check up.  Unfortunately, school here in Togo can be hard for kids with medical problems, because there is less supervision.  Please be praying for him and his family as they try to figure this out.

We also have another update on a patient's story we shared with you exactly two years ago, October 2017.  At that time, A was unable to walk due to a fracture caused by her bone being chronically infected.  In the past two years, we have seen a remarkable improvement in her health.  A has grown almost a foot and gained weight!  She has also started school, so we can communicate better in French.  We had a really nice visit with her mother and younger brother recently.  Please continue to pray for her and her family.

This past month Bryce celebrated his 40th birthday.  Natasha managed to give an amazing and unexpected gift this year, a visit from Derek, Bryce’s brother.  It was a quick trip, but quite a surprise and encouragement to us all to have some time with Uncle Derek.  

As we took him back to Lomé, we were able to bring back with us a much needed commodity, another surgeon.  We welcomed Jesh and Julie Theisson and their 3 kids, who will be joining us for almost one year.  This has been yet another blessing and encouragement to us all and a much needed relief for Bryce and John in surgery!


Prayer Requests:

Our Family:  As our time of furlough draws closer, there are many decisions that need to be made and things that will need to be handed over here during our time away. Please pray for clarity in the decision making and for us to finish our first term well.


Our Team: As the medical ministry continues to grow, this often brings growing pains and new challenges. Please pray for our team to have Godly wisdom as we make decisions about the future, and that our hearts would remain united in truly seeking God's glory in all we do.  

April/May 2019 Nattier News

Yes, we admit that some time has passed since we released our last newsletter. We've had some "encouragement" from some of you, informing us that you are anxiously awaiting more news from this side of the world, and we are thankful for your interest and partnership in what God is doing here. The truth is, we've actually been pondering about what we should write in our next release ever since we released our end of the year news. Yet, here it is, already May and we are still pondering.  What seems like a simple task can be quite daunting at times to us as our days are filled with normal tasks, and one day just seems to turn into the next. Sometimes, it seems that there is nothing interesting to report. Neither of us are super poetic, we aren't gifted writers who can creatively spin our everyday happenings into deep truths or thought-provoking insight.  So acknowledging that about ourselves, we constantly dialogue back and forth about what to say and how best to share our lives here in a way that is respectful to those we do life with, but still keep you informed of how God is at work. In this lies the struggle.  So being honest, it’s a difficult task because, in just "doing life" it’s hard to come up with things to share that we think you all will find interesting and encouraging. God truly is at work here, but in the day to day, through all the struggle and heartache we see all around us, through all the business that is life and work here, it is often difficult to see. Which is where the Joy of writing our newsletters comes in. While we ponder and stew about what to share next, when we actually sit down to write, we are forced to reflect on how even amidst the business, day to day tasks of just living "our normal," God is deeply at work in our own lives as well as in the lives of the Togolese, in big ways and small. The small subtle ways that He is at work are often more challenging to identify but they are what keep us going when things get tough. In doing life here, we continue to provide quality health care to hundreds of patients, share the gospel, and build relationships. Sometimes we get to see fruit but often we just trust that God is continually at work. So, thank you for your patience with us as we struggle through processing and sharing what is going on here.

It's crazy to think that the first 4 months of 2019 have passed.  For us, these have been rather busy but productive months.  The kids have been working hard at school, and the end of school is approaching quickly.  They are preparing for the annual living museum.  Elli will be Queen Elizabeth I, Andrew- Albert Einstein, and Sofia- Corrie ten Boom (pictures to follow soon). Because there are no stores here and ordering costumes from amazon that can be shipped to Togo isn't really feasible, we often have things made here by very talented seamstresses and tailors. We love our friends who are talented in this way as we think we might lose our minds if we actually had to make these costumes ourselves (especially for 3 kids at the same time). In needing people to help us with some of the more challenging tasks here, we are getting to know them quite well. In fact, I'm quite sure that one friend/tailor must laugh each time I call to tell him I have a project for him because they are usually complicated projects that must, at times, seem like strange requests. We are so thankful for opportunities like this to need others and build/deepen relationships. 

Since the departure of our full time Ob/Gyn, Natasha has taken on the task of Gynecology clinic in addition to where she had been working, with the maternity patients for their outpatient obstetrical visits.  The demand and need for women's health screening and care here is huge. Many of the patients who present in the gyn clinic come seeking diagnosis/treatment for infertility or recurrent pregnancy loss.  Some have struggled for years and have never been pregnant, others have been pregnant 10+ times and may only have one or no children. Discussions and counseling with these patients can often be very difficult as we only have a limited number of things we can try medically. Often, we have to deliver news that there is simply nothing more that we can do, and from our human perspective, pregnancy will not be possible. These cases are frequent and heartbreaking. But regardless of the situation, we have many opportunities to share the hope we have in the one true God, one who created us, knows us intimately, and who has a plan for our lives far better than we can comprehend. It is always such an incredible joy and gift from the Lord when we see our patients, who have presented to our gyn clinic with infertility or recurrent loss, walk into our OB clinic pregnant and an even greater joy to see them deliver. We give all praise and glory to the Giver of Life!

Bryce continues to have a steady stream of surgical patients.  The first three months of the year were some of the busiest surgical months since our arrival.  We continue to see the effects of advertisement by the word of mouth of our patients.  One example of this is the large number of people waiting to be seen at the gate of the hospital.  Some of them will wait a week or more.  We have been told that they do not have a problem with this because they are confident that they will receive high quality care here- and they just keep coming!  We are thankful for this testimony of our hospital.

Bryce recently had a unique experience transporting a patient and his mother, with our family, the 8-hour drive to our sister hospital in southern Togo.  Bryce and a visiting pediatric surgeon were able to perform his surgery the next day.  Two days later we all made the trip back to Mango.  He is doing very well and just had the final step for his treatment which was a colostomy closure.  He has a problem called Hirschprung's disease which effects the last portion of the colon.   He initially had problems passing stool as a baby, and later he had a colostomy.  For this reason, his parents haven't sent him to school with his colostomy and the social problems that brings.  At this point he is 7 years old, and his mother is very excited for him to now be ready to start school in the next school year.

We recently enjoyed a little break to attend our mission's regional conference.  All of us working in West Africa traveled to Capetown, South Africa for the week long conference.  We are thankful for short term surgeons and other doctors who came to serve while we were away.  The conference was a definite time of encouragement. We were blessed to get to know our mission's new president, Dr. Paul Davis, as he and his wife spent  the week with us and shared from God's word. After the conference, we were able to enjoy a week of vacation.  Capetown reminded us a little of California, and had many of the things we appreciate/miss in the western world like restaurants, interstates and dependable roads without vehicle eating potholes, shopping malls, grocery stores, and much cooler temperatures.  Bryce had the opportunity to enjoy a deep sea fishing trip with some of our colleagues off the southern tip of Africa in the area where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.  He finally caught a yellow fin tuna, something that has been on his bucket list for a long time. We greatly enjoyed
some wonderful meals from the meat!

We had fun hiking through Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden, exploring the World of Birds and a big cat sanctuary, sailing out to seal island, riding a cable car to the top of Table Mountain,  admiring a colony of penguins in their natural habitat, and visiting the beautiful Cape of Good Hope. 

All this to say, our time away was much needed and the timing (brief escape from hot season) was perfect. We came back encouraged and refreshed, ready to jump back into the work God has for us here.

Spring is full of birthdays for our family. Ahni recently turned 5, Elli is officially a teenager, and Andrew turned 11. Mélyna was excited to celebrate her 1st birthday in S. Africa and throughly enjoyed her red velvet cupcake.

Prayer Requests: 

Our family - We left America 3 1/2 years ago, so we would normally be headed back for stateside ministry in December.   However, we are awaiting the arrival of two surgeons here early next year, so we have decided to delay leaving Togo until the summer of 2020.  This will also allow our kids to finish one more school year here in Togo.  Please pray for us to be strengthened in the Lord for this remaining year of ministry.  We are excited for a visit from Bryce's parents and our niece next month.  Please pray for them as they travel.

Our team - There are two surgeons and their families committed to coming here who are currently in language school in France.  Please pray for them as this is a challenging time trying to learn a second language as a family.  Pray especially for the Chmil family whose son Hudson was recently badly burned in an accident. He was treated in the burn center in France two hours away from the language school.  Please pray for God's healing for Hudson, and for their entire family as they navigate this in France.

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.