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ON CALL

(Dave and Becki and medical missionaries serving with The Alliance at the Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, central Africa)

December 25, 2005

Dear Friends,

SIMPLY CHRISTMAS

This morning Becki and I celebrated Christmas with 60 people from the villages of Mandji-Dibwangui. There were no walls in our meeting place, only rough poles holding up a tin roof. The dirt floor was so uneven and slanted that all the chairs and benches either leaned or wobbled. The Bifoutous (no see-ems) settled on us like mist, sampling every inch of skin not covered or treated with repellant. The only indication that the day was unusual were two palm branches tied on each side of the entrance. But joy was evident by the happy smiles of the people as they clapped, sang songs about the birth of Jesus, and swayed to the percussive sounds of the only instruments available--two plastic jugs and one drum, played ferociously by three 11 year-old boys.

What would Christmas be like without "holiday spirit," competing shopping malls sagging with decorations, blooming consumer debt, booze-enlivened Christmas Eve parties, Santa Claus, reindeer, elves, house-decorating contests, or gifts for people who don't need anything more but want it anyway? Perhaps it would be like our celebration in Mandji-Dibwantui this morning: joyful, grateful, genuine, simple, and focused on Jesus Christ. I think Jesus felt right at home, especially when at the end of the service, 8 to10 people indicated that they are seriously ready to follow Jesus.

In case you are wondering if we're non-decorators, it so happens that we won the house-decorating contest hands down in the town of Lebamba, using six strings of white icicle lights strung along the front porch roof. A sore looser might say that it helped that not a single other house in this town of 15,000 people had any lights up. But if Jesus is the light of the world, we're going to shout it from our porch rooftop! (It's pretty too).

MR. FOLLY'S SPINE

In September, Mr. Fauly felt searing pain in his upper back and could not bear to sit or stand. The doctors at the provincial hospital took one look at him and told him he had tuberculosis of the spine. He decided to go to Bongolo Hospital for treatment, and arrived a few days later. After confirming the diagnosis we started him on four different medications for tuberculosis and told him to stay in bed. X-rays showed that his fifth thoracic vertebra had been infected and had collapsed , compressing the nerves exiting from his spinal cord at that level and causing him severe pain.

Mr. Fauly and his wife's primary concern was that we do something to help stop the pain and progressive deformity. After consulting by e-mail an orthopedic surgeon in Canada who performed a similar operation at our hospital in November on a child, Dave decided to go ahead with an operation to shore up Mr. Fauly's vertebral column with a segment of rib and a bone graft.

We explained to him and his wife that there were considerable risks to the operation. He was 69 years old, and we would need to open his chest. He and his wife decided to go ahead, since the alternative was increasingly severe disability and pain. He said nothing as Dave and his residents gathered around and prayed for him in his room , asking God to give them skill and to protect him from complications. They also prayed that God would help him to put his confidence in Jesus.

The operation, only the second of its kind that Dave had tried, took four hours to complete and went well. Two weeks later, Mr. Fauly was able to get out of bed and walk without pain . Before he was transferred back to the adult medicine ward to continue his treatment for tuberculosis, Dave asked him what he had decided to do about Jesus. Smiling broadly, he tapped his chest and said, "Jesus is in here, now. I belong to him!" His wife laughed and held up a newly-bought Bible. "This is the book we love to read!"

Two days later when our surgical team paid him a visit in his room in the medical ward, Mr. Fauly jumped up and gave each one of us a long, warm hug, something African men never do! His joy was humbling because we knew that it was all God's doing. God may have given us knowledge, wisdom, and a multitude of tools to help the sick, but He is still the Healer, and the only one who saves lives.

WINGS

For the past two years we have asked you to pray that God would help us find a company to insure the Zenith Air CH801 single engine airplane that was given to us to help with our transportation needs. We shipped it to Gabon in a container in 2004, but it sat in a hangar for two years because we could not get insurance, as required by law. Several months ago a French pilot contacted me by phone and asked if he could help us get the airplane in the air. He had seen it sitting in the hangar and wanted to fly it for us. He eventually found us an insurance company that was willing to offer us a policy .

In order to meet the insurer's requirements, the airplane first had to pass an inspection by an airplane mechanic certified in the U.S., since it is registered there. Within weeks, God provided Steve Straw, an assistant Alliance pastor from York, Pa., a professional pilot with 8000 hours of flying experience, and a certified A&P mechanic. He and his wife Alace flew to Gabon in early December at their own expense to inspect the plane and insure that it was in perfect mechanical condition and ready to fly.

This week , with the certificate that he provided, we were finally able to insure the Zenith for a very affordable price with a company in Paris. Although they have since returned to the U.S., Steve and Alace Straw continue to be deeply involved in this project.

The next obstacle we asked God to take care of was our need for a pilot/mechanic to fly and maintain the airplane . A German missionary pilot based in Libreville had volunteered to fly for us two years ago when the airplane first arrived. But since then he had to take a job flying for a private company in Gabon to support himself. My limited experience (less than 100 ours flying) was not good enough for the insurance company, and if I were to be the only pilot the plane it would sit on the ground most of the time because of all the other things I have to do.

We now have several pilots to choose from who are volunteering their time and expertise, some of them professional pilots based in Libreville. There is also a Christian American pilot/mechanic who is willing to raise his own support and move to Gabon to serve in that capacity. Keith Moser, the test pilot who flew the first 60 hours on the airplane in California before it was shipped to Gabon is planning to come in January for 10 days to fly the plane and check out the volunteer pilots. Would you pray that God will direct and guide us in all this as we seek His will,? And that He will protect the airplane and everyone involved? Keith Moser will probably take the plane up for the first time on January 11. A day or two later, he may be ready to fly it to Lebamba. If it lands on our airstrip, it will be the first airplane to land in Lebamba in 30 years--and will likely create pandemonium! (Question: if I'm operating when the plane flies overhead, should I finish the operation or tell the anesthetist to keep the patient stable while I jump in my car and race to the airport? This could be a tough one)

MORE REQUESTS FOR PRAYER

1) Pray for Becki's left knee. She is having trouble with swelling and inflammation.

2) Pray for Dr. Keir & Joanna Thelander and their two children. They will be leaving for six to nine months of French language study in Albertville, France in a few days, before joining our staff in Bongolo.

3) Pray for the team of volunteers in Syracuse, N.Y. that is gathering medical supplies and equipment to fill and ship another container for Bongolo Hospital this coming February.

4) Pray for the growing group of believers at Mandji -Dibwangui, that they will turn from their old ways and follow Jesus wholeheartedly. We are averaging 60 each week.

5) Pray for the spiritual renewal of our hospital staff. Some are going through the motions of following God, while others at times seem weary of doing good and helping the many patients that come day after day, in an endless stream. Pray that God will help us organize a spiritual retreat this Spring.

6) Pray that God will call Gabonese Christian doctors to come and serve at Bongolo Hospital.

7) Pray for Becki and I as we make travel plans to visit a hospital in Ethiopia in early February for PaACS, followed by a 10 day medical conference in Kenya for our continuing medical education requirements. After the conference, Becki will return to Gabon and our hospital while Dave flies to Edmonton, Canada to speak at an interdenominational youth missions conference from Feb 24-26 (MissionsFest).

We sense the prayers of many of you, as God guides us, protects us, and makes so many wonderful things happen around us! Thank you!

Until Jesus Comes,

Dave & Becki Thompson