June 26 2005
Home Up Jan 12 2005 Feb 19 2005 Mar 17 2005 Apr 20 2005 May 17 2005 June 26 2005 July 17 2005 Aug 20 2005 Sept 16th 2005 Oct 15th 2005 Nov 17 05 Dec 25 05 Airplane - Death of A Dream

 

ON CALL  June 26th, 2005

 

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

June 26, 2005

Dear Friends,

 

HEADING BACK

            In just two weeks, Becki and I will be flying from San Francisco to Gabon to begin our sixth term of missionary service.  The comings and goings at the hospital have been dizzying: Dr. Deb Walker, our pediatrician, left Gabon last week for a three month furlough in Taccoa Falls, Ga.  Terry Hotalen, our three-term eye nurse left Gabon late last week for Taccoa falls to marry Barry Newman, a single Alliance missionary to Niger.  Dr. Eddie and Kelley Hyre and their two children will fly out of Libreville on Tuesday without knowing what they will be doing next. They are waiting on the Lord to show them what he is planning for them.

Karen Fitch, another of our missionary nurses arrived back in Gabon last week, after a 6 month furlough in the U.S.  The only staff physician at the hospital right now is Dr. Karen Stel (pray for her!).  She is being ably assisted by three of our four surgery residents, one of whom (Dr. Hubert Kakalo) is a senior resident who will be graduating and leaving for eastern Congo the week after we arrive (pray for his safety)!  Carolyn Thorson is the other long-term member of our team who is still in Gabon, but she is travelling between Bongolo and Libreville every couple of weeks to cover both the mission bookkeeping and the hospital bookkeeping (pray for her safety and stamina).   Just 18 days after we arrive back in Gabon we will have to travel to Lambarene for our five-day Field Forum.

 

Text Box: How do you cope with leaving for Africa for 2-1/2 years without taking two precious grandchildren along?  How about a very little dog named “Wookie,” a miniature Yorkshire Terrier?  He doesn’t measure up to two beautiful, growing baby boys who change every week and laugh and smile whenever they see us.  But at seven months old and weighing only 9 lbs he’s already a winsome little guy, not to mention something of a distraction!  He’s also filling a big hole in our hearts that our previous little dog Tinga left last June when she passed away in Gabon at the age of 14.  

 

 

 

 


 

        Wookie

 

 

HEAVY DUTIES AND A MYSTERY CONTAINER

            Two days ago when we called David Bill in Libreville he shocked us with the news that a THIRD 40 foot hospital container has arrived in the port of Libreville, reportedly for the Bongolo Hospital.  Nobody seems to know where it came from or what it contains, but if it is for the hospital, it will significantly compound our financial burden.  Not only that, but the hospital was charged heavy duties for the two containers sent from Syracuse.

For reasons that are still unclear, the hospital’s request that the two containers of donated medical equipment and supplies shipped from Syracuse this Spring was denied.   This is the first time in several years this has happened.

          The customs officials at the port demanded and got $11,000 for the first container and $5,000 for the second, for a total of $16,000. In the past we have been able to count on the Minister of Health to help us, but to our disappointment, he did not respond.  Friends from churches in upstate N.Y. had sent $8,000 to the hospital to cover the anticipated port fees and the cost of trucking the supplies inland, but that money is now gone and the hospital has had to draw on reserves for other projects to pay these charges.

 Both containers are now out of customs and have been off-loaded into the hospital’s large warehouse in Libreville.  It will cost approximately $5,000 to truck everything 350 miles inland to Bongolo, over mostly dirt roads.  Everything but the medications and a few other items will have to remain in Libreville until we have money to move it top Bongolo.  Would you pray that God will provide $13,000 to cover these additional charges?  We are not in crisis and our spirits are calm because the Creator and Sustainer of the universe has resources and reserves that we know nothing about.  His plan may not be to save us money, but to gain honor for himself. 

Pray also that the mystery container will not add to our problems!

 

THE PAN-AFRICAN ACADEMY OF CHRISTIAN SURGEONS EXPANDS

            During the first two weeks in November, I (Dave) will be making a trip to three Christian hospitals in Cameroon and one in Ethiopia.  Two of these hospitals are already approved to train surgeons, and two more are requesting approval to start.  In the middle of the trip I will need to travel to Louisville, Ky for the annual board meeting of PAACS.  I thank God that he has provided $2500 towards my travel expenses,through an American surgeon.  Pray that God will help us find flights for this complicated trip.  Many airlines in Africa are no longer flying.

            The responsibility of expanding PAACS from two surgical training programs in Africa to five over the next 12 months will fall mainly to me.  It will also make it very difficult for me to maintain a quality surgical training program at the Bongolo Hospital for our four surgery residents, especially if I have to also take on other medical duties (see below). 

In response to our prayers and calls for help over the past several years, God has led Dr. Keir & Joanna Thelander to join us as missionaries at the Bongolo Hospital.  Dr. Thelander is a young surgeon at Cleveland Clinic who attends a local Alliance Church.

The Thelanders were commissioned at the Annual Council of the Alliance last month and now must now find enough supporters to go to France in January to begin French language study. We are hoping that they will arrive in Bongolo by June or July, 2006.  Can you help them?  They need 100 partners willing to pledge $50 a month for their support (or 200 for half that much) for at least two years.  If you want to help us, this is one of the best ways to do it! 

You can contact the Thelanders at jklthelander@sbcglobal.net.  If you cannot help them financially, would you pray that God will supply all their needs by January?

 

HOW TO HELP 500 AIDS PATIENTS, THEIR FAMILIES, AND US

            There is a lot of talk going on right now about helping AIDS patients in Africa, but not much action.  Here is something concrete:  Dr. & Mrs. Wayne Spronk, from an Alliance Church in Ohio, have volunteered to close their practice and go for eight months to take care of the thousands of adult medical patients that come to our hospital.  Eighty per cent of our hospitalized adult medical patients have AIDS.  Dr. Karen Stel, who is currently caring for these patients, is leaving at the end of September, and another career missionary will not be arriving until next June or July.

If the Spronks can obtain pledges for their support of just $2500 a month, they will come at the end of September to help us.  If not, their job could fall to me (Dave).  We are believing that God has something much better in mind!  The Alliance has agreed to pay for the Spronks’ travel and health insurance during the eight months they serve in Bongolo, if supporters can be found to help them.  If you are interested in helping, contact the Spronks directly at svanarragon@westelcom.com.  Please pray that God will provide quickly for them.

 

Thank you for blessing us this year in your churches, your homes, and wherever we’ve gone.  Your kindness and generosity strengthened and encouraged us, and your hospitality refreshed us again and again.  We return convinced that God has put together a powerful team for Gabon and Africa. 

We’ll write to you next month from Gabon.

 

 

                                                                                                Until Jesus Comes,

 

                                                                                                Dave & Becki Thompson