ON CALL

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

November 17, 2005

Dear Friends,

I am in Atlanta, today, on a 24 hour layover to pick up telephone parts for the hospital, on my way back to Gabon. Tonite I'll fly to Paris, and after a 12 hour layover will take a red-eye flight to Libreville. Lord willing, on Monday night I will be back in Bongolo with Becki. Although my four weeks of travel through Cameroon and the U.S. meant some hardships, including being separated for four weeks, Becki and I are encouraged and amazed by all that God did.

PAACS EXPANDS

In Cameroon, I visited three, large (250 bed) Christian hospitals: Banso Baptist Hospital, Mbingo Baptist Hospital, and Ngaoundere Protestant Hospital. I travelled many miles over paved and dirt roads, flew over high mountains in an SIL plane, and finished my tour of the country in a Boeing 737, operated by Air Cameroon.

At Banso, in western, English-speaking Cameroon, I found Dr. Eugene Cleek hard at work operating with, training and discipling his five residents. For those of you who prayed for him during his serious illness in July, he is once again healthy. At Mbingo Hospital, 90 miles away, newly-arrived Dr. Steve Sparks is preparing to open another PAACS training program on January 1. Far to the north in central Cameroon at the Ngoundere Protestant Hospital, Dr. Tim Nelson hopes to begin training PAACS surgeons as soon as he can find someone to take his place, since in 18 months he and his family will need to return to the U.S. for their childrens' educational needs. There are Christian candidates waiting for these positions to open so they can begin their training under PAACS, so please pray with us that God will bless Dr. Sparks' efforts and call someone to volunteer long term to serve at Ngaoundere.

The predominantly Muslim population in central and northern Cameroon has high regard for the Ngouandere Protestant Hospital, run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Cameroon. The church and hospital administration were so pleased with PAACS' strong emphasis on evangelism that they invited me to speak at the opening session of their annual synod meeting.

On November 10, I met with the PAACS Board in Louisville, Kentucky to discuss the written agreements I had negotiated with the three hospitals in Cameroon, to chart the organization's course over the next year, and to ask God to provide funds to support a growing number of surgical trainees. Among other things, Bongolo Hospital was approved to train five residents at a time (we currently train four, with one often away on outside rotations). We have housing for only four residents, so we will need to build another apartment. By this time next year, PAACS could be training as many as 17 residents at five hospitals in Africa. By 2008, the number could double. Our goal by 2010 is to be graduating every year 10 Christian surgeons with a heart for world evangelism. To many it sounds impossible, but our God loves to do the impossible!

THELANDER & SPRONK UPDATE

I was able to spend a day visiting and talking with Dr. Keir and Joanna Thelander, newly-appointed C&MA missionaries to Gabon. They came to Louisville to attend the annual medical missions conference hosted by the Southeast Christian Church. Although their support level is at 100%, they still need funds for their work and to purchase a sturdy, 4wd vehicle. They are scheduled to fly to France on December 28 to begin French language study in Albertville. Keir is an electrical engineer and a board-certified general surgeon, and Joanna is a mom and a civil engineer. This talented couple will be joining our team in Bongolo next July to help us train our surgery residents, re-engineer the hospital (!) and enable me to more effectively administer the growing PAACS ministry. However, I do not have plans to abandon teaching surgery residents in favor of becoming an administrator! If you wish to help the Thelanders purchase a vehicle or provide funds for their work, contact them at <jklthelander@sbcglobal.net>.

Dr. Wayne and Suzanne Spronk arrived in Bongolo a week ago, after receiving their long-term visas. We are hugely encouraged by their arrival! Dr. Spronk is an internist and will be taking over the care of adult medical patients, most of whom have AIDS. The Spronks raised their own support so they could serve at Bongolo for 8 months. Please be praying for them as they adjust to the work, culture, climate, and language. The couple has three children.

VISITOR UPDATE

During my month-long trip, God provided several surgeons and a medical student and his wife to help the team at Bongolo. These wonderful volunteers included Dr. Gordon Jacobs, a general surgeon with previous experience in Africa; Dr. Joshua Raj, an orthopedic surgeon from Toronto, Canada, and Kevin and Rachel El-Hayek, from Cleveland, OH. Kevin is a 4th year medical student who is scheduled to begin a surgical residency in June, 2006. He and his wife are considering a career in missions. Although I was not there except for Dr. Jacobs' first week, Becki reports that they worked incredibly hard (sorry, guys!), did a fine job of teaching the residents, and were a blessing and an encouragement to our entire team. Please pray that God will bless these wonderful people in every way for what they did in service to Him.

AIRPLANE NEWS

The project to get our airplane into service is making slow but steady progress. A French insurance company has made an offer to insure the plane for liability for $2400, once it is certified by a U.S. licensed airplane mechanic. Steve and Alace Straw, from Ohio will be arriving December 2 to do just that, and at their own expense. Steve is an ordained assistant pastor at an Alliance church and a professional airplane pilot. He is also a certified airplane mechanic.

Once the airplane is certified and insured, we will be able to start flying it. Several professional pilots based in Libreville have volunteered their services to maintain and fly the airplane between Libreville and Bongolo for six months to a year. By that time we should be able to determine how much demand there will be for its use and the actual cost of flying and maintaining it. Our costs will be somewhat less because the engine burns 80 octane (locally available auto fuel), instead of 100 octane aviation gas, which is twice as expensive. Please pray that God will lead our field clearly over the next few months as we begin to use this wonderful tool.

Until Jesus Comes,

Dave & Becki Thompson