Listening to the Heartbeat of Our Ministry Saturday
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
The Steffescope Volume 7, 2004 © 2004 Saturday, January 10 Dear Friends and Family: Happy New Year to all of you! The start of 2004 finds us safely back in Togo for a month of service. Thanks for your prayers for us. After spending almost eight months here last year, it was very strangely like coming home when we drove in today. We were met by the two non-variables that so characterize Togo at this time of the year: the harmatan and grassfires. As we try to stop coughing and wheezing and struggle to catch our breath, please excuse us and take a moment to see how you do on this quiz designed to see what you remember about Togo (the answers are in the postscript): 1. We’ll start with an easy one. Togo is on the continent of: (A) Africa (B) Australia (C) No such place 2. The Harmatan refers to great swirling clouds of dust reaching high into the atmosphere that ride northerly winds and cover much of Western Africa from December to March each year. This dust comes from which of the following deserts? (A) Mojave (B) Gobe (C) Sahara 3. Togo is approximately the size of which of the following states? (A) Michigan (B) West Virginia (C) California 4. The population of Togo is approximately: (A) 2.5 million (B) 3.8 million (C) 5.3 million 5. Although there are approximately 37 ethnic groups and corresponding languages spoken in Togo, which language is the national language? (A) French (B) English (C) German 6. After WWII, the German colony of Togoland was divided into two countries. The eastern end was given to French West Africa. What country was created by the British from the western end of Togoland? (A) Benin (B) Liberia (C) Ghana 7. Although in 1991, Togo officially became a multiparty republic, election irregularities have kept the same man in power for over 30 years. The man who is effectively a dictator is named: (A) Eyadéma (B) Taylor (C) Mbeke 8. The average per capita income in Togo is approximately: (A) $13 (B) $300 (c) $1724.35 9. In the US, there are only about 550 people per physician. In Togo, that number per physician is: A) 6,000 (B) 8,000 (C) 13,500. 10. Of the three groups listed, which has the greatest percentage of followers in Togo: A) Christianity B) Islam (C) Indigenous (Animism) 11. The official estimate of the incidence of AIDS in Togo is: (A) 1 in 40 (B) 1 in 16 (C) 1 in 4 12. Which of the following is not a common diagnosis made here: (A) Malaria (B) Anemia (C) Guinea worm 13. The hospital (Hôpital Baptiste Biblique in French and the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital in English) presently has this number of beds: (A) 32 (B) 72 (C) 220 14. There is a small but thriving additional ministry on the hospital compound. It is a (A) well-drilling ministry (B) outreach to the Muslims (C) printing ministry 15. The hospital’s greatest needs are in the area of (A) more financial support (B) more prayer (C) more God- led people to come and to help. We have not settled in enough yet to let you know how things are going or give you much in the way of specifics. We are pleased to hear that God has answered prayers for the hospital and there now seems to be adequate surgical coverage for the next 18 months. We trust that it will turn out to be so and even if so, running a hospital with short-term volunteers is always tough on everyone. The hospital is very dependent on the surgery done here to bring in enough income to cover much of the costs of running the hospital. Since Dr. Cropsey was unable to come back as a career missionary due to his wife’s filariasis (a tropical worm infestation spread by fly bites), it has caused a great deal of uncertainty and generated a lot of prayer. However, we know that this work is not dependent on any one person or any groups of people. It is God’s work and we must trust in that for the long run. Praise and Prayers: 1. Several of you have asked about the final outcome of Bruce’s last malpractice case which stretches way back to 1994. In brief, there is not yet a final outcome. After the jury ruled against Bruce, the judge ruled that the expert witness for the plaintiff was in fact not an appropriate expert. We concurred. It took two Listening to the Heartbeat of our Ministry The Steffescope Volume 7, 2004 © 2004 years and a few months for the Appeals Court to rule that he was – but Bruce’s lawyer, the malpractice insurance company and Bruce all felt there were several irregularities in their ruling and so the case is now being appealed to the NC Supreme Court. We are not optimistic that they will agree to hear it, but if the existing appeals ruling stands, then it essentially makes the definition of an expert witness to be one without serious meaning or significance and it is another blow to defendant physicians everywhere. The judge recently ruled against the motion for a repeat trial and so now our hopes hang on the Supreme Court. 2. Pray for our health and the health of the missionaries here. Typhoid fever has been rampant here and respiratory illness due to the harmatan is always a problem. 3. Tomorrow (Sunday), Bruce will be operating on Steve Mills, one of the career missionaries. Please pray that it will go well and without complication. We are pleased to report that Steve and his wife Mary Jo also returned to Togo this week with apparent resolution of his debilitating headaches which were felt to be to a rare leak of the cerebrospinal fluid around the brain. 4. Please pray for the safe return of Dr. Sam Williams and his wife, Liz, back to their home in Virginia. Their time here was a real blessing to them and to the hospital. There are also many other short-termers coming to help with the hospital and to do construction on the airplane hangar. Please pray for their safety as well. We are glad to be back serving in West Africa. We thank all of you for your prayer support and for those of you who have provided funds that serve to allow us to serve you when serving those who serve others. Please feel free to e-mail us – we would love to hear from you. Yours, serving our risen Lord and Savior, Bruce, Micky and Sean Steffes P.S.: The answers to the quiz are as follows: 1. A – Africa 2. C – Sahara. About 3500 – 4000 years ago, the Sahara became overgrazed and deforested. A fall in rain levels led to the desert which has been slowly expanding since then. 3. B – W. Virginia 4. C – The 2002 estimate is just shy of 5.3 million 5. A – French 6. C – Ghana 7. A – Eyadéma. The election irregularities led to an long-standing embargo by the US and other countries which continues to depress the economy here. 8. B - $300 9. C – 13,500 but that is only part of the picture. The level of training is inferior and the medical resources abysmal. 10. C – Indigenous religions. This the home of voodoo and the influence of the spirit world is great, even in the lives of so-called Christians. 11. B – 1 in 16 It may actually be higher. 12. C – Guinea worm. This is one disease targeted for eradication by the World Health Organization and is now rare here. Malaria remains a scourge that kills regularly and anemia is found in up to 50% of the patients. 13. A – 32 beds. 14. C – Printing ministry. The potential for both of the other answers is great. Many of the diseases here can be prevented by good water and good sanitation practices. Now there exists a plan for expansion to the town of Mango in the north of Togo. In a rather unique development, the Muslims there have actually asked Christians to come and set up a work there. ABWE is planning to expand their work into the north but it will be several years before it can be implemented. Pray for wisdom, workers, and the finances needed to make it work. “Ask the Lord of the Harvest to send workers”. 15. This is a trick question – this was a true-false question and the answer is TRUE! All are very much needed. Listening to the Heartbeat of our Ministry The Steffescope Volume 7, 2004 © 2004 Saturday, January 17 Dear Friends and Family: We are settling back into the routine here at the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital in Tsiko, Togo. Some patients don’t even know we have been gone and treat us like old friends. Of course, some have just now finally returned for their first visit, having neglected to come sooner! It has been cooler this week than previous years that we have been here in January – only 96 degrees in the shade at noon this week instead of the more customary 100 degrees. Since we do not have air-conditioning in the house where we are living, the windows are kept open to catch any available breeze. The grit blowing in the wind keeps a thick layer of dust on everything, requiring daily dusting and daily mopping just to keep abreast. Two days without housekeeping and you have to break out the shovels to move the dirt….