God of the IMPOSSIBLE!

Things have been going well over on this side of the ocean and we're thrilled to let you know the many ways that God has been working and answering our prayers!

In the mornings, the kids and I do a short Bible study and keep a journal of all the people and situations we're praying for, including space to see when and how each request is answered.  In the past 2 weeks, we've been filling in that "ANSWERED" column multiple times.  God is at work and we are so grateful to watch Him working in the lives of the Togolese people.

You might remember a story I told of Little "G" and his grandmother who is from a dark and evil village.  Here's a photo of him that I posted a ways back.

If you don't recall his story, he was living in his village (about 2 hours away from Mango) and fell out of a tree and was paralyzed.  That was a year ago.  He arrived at our hospital after suffering for a couple of months, just lying of the floor of his home.  In the process of treating his general health and several very large bed sores, the doctors discovered he had cancer.  He was given chemo and responded extremely well.  In the several months that he has lived on-site, he has become a real "fixture" of the hospital.  Everyone knows him and calls him by name.  We befriended him in the first week we were here and have come to love him.

He listened to many presentations of the gospel and watched the Jesus film a variety of times.  When the chaplains talked to him, they really sensed that he believed in Jesus and had a basic understanding of the Gospel.  We were so excited for him!!  But Grandma was always there.  We prayed for his dad to show up and take care of him but dad only showed once and had no interest in taking care of his son's needs.  

I looked in our prayer journal and we've been praying for "G and his evil grandma" (seriously, that's what it says) since December 9th.  Last weekend we heard that they would be discharged this week, able to go home for the first time in almost a year.  As exciting as that is for them, we were so sad to think of him heading back to his village.  One of our missionaries and a chaplain, who speaks their village language, decided to make one last effort and talk to grandma about Jesus last Saturday.  I got a quick text just before that said: PRAY! 

When the chaplains spoke with her, she told them that through the months, she has seen what our God has done for her grandson.  When her whole family believed that he would never survive,  she knew that it was the power of our God that made the difference.  He is well, happy and healthy. She then told them that she had decided to give up her voodoo worship and FOLLOW JESUS!!!

Um.....INCREDIBLE!!!!!  We have seen this woman multiple times a week for the past three months, we have prayed for God to open her eyes to the Truth of who He is, and He did. Her countenance has changed so much in the past weeks, from never looking us in the eye, to greeting us with a smile and a handshake.  Thank you so very much for praying for this little boy and his grandmother.  We are praising and praising God for saving them both and are asking God to make them a bright light of the truth of the Gospel in their very dark village.

So, today they went home.  I went over to say goodbye and help load up their belongings.  It was bitter sweet.  It won't be the same without him there, greeting us, waving, and playing with the kids. But we are so thrilled that we will see them again, one day!! 

Little G, me and Lovely Grandma

The next amazing thing that I get to share with you is another salvation story!!  (Isn't that the best kind?)

We have a friend named "A" who works at the guest house and at our house once a week.  Every Friday, there is a Bible study for the guest house staff (6 ladies in all) and though she doesn't work that day, she was coming faithfully to the study.  She expressed interest in a Bible but could not afford to buy one, so I "loaned" her one of my Bibles.  When I told her she could use it, she was so excited and brought it faithfully to our study. 

The other week, at the end of study, one missionary and I (who don't speak french fluently) asked another missionary, Cindy, (who leads the study) to speak to her afterwards - we both just had this sense that she was ready to follow Jesus but didn't have the courage to ask questions in front of the other ladies.  After quite a long chat with Cindy, "A" understood and committed her life to Jesus.  

ANOTHER INCREDIBLE MOMENT!!  Again, we had been praying for her for several weeks and God totally answered those prayers!!  

Lastly, (man, this is a fun blog to write today!) the hospital oxygen system has been barely functioning for several months.  I think it broke down at the end of November and two faithful men on our team were able to by-pass the system but that meant that they had to manually reset it every 6 to 8 hours - day or night.  For months these two have been getting up in the middle of the night, heading over to the hospital and resetting the machine.  It has been long and tiring and frustrating, as it seemed they were just not getting straight answers on how to fix it.  We've been praying about this one since December 8th.  This past week, a package arrived by courier with two computer-y SD cards that had upgrades for the machine.  They inserted them and within moments, the machine was functioning like it was new! The timing of this is incredible!  During dry season (which is now), because there's basically no humidity, they could continue to by-pass the system but once rainy season hits, and the humidity is high, that would have no longer worked.  Amazing!  And these two very tired men finally get consistent full-nights rest.

As you can tell, it's been an amazing couple of weeks, seeing God work, change hearts, and lavish love on His children. 

However, on a separate note, this week is also a very difficult one. It was a year ago this Sunday that our dear friend, Todd Dekryger passed away.  There is a memorial service for him, for the community to attend this Sunday so please, please be praying that the Truth that is spoken in the service will penetrate the hearts of those listening.  The anniversary of the opening of the hospital is the same day that Todd passed away - February 26th.  So while we grieve the loss of our dear friend and celebrate his life and how he poured out everything he had for the Lord, we also celebrate that the Hospital of Hope has been open for two years!  This will be a weekend of big emotions.  Please remember to pray for Todd's wife, Jennifer, and her four boys: Will, Grant, Luke and Drew.

The Dekryger family at the entrance to the hospital.

It seems that we always have so much to pray for.  A favourite quote of mine sticks in the cover of my journal:  Offer up definite petitions.  Expect definite answers.  We have just shared with you how God has done just that.  May He receive all the honour that is due Him.

I'll say goodbye by leaving you with another favourite verse.  The one I quoted the first time I posted about Little "G":

I watch in hope. I wait for God my Saviour. My God will hear me.
Micah 7:7



True that.