I was able to go visit my sister, brother-in-law and family while they were building a hospital in northern Togo, in West Africa during 2013. I spent a week at the existing hospital at Tsiko in the south of the country, seeing how things worked. I then went with them to Mango, in the north, where the new hospital was being built.
When I came back home I told Christine we should go there. She wasn't too keen on the idea.
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| Looking down on the Tsiko hospital from the mountains |
The Idea
Christine has banked some time at work - 6 months worth. When I asked her what she was going to do with the time off, she said she wanted to do more than just have fun here at home. This is where the idea began...
To do something meaningful and impactful, with eternal benefits! Great idea!
She wasn't a fan of short term missions, like two or three weeks. But six months - that started to make more sense to her. To use her medical training to benefit people who could really need it, to have an impact in lives for God. Now we're talking! The journey in her heart was making it's first steps. It took a few months but she became enthusiastic about going to a small hospital 'in Africa, maybe?'. It has been so cool to watch this shift happen. I love watching this stuff!
We prayed about an opportunity. Christine contacted five hospitals about coming to do some work with them. After a few gently closed doors and some waiting and wondering and praying, we were presented the opportunity to go to the small village of Tsiko (pronounced Chee-ko) in Togo, West Africa. Across Borders for World Evangelism has a long history of operating the Hopital Baptiste Biblique. You might not be able to find Tsiko on a map.
So, we have a destination and a length of time. Now we need a departure date.
W5
The five questions. Who? What? Where? When? Why? Well, this is going to be easy to answer.
The who: That would be us - the Penny family, making up the loosely organized 5 Cent Mission. If I have to explain the 5 cent bit, well... nevermind. We are Christine and Derek, Logan, Keenan and Hudson.
The what: We're going to serve at a small hospital to help meet the medical needs of people as a means to meeting their spiritual needs. This hospital ministry has seen thousands of people accept Christ into their lives. What an amazing opportunity.
The where: The village of Tsiko, Togo.
The when: We're going to leave Canada in early April, 2016 for a period of six months.
The why: We have the ability, we have a God that calls us to the ends of the earth to serve others and serve Him. We're not part of a club, we're part of a mission. Get out and serve, or support those that are going. Simple as that. We're going.
We have three boys who we want to teach. Teach them to love God and follow Him. To learn to love other people and be willing to go somewhere possibly uncomfortable to serve them. To learn to love missions and different cultures.
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| Derek, Keenan, Logan, Hudson and Christine |
What's Next?
We have to raise some funds to pay for the airfare and our food/lodging while in Togo. It's going to cost somewhere around $27,000 for the five of us to go for the six month period.
Doesn't sound like much - if you say it fast! The crazy thing is half of that amount is just airfare alone.
We have preparations to make here at home. We've seen some amazing things just 'fall into place' in only a way that a mighty God could make happen. It's been so fun to be caught off guard by things sorting themselves out before we could begin to get stressed about it. Just... wow!
There will still be details and loose ends to tie up right until we depart. So many answers to prayers already - and some answers before we even knew what to pray for! Again, just being stunned at what God does for us. More affirmation that we're doing what He wants.
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