(for a little while, anyway)
Finishing Our Mission
We were able to finish up as much as
possible before departing the hospital in Tsiko. Christine had the
opportunity to teach some CPR and basic skills to the new class of Togolese nursing students. That stretched her a fair bit, but secretly I
think she enjoyed herself. Christine is very good at teaching
students beside the patient's bedside, but this was a new twist for
her, being in a classroom. She had excellent assistance from one of
the newer short-term staff, Mindy. They were a dynamic duo!
It seemed like the maintenance side of
things never had fewer things on the 'to do' list, as we would
complete one job another would get added to the list! I gave back the
keyring to John, knowing that there was still much to do – but so
much had been done. I was sad to leave my Togolese co-worker Karewa.
He was fun to work with, and we would joke about how we made a good
team – one guy would take something apart and then watch the other
fix it! I'll miss that camaraderie. We accomplished a lot and had
fun doing it.
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| A tire needing to be replaced... |
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| Make that TWO tires to be replaced! |
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| A cabinet needed to be built for storing CPAP and BiPAP machines up top, as well as some emergency airway / resuscitation boxes (on the bottom) |
On the last day of official work,
before we departed the next morning, all of the maintenance and
landscaping guys came to the house as we were packing up. They sang a
couple of hymns and gave hugs as they said their goodbyes. It was a
kind gesture and deeply appreciated.
Not to be outdone however, Christine's
students came by later that day and sang for her and said goodbye, as
well.
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| Saying goodbye can be so hard for everyone |
The next morning we loaded up into the
van. We had a few more hugs, words of thanks and encouragement and a
word of prayer to send us off. With the Potter family, who are
moving from the Congo to Togo in the next few weeks to finish up
their mission term at HBB, Rachel and Mindy joined as we all headed
to the airport in Lome. An uneventful drive, a few more goodbyes and
we carted all of our belongings into the departures check-in.
It's peculiar how in a short time spent
with people you didn't know previously, they become your adopted
extended family. Some of them we spent just a couple of weeks with,
but they became dearly loved, as it was with the ones who were there
with us the whole time – and continue to work there after we have
left. We are so thankful to all of those folks for taking a chance
on us (Dr. Gayle, it's your fault!), welcoming us into their lives
and accepting us for who we are. To the HBB missionaries and medical
staff specifically – thanks for making our time in Tsiko memorable.
Thanks for the encouragement, assistance, shared knowledge and
patience with us and our boys. We love you for it! What a great
opportunity we had, to work alongside such a great team!
And - I guess that's it. We have
completed this little mission. Hopefully it will be viewed as a
success both in the earthly 'getting work done' way as well as a
spiritual way, helping point others to Jesus Christ . And that's the
main reason we made the effort, went out of our comfort zone, took a
bit of a risk and hopefully had an impact in peoples' lives; to show
them God's love. I know that is a huge reason why so many people
supported what we were doing, prayed for us and encouraged us –
because the mission is important.
From The Cutting Room Floor
Some final looks at life in our little
corner of West Africa. The time spent here will be fondly
remembered! Some of these pictures will have no significance to you,
but we'll know their value.
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| Kossi #1 and Togbe' working on another project |
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| A big, ugly looking caterpillar on my foot |
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| A recycled blood tonic bottle used for tasty peanuts |
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| Brochettes being cooked on the side of the road. If you ignore the food preparation deficiencies, they are quite tasty! |
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| We will not miss the connectivity issues. 22 days left??? Seriously? |
