Greetings from Mango, Togo!!

Greetings from Mango, Togo!!

I just got back from seeing four men who are being trained as laboratory technicians for our Hospital of Hope in Mango. They started their training at our southern hospital, the Karolyn Kempton Memorial Hospital in Tsiko. Below you will see a few pictures of their actual training. We are praising God for the funds and personnel that God has put together to make this possible! And we especially want to thank the New Covenant Bible Church body for your very generous gift that has enabled us to start their training. Pray for Yaya, Claude, Sambiani, and Tani that they would become great lab techs, but more importantly they would be saved.

In a few months we will start to train several other positions as well, such as accountants, surgical technicians, and information systems personnel, in total of 30 more people before we open the Hospital of Hope in 2015. Your gifts are an investment in the training of staff committed to delivering compassionate health care services in the name of Jesus Christ. You are playing a huge role in preparing our team to share the love of Christ with those who are sick and dying without Him in West Africa.

Just this past weekend I saw the impact that quality medical services can have. A woman named Awa came to see me with two chickens to present to me. She is a woman who has had multiple surgeries in the past to fix a significant female problem that has lasted over 7 years. The first time I met her, she was on the ground in so much pain that she could not even get into bed. Surgery was done at our southern hospital over a year ago, and she is now healed. During her time at the hospital she heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Although she has not yet made a profession of faith in Christ, she shared with me that her whole village is talking about her healing. I hope to go visit her at her home this coming Sunday to meet others in her village.

God has given us so many opportunities to share the hope of Jesus Christ to people who are walking in darkness. These past few weeks we have shared the gospel several times with a woman named Afi, who is dying of AIDs. Pray for her that God would save her.

Assana is another woman that has been coming to our women’s study at my house that another missionary leads. We have not been sure what she really believes so we went to talk with her. We started doing a chronological study with her on Mondays. It is exciting to see her so hungry to learn more. Pray for Assana that she will understand.

I am also doing a Bible study with Marie. Marie was saved a few years ago and has a great desire to be discipled. I am teaching her how to teach children’s Bible lessons. Marie has been attending our church on Sundays and has been very faithful. Pray that she will continue to understand God’s Word and how to teach those truths specifically to children.

We are so excited to see how God is working but we are also keenly aware of the spiritual battle we are in. These last few months have been very challenging in a way I have never seen before. We have several men/families here that came to do the construction of the hospital. In the last two months, two of those families left very unexpectedly. One of the families has a very sick mother, and they hope to return in the next two weeks. We just learned today that Kylie Weston, a 10 year old daughter of one of the project men, will have to return to Canada with her mom to have another surgery on her foot as the infection is now in her bone and damaging the bone. Pray for our team that we will stand firm and persevere in the challenges.

Another huge challenge has been my car. It has had some major problems that were covered up when I bought the car. I am losing a lot of money on the car but am forced to buy something else. This has been a major disappointment to me as I want to be a good steward of what God has given to me. Cars here are very expensive as they are all imported. The roads are bad; ask Kevin Strand or Chuck Driesbach, who experienced them, that you really need a 4x4. Pray that God would give me wisdom to find the right car that I can currently afford. The car is especially important in the next few years as I need to do a lot of traveling to supervise the training of our employees at the southern hospital.

We look forward to the day when we will all be together with many people from Togo around the throne of Jesus. Thank you for your partnership with me to advance the kingdom here. It really is a privilege to be a part of it. We covet your prayers so that we might bring Him much glory!

With much love and thanks!

Missionary Cindy McFarland

(See March 6 Newsletter for pictures)