Merci(e)s in Togo

  Have you ever pondered the mystery of a memory? How a scent, word, or other stimulus can cause a chain reaction involving both electrical and chemical signals from different parts of your brain to recreate a thought or picture from the past, with emotions attached?  You can try to explain to me the minutia of neuroscience and the pathophysiology of the nervous system until my ears hurt, but in a way, a memory will forever remain one of the many everyday mysteries.  Memories have been a big part of my life for the past couple weeks, as they may be for many of you. Below are a few "snapshots" that have come to mind in the past couple weeks. The last is my favorite, and even though it is not one I have personally experienced, it adds immeasurable sweetness to the first three. Snapshot 1: I trembled as Pastor Leake came into my house for my baptism interview. I was around  11, a fairly new believer, and in my hands were pictures I had drawn in hopes of demonstrating to...

  "Emergency!" came a cry from outside my bedroom. With multiple possibilities of mishap running through my nurse brain, I opened the door to my mother. She handed me our slightly sudsy foster baby who had just sabotaged her bathwater.  The little rascal looked quite pleased with herself as I carried her in search of a towel and my mom made a second attempt at drawing the bath water. This is not an uncommon scene in our household these days, (or ever, really. As with every other family, a dull moment rarely exists). Yet it does make me ponder these months leading up to returning to Togo. Earlier this month I went to a training session at ABWE, the missions agency that is partnering with my church in sending me to Togo. There, the agency approved me as an ABWE missionary.  During the training, we discussed the pre-field period, which is the time leading up to the missionary's departure to their ministry destination.  While this time involves countless details, emails,...

 Desires of the Heart      Looking at my patient assignment for the weekend, I immediately noticed a familiar name on the list.  I had taken care of him many times last year during his initial treatment for leukemia and he was one of my patients on my first day back to work this year in April.  This time, his cancer had progressed and he was awaiting placement at a hospice facility.  As I walked into his room that morning, his weakened appearance startled me, yet his unchanged love for Jesus made me smile.  J’s knowledge and love for God’s word had encouraged me in times past, and this hospital stay was no different.  We talked the next couple days about the tension he felt between longing to be with Jesus and greatly desiring to continue serving the Lord on earth. J felt at peace with whatever God desired for him, whether it involved going to heaven or sticking around on earth for a while.  The same struggle experienced by Paul in Phili...

  Hi Friends!     After several months of praying, waiting, and changing plans, I am excited to share that I am on the move back to Togo for 4 years in 2022! Lord willing, after language school preparation (hopefully in early 2022), I will be serving with ABWE at the Hospital of Hope in Mango again, focusing more on the pediatric cancer patients to help manage their care and follow-up.  Some of my favorite memories are with these dear patients, and I'm eager to continue to build relationships with them as I help with their treatment.  The thought of journeying back to Mango, Togo fills my heart with much anticipation. Here are a few reasons why:  The Gospel is beautiful God's plan of salvation will never fail The community in Togo is precious to me     First, the beauty of the Gospel makes me excited to serve in Mango. The fact that God would show His love to people by sending His own Son to live perfectly in our place, suffer the consequences of ...