December Ministry Update

A belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and Thank You

We would like to take this time to say a belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Thank You!  We pray that you are doing well, and that the new year will see your growth in Christ continue. As we take the time to reflect, we realize that we can only be doing what we are doing because of you, through your prayers and support (both financial & otherwise).  Please know we appreciate your comments, questions, concerns and prayer requests, and we pray that our responses have been adequate. Our goal with our ministry updates and newsletters is not only to keep you informed of what we are going through, but an attempt to further develop a relationship with you.  We are interested in what you are doing and how we can be praying for you!  So once again, a belated Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and thank You!

 Sherbrooke

Language School:  We finished language school on Dec 19^th, and although we have not received our final grade, we understand that we have passed B2!  In all this, we had two opportunities to make a presentation in French, about our ministry in Togo.  The first one was a 10-minute presentation on Dec 7^th at l’Église Baptiste Évangélique de Lennoxville from which we received a few comments that it was well done. The second one was a35-minute presentation to the Parole de Vie Bible College students that included a question-and-answer period where we must have answered15 plus questions about everything from the kids’ education to who is ministering to the missionaries.  It was an interesting experience to speak in front of a crowd of people in a second language.  In this I (Fred) was sure of what I was trying to say, but I was unsure of what was being heard.  If the question-and-answer period was any indication, the students heard what we were trying to say.

Togo, HBB (Hôpital Baptiste Biblique) – “More Than Just a Hospital”

Updates:(from other missionary newsletters)

HBB’s PAACS surgical residency program: a new surgical resident is starting in Jan. (PAACS is a missionary medical program designed to train African doctors who are committed to staying in Africa as surgeons.)

Evangelistic Mobile Medical Clinic in Fanyidewoe:  400 people crowded into the church waiting to be seen; due to time and limited providers, only 150 patients were seen but several pastors were there visiting with people and sharing the Gospel.  

OB department: received a gift of new handheld dopplers (used to detect and measure baby heart rates of expected mothers); and 4 maternity OB labor delivery beds (mechanical).

Medical Team: treating 2 kids for Burkitt’s lymphoma, who were abandoned by their mothers (a 4-year-old & 7-year-old).  They have completed their third and first treatments respectively and are responding.  And most importantly, the Gospel is being shared with their extended family.

Surgical/Medical team: aided a woman with a 15 cm mass on her right arm; she required emergency amputation secondary to bleeding and was found to have cancer with “cannonball metastases” (lung metastasis).  The cancer is not curable. The gospel was shared with her.

A day in the life of a CCAA-RRT (Certified Clinical Anesthesiologist Assistant) at HBB: “So, on this day, I started with an upper endoscopy on a child who had severe esophageal scarring from swallowing lye a few years earlier . . . Due to complications, (the used guide wire broke and caused a perforation and a pneumothorax) this was followed by an exploratory open laparotomy on the same child and insertion of a feeding tube directly into his stomach through his abdominal wall and a chest tube insertion.  This child is 13 years old and weighs just 35 lb’s.  For perspective, I used a blood pressure cuff on his arm that I would normally use on a two-year old.  So that was my morning.  In the OR next door, my colleague Franck, was providing anesthesia for a 2-year-old to have a mass removed from his face; then he had 2 patients in for hernia repairs, followed by removal of infectious or dead tissue and bone on a lady’s foot.  Next we had a mastectomy, and I sedated a 3 year old for a lymph node biopsy to send for testing for Tuberculosis.  And to end the day, I sedated a 3 year old so I could do a lumbar puncture on him to send his CSF for testing.”

For such busy days and complex cases, we are grateful for the roles that God allows HBB to play in the lives of those in Togo! 

“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.” 1 John 3:18

Preparing to go to Togo: We continue to move forward in our preparation to leave for Togo.  Everything is almost done.  Tickets are bought. (We leave Jan 16^th.)  All we are waiting for is Lydia’s Togo visa. (Fred and the kids have received their visas, but Lydia has not.) Fred will be making a “U-Haul” run to South Carolina to drop off our bikes and totes for a container that will be shipped sometime in 2026 when it is full. We have had a conversation with HBB and understand that we will start work on Feb 4^th (Yes, we are nervous and have started to mentally prepare for this task.  We have also reached out to a visiting OB-GYN, Dr. A who will be at HBB when we start, to give her a “heads-up” that it has been a bit since we last delivered a baby). Lydia and Fred will be working as one full-time physician and plan to divide the shifts assigned between ourselves, while the other stays home working through schooling and other responsibilities for the kids.

We were able to find on-line music and French teachers and an on-line “self-paced” math course for the kids. As such, the schedule is almost set for the kids. The three younger kids will be doing MK school from 8am to noon Monday through Thursday, where they will do Bible, English, science and history.  During this time Noah will also have MK school but it will go from 8:30 to 10:30am and only cover English and history.  Bible and science will be covered at home by Mom and Dad.  This will be followed with on-line private French lessons for Noah, Nathanael, and Noemi on Monday afternoons, physical education for all the kids Wednesday afternoons and Friday mornings, and music for the three older kids with on-line private lessons Thursday afternoons.  Math will be done a bit every weekday afternoon.  Our only uncertainty in this schedule is Noll. For Noll to attend the MK school, he has to be reading at a predetermined level. We are not sure if he is there yet, but we are hoping he is. Once Noll starts MK school, we will start to consider music lessons and French lessons for him also.

Family Update

Fred and Lydia: It has been a busy couple of months for us.  Our time has been divided between French studies (ended Dec 19^th), planning for our transition from Sherbrooke, Quebec (leaving Dec 26^th) to Grandville MI to Togo, West Africa (flight Jan 16^th, 2026) and helping the kids in their transition from Quebec. It has been a bit much at times, to tell you the truth. We are hoping as we transition to Togo our lives will “slow down” a bit.

Noah / Nathanael / Noémi / Noll: The kids got their report cards on Nov 20^th and we were able to meet with some of their teachers.  In general, they received “good” feedback regarding behavior and participation in class. We are proud of them!  On Dec 19^th they finished school and were able to say some “good” goodbyes.  Noah ran a personal best in cross-country (3 km, 10:46), started and stopped swimming, finished 2^nd in a school chess tournament, and was recognized for maintaining an average above 85%. All 3 younger kids finished gymnastics.  In addition, Nathanael had fun playing soccer at school and was noted to be exceeding the expectations for his grade. Noémi was also noted to be exceeding the expectations for her grade, which is amazing given the fact that she was moved up a grade. Noll had one of his “works of art” chosen to be displayed in the school calendar and was noted to be a quiet kid in class (which is amazing because at home he is anything but quiet)! Noll did have a follow up cardio echo which shows a normal functioning heart (routine follow-up after his open-heart surgery at 3½ years old).

Prayers and Praises for:

Kids

• Prayers: 
  • Last couple weeks in the US -special time with extended family and meaningful time on family ski trip
  • Transition to Togo (friends & MK school and home schooling) in the new year; for Noll’s reading
• Praise: for a good end to time in Sherbrooke & all have been healthy

Fred and Lydia

• Prayers:
  • Lydia’s visa to come through
  • wisdom in relationships (spousal & parenting)
  • wisdom in preparing to move to Togo & all the tasks with this
  • wisdom to do medicine/OB again in the new year in Togo (we have been out of medicine for > 1year)

Togo, Hôpital Baptiste Biblique

• Prayers:
  • for the team, the vision/expansion project (wisdom & construction),
  • the growth of the OB service
  • managing unexpected and expected increasing costs (increased electricity costs, unexpected tax bill)
  • some national concerns …(You can search African news.)
• Praises: for the response to the Gospel through the multiple ministries

People of Sherbrooke (& Quebec) 

• Prayers:
  • ministry of Parole de Vie (our language & the Bible school) and the local churches in sharing the message of Christ
  • new legislation being considered that could greatly negatively impact churches & Christians here in Quebec (re: public prayer, tax exemption, etc.)

Other

• Prayers:  Friends and colleagues going through some challenging situations (cancer, family complications) 
• Praise: Overall, our financial needs are being met