June 23, 2009
Since its opening in 2006, the Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children has impacted thousands of lives in southeastern Mali, West Africa, with the compassionate care of its highly trained personnel. Ongoing construction on the eight-acre campus just outside the city of Koutiala points to the hospital’s expanding ministry, which serves Koutiala’s 120,000 residents as well as approximately 40 surrounding villages.
“Starting and growing a hospital hasn’t been easy,” says Jessica Schaeffer, a missionary nurse at the hospital. “But God has been blessing [us] since before the doors opened, providing for each need and countless opportunities for our hospital staff to love and testify in the Name of Jesus.”
One Woman’s Vision
A vision to build a hospital that would meet the medical needs of women and children came to medical missionary Joan Foster after the childbirth-related death of a dear friend. The staggering mortality rate of women in childbirth and children within their first five years prompted Joan to begin praying and planning. “Joan’s vision was brought to fruition when Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children opened in May 2006,” says Schaeffer. Ironically, the hospital’s first delivery was the child of Alliance missionaries Shawn and Becky McCabe.
Hospital Awarded
A dedicated staff has consulted with nearly 20,000 patients and delivered nearly 4,500 babies, performed 795 surgeries and approximately 10,000 laboratory examinations, as well as given 25,400 vaccinations in the well-baby clinic in its three-year history. Every patient is presented with the good news of Jesus, prayed for, and given opportunity to ask the Savior into their lives.
Currently, about 200 new women are seen each month at the hospital for prenatal care, and each month an average of 150 deliver at the hospital.
The hospital received an award from the Malian government for its work in AIDS screening. All who are treated at the hospital are encouraged to participate in a free screening and special care is given to prevent transmission of the virus from mother to child.
Life-Saving Ministry
An estimated 40 percent of all of Koutiala’s babies are born at the hospital, which averages six newborns a day. Although the neonatal mortality rate in Mali averages 7 percent, the hospital averages 1.6 percent—a life-changing event for many families.
As a first-term missionary, Jessica has experienced the anguish and joy of caring for some of the world’s neediest people. “It has been some of the hardest and best years of my life,” she says.
Learn More
Visit Koutiala Hospital Web site and meet the staff.
What You Can Do
Pray for hospital staff members as well as patients and their families who hear the gospel.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries.
June 11, 2009
By Pete Brokopp, serving in Burkina Faso
The following is an adaptation of an article from Alice and Pete Brokopp’s May newsletter. Read about remarkable returns from their years of sharing Jesus’ compassion with some of Burkina’s most marginalized residents-its disabled.
One area of great encouragement for us has been our ministry to the disabled. Human disabilities are a huge problem in Burkina because of accidents and crippling diseases (polio is making a comeback), exacerbated by inadequate medical care.
Over the years it’s been awesome to see God’s love manifested to those who have received trikes (large, three-wheeled cycles) we’ve distributed to enable their mobility. We’ve watched many pull themselves up to sit on the trike seats-after crawling on their hands and knees their whole lives-to experience dignity for the first time!
Ministry Inspiration
Our hearts were first moved on behalf of this large group of Burkina’s marginalized when we saw a woman dragging herself across the street. Asseita’s hands were crippled as well. To express Jesus’ love to her, we decided to raise funds so she could have a trike.
Because she was under satanic bondage, Asseita wasn’t interested in accepting Christ at first. But when she became quite ill, during the last hours of her life she finally whispered to our pastor that she wanted to accept Him. That night she passed away.
We shared Asseita’s story at Glenview Alliance church in Glenrock, Pennsylvania, a few years ago. Dan Kidd, a member of a biker outreach ministry through the church, caught the vision to raise funds through the club for the three-wheeled cycles to give to Burkina’s disabled. We’ve partnered with this club since.
Expansion, Outreach
Originally, funds raised were used to build the cycles. (We’ve worked with a local Burkinabe Alliance pastor to locate those who would most benefit.) As our ministry developed, the need arose to repair the trikes; we also began supplying grains to the disabled.
Several Glenview Alliance short-term missions teams have visited us during the past few years. During each visit we’ve sponsored a trike-giveaway, combined with a time of evangelism.
Compassion Inspires Self-Help
On a recent Saturday afternoon I was called to the church where we’ve typically held the giveaways. Gathered were a large group of people who had received the cycles through our ministry, along with the village chief, and a teacher of the predominant religion in Burkina.
First, their spokesman thanked my Christian brothers and me for thinking of them and helping them over the years. Then he said, “Since others have helped us, we would like to help ourselves-we no longer want to be beggars.”
They then told us about an association they had created to help themselves earn a living! Each member will learn a craft or trade (some will raise sheep; others may process Shea butter to sell, etc.). Proceeds from the monies they earn will be deposited into an account from which all will benefit.
We also were asked to pray that this new association would glorify God.
As I left the meeting, some of the disabled called me over to give me two beautifully hand-stitched pillow covers. I was humbled to receive a gift from people who have absolutely nothing.
Learn More
Check out the Brokopp’s Web page to see how you can support their work in spreading God’s love among Burkina’s most needy.
Read “Hands Across the Water“-the inspiring story of Glenview Alliance Church’s partnership with our Burkina Faso field-in the December 2008 issue of alife.
What You Can Do
Pray! “We were promised a piece of property with the stipulation that we would build a center on it that will house medical services, physical therapy, and skill training,” says Alice. “But it’s still in the ‘dream stage.’” Please pray that this dream will be realized!
Pray also for the Brokopps who are undergoing a challenging ministry transition, working part-time with our Short-Term Missions Office, requiring them to now raise half of their own support, while continuing their present service in Burkina.
May 31, 2009
PRESIDENT
Term: Four Years (2009–2013)
(936 ballots cast — 469 necessary for election)
Gary M. Benedict — 870
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Term: Four Years (2009–2013) or Two Years (2009–2011)
(936 ballots cast — declared election by plurality)
David C. Thompson 776 OA/M/E
Rockwell L. Dillaman 745 NA/P/OW
Timothy M. Bubna 737 OA/M
Timothy D. Crouch 665 OA/M
Donald A. Wiggins 654 OA/DS/P/E
Janet K. Howard 653 NA/R
Richard B. Pease Jr. 644 NA/L
Ronald E. Eastman 636 NA/L
Richard P. Mann 635 NA/E/OW
David K. Smith 614 NA/P/OW
Larry J. Carey 571 NA/P
John A. Thomas 548 NA/L
Joseph D. Botana 490 NA/E/L
Not elected:
Dennis L. Krajacic 441 NA/P
William L. Randall 383 NA/P/E/OW
J. Wayne Spriggs 332 OA/DS
Michael C. Gerhardt 312 NA/P/OW
Key: DS = District Superintendent, E = Educator, L = Layperson, NA = Not on Allowance,
M = Missionary, OA = On Allowance, OW = Official Worker, P = Pastor, R = Retired
C&MA BENEFIT BOARD
Term: Four Years (2009–2013)
Bill W. Lanpher — 798
Karen L. Davie — 783
Doris E. Nuss — 779
Jeffrey P. Brown — 777
Gary R. Reese — 765
Linda L. McClanahan — 753
COMMITTEE ON RULES
Term: Four Years (2009–2013) or Two Years (2009–2011)
(936 ballots cast — 469 necessary for election)
Robert B. Goldenberg — 845
Allen R. Biere — 842
F. Nevin Wiest — 842
Larry L. Long (2009–2011) — 836
COMMITTEE ON THEOLOGICAL ISSUES
Term: Six Years (2009–2015) or Four Years (2009–2013)
(936 ballots cast — 624 necessary for election)
Daniel R. Wetzel (2009–2013) — 822
David A. Denyer — 821
Ronald J. Morrison — 814
David G. Reese — 811
COMMITTEE ON COUNCIL ARRANGEMENTS 2011
Pao Her — 860
David L. Gilmore — 859
May 29, 2009
Harriette is 87, blind in one eye, and has emphysema. But that doesn’t stop her from the ministry to which God has called her. No longer does she believe she has nothing left in this life but to wait for death. No longer does she feel unproductive and useless. Harriette spends her days participating in a God-sized mission that benefits thousands of vulnerable women and children in one of the poorest countries in the world—Mali, West Africa.
Harriette attends Shelby Alliance Church in Ohio, where her daughter, Jean Viers began a ministry for the Koutiala Hospital for Women and Children in Mali. Viers and three friends started collecting baby clothes and supplies for the hospital before it opened three years ago.
Unleashing the Laity
As the small band of laywomen spoke about the Alliance mission in Koutiala, their passion for the ministry became contagious. Soon, the 60-member church became headquarters for a nationwide distribution center, providing medical equipment and basic needs for the women and children who would experience the practical love of Jesus from devoted C&MA international workers.
Harriette rolls long strips of bed linens into bandages that are used to wrap large wounds. She makes “mama packs,” which include knit caps, booties, blankets and other hygienic basics for newborns. Harriette also extracts hundreds of postage stamps from used envelopes for a stamp ministry that helps to support the Koutiala mission. And she keeps inventory of her production line. “Don’t tell anyone,” she told Jean, “but I’ve rolled 587 bandages.”
Harriette invited her friends to join the party. Now an average of 10 women contribute daily, knitting booties, caps, and making blankets. Hearing about the small Alliance church’s God-sized ministry, other Ohio Alliance churches have jumped on the bandwagon, even bringing their unchurched friends, one of whom provided 100 blankets.
Empowered By an Extraordinary God
“God is spreading our ministry,” says Barb Powell, Jean’s friend and ministry coworker. “He’s taking us to multiple states to speak about the need at Koutiala Hospital, and people are responding.” Barb, who has visited the hospital four times, says the hospital staff stands in awe of such an accomplishment. “‘You are our David and Goliath,’ Dr. Dan (Nesselroade) told us,” Barb says. “He called us his American missionaries.”
Though Harriette and her senior coworkers may never see the results of their labors, they know God’s Word has been implanted in the souls of each woman and child that touches their handicrafts. At 87 years young, Harriette received her high school diploma—and through her ministry to the least of these, she has found her purpose to live.
Learn More
Visit the Koutiala Hospital Web site
What You Can Do
Pray that God will bless the ministry of Shelby Alliance Church with provisions above and beyond what it could ask or imagine. Pray that recipients of their labor of love will know Jesus as their Savior.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries
May 18, 2009
By Brett and Sheri MacLean, serving at Koutiala Hospital in Mali
Editor’s note: Just 77 percent of Malians live on less than $2 a day, about the cost of a day’s hospitalization in Koutiala Hospital. Bargain-basement medical costs like this, however, are often affordable only because of generous donors’ gifts.
As we turn off her baby’s oxygen, Isa’s mother starts to bawl and runs outside so that she can hide her tears. Isa’s dad sits stone-faced.
He has asked for days to be allowed to take his premature baby home. We have refused. Today, he says that they are leaving regardless of what we say.
No Money
Why is he doing this? Doesn’t he realize that his son will die within an hour of turning off his oxygen? We have even removed Isa’s oxygen to show his father Isa’s struggle to live. Nevertheless, the father says that they will be going home.
When our Malian chaplain pulls Isa’s father aside, he soon discovers that they have no more money for medical care. Today, all of their money has run out.
Pricing a Child’s Life
Sadly this is life in Mali-having to let your child die due to lack of funds, even when the price of oxygen is just $2 per day and hospital care is an additional $1.
Can you even imagine having to put a monetary value on the life of your child … much less at a cost of no more than a cup of StarbucksTM coffee?
Yet families here are accustomed to this. In fact, children die so frequently that Malians don’t even have funerals for them because the expenses are too much. Funerals are reserved for those who have at least reached their teenage years.
Generous Donors Give Life
One of the most frequent greetings offered to parents of a deceased child is “Ala ka balo ta segi a no na” . . . ”May God give you another child to replace this one.”
In my opinion, a more appropriate greeting following the death of a child would be “I’m sorry your baby died because you are poor.” Although these words are not spoken, it is unfortunately true.
Thankfully, Isa didn’t have to die. Because of faithful donors’ gifts we were able to tell his father that we would cover the rest of his hospitalization costs. Now Isa is at home, growing and doing well!
Isa, by the way, is the Arabic word for “Jesus.” Isa’s father is a teacher of the predominant religion here, yet he was so amazed at the care that was given in Jesus’ name, and the miracle of his child’s life, that he named his son after Him.
Learn More
Check out some of our videos describing our work at Koutiala Hospital, where women and children’s medical needs are absolutely staggering.
What You Can Do
Pray for Isa and his family to know Christ, the giver of eternal life.
Your support of Alliance Great Commission Ministries allows dedicated international workers like the MacLeans to continue their work-offering new life to the hopeless in Jesus’ Name.
You can also give to the Koutiala Hospital Benevolent Fund. (This designation will go toward assisting other impoverished families like Isa’s who have no money for their children’s medical care.)
May 14, 2009
By Betsy Blanchard, serving in Spain
Editor’s note: Excerpts from Betsy’s recent newsletter describe her vision to assist immigrant women in Spain, many of whom are victims of sex-trafficking.
Great needs and spiritual darkness are a tangible part of life in my adopted home-Spain.
Spain’s Most Vulnerable
According to experts, immigrant women from Eastern Europe, Africa, Arabia, and Latin America have a 25 percent higher risk of being subjected to domestic violence in Spain.
Domestic violence is not the only problem these women face. There is a growing problem across Europe—including Spain—of sex-trafficking.
Young women-often girls in their teens, mostly from Latin America, Eastern Europe, and a few countries in Africa-are being forced into prostitution. Enticed to Spain by what seem to be legitimate jobs, they find themselves enslaved in prostitution, with almost no way out-hopeless, their young lives in ruins.
Cinderella’s House
God has laid a vision on my heart to establish a residential center—”Cinderella’s House”—to minister to these women in crisis. A center for restoration, it is where a hopeless and broken “princess” (a daughter of the King of Kings!) can meet the Prince of Peace and be transformed.
I spent the last six to eight months of my term in Spain laying some groundwork for this dream, researching possible sites for this ministry. My efforts will now focus primarily on getting this project off the ground—as God leads and provides.
Please continue to pray with me that God will soon make the Cinderella’s House project a reality that will impact women in crisis across Spain with the love of Jesus.
Learn More
Read about our work in Spain.
What You Can Do
Your support of Alliance Great Commission Ministries allows dedicated international workers like Betsy to continue their work-reaching the hopeless with the transforming message of Christ’s love.
To help get “Cinderella’s House” off the ground, you can mark your gift in any one of the following ways: “Cinderella’s House,” “Women in Crisis-Spain,” or “E. Blanchard Work Funds.” (Any of these designations will go toward the costs involved in Betsy’s ministry to women in crisis, as described in this article.)
May 7, 2009
During a one-day dental clinic hosted by Compassion and Mercy Associates (CAMA), The Alliance’s relief arm, 12 people prayed to receive Jesus in Darhan, Mongolia. For the fourth year in a row, Dr. Bill Molpus, a retired Christian dentist from Mississippi, came to serve at the clinic with his assistant, Margaret Wiseman, who is from Wisconsin.
A Busy Day
As Dr. Molpus and his support team were busy pulling teeth, CAMA staff members worked behind the scenes with the registration process, checking blood pressure, praying for each patient, and sharing the gospel with those who were interested. By the end of the day, 87 patients had received treatment and 162 teeth had been removed.
“Praise God for those who were moved from the kingdom of darkness to the Kingdom of God that day as they prayed to accept Christ as their Lord!” says Dr. Nghia Pham, who serves with The Alliance in Mongolia.
What You Can Do
Praise God for the 12 who receive Jesus through the ministry of the dental clinic. Pray that they will grow in their faith and introduce others to Christ.
Sensitive to Chinese university students involved in their ministry, Ron and Wilma Priest (link), who serve with The Alliance in Russia, offered to rent a room so they could celebrate the Chinese New Year on January 25. “Since that’s their biggest holiday,” said Ron, “we told them they could invite friends, and we could spend the evening together.”
The students explained that Chinese tradition was to spend the evening at home, fixing Chinese dumplings with their families. “They preferred a ‘home’ atmosphere with us and asked if just our Bible study group could come,” Ron said. “Because some had gone to China for the New Year, only 18 students joined the celebration.”
Home Away From Home
A local TV station contacted one of the students about airing a feature highlighting university students and the Chinese New Year. The film crew was invited to the Priests’ home.
During the evening, the crew interviewed several of the students and asked why they chose to celebrate their Chinese holiday with Americans. One student responded, “Ron and Wilma’s home is our home away from home. They teach us about God and the Bible.”
As the students prepared the Chinese dumplings, they were asked what the differences are between the Russian New Year and what they are doing. The students replied that Russians drink a lot, but they would not be drinking any alcohol, because they are Christians.
The TV crew filmed the entire process of making the dumplings-all 400 of them-and were rewarded with an invitation to sample the Chinese delicacy.
Learn More
Read about the Priests’ ministry to Chinese university students in alife.
What You Can Do
Pray for God’s provision for Ron and Wilma’s ministry. Also, pray that students who return to their homes will connect with believers and remain grounded in their faith.
Donate to Alliance Great Commission Ministries to support workers like the Priests.
May 6, 2009
When Hurricane Katrina swept through the Gulf Coast, nearly 1 million people were left homeless. Two Alliance churches in New Orleans fell victim to the flooding when the city’s levees broke. The church members evacuated to several different cities. From the day after the storm hit on August 29, Compassion and Mercy Associates (CAMA) , the relief arm of The Alliance, has been on the scene with help in several locations.
“CAMA’s strategy is to work alongside local churches,” says CAMA director, Phil Skellie. “We are not there to tell people what to do. We get the funds to people who already have a plan in place.”
Since Katrina hit the tropical southern beaches of New Orleans, Mississippi, and Alabama, more than $255,000 has been given to CAMA through The Alliance. Distribution is determined by need. “$9,000 was donated to Alliance Bible Church in Baytown, Texas, for scholarships for evacuee children to attend the church’s school,” says Skellie.
Similar efforts in Arlington and Houston, Texas, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Waveland, Mississippi are underway. “Six months’ rent has been paid for one family,” says Skellie. “And the Vietnamese First Alliance Church has reached out to evacuees from New Orleans’ Asian community.”
Rev. Don Young, pastor of Genesis Church (Alliance) in Foley, Alabama, had work crews in Waveland two days after Hurricane Katrina demolished the Gulf Coast. Water, food, and clothing met the immediate needs of the towns’ 7,000 homeless residents. “We went from serving 200 to 5,000 meals a day in the past three weeks,” says Young, who is partnering with other local churches to provide long-term assistance in rebuilding Waveland. “We’re in it for the long haul,” he says.
Plans are underway for the establishment of community centers in Baton Rouge and New Orleans that will provide occupational training, counseling and material aid to evacuees. “The goal,” says Skellie, “is to see communities of faith emerge as people respond to Christ’s love as expressed through compassionate deeds and the Word. Our assistance is given regardless of how people respond spiritually, but those who desire all God has to offer them, will receive help for both body and soul.”
Editor’s note: C&MA medical worker Peggy Drake knows well the stench of death. She and Jetty Stouten, who serves with CAMA in the Netherlands, initiated Project Life, a medical clinic and pharmacy providing affordable treatment to the ill and dying. Located in Bobo-Dioulasso, the project includes an AIDS-prevention outreach program to local youth.
Following are edited excerpts from a heart-rending story Peggy shared in her 2008 Christmas letter. She describes how serving a dying woman enveloped her unbelieving community in the aroma of Christ’s love.
She came into the clinic waiting room, her face etched in pain. The fearful look in her eyes asked, “What will they do to me here?”
She had no money. So our secretary forgave the small consultation fee we charge and seated her in the waiting room.
The Smell of Death
Because of the odor, it was not long before others in the room began to move away from the woman. When our African nurse, Elizabeth, admitted the patient, Genaba, she found that for two years, cancer had eaten away at this woman’s breast.
When I asked Genaba why she had not come to us sooner, she said that her husband had told her they had no money. I began to treat her gaping wound, knowing that nothing could be done to save her. We then covered the costs for her mastectomy, hospitalization, and postoperative care.
Prepared for Heaven
After the surgery, Genaba did well for about one month. When her health began to fail, she knew she was dying. But because of her love for the Lord-and knowing that her pain would soon be gone-she was ready to go to heaven!
The morning of her death I went to Genaba’s home, a small, mud-brick structure on the edge of town. Her two teenage children were there weeping; their father had died six months earlier, leaving them feeling abandoned.
Soon, Christians from the area began to arrive. They gathered at one side of the humble home, while followers of the area’s traditional religion assembled on the other. It was the Christians who initiated caring for the body and helping the children to bury their mother.
Witness to a Community
A few days after the burial, Sara, a well respected woman from one of the local churches, told us a story. She described how all the residents of Genaba’s community were talking about what they had seen: Christians, including our clinic workers, reaching out in love to care for this destitute mother. “Why?” they asked.
Sara explained that it was because of Jesus. He lived among us, and He wanted us to reach out in love to everyone-rich, poor, young, and old.
Thank You!
Later, a group of women from the community visited us at the clinic. Through song, they thanked us for caring for Genaba and her children.
My friend, I want to thank you! If you have given to our Alliance Great Commission Ministries, you, too, cared for Genaba. In doing so, you helped to spread the aroma of Christ’s love throughout her unbelieving community.
Yes, a little love goes a long way!
Learn More
Check out Peggy’s and Jetty’s Web site.
Download a video of Dr. David Thompson, among a number of Alliance workers, including Peggy and Jetty, giving hope to the AIDS-affected.
Forums
RSS
Podcasts
Newsletters