Anthis Update
Dear Friends and Family,
Greetings from the “Lone
Star State”
(that is Texas
for all of you who may be wondering.) Please forgive us as this letter is long
overdue and consequently is also too long! We returned to the US to begin our
home assignment at the beginning of the summer and life has been a blur since
our arrival! Immediately following our return, we spent 6 weeks covering 6000
miles and visiting may of you all, our faithful friends and supporters. It was
an awesome time, captured in part by Abby’s response to a simple question
posed to her along the way: “Where are you from?” A simple enough
question for most children. Abby thought about it, and then answered,
“We live in a hotel.” Actually, we were blessed to stay with many
wonderful friends along the way, but it was confusing for a 4 year old!
Unfortunately, most of July and some of August were taken up by medical
problems. Joel suffered a complication from a minor surgical procedure that
required a larger surgery and a much longer, painful recovery (no further
comments from Joel). But we praise God that we are close to 100% now, and we
are happy to be moving on. We are looking forward to the rest of our year here
in America.
We have been blessed by getting a chance to see many of you and we look forward
to reconnecting with many more of you during the course of the next year.
Finishing Well
Our final month in Jos was hectic, exciting and full of activity. We
were able to see the completion of the new ENT clinic at Evangel hospital.
This expanded facility will allow for more extensive ENT work to continue in
the future. The completion of the building happened just in time. The
building was dedicated the day we left Jos!
Initial
ENT clinic construction Completed ENT
clinic building
Hospital
personnel and Joel at ENT clinic dedication
Many have asked us what will happen to the ENT work while we are away
in the States. The answer is two-fold and very exciting. First, the clinic is
currently being covered by two Christian Nigerian ENT doctors from the Federal Medical School
in Jos (called JUTH), Dr Samuel Adoga, and Dr Adeyi Adoga. They are two of the
men that Joel has had the privilege to teach and mentor during our last year in
Jos. Additionally, our devoted Nigerian Community Health nurse and
audiometrician, Ben Babson, is continuing the work with hearing testing and
hearing aid distribution. And the specialized ENT equipment is being
maintained by our ENT surgical nurse, Audu Modu.
Audu, Joel, and Ben as the ENT clinic roof goes up Drs Samuel
& Adeyi Adoga, Joel, and ENT nurses at JUTH
But the second answer to staffing of the ENT clinic is more long
range. In July, one of the Christian Nigerian Family doctors who finished his
training at Evangel
Hospital, started an
accredited two year training program in ENT. This training will take place in Ghana and Southern Nigeria,
and through ministry donations we are sponsoring his studies. When he finishes
his studies he will return to Jos and work in the ENT clinic at Evangel
hospital full time. We see this as a very critical way to multiply our
effectiveness in Nigeria.
Dr Faeren Aboiyar Dr Aboiyar has already learned
a lot of ENT from Joel Dr
Aboiyar in Ghanaian ENT training
Despite all of our medical ministry news and happenings, one of the
highlights of our ministry in Nigeria
over the last three years really had nothing to do with medicine. Rather, it
had everything to do with discipleship, and witnessing lives in our Crown
Ministry bible study be transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit and
the conviction and application of God’s Holy Word. What could be more
exciting than watching young Nigerian doctors and their wives give testimony to
how the Lord has transformed their lives in ways too numerous to discuss? As
one example, at the end of the study someone shared that they now realized that
they are working for the Lord, and not for a difficult boss or ungrateful
institution, and they were now able to go to work with a great attitude of
service to the Lord each day. How convicting is that for many of us around the
world?!
The
final Crown Ministries Bible Study at our home in Jos
Support Update
We want to take this opportunity to thank
each one of you who has supported us faithfully with your prayers and your
finances. God has blessed us with the most awesome team of supporters! We
can’t tell you how much the Lord has blessed and loved us through you
all. But what do you do now???? Please continue to pray for us as we re-learn
how to live and work in America!
Beginning in September and until our planned return to Nigeria at the
end of next summer Joel will be working for his former group, Texas ENT
Specialists. Because of God’s provision of this job, we will not need
personal salary support contributions while Joel is working. Any further
contributions received during our home assignment will not go to our personal
financial needs. However, while we are in the states we will continue to need
funds to support ongoing outreach ministries and projects in Nigeria, as
well as reduced mission agency admin fees and medical insurance. Some examples
of these continuing ministries in Nigeria are the ongoing support of the ENT
training of Dr. Aboiyar in Ghana until July 2008, ongoing needs to subsidize
the hearing aid work at Evangel hospital and finish furnishing the ENT clinic,
funding for monthly village medical outreaches and money to cover the care of
destitute ENT patients at Evangel and of Muslim street women and children at
the Gidan Bege clinic. Again, we want to thank all of you who have faithfully
supported us and we would like any of you who choose to stop sending monthly
contributions while we are in the US
to consider supporting us regularly again when we return to Nigeria
(planned in July of 2007.) Over the next year we will keep you up to date on
all that God is doing in our lives and in Nigeria through your partnership.
Kid’s Corner
Austin, Allison and Abigail are experiencing a real sense of culture
shock being back in America.
Abby especially has little memory of life in America. She is fascinated with
overpasses, elevators and escalators. But she definitely doesn’t like
the “American” torturous requirement that shoes and socks must be
worn all day at school!
We are blessed to have all three children attending a wonderful Christian school this year. Please keep them in your
prayers as they struggle with the move and all of the adjustments as well as
missing “home” and their friends in Nigeria.
Kids
on our last day at our Nigerian church Ally, Abby, and Austin off to
school Anthis kids try to fit-in back in USA
Prayer and Praise
Praises:
- For God’s
provision of a great rent house for the year, an awesome school for the
children and a job practicing ENT in Houston
for Joel.
- For the completion
of the ENT clinic in Jos and the work for the sake of the Gospel that is
ongoing
- Joel’s healing
and health
Prayer Requests:
- That each member of
the Anthis family would maintain our focus on Loving God and Loving Others and sharing what He is doing
around the world during this time of home assignment.
- For Dr. Aboiyar (the
Nigerian Family Doctor that we are sponsoring to train in ENT), that he
would not grow weary in his training and that he would persevere.
- For the safety and
effectiveness of our co-workers in Nigeria.
- For Austin, Allison
and Abigail as they make their adjustments to life in America.
Serving Christ on your behalf in Nigeria
(and now in the US!),
Joel and Cindy
Austin, Allison, and Abigail
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17197 N. Laurel Park Dr., Ste 567
Livonia, MI
48152
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