Africa

BIG KNIFE - Operating for God in Africa

FMHF member and long term missionary, Frank Ogdon, publishes his story in a book.

Share information about this book with your friends and pastors. Buy one for your church library.

We are pleased to announce the release of Frank’s life story in paperback: BIG KNIFE—Operating for God in Africa which is now available for purchase online at Xulon Press or on Amazon for $22.49. It includes 40 color photos. 

However, we want to give you the author’s discount of $18 (includes postage). Send Frank a check with your mailing address:

Frank Ogden
620 12th St. S.W. #17
Everett, WA 98204

Here’s an excerpt from the Foreword by Dr. David Goodnight.

“This is the incredible story of the miraculous growth of the Kingdom at Kibuye Hospital in the upcountry of Burundi, Africa, and a faithful servant, Dr. Frank Ogden. If you visited Kibuye Hospital today you would find it buzzing with well-trained doctors and staff. You could tour a thriving medical facility with over 300 beds. Fifty years ago no one could have imagined this. The surgery center was primitive. The Frank Ogden School of Medicine did not exist. Electricity was not reliable. But the power and presence of the Kingdom was absolutely active – and growing…”

In Frank’s own words: “This is the account of my preparation for missionary service and the medical adventures I had in the development of rural hospitals in three Central African countries. But more than that, it is the story of how God advances His cause through committed servants of Christ, using medicine to relieve physical suffering and pointing people to Christ.

Hope Africa Graduates

By: Dr. Randy Bond

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

In the last week or so I have met socially with leaders of the promotions of 2009, 2010, 2013, and 2014 and some others from other promotions. They have updated the “who is doing what” list for their people and a few in other promotions. I attach the most recent version. I want to highlight several encouraging themes I have heard.

  1. Our graduates are increasingly recognized as competent. There was hesitation at first to accept them but as they have proven themselves they are increasingly hired and accepted. Most notably, in a recent expansion of the health care system focusing on community clinics and hospitals an exam was given. All of the HAU grads who took it passed and something like 40% to 50% of the national positions went to our grads. There are many unemployed physicians so this was a feather in our cap.

  2. Among nurses and paramedical personnel, HAU grads are looked at as compassionate with patients and collaborative with non-physician professionals—not aloof, demanding, or demeaning.  Different from grads of the other two schools.  The students attribute this notable difference directly to their experience at Kibuye and the modeling of Serge physicians.

  3. HAU women physicians are leaders. We have by far the largest group of Burundian female physician graduates.  They started the Burundian Women’s Medical Society, they are volunteering in “girl empowerment” programs for young girls, have started local non-profit associations to do that, including menstrual education.

  4. Few of our graduates, seem unemployed unless they choose to be

  5. Many are volunteering to serve the underserved, some are doing only ministry and some are focused on non-medical community development associations.

  6. I did not count the number in or having completed residency but OB/GYN, Surgery, and Anesthesia seem to be the most popular residencies. Many are pursuing MPH studies. 

  7. They are everywhere--unafraid to work in the rural environment!

Civil War in Congo and Ethiopia: Lament and Pray

By: Tim Kratzer, M.D.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo tribal conflict resulted in a civil war from the late 1990s up to 2006 with the loss of more lives than in any war since WW II. Free Methodists were at the center of the slaughter yet how many of us did not even know about it. When things are very bad it is not too bad to pray. God does not call us to forget it but to lament. Indeed, we did help and with some help, our hospital in Congo remained open. There is still trouble in parts of the Congo, but God is answering prayer. UN troops are there now but these troops cannot extinguish hatred. In Rwanda and Burundi, there were major efforts by churches and outside agencies to bring about forgiveness and peace. When I was teaching mental health at Hope Africa University, I saw what had been happening. Some of the students watched as their parents were killed yet they forgave those who were responsible. God can heal and abolish hatred, even in regions of the Congo where tribalism continues.

But now we have a new civil war, in Ethiopia and since Ethiopia. The war is between Tigray prominence and the central government. Although the central government was reported to have defeated the Tigray rebels, that may not be the case and many killings continue.

Ethiopia’s Civil War Is a Disaster That’s Only Getting Worse
Bloomberg Opinion, August 31, 2021

There may be terrible famine. Aid cannot get to those in need. Farmers cannot plant their crops and animals are dilled. Again, this is too horrible to think about. We have enough problems of our own, but these are God’s people, even if they are destroying each other and themselves. Many are Christians. Again, we need to lament and call our churches to pray.

Would it be too much to pray for these nations each Sunday for the rest of the year or pray once a month with a progress report? (Check BBC and African news.) And yes, our churches there need money but let’s start with real lament and prayer. The problems are beyond money, beyond the UN and at this point, they seem to be even beyond our churches but they are not beyond God.

Lament: For the Coronavirus and Beyond

BY: NORMAN WETTERAU, M.D. - FMHF PRESIDENT

Our churches could not meet in person. Our friends and relatives have been ill, and some have died. We have been isolated.  For many American Christians, we have been in a state of sadness and lament over the coronavirus. Some have also been sad because of our political situation.  Both sides are upset at our inability to agree on solutions to our national problems. Finally, our national life expectancy has decreased by two years even before coronavirus due to drug-related deaths and suicide. These are deaths of despair. Christians need to lament, turning the issues over to God and seeking his help and wisdom, and asking him to take away our anger and hopelessness.

This is not something we are good at. Soong-Chan Rah in his IV Press book on Lamentations, Prophetic Lament: A Call for Justice in Troubled Times, points out that many evangelical churches focus on celebration and triumphalism. He is critical of this as expressed in some white suburban evangelical churches, especially large prosperous ones. He calls on us to look at the inner city, the poor rural areas, and our overseas church and lament, not just for them but for ourselves. Revival will come through lament and honest repentance, rather than through great programs, celebration, and triumphalism.

We will explore lament at our fall annual conference which will be virtual on Saturday, September 18.  In making the decision to hold this virtual, rather than meeting in person, our board experienced sadness and lament. Let us come together on zoom and explore this together with our speaker, Chaplain Larry Lyons.  His first session, starting at 9:30, will be a follow-up of his talk at our virtual retreat last year. This pandemic on other social issues has gone on and on. How are we to react, not just to the disease but to what our different opinions are doing to families and churches. Where is God in all of this?

His second session will be on emotional intelligence and creating the patient experience. How do we as healthcare professionals build empathic skills and create emotional support? We may be in lament but many of those who are hurting look to us for help, whether the problem is coronavirus itself, unemployment, or the death of a family member from alcohol or a drug overdose. We then have the opportunity to meet one another virtually in two one-hour chat sessions, giving an opportunity to reflect, listen and share. After these two sessions, Pastor Wayne McCown will lead a 30-minute devotional. The meeting will be kept open for all of us to socialize and share what has been happening in our lives.

But our problems at home are not the only problems. As I have been reading about what has been happening in Haiti, Ethiopia, and the Congo, I have been brought to tears. These human realities make our problems seem small. Are we aware?  Do we and our churches pray for these countries? The problems are beyond human solution, but we have Free Methodists in all these countries. We cannot forget them. Mathew 25 calls on us to help those in need. I am afraid that some American Christians not only have no interest in helping but do not even want to know what is happening.   Even if we cannot solve these problems, we need to call our friends and churches to pray.

At the last General Conference Bishop Lubunga from the Congo attended. He is Bishop of one of the largest Free Methodist Conferences, not one of the poorest but the very poorest country in the world and a country that is still in tribal conflict, a continuation of the civil war that took the lives of 5 million people 20 years ago. At general conference, the Bishop was introduced and there was a prayer for Congo. It was an important moment for our General Conference and for Congo. Let us speak out in our churches, conference, and even at a general conference if that is necessary. We must know what is happening, lament and pray. Nothing is too horrible to pray about.

Join us for our virtual conference but also join us for lament and prayer for what has been happening.  We cannot change all of this but God can and maybe God will even use us to help.

Ebola, NEJM, and the Book of Revelation

By: Norman Wetterau, MD - FMHF President

The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse rides in Congo. This is recognized in the New England Journal of Medicine but do our churches know this?

“And there before me was a pale horse. Its rider was named Death…they were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine, and plague”.
- Revelation 6:7-8 

According to the New England Journal of Medicine, August 22, 2018, Ebola or something similar will sweep our globe unless we can improve the medical infrastructure in Central Africa, and specifically in Congo. The civil war in Congo killed by sword and famine and unless we can assist this country medically, plague may sweep the earth.

Is support of our medical missions in Central Africa optional? Currently, our hospitals in Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo are not budget items for Free Methodist Missions but do get support from groups like CAHO. Most churches put support of their own church programs and buildings above medical and development missions. In Congo, we have a 100-bed hospital and 20 clinics, which are the main health care for 200,000 people. The hospital runs on $100,000 USD a year, of which 25% comes from US donations. Health infrastructure and care are poor. There are national doctors and nurses. We have nursing schools in Burundi, Rwanda, and Congo and a medical school in Burundi, but there is often no money to support the trained staff. Many recent graduates of Hope Africa Medical School are unemployed. The medical infrastructure and staffing are not enough for even basic medical care: treatment of malaria, TB, and c-sections, but this is far away and often of little concern. Many churches have never had a medical speaker from Africa or given an offering. This is too far away to be on our radar. There are needs right here. We are concerned about Ebola, but it is in Congo, not here.

Recently there was another outbreak of Ebola in Eastern Congo near some of our churches, but farther north than our hospital. This outbreak has been made worse by the lingering civil war in Congo. Some aid workers were attacked by rebels. The situation could become much worse in the coming months. The August 22 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine had an article that every American needs to read:

“Outbreaks in a Rapidly Changing Central Africa - Lessons from Ebola”
Vincent J. Munster, PH.D. et al.
New England Journal of Medicine. August 22, 2018.

It talked about the current epidemic and the situations that cause such epidemics to arise and spread. Although in the past we have brought these mini-epidemics under control, the article says that the conditions are ripe for the development of new infections and new spread. At some point, it will become uncontrollable, and suddenly reach the populations of Europe and the US, where it will spread death to thousands or hundreds of thousands of people. If we ignore the situation there, we will have to deal with it here. The article had a possible solution, a solution on which we need to get our churches on board:

“In light of the increase in frequency of Ebola outbreaks in DRC and their relatively rapid detection, it seems that it would be well worth the relatively small cost of investing in diagnostic capacity and training to avert the cost of containing any large outbreak. We believe that a similar return on investment could be expected from financial and educational support for improving and expanding the clinical care infrastructure.”

Yes, this is something for WHO and the UN (which some Christians do not support), but also something we can help with. God had given us the opportunity to establish some of the first hospitals, many which still exist and are the mainstays of medical care for large populations. If we continue to just look at our own needs and not that of our neighbors, we may experience what is foretold in the NEJM and also in Revelation 6: death and pestilence.

Update: After writing this article, on November 28 the New England Journal of Medicine published a second article: Ramping Up the Response to Ebola by Jennifer B. Nuzzo PhD, and Thomas V. Inglesby, MD. It is not long and I would encourage you to read it. This article was referenced on the BBC news recently. This is Congo, where our hospitals are and where the Nobel Prize winner is. We have a hospital, over 20 clinics, and over 100,000 members, so we are a major player in that region. Also look up more about Dr. Denis Mukwege. Finally pray for the elections in Congo which will be held Dec 23.

Nundu Deaconess Hospital on the Front Lines Offering Hope

By: Norm Wetterau, MD - FMHF President

Nobel Laureate, Dr. DenisMukwege. Photo: ANP Martijn Beekman.

Nundu Deaconess Hospital has been in a region of civil unrest for more than twenty years. Nundu is located in South Kivu, which is an eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Over 5 million lives have been lost, hospitals and schools have been destroyed, and untold numbers of citizens have been terrorized. Women have been especially vulnerable as they have become victims of rape by gangs of soldiers, resulting in gynecologic injuries and the spread of HIV-AIDS. Our hospital at Nundu has survived by God’s protective hands and the prayers of the Free Methodist Church of the Congo. Thank you for being among those who have prayed for God’s protection and provision.

Yes, God has not been silent in the face of terror. Our hospital in Nundu was ransacked but not destroyed. Many of our outlying clinics continued to function at a basic level. People would carry medicines on their backs up the hills to these clinics. The nursing school at Nundu retreated to a safe place but continued to function.

Dr. Esther Labunga Kenge, the wife of the Free Methodist Bishop of Congo, spent time in South Africa as a refugee during this time of terror and has written and taught about this sexual violence and HIV. She has taught that women who were terrorized and traumatized are not being punished by God and are the special focus of God’s love. She is spreading this word and through International Child Care Ministries is developing projects so that widows and their children can grow food, care for animals, and support themselves. The goal is for the mothers to work, receive love and healing through the church and for their children to attend school. Your support of these programs through ICCM is very much appreciated. Though the situation for many has seemed hopeless, God has not been silent in the face of terror.

During this same period of war, a sister hospital known as the Lemera Swedish Pentecostal Hospital was totally destroyed. Rather than withdraw from the Congo, the Swedish Pentecostal Church established a medical center and medical school in the provincial capital of Bukavu. Dr. Denis Mukwege, a Christian Congolese surgeon and member of the medical school faculty, developed a graduate training program in gynecologic surgery. His special interest has been perfecting surgical procedures to repair the damage resulting from violent rape. He has dedicated his life to offering hope to victims of sexual violence. After his complicated surgeries, women have been able to maintain pregnancies and live a normal life. Their curse was healed by God through Dr. Mukwege.

This year the world became aware of what has happened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. How did this happen? In 2018, Dr. Mukwege and Nadia Murad, a woman who was enslaved by ISIS and escaped, were chosen to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Nadia did not receive this prize because she was raped nor did Dr. Mukwege receive recognition simply for his surgical skill. They received this honor because they have spoken on behalf of women both in the middle-east and in the Congo who have become the victims of violence. Dr. Mukwege has spoken at the UN even as he has been threatened for making the story of war and terror known throughout the world. It is wonderful for a Christian to receive such a prize. It is not just recognition for him, but for the church and God’s Kingdom.

What about the Free Methodist Church in the US? The Free Methodist Church in the Congo is strong and growing. They evangelize, maintain schools, operate clinics and hospitals, and worship with enthusiasm. Even in the face of civil war, they did not give up. Indeed, in some areas, the church actually grew. How is the North American Free Methodist Church to respond to such overwhelming human tragedy? In our affluence and in our relative domestic stability, poverty and the terror of war make us feel uncomfortable. It is easy to not want to hear. There is too much for us to handle. Frankly, over the years I have offered to speak in churches about this situation and very few want to hear about it. This is a common reaction for people presented with overwhelming hopeless situations. Is it because the realities of war are so far away and seem so hopeless, or is it because we feel that our meager donations cannot do much? Now the world knows about the realities of the Congo through the Nobel Peace Prize offered to Dr. Mukwege.

Nundu Deaconess Hospital is on the front lines of offering hope. Our challenge is to be informed and tell the story of the Church in the Congo. Pray for those who have been the victims of violence. Pray for the North American Church as it faces the realities of a world with overwhelming human need even as it enters into countries which have been closed to the Gospel. Pray that there will be a response with the resources God has blessed us with in addressing the humanitarian needs of the Congo.