What can we say but thank you! Thank you to those of you who hosted us, given us an opportunity to present, prayed for us, and financially supported us. We could not have gotten this far without you nor do what we are being led to do without you! As we approach our last 12-weeks in Fort Wayne, IN and reflect on this year and the year that is to come, we cannot help but praise God.
At the start of the year, we were not sure where this path of pursing missions full-time would take us. Yes, we made the decision to go back to Togo in the Spring of 2022, but only started pursing it full-time in January of this year. At that time, it seemed overwhelming in terms of fundraising, pre-field tasks, preparing the kids, packing a container, etc. But we committed it to God, putting it before Him and then set to work, with a willingness to go or stay, looking for His guidance and direction.
Today, it still looks overwhelming at times, but God is opening doors and guiding our path. We are moving forward and our tasks are changing. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel for fund raising, pre-field courses, and packing. We are starting to think of the next set of hurdles that includes getting the kids into school in Quebec; vaccinations for Togo; arriving to Togo at the end of 2025; and goals for us as a family, for us professionally, and for a ministry in Togo. The process of pursing full-time missions has been and is a tough and lonely process at times, as what we are doing is so different from what “our neighbors” are doing. And yet we have been encouraged by the process and can tell you many stories from supporters who have included us in their vacations, to financial supporters who we’ve never met, to an individual who is donating exercise equipment, not only to us, but the HBB team, to amazing Togo presentation receptions that are engaging with questions that show not only support, but interest in what ABWE is doing through HBB and us. We can honestly say that we are a better family for this last year and are looking forward, albeit a bit nervously, towards next year.
So, all this to say, thank you! We are here because of God’s guidance and provision through you. Thank you!
Fund Raising
- 96% Monthly Support
- 100% One-time cost
- **our monthly support has been impacted by Noll turning 5 (new education funds)
- ** Change in Togo VISA cost: increase from $150 to $1800/yr. (for us as a family). This will be reflected in future monthly support requirement
- www.abwe.org/pfenniger
UPDATES
More than Just a Hospital
HBB (Hôpital Baptiste Biblique) welcomed a new FP/OB doctor this summer. Currently the hospital has 7 missionary medical providers (4 surgeons, 2 family doctors and 1 NP). The providers cycle through a set period at HBB after which they get a time of furlough back in the states. Thus, the actual number of providers at the hospital at a given time and their roles and responsibilities are in constant flux. Adding to this is the fact that Togo is not only a resource poor environment, but also a labor-intensive environment –this means that tasks take more time. A long-term family doctor shared with us that he is logging 60-hour work weeks, 18 of them are spent in community ministry developing relationships. HBB continues to be busy doing surgery, clinic and hospital medicine, low-risk OB and running a hospice service. They are also working on an expansion project that will see the hospital grow from its present size (50 beds) to 75+ beds. Please pray for the missionary leaders and staff at HBB as they work to win an audience for God through meeting medical needs and building relationships, while also managing their own spiritual needs as well as the needs of their family.
Pre-field
We are almost done! Yeah! We are leading 2 book studies on the Bible, one on Thursday and one on Sunday at our house. In addition to this, Lydia is working through the Basic Mission Theology course. If all goes well, we should be finished with both by the end of November. This will leave the Muslim course that Lydia will still need to finish –most likely she will finish this while in Quebec. On reflection, the pre-field courses and books though time consuming have been very valuable. We appreciate them and feel strongly that the knowledge gained will help us as we head to the field. Thank you ABWE!
Language School
We believe everything to be set there for us in Sherbrooke, Quebec. We have a place to stay and have identified the schools the kids will be attending. We understand the process for Lydia to enter Canada (as Fred and the kids are Canadian this is a non-issue) and for the kids to attend an English school. We were unable to get a U-Haul hitch installed on our van and so will be moving with our van and a 10-foot U-Haul truck, and are now leaning towards towing our second vehicle to Quebec with us. The thought presently is it will give us flexibility with the kids and any activities.
Container
We have had a second conversation with a church in Lansing, MI that organizes containers to Togo. In this we understand how our stuff is to be packed and documented, and have started to buy some plastic totes. There is uncertainty if we can send our stuff directly to them in the middle of December, versus putting it in storage for a short time. This issue will be dependent on what they are doing closer to that time. As such we will be contacting them again near the end of November. In the mean-time, we have done an initial pass through the house, reducing our “things.” We are starting to pack and purchase appliances, and are planning to stage our belongings in the garage.
OB Midwife Training program
This is something we have been dreaming about since our first term at HBB (summer of 2013 to 2015) as Samaritan Purse post residents. Those of you that have followed us know that in that time, HBB struggled with OB coverage, which meant we worked a ton and helped in overseeing 600 deliveries in a year. You may also know that HBB had to close the OB service from the summer of 2021 until this last spring secondary to lack of providers. In this all, we strongly believe, and have the support of HBB, that part of the long-term solution is to train in-house midwives. In preparing for this we have communicated with the International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and have a sample midwife training program curriculum from Midwives for Haiti. We would like to start a program that combines the training of an apprenticeship while also being able to meet the standards of the ICM. We have set ourselves a goal of developing such a program, over the 3.5 years we will be there (spring of 2026 until summer of 2029) before our first furlough.
FAMILY UPDATE
Lydia and Fred keep very busy with pre-field tasks, medical education requirements, and the kids. We are in our last stretch of tests for our family medicine license requirement, which if all goes well, we will finish in December. In August we flew to the west coast to visit supporters and Fred’s family. This was our first time on a plane as a family. The kids handled it well. We much enjoyed getting to see family –the kids especially enjoyed time with the cousins; it’s amazing how fast kids grow! We also much appreciated our time with people from our previous sending church in Tacoma –where we still felt very loved and supported. Thank you!! Back at home now, we are “adjusting” to all the kids being in school –WOW! Oh, the peace and quiet. (Please don’t tell the kids😉).
Noah, our persevering child, started 7th grade and is enjoying it. His elective subjects include band (with him playing trombone) and art. This summer Noah had the opportunity to travel to Memphis, TN with his youth group where they spent 1 week serving a local community in need; we were very grateful for the chance this gave Noah to grow in his faith! Noah finished out an amazing cross-country season. He improved with each race and now runs a 1.8-mile race in 11:25. From here he is hoping to participate the first half of the basketball season.
Nathanael, our competitive child, started 3rd grade and is finding new challenges such as kicking “homers” at recess (so important!). In July he broke his left elbow while playing soccer. This put a damper on his summer as he had to stop playing sports for 4 weeks. During this time, he took up dice stacking and now can stack 8 dice -all from a you-tube video and determination! He is now back in soccer and gymnastics, and will be starting basketball soon.
Noémi, our head-strong child, started 1st grade. At first this was a challenge for her as her teacher this year is a lot more strict, but she has adjusted and is having fun! She continues to love to help others, especially her younger brother, and enjoys making “BFF” bracelets for friends at school. She has quickly picked up reading and is already jumping into 2nd to 3rd grade level reading books. She is currently playing soccer and in gymnastics. She and Noll are enjoying being a part of the kids’ choir at church practicing for the Christmas performance (She loves anything to do with song and dance!).
Noll, our persevering-competitive-head-strong child, started 4-days a week preschool, a month after the others, and is loving it, though he says not. He really enjoys playing with friends, both boys and girls alike. He is starting to learn to read and was the first to win his “alphabet trophy” for knowing all the letters and their sounds. He is enjoying his 2nd season of soccer, though he says basketball is still his favorite. Regarding his heart condition, he is currently off all restriction and will have his yearly follow up in November (with the cardiologist and an echocardiogram).
PRAYER REQUESTS
- wisdom in all the decisions (purchases, packing and preparations we need to make for Quebec AND Togo and do over the next three months with planned departure for Quebec on Dec 27th).
- grace and blessing as we host the families and friends of our children in our home for presentations on Togo (6 planned). The goal is to encourage “good goodbyes” and continued contact as we go to the mission field.
- peace and joy in this process, for us and the kids, as we not only move to Sherbrooke, Quebec but for the kids who will be starting a new school there half-way through the school year. Pray that the kids will be able to start school on day 1 the new semester and not have to wait days to receive a “permission” license to attend the English school.
- God’s provision for us to be at 100% of our monthly support prior to the end of December (since we are at 96%).
- the Togo South Team as a whole, that they will continue to grow and work together as a team while trying to meet needs so that God will be glorified
