The Pfennigers – Fred and Lydia

We wanted to share with you the life and testimony of one of our friends and colleagues, Todd DeKryger.  He had worked on the southern hospital in Togo as a PA and surgeon for many years.  Along side him was his wife and 4 boys.  A few years ago he had a passion develop for opening a second ABWE hospital in the northern part of Togo as a continued outreach to the Togolese and a growing Muslim population.  They had opened the new Hospital of Hope in March of 2015 with a lot of hard work and prayers.  He and the doctors there have been working a lot of long hours since the opening.

At the beginning of this week we heard that he had fell ill and was hospitalized and was having surgery for further evaluation.  At that time we began to share his story on Facebook and ask for prayers.  Shortly after that he began to decline and there was a lot of prayers for him making it to the airplane to get him to Germany and a bigger hospital.  Less than 24 hours after arriving he passed away.

Todd’s wife, Jennifer, wrote a letter after his passing that summarizes Todd’s life and passion and the peace and joy that only God gives.  Please be in prayer for their family and for the Togo mission team that’s left.

Jennifer’s letter this morning:
Today, Jesus called Todd home from the work he was doing planting and harvesting in Togo. In the mystery of His will, God chose this day to reward Todd with the unequaled joy of heaven. This is the promise of God that we as be…lievers cling to through tears and pain. Todd poured out his life as an offering to God in Togo. I know that Todd would similarly encourage us who remain here for a little while longer to also be faithful in our service to our King (Philippians 2:17). Please continue praying and ask Jesus to bring comfort to William, Grant, Luke, and Drew. Ask that His Spirit would provide peace that is beyond the knowledge of this world. Keep praying that the boys grow strong in their knowledge of God’s Word so they can live out the legacy that their father has given to them. Also, pray that our Father in heaven would send more workers like Todd to the beautiful fields of Togo where the harvest is so great!
My heart is overwhelmed with unspeakable grief – for myself, our boys, our extended family, our spiritual family and the Hospital of Hope team. I cling only to the gospel and the certain hope of our salvation through Jesus Christ. I long for the men, women and children of Togo to know the Savior that Todd served so faithfully. Even in my pain, I am confident that our sacrifice – that Todd’s sacrifice – was worth it. I believe that the great commission is a cause worth dying for. And in the midst of my grief, I fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of my faith.

Also see a video showing Todd’s passion and vision:

It is sure awesome to watch a child grow.  From Noah’s first steps, to him learning numbers, the alphabet, and now the sounds letters make.  Now it’s Nathanael turn.  At 4 days shy of 11 months he is making the decision to take his first steps.  I think he is as fascinated at walking as his parent are watching him.

Psalm 127:3 Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him.

God Bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

Happy February!

Did I say WE ARE GOING TO TOGO!  Read all about it in our latest Newsletter.  Our  2016 February Newsletter  is now posted.  Let us share with you what we have been doing and how God’s been working in our lives.  Go to our website under “newsletter” tab or click here.

Please also see our updated prayer requests, pictures and financial pages.

God bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

Noah continues to be a joy for us.  The other day it was his friends and him that taught us the origins of ice cream (see video below).

Outside of that, just wanting to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We have one more interview, one more Togo Presentation and a handful of CME (continuing medical education courses) to-go.

By the 11th of December we are hoping to be back in Madison, Indiana for some extended down time and careful / prayerful consideration of our future.

We want to say a sincere THANK YOU to all –  family, friends, those who listen to our Togo Presentation and those who interviewed us for possible jobs despite our uncertainty.

Our present prayer is that HIS direction becomes very clear!

God Bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

Our Summer Newsletter is now posted!  Let us share with you what we have been doing and how God’s been working.  Go to our website under “newsletter” tab or click here.

Please also see our updated prayer requests, pictures and financial pages.

God bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

If I ever thought God talks to me, I would say he does it through the peace he gives me during a crisis and/ or busy time. Our trip back to and our first month back in the USA is no exception. Yes, we have questions about our future –will God open the door for another 30 months in France / Africa? – and, yes, we are busy –9 presentations, 7 interviews –but despite this, we are at peace. And in and with this peace we are given the confidence that He is watching over us, and that everything will work out for his glory.

Our trip back to the US from Togo was long but uneventful –thanking God! We showed up in Indianapolis with 7 of our 8 bags, and into the arms of Lydia’s parents, Dave and Ann Childress and a long-time friend, Kharon. It was nice. Thank you very much!

From there we travelled home to Madison, Indiana and got settled in to our temporary home for the next 6 months. This was followed with trips to Edgewood, Kentucky; Quincy, Illinois; Bowen, Illinois; and Indianapolis, Indiana where we not only got to meet friends and supporter to share our story and thank them for their support, but tell them about our future plans and ask them if they would be willing to continue supporting us. The response so far has been very encouraging more so for the “familiar” feeling that has been felt in each of these gathering. We are left with no doubt that not only are our blogs and newsletters read on a regular basis, but that we have been prayed for and are loved like family. Thank you very much!

In between our travel schedule we had a Childress family re-union at the home of Dave and Ann. During this time we got to visit with not only Lydia’s parents again, but Lydia’s brother and sister and their families. Since our departure 2 years ago, the grandkids have grown from 3 to 5 with the newest members being Ezra Childress born in November 2014 and Nathanael Pfenniger, born in March 2015. The time was fantastic. We played on a slip and slid, ate barbecue food, shared our presentation, and had a night of fireworks that was fit for a king. I think I can say without a doubt that the grandkids most favorite person is “Granddad”. Thank you very much!

As we head into the month of August our schedule will continue to be busy and it will be so until the beginning of December. Between now and then we will be making 8 more presentation, visiting Samaritan’s Purse headquarters for a debriefing of our time in Togo, possibly attending ABWE orientation program for short term missionaries, making two trips to the West Coast –the first one on August 13 to visit family and pick up our van, and the second in November to attend a week long missions conference. Intermixed in all this will be a number of interviews. We continue to be blessed not only with the support– financial and spiritually –that we have received, but with the understanding people have shown as we take the next six months to investigate, pray, and listen to God and what step He will have us take next. Thank you very much.

Please see our updated prayer request page, picture page and our present level of financial support.

God Bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

P.S. Our Updated Schedule:

Oh how time flies. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is upon us. We just started work and now we have just finished work. Our last day of work was June 14^th. For the last two weeks we have be doing some visiting, saying our good byes and packing.

We were blessed with a trip to Mango in northern Togo where ABWE has opened a new hospital. It was a long trip but well worth it to see what God was doing there through ABWE. It is a beautiful 60 bed facility that is attracting literally bus-loads of sick people from not only Togo but the surrounding countries. On the way home we visited a nature reserve in Kara. There we got to spend some time with three elephants (the only ones in Togo!), who we got to feed and pet. Upon our arrival home we hosted a three day open house for the national hospital and clinic staff to come and visit prior to our departure. Seventy-two people showed up! It was truly a refreshing time to spend with so many. During this time words were shared, laughter was had, prayers said, and tears shed. One thing is for sure that we will miss this place and the people here!

From there we have been packing –reducing our house down from multiple rooms to seven suitcases –and planning for our return, writing emails, setting up doctor appointments, and church presentations and reaching out for funding (to see our present needs and commitments click here). It feels like we are leaving one busy place for another. At the same time we are excited, nervous, happy, and anxious in anticipating the transition/change that is in progress, not sure of where we will end up but at peace that God is in control.

God Bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

Pfenniger

P.S. Our present schedule is such:

July 4^th -5^th                                            ⇒ flying home, Madison Indiana

July 7^Th                                                  ⇒ Florence Kentucky, Grace Fellowship

July 9^th / 13^th / 14^th / 15^th / 16^th           ⇒ doctor / dentist appointments

July 16th-19th ?                                  ⇒Florence/Edgewood, KY

July 22 to July 27^th                             ⇒ Quincy Illinois, Bowen Christian Church – Quincy Family Medicine Residency Program

July 29 to Aug 3^rd                                 ⇒ Madison Indiana, Childress family reunion

Aug 5^th to Aug 10^th                                ⇒ Rogers, Arkansas

Aug 13^th ??                                             ⇒ flying out to Vancouver BC

Aug 15 /16 / 17                                      ⇒ Tacoma Washington, Temple Baptist Church

Aug 18^th to Oct 7^th                                  ⇒ Travel back to Madison Indiana visiting family / friends / supporters / clinics; exact schedule – route still to be defined; need to visit multiple states

Oct 11 / 12^th                                            ⇒ Milton, Kentucky, Milton United Methodist Church

Oct 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 ??                         ⇒ Kirksville, Missouri

Oct 20 to 26^th ??                                    ⇒ Fisher, Illinois

Oct 27 to 30^th                                         ⇒ Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (ABWE)

Nov 7^th                                                     ⇒ Marion, Indiana, Indiana Wesleyan University

Nov 8^th to Nov 15                                   ⇒ Tacoma Washington, Temple Baptist Missions Conference

P.P.S. See our updated (or soon to be) pictures and prayer page as well  AND please email us (mail@fredandlydia.com) if you would like to see if we can “squeeze you in” to our visiting schedule 😉

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us . . . . 

Our Spring Newsletter is now posted!  Let us share with you where we’re going and when and how God’s been working.  Go to our website under “newsletter” tab or click here.   Hope you are having a blessed new year.

Please also see our updated prayer requests as we head into this new year and our updated pictures.

God bless

Fred, Lydia, Noah and Nathanael

It’s amazing what a difference no internet access makes! We are very thankful to finally be “back on the air” –though our internet is limited, it is something, which is better than the nothing we had for a little over seven weeks! So in case you’ve been wondering about the “silence” from the Pfennigers –this is why.

A lot has happened in the past few weeks. The major and most important event was the birth of our son, Nathanael Yawo Pfenniger, who was born March 19^th at 9:30 pm. (Yawo is Ewe, the local language here, for Thursday. Togolese tradition is to name your baby based on the day they were born, so there is a boy and girl name for every day of the week.) Starting at about 8 months pregnant we had been blessed with three different OB’s who gave up time with family and vacation time to come out here to Togo for two weeks each, not only to help in the hospital but also to be there for the birth of our son. First was Dr. Becky Haak from Indianapolis, Indiana, who not only helped in covering the hospital and clinic but also helped to recruit the second doctor that came out as she was getting ready to leave. Dr. Teresa Brown, from Evansville, Indiana, left 4 kids and a husband at home to help us here as well. Dr. Brown walked with me twice part way up the mountain in hopes of “kick-starting” some labor without success. There was one evening, when we thought it might happen, but after an hour of regular contractions, they disappeared. Her son Josh had come with her and was very helpful in hospital ministry and in watching and playing with not only Noah, but other missionary kids here too. Then as she was leaving, in came Dr. Melodie Stocks, from Kirksville, Missouri, who left 3 kids and a husband at home as well. Thank you so much to the families of these three ladies who gave them up for this time!!

On Dr. Stock’s second day here in Togo, she got to deliver our beautiful little boy! After two hours of labor and three pushes Nathanael arrived in the HBB hospital. He weighed 2.6 kg (5.72 lb) and was 47 cm (18.5 inches) long. In the first few hours of life his oxygen level was lower than what was expected and he was requiring oxygen by nasal cannula. Due to this prolonged need for oxygen there was some real concern that maybe he had a cardiac problem and an emergency flight team was contacted to start the process in case this was needed. An x-ray and echocardiogram here at HBB were reassuring and then a final echo down in Lomé verified that all was normal – Nathanael has been cleared of any medical concerns, for which we are very grateful and truly thanking God for! It’s amazing how God can use times like these to strengthen your faith in him, especially when there are so many “what if. . . ?“ questions.

His big brother Noah was very excited and happy to first meet his baby brother –he didn’t quite understand why Nathanael couldn’t get up and come play with him as of yet. Noah has done well adjusting to the changes in the home. About a week after he was born we were blessed as several Togolese hospital employees came by in the morning to give a traditional “welcoming” to the baby, which involved singing, reading of scripture, and prayer, this was an event that truly touched our hearts –Fred was close to tears.

Thank you very much for all of your prayers with regards to the pregnancy, delivery, and healthy baby! We both had about a week off after the birth, which was much needed, and Lydia will be taking a few weeks off and then returning to work at the beginning of May.

We also very much want to thank Dr. Haak, Brown, and Stocks, these women not only took the time away from family and work to be with us and then jumped right in to help us in covering maternity and the OB clinic, but they also intentionally took time to minister to us as a couple and personally –we felt very blessed by them!

God bless and hope and pray that you had a meaningful Easter!

Please check out our pictures and prayer page over the next few days as we will be updating these soon –finally!

Our Belated Christmas news letter is now posted!  Go to our website under “newsletter” tab or click here.   Hope you are having a blessed new year.

Please also see our updated prayer requests as we head into this new year and our updated pictures.

God bless

Fred, Lydia and Noah