Children of the Nations

Children of the Nations (COTNI) is an international missions network that coordinates medical care, food, education and community development for orphans and destitute children.
We will be working with this organization which partners with the African Bible College.

http://www.cotni.org/29-malawi

Excerpt:

The African Bible College (ABC) Medical Clinic partners with COTNI to care for the needs of our children in both our residential and village-assisted care programs. The AIDS pandemic is devastating Malawi; one in three persons is said to be infected. An estimated 10% of the country’s population is children under the age of 15 who have lost both parents due to HIV.

COTN provides medical assistance to the children in our care by addressing their ongoing medical needs, as well as taking care of the more specialized needs of our children that are living with HIV and other serious illnesses. The International Medical Community has made huge strides forward with creating anti-viral drugs to suppress this dreadful disease.

Each adult caregiver or parent with HIV/AIDS treated with these medications can expect up to ten additional years of life. This could potentially help to prolong a parent’s life, enabling them to care for their own children, empowering them to raise their children to an age when they can support themselves.

African Bible Collage Clinic

Below is an article on the clinic we will be working with outside of Lilongwe:

Malawi is on the brink. Drought, disease, famine, and corruption are facts of life in this ‘Warm Heart of Africa.’ HIV devastates families in this poorest of countries. ABC Community Clinic (ABCCC) exists to provide quality health care in a Christ centered environment. We care for the sick, encourage healthy lifestyles, and provide hope to people in desperate need.

The clinic shares the compassion of Jesus through serving African Bible College students, staff, and the surrounding community. ABCCC serves all facets of society, by operating several clinics within our facility. Each clinic is tailored to the cultural norms of our patients. Our modern laboratory and x-ray provide reliable testing. Our pharmacy is well stocked with quality medications. Our doctors and clinicians and nurses provide competent and compassionate care. The clinic is an avenue to share the gospel in both word and deed.

We are located on the west side of the capital city of Lilongwe. ABCCC operates a low cost public clinic, an “under 5” child wellness clinic, a nutrition education clinic, a private clinic, a malnutrition crisis ward, limited inpatient adult and pediatric medical treatment, a mobile clinic that serves orphans, and a mobile clinic to the local prison. Our staff includes over 35 Malawian nationals as well as expatriate missionaries.

African Bible College (ABC) http://www.africanbiblecollege.com/

Spiritual Keys for Preparation

Spiritual keys to preparation for short term missions: (be FAT)

1. Be Faithful—Means loyalty and trustworthiness. A fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

a. Prayer:
-for your own walk with Christ and that of your team members
-administrative details, trip logistics (for wisdom of decision makers and God’s sovereignty over the details)
-for the people you will be witnessing to and caring for in Malawi
-for the team’s preparation for providing medical care in our clinics and for team health and travel, getting medications into the country
b. The Word (Romans 10:17)
- be faithful to be in God’s Word daily and work on communicating the gospel simply, concisely, clearly, yet thoroughly.
c. Preparation- Think of what equipment needed, what immunizations are necessary, malaria tabs and other medications you will need personally, luggage, samples,
letters of support to mobilize the home team to pray, med samples to take with us, etc.

2. Be Available-(Galatians 5:13) “serve one another”

a. Volunteer for everything (be a “helium hand” when asked to volunteer for something). Philippians 2:5-7 “--have this attitude in yourselves which was in Christ
Jesus”… see the extra patient, cook, clean, organize supplies, haul, pack, be on time for deadlines. Try to out serve one another. Be a blessing and not a
frustration. Get dirty for the Gospel. “if I come back from a STM trip not completely exhausted there is a problem”. (Matt Floreen)

3. Be Teachable- Luke 9:48 “the greatest are like a little child”. You are highly trained professionals used to calling the shots. Turn the pyramid upside down and see
how many people you can get underneath and serve. Watch for things that the Lord is teaching you in the little things that happen. Live in the moment. Be FLEXIBLE.
Man makes his plans, but God directs his steps. Thing will turn out different but better than we could have imagined if we trust in Christ. JOY= Jesus first, others
second and you last.

Let our trip verse be I Corinthians 15:58- “Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Team Meeting - April 22

Malawi is one of the poorest nations in the world: 80% of the population lives on less than $1 per day. The country is not only ravished by poverty but the problem is compounded by disease and starvation.
According to the CIA factbook, 14.2% adults are infected with HIV/AIDS.
As of 2003, 900,000 people had the disease and 84,000 people died of AIDS in that year.

Our mission is to support the Biedebach's new ministry in Malawi by ministering to the community with medical aid and the Gospel.

The purpose of our team meetings, over the coming several months, is to prepare the team for the experience in Malawi. Each of our three MD's will be teaching on a subject to help prepare the team for the medical differences. Some of these topics will include HIV/AIDS, malaria and public health education.
The August 26 team BBQ will be a time for our families to join us in a time of prayer and a final "send off" time of fellowship.

Each team member is required to raise $3000 in funds, the majority of which goes to air fare.
The total amount is due in two installments. Fundraising may be monitored by logging in to the church web site.

Needs: We have a need for Bible donations and for someone to head up children's crafts and Bible story lessons. We would also like to bring Gospel tracts.

We are compiling wish lists of medical supplies and equipment which will be posted on the blog for your input.

Vaccinations: If you do not already have your Hepatitis A & B vaccinations consult your doctor and start the series ASAP. You will also need a typhoid vaccination and be prepared to take malaria pills while on the trip. You should also consult your doctor for these and obtain a prescription sometime in August.

Tom Hatter Update

Greetings Friends,

My Dear Friend Jeff Dalrymple asked me to share with you some details about my present encounter with cancer, and the role that God has played in helping my wife Lisa and I, deal with this trial in our lives. I will say from the outset, that God has blessed us beyond what we deserve, and shown incredible love, mercy and grace to us through out the experience.

During the summer of 2006, Jeff (Leader of our 2005 Short Term Mission Team to Johannesburg, RSA) e-mailed an article to me entitled “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” authored by Pastor John Piper. Pastor Piper wrote this article on February 15, 2006, on the eve of his surgery for prostate cancer.

Cancer touches many of our lives in many different ways. Many of us have friends or family members who have had cancer, or we have battled with cancer ourselves. Pastor Piper lays out 10 wonderful realities that every Christian should heed when their life is touched by the disease of cancer. You can access this article on Pastor Piper’s website; http://www.desiringgod.org/ I would strongly encourage you to check it out, as it is a wonderfully edifying article. There is also a Pastor John Piper sermon available on the website, entitled “Christ and Cancer,” and is worth your attention too.

Well, as it would happen, on December 13, 2006 I learned that I had prostate cancer. The doctor called and broke the news to me, and my first reaction was surprise. How could I have cancer? I am in good health and I do not have any symptoms. I’m working. I’m serving in the church. I’m old, but not that old! This must be a mistake? Well it wasn't a mistake.

The doctor was very positive about the prognosis, which was a comfort. Nonetheless, your mind can run wild when confronted with this kind of news. For many of us who do not know a lot about cancer, the word itself often translates into “death.” That definitely gets your attention.

My next telephone call was to my wife Lisa a 19 year registered nurse. Lisa is the Operations Manager for the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. She has been dealing with cancer and blood disease illnesses for at least 18 years of her nursing career. She has dealt with life and death through out her career in nursing.

As Christians, Lisa and I resolved from the very beginning to give this all over to the Lord. We decided to look for ways to Honor and Glorify God through the situation we found ourselves in. We knew we needed to put our full faith and trust in Him, knowing that he is the Great Physician.

We know that God is sovereign, and He has a plan and purpose for everything that touches our lives. God also instructs us to rejoice in our trials. We also know that whatever happens, and however things work out, it is all in God’s plan and design.

I went back to Pastor Piper’s article, reading it over again with a new focus. A focus that I did not have the first time Jeff sent the article to me. I was in search of a proper Christian response to this trial, because it was my desire to respond as the Lord would have me respond. My desire was to give Honor and Glory to God. God used Pastor Piper’s article to guide my footsteps. Pastor Piper’s article pointed me to the Holy Bible, to God’s Word.

Let me first say that anything good that comes out of me is all God’s work. It has nothing to do with me. I understand that God’s indwelling Spirit uses each of us to do His work. I take credit for nothing. When you see the little word “I” in this testimony, translate that “God working through me.”

I know that God allows things to happen in our lives to refine us, and to make us more Christ like. I found that I could draw strength from God and draw near to Him like never before. I found myself diligently reading scripture, and spending more time in prayer than ever before. I also found that Lisa and I were drawing closer to each other in this trial, and that was, and is truly a blessing.

We had our first meeting with the Urologist Surgeon who would be handling my case. After discussing the many treatment options, he recommended surgery to remove the prostate. At the conclusion of the meeting, I told the doctor that Lisa and I had a strong faith and trust in the Lord, and we knew everything would be fine. I handed a copy of Pastor John Piper’s article “Don’t Waste Your Cancer” to the doctor, and asked him to read it when he had a chance, and told him that we would be praying for him. As it turned out we decided to have radical prostatectomy surgery to remove the prostate.

I had to share the news of my cancer with my grown children. My unsaved daughter broke down in tears. What an opportunity for me to again share the love of God, and the comfort I have in my Lord and Saviour. You see, I know what my eternity looks like and I am ready. My daughter is unsaved, like much of the world, and news like this is devastating to one who does not have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. I continue to minister to my daughter, and my two sons, exhorting them to embrace Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour. I pray constantly and continually for my children.

I had an opportunity to share the Gospel and Jesus Christ with an unsaved friend. I used my situation to help demonstrate the hope we have in the work of the Saviour on the Cross. My friend was going through his own trial. He made a profession of faith through the work and conviction of the Holy Spirit on his heart. We both wept as the power of the Holy Spirit, in that moment, was overwhelming for both of us. God is so good! I pray for my friend’s continuing growth in the Lord.

Lisa and I have been overwhelmed by the many prayers that have been prayed for us by God’s Family. The support we have received from the Saints at Grace Community Church has been incredible. It has been such a comfort and encouragement for us, as we watched God’s Family rally round us at Grace Community Church.

Our unsaved friends who know of our faith in God, promised prayers for us as we go through this trial. That was a blessing to have some of these folks even thinking about God, and his sovereignty over these matters. These encounters allowed us more opportunities to share the security we have in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We prayerfully decided to wait to have the surgery, until after the 2007 Shepherd’s Conference at Grace Community Church. I did not want to miss the opportunity to participate in service to our Lord, at this wonderful event. The conference concluded on March 11th. I went into surgery on March 14th.

It has now been almost three weeks since surgery, and God blessed us tremendously! He is the Great Physician! The surgery went extremely well, and everything was accomplished that we hoped and prayed for. The cancer was much more pervasive then we first knew, but to the best of our knowledge the cancer is all gone. My recovery has been right on schedule and hopefully within a few more weeks I will be able to resume normal activities cancer free.

Actually, the recovery period has been a blessing. Since I am not able to work, and am somewhat home-bound with no distractions, I have had opportunity to immerse myself in God’s Word and that has been great! I have also had the opportunity to listen to many CD sermons from Pastor MacArthur and the 2007 Shepherd’s Conference General Sessions. Lisa is happy because I have also been able to open some of those books I have purchased at the Book Shack and have never opened!

God has been so good to us through this trial. We have been blessed beyond what we deserve, and we acknowledge that over and over. We praise God for the grace and mercy He has shown us during this trial. The trial is not over yet, but we know that God is going to see us through to the end, and the end of the story is magnificent!

Our prayer is for a speedy and full recovery, as we have our sights set on joining the Short Term Medical Mission Trip to Malawi, Africa, in September. Lord willing this will all come together, and we can continue in our deep desire to serve the Lord Jesus Christ, for His Honor and His Glory!!!

God Bless You All!

Tom & Lisa Hatter

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2006/1776_Dont_Waste_Your_Cancer/