To all my Togo supporters:

This message is just to wish you a Merry Christmas today with your families and to say “thank you” for your prayers for me and for your financial help to this ministry.

Christmas in Togo is just one religious holiday among many; its a day of eating and fellowship with friends for the Christians. It’s a one-day national holiday. For the non-Christians it can be the ‘day of the child’ or just a day for general feasting. “Feasting” in Togo means having plenty of FuFu (pounded manioc root), rice and sauce. New Year’s day is a much bigger holiday than Christmas among non-Christians. Gift-giving is limited among Togolese just due to the general poverty of the people. Of course here at the hospital patient care and care of emergency cases continue as they do every day of the year (on holidays and weekends no elective surgery is scheduled, so the day is somewhat calmer as long as the emergency cases are few).

Thank you for your prayers for me and for this ministry. I have been busy with year-end closeout and will continue to be busy with closeout and start-up of the new year until at least early March. Tomorrow I begin work on the 2009 budget, in which we will seek to enable (financially) many necessary projects. Please pray for wisdom both to me and to the other Administrators as we seek to develop a budget that will be wise in stewardship as well as bold in going after the many ministry opportunities the Lord is opening up for us. The Lord is doing a great work among souls here in Togo.

Also, as you think of it today please pray both for our hospital missionaries and the missionaries you know of and support around the world who have school-age children (including college-age) in the US. The holidays are difficult for these missionaries as they are away from their kids and are concerned with their spiritual walk and general welfare. Among our missionaries the Ebersoles have two kids in US colleges and the Briggs family have three. Please pray for them.

By the way, Dr. John Briggs Leishmoniasis is much better (but not completely healed). Thank you for your prayers for him.

Serving together with you in Togo,
David