Bongolo Hospital Intro Tour

 Below is a link to some photos of Bongolo Hospital. We hope this gives you a small picture of where we are working...

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EJiFWJVzkDitcvNU6

Skavdahl Update December 28, 2021

Christmas Day at Bongolo church

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas! This was our first equatorial Christmas and instead of skiing or sledding we enjoyed the swimming pool. Of course the kids were excited to open presents and make sure every square inch of the living room floor was covered with wrapping paper. We are blessed to be surrounded by a loving community and enjoyed a children's program at the Bongolo church and Christmas dinner with our team on the mission station.

David has been quite occupied with work at the hospital and is learning many new skills to become an effective surgeon in this context. Josie has been spending time on the medicine ward and in the maternity ward. She is learning tropical medicine and the challenges of treating malaria, tuberculosis, HIV and sickle cell disease. She loves having the opportunity to take care of patients, though it can be overwhelming at times.

We are grateful for the work God is doing here and are excited to be a part of it. We truly must learn to rely on His strength as we face the challenges given to us and we appreciate all of your prayers in this. Christ’s words in Matthew ring especially true:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (11:28-30).

We pray that you may find rest in Jesus Christ as we move into the new year. 

Best church family ever

 We arrived at the Bongolo Hospital Station on Sunday evening and have been unpacking boxes and putting together IKEA furniture since. Just before going to check out the pool yesterday, we noticed ants crawling out of box and decided to take care of it ASAP. It turned out to be the jackpot. So much love packed into ziplocks with every item. We will be feeling the love for a long time over here.

Ps- we did take the water guns to the pool and they were a blast

PPs- the ants only got one box of candy

Update November 2021: Our Home is in Heaven

 

Our Home is in Heaven

We hope this update finds you well and that you have started playing non-stop Christmas music in anticipation of the Advent season. After many transitions, we have arrived in Gabon where we hope to be serving for many years to come. As many of you know, the seed for this endeavor had been planted at least 17 years ago and the past 2 years have been full of serious logistical planning- including language training. It is a joy to watch the seeds which God planted in our hearts so long ago begin to take shape. We are excited to share the fruit of that with you in the coming years. 

We praise God that Josie had an uneventful surgery and has recovered very well. We are thankful for her surgical team who worked incredibly hard to give her the best possible care and took into consideration our desire to continue to Africa as soon as it was safely possible. We are also indebted to our community in Maine (that includes many of you reading this letter) who came together to support us during and after Josie’s surgery. It was incredibly encouraging to experience our community gather around us to provide meals, watch our children, deliver coffee and even offer up their homes for us. To say we were humbled by all of your care is an understatement. 

Noa, Maria, Micah and Anica are all doing well, although not having a strict rhythm over the last few months has not been easy for them. As a family we are looking forward to having a place to settle into again. A place where we can all gather around a dining room table and enjoy a meal together. A place we might call home. Of course as soon as I started thinking about this, I was convicted by my 8 year old daughter who was recently asked by one of our neighbors: “Where do you call home”? Noa responded “Our home is in heaven”. This certainly could be heard as a Christian cliche, but in Noa’s mind it is simply the reality she is living. It is also the reality God reveals in His Word. As Paul writes in II Corinthians 4:16-18: “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Paul continues his encouragement in chapter 5 quite plainly writing our home is in heaven. It is a truth that I must continue to drive into my own heart as we continue in the work God has called us to. It can be easy to become discouraged amidst temporal setbacks such as cancelled visas, health issues, vehicle failures, etc.. But these are all momentary troubles in the reality of eternity. In fact, God promises these experiences are actually building our character and preparing us for eternity. It is a beautiful promise. 

Some items of prayer include:

Praise:

• Josie’s safe surgery and excellent recovery

• Safe travels from the United States to Gabon

• The opportunity to say good-byes to our friends and families in the U.S.

• God’s faithfulness as we have truly felt carried through this past few months

Prayer

• The transition for our children as they learn to live and go to school in Africa

• Our own transition as a family as David returns to full time work and Josie returns to part-time clinical work

• Josie and David as we continue learning the French language

• Forming relationships with the families and individuals at Bongolo

• Opportunities to live and share the gospel of Jesus with others

Again we thank you all for your support and are looking forward to sharing more updates as we begin working at Bongolo Hospital. Soli Deo Gloria!

Update August 2021

 We hope this finds you all doing well. We would like to provide a brief update and give you some idea of our plans ahead. On August 20th we finished language school in Switzerland (and celebrated 17 years of marriage). The past 8 months have been quite a journey. We feel incredibly fortunate to have acquired a solid foundation of the French language which we hope to build upon for the rest of our lives. We were of course sad to leave our community in Switzerland and the beautiful country itself. The kids recounted what they most enjoyed during our time there:

Noa: “chocolate, Swiss army knives and horse camp”

Maria: “the mountains, the hikes and Barry (the famous St. Bernard)”

Micah: “Motorcycles!”

Anica: “seeing my friends at daycare and the double decker train”

As many of you know, Josie’s mom was diagnosed with ovarian cancer while we were living in Switzerland. Through this we learned that Josie herself is a carrier of the BRCA1 mutation which places her at a significantly increased risk of developing both breast and ovarian cancer. After prayer and careful consideration she has decided to move forward with risk reducing surgery which includes a mastectomy with reconstruction and a salpingectomy (fallopian tube removal). At some point in the next 10 years, she will plan to have her ovaries removed, but not before moving to Africa with 4 young children! David has coordinated with the surgeons he knows here in Maine and they have been very gracious to fit Josie into their schedules quickly. They have recommended at least a month of recovery, so this will postpone our departure to Gabon. Our hope is that doing this surgery now will prevent us from needing to leave Gabon after we are settled there. God has given us peace about this decision and we have been able to laugh about the irony of getting plastic surgery before going to the mission field (never did Josie imagine getting breast implants!). We appreciate your prayers so far and would really love them September 14 during surgery. David needs your prayers the most. He will take care of the kids while Josie is unable to lift, push, pull, or be very useful for about 3 weeks. Once Josie has recovered sufficiently we will head to South Dakota to repack our bags for Africa and then Idaho to visit family. God willing, we hope to be at Bongolo hospital sometime in mid to late October.  

Of course this is not a pill we wanted to swallow, but we trust that it is all part of our Father’s perfect plan and He is using it in ways we may not understand now, but will be clear later. We know the day will come when this broken creation “will be set free from its bondage and corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 8:21). It is in this hope we can rest secure. Jesus Christ gave us his life and gave us his Spirit so that we might share that hope with the world and we are so thankful to have the opportunity to do that. 

Currently, we are staying in the lovely “studio chalet” of Aaron and Bevin Holmberg in Falmouth, Maine, so if you are local, playdates and meals would be greatly appreciated. Again we are grateful for your support and appreciate your prayer during this time. 

Praise

• A solid foundation of the French language
• Smooth travels back to the States
• Lodging for a longer than expected period of time in Maine

Prayer

• A safe surgery and smooth recovery for Josie
• Our children’s emotional health as we continue to face many transitions
• Retaining the French we have learned 
• Opportunities to share the gospel with others during this time of transition

Skavdahl Update June 2021

 From our apartment in Switzerland, there are many great paths to take a walk or run. We can go east to traverse vineyards and have an open view of Lake Neuchâtel, head west through a forest to a river gorge with its sculpted rock and crystal clear water, or descend to the (free!) public beach along the lake. It doesn’t seem like there is a bad choice. So too with the paths God has given us. We have many options, we don’t have to feel stuck on any one road, and He will meet us on all of them. The advantages of being a missionary include the adventure of travel, providing opportunities for our children to see the world differently and knowing we are fulfilling what God has called us to. A big disadvantage is being so far away from our friends and family, but I am trying to see this as part of the path God has us on.

This reality was made very clear to us over the past 2 months and April 1st was not a joke. That morning, my mom, Lorna (Vandenberg) Squyer, was supposed to be boarding a plane to visit us in Switzerland. She called from the airport to say some piece of documentation was missing and she was not allowed to board the plane. While this was very disappointing, it was clearly the providence of God, as mom then told us about a large mass growing in her abdomen. Initially, she had postponed surgery in order to visit us. After her trip to Switzerland was cancelled, she underwent surgery and what we had assumed to be cancer was removed almost entirely. Initially diagnosed as metastatic breast cancer, it was later determined to be ovarian cancer. Knowing that mom was alone in a hospital in Panama while I was in Switzerland was terrible. I ended up going to Panama and convinced mom to temporarily relocate to my sister's home in Idaho. I spent 6 weeks with mom between Panama and Idaho where she started chemotherapy, but David and the kids were still in Switzerland. Again, I felt torn between two places. I am now back in Switzerland, and we have plans to see mom again before we head to Africa, but this feeling of being stretched between multiple places and people has been the biggest challenge so far in our missionary career. I am so thankful for all of your prayers, support and encouragement. I am also very thankful for David (nominated for the dad of the year award) and his willingness to take on any challenge. I am thankful for the time with my mom and sister, and pray we have much more.

While I was gone, David and the kids visited a 1,000 yr old castle, went to the zoo in Zurich, went rock climbing and enjoyed many hikes. While they were happy to have me back, it sounds like they were able to survive. The other missionaries learning French here and folks from the local church helped watch the kids while David went for a run or grocery shopping, they brought meals over and were a helpful distraction. God has certainly provided a community for us here that we will be sad to leave, but grateful to consider part of our lives. One of the most beautiful things these last few months have taught us is the depth of love and unity brothers and sisters in Christ can have for one another. We have received much prayer, support and encouragement from our church family here in Switzerland and in the United States. It reinforces what Paul concludes in Ephesians 3:15-16: 

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. 

We have certainly felt "built up in love" and we pray it is a powerful witness to Christ in our community.

We have 8 weeks of language school left (yikes!- so much to learn) and lots of site-seeing we’d still like to do. David has discovered that the Tour de France will be as close as a 2 hour drive from us, so he’s plotting to get to see part of it in person. We have both been able to get Covid vaccines and travel restrictions are finally lifting. Restaurants in Switzerland only just opened June 15th, after over a year of being closed.
We will also be happy to head back to Maine and do a Midwest tour to visit as many people as possible before we head to Gabon in the fall.
Thank you so much for your financial support and prayers. We appreciate all of you!
We pray you all are doing well and staying healthy,
With love,
Josie (& David) Skavdahl 

Bonjur, depuis le magnifique village de Bole!

Sunrise in the village of Bole

If you are wondering, Bole is the small village where we live, just outside of the city of Neuchatel. When I last wrote, we were still in quarantine in our apartment and everyone was very excited to get out and explore. We have certainly had that opportunity and Switzerland is a beautiful place to learn French. We have been able to take hikes and runs in a beautiful gorge that is less than a mile from our apartment. In January we visited the city of Bern and were able to see the magnificent Bern Cathedral. This past month we celebrated 3 birthdays in our family: Noa (8), Anica and Micah (3). This included a trip to Grindelwald, a beautiful village nestled in the Alps, where we did some sledding, skiing and a pretty incredible train ride to the Jungfraujoch (see pictures). 

Noa has been doing very well with school (all in French) and has made a number of friends even though she is frustrated she is not able to communicate as well as she would like (We think this may actually be helpful in getting her work done). We have also learned that the gradeschool game of "chasing boys" is an international one. 

Maria, Micah and Anica are adapting well, although they complain their homeschool teacher (David) is too strict, takes them on too many hikes and is definitely not as good as their Grandpa Peter.

Maria and Noa are learning the ancient art of letter writing and are delighted when they place letters or postcards in "La Poste" dropbox and of course are thrilled to receive letters from their friends back home.

To give a little background, the Swiss government put some restrictions in place on January 18th that required our language school be moved into an online platform, so Josie and I have been doing our classes from our apartment. Josie attends the morning session while David watches the younger kids and visa versa for the afternoon. Thankfully, Noa has still been able to go to school 5 days per week. The other major part of those restrictions does not allow more than 5 people to be gathered together indoors which has significantly affected our ability to meet with French speaking families and practice French. We were initially concerned, but God has provided richly through La Rochette, our church community here. So far we have worked out a schedule in which David and Josie are able to have one-on-one practice a couple hours per week and Noa receives a couple hours of tutoring each week. All of this is provided by volunteers from La Rochette. We have also been able to physically attend church services which encourages our spirits and is good for our French. We trust that by August 20th (our last day of classes) we will be able to efficiently communicate in this language and look forward to a lifetime of continuing to learn it.

This past couple of months have also included a lot of planning for our move to Gabon later this year. Along with the hospital team at Bongolo we put together a food order and furniture which will be loaded onto a container in April and arrive before we get there in September. We have also learned that Christian Missionary Alliance (the "sending agency" of Bongolo hospital) has hired a teacher for Bongolo since there will be a large influx of children in 2021. Both Noa and Maria will attend the co-op school at Bongolo next year. This is a huge answer to prayer and very encouraging to us. We also learned that we have been exempt from an orientation in Colorado Springs which means we will be in Bongolo at least one month earlier than we initially thought. God willing, we will be there at the end of September 2021. In the meantime we will be working as hard as possible to become fluent in French and make sure that we don't leave any portions of Switzerland un-explored.

Some have asked us how they can be of support and we want to reiteratewe have had significant financial support which we are thankful for. As it stands at this time, with your financial support and the support of Samaritan's Purse, we are in a good place for the next 2 years. If you would like to provide something extra, the school co-op that will be at Bongolo sent a wish list of items they are asking to help equip the new school. Most of these are non-essentials, but will be loved by the kids at Bongolo (including our own). The Amazon link is provided here:

https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/1KKZ66CY6AIQ0?ref_=wl_share

Please note that if you decide to order something it will automatically ship to the address of a Bongolo team member who will bring it to the transport container company. Items need to arrive at her house no later than April 10th. 

Praise and Prayer:

• Praise for all of the support we have received from La Rochette and the opportunities we have to practice French
• Praise for all of the logistics coming together for our arrival in Bongolo
• Praise for the opportunity to enjoy God's beautiful creation in this country
• Prayer for continued wisdom and patience as Josie and I learn French: as much of a privilege as it is to learn a new language, it is also quite challenging!
• Prayer for continued patience with our younger children as they have little outlet for interaction with others and it has been difficult for them.

Thank you all for your prayer and support. We love hearing from you and would love to know how you are doing and how we can be in prayer for you. It has been humbling to experience how God's community has come around us to help us realize the vision God had placed on our lives many years ago. We know we serve a God who is faithful to His promises and are blessed to be part of a faithful community.

Soli Deo Gloria.

The Skavdahls

On the "Top of Europe" Jungfraujoch

Waiting for the train

Old stone bridge in the gorge

Hiking in the Gorges de l'Areuse, a mile from our appartment