As a group of five nursing students, our month-long medical missions trip to Togo, Africa, was the experience of a lifetime. Despite challenging moments, the Lord used this trip for His glory in each of our lives to shape us into the likeness of His Son. In my life, He used the people I met and experiences I had in Togo to challenge my perspective on Christian living and build my trust in His character.
Our Role at the Hospital
The Hôpital Baptiste Biblique (HBB) in Togo is unlike any hospital we had seen before in the States. The missionaries hadn’t come to create an American hospital; they built a Togolese hospital tailored to Togolese culture that provided optimal healthcare with the best resources available.
The hospital was a ranch-style building with infection, peds, maternity, women’s, men’s, and SI (Soin Intensives) wards all connecting to the center of the hospital, known as “The Nurses Station.” The Nurses Station acted as the Grand Central Station of the hospital. Need a paper chart? Meds? IV starting kits? Foley carts? It’s all there!
As nursing students on rotation in the Nurses Station, we were able to shadow the nurses and take on total care of our own patients. We had plenty of opportunities to perform nursing skills — NG tubes, foley catheters, IV insertions and management, G-Tube feedings, etc. While two of us would shadow at the Nurses Station, the rest of us had the opportunity to shadow healthcare workers in the outpatient clinic, maternity clinic, maternity ward, and OR.
Serving in this cross-cultural setting challenged not only our nursing skills but our communication and interpersonal skills. With no one on our team able to speak French or Ewe, learning how to care for a patient physically, emotionally, and spiritually without being able to communicate with them was a struggle. By God’s grace, the Lord still opened doors for opportunities to share the Gospel, pray with patients, and learn to show Christ’s love through intentional care without verbal communication. Outside of the hospital, we also had opportunities as a team to spend time with the missionary families on the compound, go to “kids club,” and participate in a mobile clinic.
The People: the Togolese and the Missionaries
I admittedly endeavored on this journey across the world with grandiose expectations of all the ways I was going to help the Togolese people and missionaries when I arrived. The Lord quickly humbled me and showed me how it was really THEM helping and teaching ME. Dependence on Him became an evident theme in our group as we integrated in this new culture as Christians and nurses.
The Togolese workers taught me how to slow down and focus on being intentional with the people the Lord has placed directly in front of me. They do not idolize their time as we do in the States. Whether it was teaching me new skills or asking me how I was doing, these people modeled to me how to live intentionally with each person and patient.
The Christian hospital staff had devotionals and hymn singing at every shift change for all the patients in the hospital to hear. I wish I could describe the complete joy and confidence they sang with. They truly love their Savior, and the whole world can see! A consistent theme from every testimony of these workers was how they longed for Jesus and lived every day with a beautiful hope of eternity. One worker I talked to said, “If I do not have Jesus, I have zero. Christ is all.” Engaging with the Togolese workers has challenged me to live with the hope of Christ at the forefront of my mind. What joy we can have by simply resting in the reality of our salvation and the hope of His return.
The missionaries exemplified serving in everything they did. From the youngest missionary kid to the most seasoned missionary on the compound, every person modeled Christian living and servanthood in a manner worthy of the great God they served. Ever since returning, I have been challenged to live with the same missional intentionality during my time in the States.
Leaving Togo
Leaving was sad. All the nurses and missionaries kept asking us, “Are you going to come back?” I don’t know what the Lord has in store for all of us, which made it especially sad saying goodbye.
And yet it was bittersweet, because I know one day I will see them all again. I’m reminded of my theme hymn of this trip, “When We All Get To Heaven.” I’m confident that I WILL worship with these brothers and sisters again! God has done a work in all our lives, revealing Himself as a God who we can depend on in all things. He answered prayers so faithfully and strengthened us when we were at our weakest. As a team, we all experienced the sweetness and fulfillment of daily dependence on Him. I stepped on the plane back to the States with a renewed conviction to live with eternity in mind and to serve those around me missionally. From playing with joyful children to praying with chronically ill patients, we’ve seen the faithfulness of our God — our Rock and our Redeemer. Praise God!
“When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!”
Major: Nursing, class of 2026
Tags: #cugo, #experience, #experiences, #globaloutreach, #GO, #helpful, #involvement, #missions, #nursing, #opportunities, #testimony, togo
Posted in: Experience, Global Outreach, Student Life, Testimony, Uncategorized