Although Dr. Ken Crowe and his wife, Terry, of Westview Baptist Church, Opp, had participated in medical missions trips for more than 20 years, Ken said he realized several years ago that he was more of a consumer of Christianity than a disciple of Christ.
“I was pretty good at church attendance, tithing, Bible study and Christian conferences, but I couldn’t help but believe that I was missing something very important,” he said. “All of this Christian consumerism had very little to do with this whole business of loving God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.”
He now sees medical missions as an opportunity to love God by serving those whom Jesus called “the least of these” in Matthew 25:40.
So for three years, Ken and Terry have spent four to five weeks each summer in the West African country of Togo — population approximately 6 million crammed into an area about the size of West Virginia.
The couple provide relief to career missions doctors at Karolyn Kempton Memorial Christian Hospital.
The Crowes’ pastor, Scott Ferguson, noted that several Westview Baptist church members have traveled with them to Togo. “In Ken and Terry, we see a great passion for people that has carried over into missions work,” he said. “Their work has enlarged the missions vision of our church — forming ministry partnerships in South America, West Africa, South Africa and East Asia.”
In Togo, the 30-bed hospital is run by the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE), an independent missions agency.
“It’s incredible how many different ministries are based at the hospital compound — community health evangelism teams, mobile medical units, three-year nursing programs and Christian literature printing and distribution,” Terry said.
But as grateful as they are that God has allowed them to get involved in this work, Ken pointed out that the missions trips are quite challenging.
“People often comment on how much I must enjoy working in Africa, but the truth is it is very difficult and not enjoyable in many respects. But the overall experience is always positive,” he said. “The work is quite intense, with frequent life-threatening emergencies (and) long hours in a hot, humid work environment with no air conditioning.
“Not a day passes that we don’t have to deal with the grief of death — mostly children — from malaria or AIDS,” he continued.
A typical day includes an average of four emergency Caesarean sections. Hundreds of people are standing in line at the hospital’s medical clinic for care, and then there are patients in the hospital to see. Usually there are three physicians providing medical care.
Though suffering is abundant there, Ken said inspiration can be found in unexpected places.
He gave the example of a man hospitalized with a large malignant tumor in his arm.
“We had a cardiovascular surgeon from Cape Town, South Africa, there for two weeks. We were hoping he might be able to save the man’s arm, but unfortunately — even with the best of help — it was not possible. I was so focused on saving the man’s arm, yet he was overjoyed to be free of the pain.
“The man came to know the Lord while he was in the hospital. He thought it was a wonderful thing that he had this tumor that brought him to the hospital, where he received eternal life. It showed me that we sometimes focus on the things which are seen and not on the things which are unseen.”
The majority of patients do survive and more than 2,000 of them and their family members place their faith in Christ every year, Ken said.
“I would strongly encourage other physicians to give serious consideration to experiencing the blessings of this type of ministry,” he said, noting a “great need” for general surgical coverage over the next year.
For more information about ABWE, visit www.abwe.org.
To contact the Crowes, e-mail ktcrowe@alaweb.com.
Share with others: