Why Christmas Matters

“Why are you going to Africa?” I’m often asked. Some people don’t understand why Jessica and I would leave loved ones or give up promising careers in the U.S. with prestige, money and security. Why subject oneself and family to tropical diseases like schistosomiasis, typhoid, hepatitis, amoebas and malaria? Why would we raise our children in the third world? Interestingly, it has everything to do with Christmas.

Some people assume I’m going to Africa as a medical missionary because I have a heart of gold. But quite the opposite is true. In fact, I’ve seen my heart, and it isn’t pretty. Just like everyone else in this world, I struggle with pride, lies, selfishness, fear, anxiety, identity and many other dark matters of the heart. As the ancient prophet Jeremiah wrote, “the heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it?” We trick ourselves if we think we are “good.” Upon deep introspection, I know Jeremiah is right – I’m sinful. Even my best intentions are marred with hidden agendas.

Then perhaps my impetus for going to Africa is to balance out all the bad in my life with good in order to please God or to be at peace with myself? Maybe it is a form of self-punishment or penance? But when it comes down to it, I know I’m incapable of saving myself, and to believe otherwise is to think much too highly of myself. I’m going to Africa because of Christmas.

Christmas is the story where people with hearts like mine find hope in the strangest of places. The King of Kings, God, looked upon us, and saw our broken hearts and lives. He saw mankind’s plight and was moved by love to intervene on our behalf. What was Spirit became flesh. Almighty God became Emmanuel, God with us, in the form of the helpless baby Jesus. Why? Why would God give up His throne for a feeding trough? Why would God expose himself to disease, pain and death? Why would He exchange His royal robes for swaddling clothes? Why would He leave paradise for a place where He would be spit upon, homeless and eventually beaten and crucified on a cross?

It was out of love – out of love for our broken, helpless souls. He came to partake of our suffering and to bear on His own back the justice our sin deserves. He came to set us free so that we might have life – life most abundant! Because of God’s love, I no longer have to despair of my black heart this Christmas. God has dealt with it. I can now truly love my neighbor. I don’t have to be motivated by easing my guilt, feeling good about myself or gaining “points” with God. I am now free to live by the love, grace and mercy God has shown me. It is by His example and empowerment that I can leave the hidden agendas and pride behind and show others God’s love.

God’s concern for the poor, widows, orphans, foreigners, disenfranchised and other social outcasts permeates the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. You don’t need to go to Africa to find these folks. They are living next to us. Jesus said that loving God and your neighbor sums up all the commandments of God. It is the Christmas story that teaches us what true love looks like. God has placed a burden on me and Jessica’s hearts to make Africans our neighbors, but you can love your neighbor right where you are if you are willing to humble yourself and receive God’s love.

Merry Christmas,
John, Jessica & Elise Cropsey

Gingerbread Hut, McCropder Style

Last night the Faders attended a Gingerbread House Construction Party. Believe it or not, their creation was the only African hut. And the only house with an open fire and an outhouse. Merry Christmas!

Boards Reflections

I just want to relay a brief story regarding the oral board exam I took last week. It starts 7 years ago after my surgery rotation as a medical student. A very well-respected, yet harsh and cynical surgeon took me into his office and told me that I did not have what it takes to be a surgeon and that I should pursue another specialty. This tore a big hole in what I thought were my God-given dreams of becoming a missionary surgeon in Africa. I went home and found comfort in Ephesians 3:20 where I saw that God could do immeasurably more than I could imagine through Christ's power in me. It was a short encounter with this surgeon, but one that has raised its head at times of doubt since then, and I have found myself having to come back to that verse again and again.

That surgeon retired shortly thereafter, and I know he doesn't remember me or the advice he gave me. I thought about writing to him after finishing residency earlier this year to "show him" that I had made it despite his advice. I'm glad I didn't. During our orientation last Monday of "how to take the Oral Boards" the person orienting us said, "...and in some of your rooms there will be an extra person...he is there just to make sure things are fair, etc." Well, lo and behold, against all odds, it was this same surgeon, and he was in my room during my exam!

In many ways I know that this surgeon was right - I DON'T have all that it takes to be a surgeon, but I also know that God's strength is demonstrated in our weakness.

By God's grace I passed the exam. I feel that having this surgeon there (unknowingly) presiding over me successfully completing the final step to becoming a certified surgeon was a gift from God to bring closure to the era of his voice echoing in the back of my head. It has also been a reminder that "it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man." (Psalm 118:8)

-Jason

Lessons Learned in Louisville

As some of you may already know, four of the McCropder adults (Jason, John, Eric, and Rachel) got a chance to head down to the annual Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, KY last weekend. This event is a significant one for many reasons. One (the nearest and dearest to my heart) is that this conference, in 2003, is where Eric and I first met. We celebrated our five year anniversary of knowing each other this time around. :) Two, only slightly less significant, is that the McCropders were officially formed at the Louisville conference last year, 2007. All three couples were able to meet together and after fellowship and prayer, decided to throw in our lots together, trusting that God was leading us in that direction.

This year, we officially made known our decision to head to Tenwek Hospital next fall as a first step in what will hopefully turn out to be many years of fruitful ministry together. Part of what makes the GMHC great is a chance to network with tons of people and organizations, as well as see old friends and classmates and people we have served with on short term trips. On Friday at lunch the four of us enjoyed spending an hour or so with docs and spouses who have or are serving at Tenwek. This was a great source of encouragement, and I also got some good questions answered (the answer is no, we don't have to bring our own refrigerator to Kenya...)!

For those of you who who have never been to the conference, but have an interest in health, public health, community development, short term missions, long term missions, etc etc, it comes highly recommended. Some highlights from this year's conference, at least for me, seemed to center around the cost of serving God. For starters, there was an amazing plenary lecture by Rear Admiral Tim Ziemer, head of the President's Task Force on Malaria. I didn't even know this existed, but apparently President Bush dedicated over two billion dollars towards malaria treatment and prevention in Africa. More powerful, though, was Adm Ziemer's personal story about growing up as the kid of missionary parents serving in Vietnam just before the Vietnam War. His father was martyred there by the North Vietnam Army. Another breakout session by Jeff McKinney (surgeon in Honduras) talked about "Counting the Cost," centering around the fact that sacrifice is supposed to cost us. And Rick Donlan, a doc serving in the inner city of Memphis, spoke on the David/Goliath battle in the context of risk and serving God. So many great themes that hopefully we'll be exploring in more depth over the weeks to come in our blog posts.

In the meantime, we're looking forward to a McCropder "summit" this weekend as the Cropseys will be in town--the first time we've all been together since June. Stay tuned for more adventures and musings on our future together.

Where in Kenya is Tenwek?

Finding a map of Tenwek's location has proved surprisingly hard, so I thought I would provide one (with help from MapQuest), in a "zooming in" series for orientation. Tenwek is the red star. You can click on each image to enlarge it for detail. The big body of water nearby is Lake Victoria. The primary tribal group is Kipsigis, but they provide care for a number of other tribal groups, including the more nomadic Masai.

Big News: Hospital Location

For approximately 1,001 years, we have been asked by friends, families, and casual acquaintences, "What are you doing when you're done?" Our response: "We're moving to Africa to practice medicine." Of course, this is followed by the question, "Oh really! Where in Africa?" Umm, we don't quite know.

The interesting thing is that we have been asking lots of questions and even finding some answers regarding future plans, but the specific geographic location has remained undecided. Nevertheless (and we interact with other people in the same way), this is the question that people ask first, likely because of the natural desire to grasp something concrete about our aspirations. Well, the time has come.

We will be moving to Tenwek Hospital in southwest Kenya, for two years, sponsored by World Medical Mission, for a time of training, service, and vision building. Tenwek is just off the equator, but at an altitude of over 7000 feet, resulting in a very temperate climate. We are very excited about this, particularly because there are great opportunities for us in all of our particular medical specialties, as well as chances to work with the Kenyan surgical and family practice residency programs. Most of us just got back from the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, KY, and had a chance to meet face-to-face with some of the people we will be working alongside. This was tremendous, and just further added to our excitement.

After all these years, to watch our future plans gain clarity as they emerge out of the fog. This is wonderful, and we are thankful for the fruition.

The Growing McCropder Family

As noted previously, the McCropders consists of three families and 2 children, for a total of 8 individuals. Recent events have pretty dramatically increased that to 11 individuals.

As many know, little Elise Cropsey is set to have a baby brother in the early part of the next calendar year. After an enthusiastic conversation with a Swaziland ophthalmologist a few months ago, John has taken to calling his new son "The Swaz". Of course, John is kidding (we think), but this no longer matters, as the rest of us will most certainly call this kid The Swaz for the rest of his childhood. In fact, the "the" part must also stay, as in "Hey The Swaz, come here for a minute."

The McLaughlin family will be increasing by 50% with the coming of a new baby in late April. We may choose to save the more flamboyant baby names for later children, but we are nonetheless very excited.

And Anna Fader will be getting up close and personal with Amharic culture, as the Faders adopt a little girl from Ethiopia, some time between now and the time we depart for Africa. We are blessed and we thank God, who has filled us to overflowing.

Sharing with the Studs

Last week, one of the national medical student organizations was holding "Primary Care Week" to spotlight some of the disparities and needs in primary care. As part of this, some medical students at the U of M were holding a series of lunchtime talks. One was centered on international medicine, and I was invited to speak.

It was a great opportunity, and fairly well attended by the medical students (or "studs"), with whom international medicine is a very popular topic. For my part, I talked a little about what our plans are for the future, as well as my past experiences abroad both as a medical student and as a resident.

Afterwards, multiple students came up and asked us about a number of topics. The motivations towards international work are various, and for the most part, admirable. The enthusiasm seems to be highest earlier on in medical education, when principles shine bright, and seeming problems with practicalities seem easy to overcome. Given that the options entertained in Africa for us now all have to do with education of Africans, the way to most effectively guide students and residents remains a particularly important topic.

Operating Onboard the Africa Mercyship, Part II

The most poignant and thought-provoking case I experienced while in Liberia was that of the 6 week old boy pictured here. He was finally brought to the Mercyship after a one week history of a painful lump in his groin accompanied by persistent vomiting and lethargy. It turned out to be a strangulated hernia (intestines which died as a result of getting stuck in a defect in the abdominal wall). When he came to us he was severely dehydrated, weighing only 3 pounds! He was too sick to even survive an operation, so we did our best to resuscitate him. In the end, we could not save him, and he died in his father's arms the following day. The father's faith challenged me, as through tears he acknowledged God's sovereignty saying, "God gives and God takes away." This was also Job's response to losing his entire household and all his children as a result of Satan testing his devotion to God in Job 1:21.

While I know that God can, and will, ultimately bring good out of this situation (Romans 8:28), I am also convinced that God did not design for this child to die for lack of a simple surgical procedure. So how is it that this baby died? The simplest answer is that we live in a fallen world, where death is as certain as life. All the same, God has chosen to redeem this fallen world through his church (Ephesians 2:10). What a privilege to be a part of bringing about the Kingdom of God on this earth! Though everything will not be made completely new until Jesus comes again, until then, I hope to be found redeeming the world, one hernia at a time.

Fat = Healthy

The Tompkins family at Mukinge Hospital, Zambia, who are currently part of the Post-Residency Training Program (which we will enter next year), have a great comment on one of my favorite Africa cross-culture-isms. Their blog is here. Enjoy:

"While we were sitting outside at Violet’s house, several kids came around to stare at the funny visitors. Some of the kids were Violet’s grandchildren or nieces/nephews and some were just neighbors. Violet was commenting on the fact that Zachary is as tall as her 5 year old granddaughter and then she said that it made good sense that he was tall because “his father is tall and fat, and his mother is tall and fat.” She said this complete with hand motions demonstrating the enormity of my body habitus. Well excuse me, but Elissa is with child (and looks beautiful by the way) and I’m down over 20lbs in the last 3 months. So I’m not sure if by fat she meant “healthy” or just “fat”, and I didn’t bother to ask. We laughed and I know she didn’t mean anything hurtful but, speaking only for myself, I know I’m quite huge compared to most folks in the village. However, by my calculations, if I continue to drop pounds at this rate, I’ll weigh about 13 lbs when we return home in 2 years. And in 6wks Elissa is going to drop 30lbs pretty quickly. So there you go…there is hope for us after all."