“Boi Jange,” loosely translated “first born girl of the Jong River”, was the Mende name given to me (Alyssa) when I was born in a small mission hospital in Mattru Jong, Sierra Leone over 33 years ago. It is the name I repeatedly heard when I returned to my West African birth land for the first time in 2014. In the early 90’s, my parents had worked tirelessly in one of the few functioning hospitals in the country, but were forced to evacuate when I was still very young due to the civil war. The fragmented memories of my early childhood and my parent’s countless stories are what inspired me to pursue medicine. Returning to Sierra Leone after my first year of medical school to work at the very hospital where I was born was the impetus behind my decision to pursue surgical training. And now, after many years of preparation and prayer, Joe, Eden, Gil, and I (Alyssa) are very excited to tell you about the opportunity we have to share the love and hope of Jesus through medical missions at Hospital of Hope in Togo, West Africa.

When I was a second year medical student, Joe and I were able to go to Sierra Leone on a medical mission trip with my family to the same hospital that I was born in (and Joe actually helped deliver a baby in the same room where I was born!). I will never forget during one of our first nights there, a young man in his early 20’s came to the hospital seeking medical help. He had been experiencing worsening abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting for several days, and presented with a large incarcerated inguinal hernia. His symptoms continued to worsen, and dead bowel was suspected. Mattru is a small, remote village with very limited resources or technology. It was left to my father, a family doctor by trade but surgeon by years of tropical medicine experience, to take the patient to surgery. I watched in amazement into the late hours of the night as my dad carefully, meticulously, and skillfully resected necrotic tissue while insects circled the single flickering OR light powered by the only diesel generator in the village. It was even more incredible to witness that same 20-something year old man walk out of the hospital a week later, knowing his life had been saved by that surgery. Unfortunately, due to the lack of resources and medical/surgical training, countless people die daily due to very preventable and treatable diseases. Seeing this tremendous need, as well as the impact that surgery can have on a life, changed the course of my career. Even more so, knowing the power of the “Great Physician” to save lives for eternity has motivated us to reach the unreached with the Good News of Christ.