hamilton al annette 2001 usa&world

8/9/2019 Hamilton Al Annette 2001 USA&World

1/7

Outneadk

JMeHnatianal

Sckr 72 iBethei, Mi^dowd 63434

^ ftjom

(660)284-6528 Sax: (660)284-6256

Reggie

Hundley, Dir.

Mission

Services, Inc.

Knox. n

Oct.

6,

2001

Dear Reggie:

Have appreciated your work and your words in Horizons, glad

to

see you

there.

May

the

Lord

be

praised

in all we

do

in His Name

as

co-workers

in

Him.-

Reggie, about 6 weeks ago, I had a friend come

to

me, who was seeking

out

my advice on service in a

project

in Africa. He is a ret. military

man, has

been teaching Bible at Dallas Christian College, and is a Harding University,

(Church

of

Christ) grad. He has

been

a

great

friend since my wife

and

I moved

down to Texas to help recruit for PBT. Anyway, I am sending you his

explanation

of our

meeting,

and

what transpired as a result. I

wanted

you

to

know our

plans,

you already know thei Scripture in Prov. 16:9 which states. A

man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. So in light of

that

fact, I

wanted you to be among

the

first

to

know that VOM (they will have a booth also

at the

NMC

booth no .

3 I

think) has invited me to work with the above

mentioned

friend. Dr. Mike Smith, on a project

of

Voice

of

the Martyrs in Sudan.

They

needed

a person to help develop

further

a Bible training school in

Southern Sudan, where they have taken on VOM a hospital project for

persecuted

(refugees) Christians. I

hope

to leave with Mike Smith

from

DFW

on Oct.

21,

Lord willing , jas. 4:15, coming up soon My responsibility will be

training chaplains for

the

hospital and training

preachers

for th e a rea

churches.

I think my office in Bethel,

here, daughter

Sonja, and my

son jonathan who

will

be taking

on

my other recruiting

responsibilities

will give you more info, as

time

goes

on

in

this

project. It is a

volunteer

basis, but

they

pay my way

over

to

the

field,

and

we

work as

a

team to provide needs

fo r

the

Christians

there

in

Sudan.

Hope I

can

get word

back

to Sonja and jonathan about other

developments, as God

provides.

Since we are

scheduled to

leave so soon, I

wanted

you to have some news

of this change for our

friends

and

churches who

have known us

thru the years,

and some of which support us in all of our mission ministry. We cannot

mention the area in south Sudan

where

this hospital is

located at

least not in

print) but it is near the Uganda, Kenya

border.

It is a big project, and a needy

one,

a great opportunity for us to serve in the

area

of

soul winning

and Bible


2/7

training. 1will need some small amount of

support in the

field, but VOM

provides travel and accommodations for me.

My address will be

here

for

all correspondence

and

contact, through

Voice of The Martyrs P.O.Box

443 Bartlesville,

Okla. 74005 Ph. 918-337-8015.

c/o

Sudan

project.

Reggie, this is

something

Iwanted you to

share

in an issue of Horizons,

basically

the fact

of my work with a

team there, there

will be 2

doctors

an

MD

a

hospital

Admin, person and my self, these guys are all

very

well qualified

men,

all

ex-service or

ret.

service

men) with

great faith in the

Lord.,

their

wives

and mine will remain back here, in support

role,

and we

are

committed to one

year as

the Lord

leads with a break

of

2

weeks

every 3-4

months

to

return

to

wife

fam. etc) then go

back,

as work allows etc.

and

as Lord provides 1 Cor.

16:7 9 .

Please look

at the

material

I

am

sending

with

this

letter,

and

if

you

have

other questions call or contact Sonja at

the

convention at our booth) or VOM.

IJust

want

our churches to know the

following:

1. Funding

for my recruitment

services

to PBT

last

year,

were not available for

us

to continue, so

we

were my

wife

and I open to new avenue, of service.

2. The VOM project

directors

for

Sudan

were assured that God s work in my

ministry

qualified me for

the

need they had for

a

director of

a

Bible

Training school in their Sudan project.

3.

Since

VOM provides me and the other team members

2 Doctors,

and a

pilot)

with

transportation

exp.

and room

Board

in

the

field,

I

was

able

to

go Immediately to be

a

part of this ministry to persecuted Christians

in

Sudan.

, , ... .

4. Your prayers and that of the

brethren we know around

the

country

will

be

appreciated. More info can be

had

on VOM and this project, thru the

above

address

in Bartlesville, Ok.

Thanks, Reggie,

sorry

this

is

not

more detail, but

time

does

not allow me

to get with you, and be at the convention, Hope you will run some news as you

see

fit

so our friends

and possibly

support

helpers will be informed...

Yours

truly

Al

HamiltorCL^mew

address

for my wife and I- 905

Mc

Curry

Ave.

Bedford,

TX

76022 Ph. 817-355-9598. Fax. 817-355-0272.

e-mail: Jonathan.Hamlton

\nn^tban

[email protected]).


3/7

A Sudanese

Venture

with

God

and

Albert

by

Michael Jacoby

Smith Ph D

906 Tennison Drive, Euless, TX 76039 home/office phone817-354-1901

primary

email:

hesedhc@aoi com secondary phone 817-690-8891

ntroduc t ion

It was the hot Texas summer of two-thousand-one. By the end of July, seven months of

waiting

and wrangling

witli the National Center

for

Ethics. Veterans Health Administration

(VHA)

for a Healtii Scicntist/Bioethics

position

or service contract

came crashing to a

halt.

The flap

over an asthma research studv involving the VHA

and

Johns

Hopkins L nivcrsit\

s

Ba\ view iVIcdical Center gave the

VHA

cold

feet when

evervthing

went

sour as

a

medical

laboratory

technician, who

was a

non-asthmatic

24-year-old

healthy female volunteer subject,

suddenly

died

ofresearch

medication

complications. Investigators from

die

National Institutes ofHealth

(NIH). Bethesda,

MD,

discovered

man\

inappropriate protocols

and

safeguards

in

the

study,

and

this

influenced

the

VHA's

decision

notto fill this position andtouse NIH

health

scientists/bioethicists instead.

It was while in die quandaiy created by

this

vaporized work

opportunity

that Karen Haggard said. Daddv.

you

might want to consider Tlie

Voice

of

the

Martyrs (VOM) in Bartlesvillc. Oklahoma. They are looking for a

hospital administrator for

Southern Sudan,

which is

the

same place Bob

[her

husbandj visited

two vears

ago. It

was hard to tell whether she thought that this employanent opportunity and Iwould be agood

fit

or not. since Iwas

moping

around like a wounded

martyr,

orif

she

was trying to inform me

that life

could

be

worse orat least more

difficult,

which was a gende way

of

saying, Daddy, at least look on the bright side of life. Whatever

Karen's

reasons,

little

did

either

one

of

us

realize that

the

Holy

Spirit

was using

her to

communicate

God's

divine

desire for

the coming years in my life. Curiosity caused me

to

respond to VOM s internet ad that gave a

brief

paraaraph

about

this

non-salaried

volunteer

position

[emphasis added]. Thanks a bunch,

Karen,

a position

with no pay.

That

s

all

I

needed,

or

so

I thought.

My

guess was

that since the ad's first

line mentioned

that

a

medical doctor

with

healthcare

management

experience was being sought,

then obviously

VOM wouldn't want a non-physician

healthcare manager whose

clinical experience

at the

level

ofa

physician's

assistant (PA) is by now

inactive

for over

fifteen years Littledid I

know

Augus t 2 1

th e

First

onth

08-10-01Friday.

The neighborhood

was

quiet

at

0400 when

I

backed out

of

the driveway en route to Bartlesville,

Oklahoma, except for two cats three lawns down

the

hill that looked ready to pounce on each other. Was this a

day for cat-pouncmg?

I

wondered, but these

eats

were not worth

a

second thought. Interstate 35W north out

of

Fort Worth, Texas,

was light

in traffic

at this time of

the morning, and when the

sun rose at 0620. Norman,

Oklahoma,

was coming into

view.

It was good timing

that

made

driving

through Oklahoma City

and out

to the


4/7

northeast turnpike

to Tulsa

a breeze before

rush-hour traffic and construetion

crews clogged

the

freewavs.

It

was

also

nice to

learn that the Midway Cafe in Bartlesville, which

I

had

eaten

at in years past, still serves

a

healthv

breakfast at

0930 Then

it

was

with a bit ofcurious reluctance that I

entered

the red

brick building

on the northeast

comer

of

Frank Phillips

Dewey

at 1050

A

meeting

scheduled for 1100 was

already

undcAvay

on

the

5th floor,

but thankililly

Jim

Dau kept a

chair vacant

at the

table and

near

die

door

which gave little

comfort to

mv buns or

disturbed spirit.

Tlie

meeting

focused

on

Dr

Bert

Oubrc s

assessment

report

of

the

hospital

in

Sudan

which

he

had

recently visited It

was

challenging

to

sit there and listen

in

silence while the closeness of the open

door kept

beckoning

me to excuse

myself politely,

get up leave

and

head back home Was I reallv

prepared

for

what I

was hearing

and contemplating ^ What in

the world has Karen

and God

gotten

me

into? Nevertheless

natural curiosity

caused

my

lingering longer

and die

more

that was heard

of

Dr Bert s soliloquy

and

Tom White s

responses the more

m\

mind circled around solutions to

problems

announced in his report The formal

meeting

ended and 1was escorted to

the

basement ofthe building

by

Nina and Corey. Had thev not been Christians. Iwould

have

thought.

Uli-oh

Now

what

are

they

going

to

do

with

me?

Was

this some

sort

of

shake

down

or

clandestine

interrogation.

My two-hour parking limit

was

over outside

on

the street, but when I announced this fact to diis

dubious duo, Corey said to give him my

keys and

he would ask

someone

to move

my van to

another spot so that

it

vvouldn

t be ticketed, and like an entrapped child 1handed over my keys, which I

never

do

even to the best of

friends. Again, my escape was

foiled

but somehow Nina made me feel

more

at ease

as

she began showing photos

of the Sudan,

hospital

complex

and

people. Corey was soon back in the basement office and we discussed

financial

stuff

for

awhile,

and then he took

me

back to the

fifth

floor for ameeting with Jim Dau.

It was

here

that

Jim and I were able to weigh each

other s

intentions, like the two cats seen in the wee hours of the morning, but

without hunched backs

and

hair standing

on end.

Surprisingly,

he

readily

accepted

the

Gideon-in-me as though

it

was anticipated and natural.

He

once again suggested that

a

brief visit to the hospital

site

in

a

few weeks

would be

worthwhile,

that my final decision could come afier that visit. This is where we cut off our corporate decision-

making,

and he took me

down

to

the main

floor

and

purchased a few

books on his

own account at the

VOM

bookstore

and asked me to

take

them home

especially for

the Haggard family The drive home was accompanied

by several

rain

showers that seemed to

clear

my mind by

moving

it

off the

day s

challenges and dialogue, but the

rains

seemed

to

sputter

out along

the

Red River, which often happens during this time ofthe year, while I puttered

on

home

to Euless,

Texas, arriving

by

2100 (notice

that

all

times

in this

journal

are

stated

in

universal

mean

or

military time .

08-11-01 Saturday.

Sleep came

and disappeared throughout the night due

to

VOM s

message

and

burden

of

the

persecuted

church in Southern Sudan, and

to the

long previous

day on the road,

and

I

was up

again at 0400.

Immediate

family

members were confi onted

with the weight ofmy

decision-to-be-made; God

at 0600,

mv

wife by

0800,

my

Dad

in

Carlsbad,

New

Mexico,

by

0930, and

my

mamed

daughters by

1100.

Help

was needed to bear


5/7

this

burden;

but

nobody balked, and evcrxone agreed on the following

^vo

points: (I)

God

will provide asign of

his desire for my participation, and

(2)

a

final

decision should

probably

be postponed

until after

a

short

trip

to

see

the

hospital and

area

ofSouthern Sudan

for

myself. Acall was also placed to

Dr.

Bert Oubrc,

who was back home

in

Baton

Rouge,

Louisiana,

so that

more

could be

learned

of the

infectious disease challenges

faced in

the

heart of

Africa.

Bert shared with me that he had been asked to serve as Medical Director

for

VOM's interests

in

serving the

healthcare

needs

of

the

persecuted church.

He

also wanted

to

know

if

I

was

going

to take the

hospital administrator

position,

which ought

to

be called something else since

the

title Hospital Administrator

is

assigned to an

incumbent Sudanese

man

already

at the

hospital.

I told

Bert

that we

(me and

mv familv) were

in

a

wait-

and see and prayer

mode.

08-12-01Sunday. Attempts to clear my mind of

this

burden

failed

all morning, even

through

church

scr\ices.

Our

preacher

s

sermon

was

taken

from Luke

7:^6-50, and when he said,

We

dare not

look

Jesus in the face until we

have served at his

feet, my

mind went immediately to the dusty feet of persecuted and wounded

Christians

in

Southern Sudan. Whatever

else

he

said,

1

missed,

because

my

mind was elsewhere.

08-1j-01Monday. Arrangements were made for fast-track passport

processing

and

overseas

immunizations.

HMCM Douglas Wright, USN (SW), the master chief corpsman of

the

Naval Clinic at

Carswcll.

Joint

Reserve

Base,

in

Fort Worth,

Te.\as. was

able

to

make

immediate

arrangements

for

my immunizations

to begin the

next

dav

at

0900.

Acall was

also

made

to

Albert

W. Hamilton,

a seasoned

missionary who served

nine years

in

South

Afhca (1960-1969)

and

in

Uganda during

the decade

of

the

1980s.

I asked

ifI

could

stop bv his house around

noontime on

the

next day to discuss his experiences and ask for

his

insights,

and I told

him

the

reason whv

I

wanted

to do this. He said. Yes. absolutely, please

come over.'

I ve learned to

trust and

respect

and Annette

Hamilton

s

views

and

spiritual

maturity.

I

love them

and

they

are

not

hesitant

in

returning their

love.

AJ*s

infectious optimism

and Spirit-filled humor is something

that

aperson

like

me needs

in

a

steadv stream,

because

my

personality tends to take myself and

others too

seriously

in

ways

that

are weighted

in fiivor of

task-accomplishment

rather toward

people-orientation.

It s not

that

I

run over people, because

I

don't, but

the

results

ofa lifetime

in the

healthcare industry generate approaches

to work where people in need of

relief

from

pain and suffering

becomes

the tasks

needing

to be accomplished

with

lasting solutions

of the

highest Quality

of

healthcare

possible with

existing

resources

bytheendofeachday.

08-14-01Tuesday. The first round

of

overseas immuiuzations

were:

yellow

fever, meningococcal,

hepatitis

serogroup

A ( 1 given,

2 is needed in

six months), hepatitis

serogroup

B

( 1

given, 2

is

needed around

September

14th,

3 is

needed

five months

after 2), and a PPD tuberculosis

skin

test. Next Tuesday, the 21st,

the

following

immunizations

will be taken:

typhoid,

Td (tetanus-diphtheria), cholera,

and plague.

All of

these

I

have

had

in

years past

but

their efficacy is probably

no

longer floating around in

my

body. HM2 Barry Swafford,

USN,

who runs the

unmunization clinic, received great

pleasure in making

an

old hospital

corpsman's

arms into

pin


6/7

cushions.

Malaria prophylaxis

will

begin closer to the

time

of

departure

for Africa.

Then

the fiflccn-mile drive

from

the

military base

over

to the Hamilton s allowed

a mental review of

the questions that

I

needed to ask

Al.

I

did not

want

to take up

too much

of

his

time, but he is the only one [

know in this area

of

Texas who

has African

missionary

experience

and

who

can offer lovingly blunt straight answers to difficult questions. He also has the

capacity to clear my mind through dialogue and prayer. Here is what happened:

AI

Hamilton

met

me

at

the

front

door.

Annette was

off

doing

errands. After

pouring

a

Dr.

Pepper

for

me.

he

said. Okay,

Mike

what

do you

want

to know?

His question opened the gates for my

questions, views and

emotions regarding

this challenge in

Sudan.

I admitted that I

was looking

for

excuses not

to go. but I

was determined

that the Lord s

will be

done

and

for the

Holy

Spirit to make

mv

will melt

into

God s

will.

Then Al said.

S low dow n a

minute

Mike. Since

you called, Annette and

I have

been praying

for

vour

decision

and in

the process we realized that

you

cannotgo alone. Ifyou and

VOM

will

have

me~I will go with

you. and the

Lord

will lead in whatever I

can

do to serve the hospital, the staff, the patients,

the- chaplains

and ministers in

the area.

It just

. teems

clear to us that God wants me with you [emphasis

added].

.Annette

like Susan, will remain here in North Texas

in

a

support

role

for this

important work.

Before

he

finished

speakingand

Imcertain that my expressions paled

in

great surprise and unbeliefI was cry ing.

It was

not

the

sobbing

of

a

child

nor the

hysteria

of

a

frightened woman but

the

soft

gentle crv

of

surprise

of

having

a

heavy burden suddenly

made

lighter

by

the Lord and

feeling

the

presence

of

Christ

then

and there. All

ofa

sudden I realized what was h ap pen in g. G od w as u sin g Al Hamilton to

give the

Gideon-in-me the

sign

ofhis divine

desires. Isaid. Al you

and G od

are in cahoots together

on this

thing

and you

are

both

determined that

should go

and

do

this

work.

Are you going to be my

Silas

like

the

apostle Paul had

his

Silas? This is

the

last

thing

Iexpected

when walking up to

your

front door just

awhile

ago. Al said

yes

that this is

the

right

thing

to do

and

we praved

together as

Albert W. Hamilton spoke

to

God ofthe

challenge

that the

Father

was

setting before

us.

Al

Hamilton

has

his ow n

financial

support

network.

He

knows

the

Uganda

area

quite

well

and

has

manv

ftiends there

who were led

to th e L ord through

his

work during the decade

of

the 1980s.

He

is leaving

it up

to me

for the best way to p re se nt

him

to decision-makers

at

VOM. Tlierefore,

I ve

decided to send information provided

to me

by Al

information all

about Albert

Watson

Hamilton for VOM s consideration.

I

hope that

V OM w ill

approve his

going after a

fiice-to-face interview

of

course, and

that

VO M would

provide

the

same

transportation,

room, and board that

will

be

provided to me .

God will

use

Al

in many

ways

in this work;

besides, I

need

him

with

me . He is

God s

answer to this Gideon

s

prayers...an answer beyond all expectations. [Note: These words

were

placed

in a letter

to

Jim

Dau, ChiefOperating Office, VOM, on August 15th].

After

leaving the Hamilton

s

house

I

headed over to the Haggard hom e in Keller. Bob, Karen, Jake, and

Garret were the first ones to hear the

good

news ofAl Hamilton s desire to

accompany

me in this work . T hey too

were

surprised.

We

talked and

cried and discussed many

things together,

including the

expected arrival

in

the

Dallas-Fort Worth area of

Sudanese national,

Samuel Juma, within a few days.

Samuel

is in the United States

going through college near

Washington,

D.C.,

and

he travels on behalfof

his

countrymen in pers^uted

areas. W e


7/7

*

detennined that a

meeting with Samuel was

in

order sometime

during

his stav

in our

area.

Bob

said

that

he would

make the arrangements.

08-16-01Thursday.

A

call was placed

to

my

physician,

Elmer Smith M.D.

for an

annual

physical exam

on

August 29th

at

1045.

Around

1100 a phone call

was

placed

to Jim Dau. He informed

me

that

my

email

describing Albert W.

Hamilton s

credentials

made him a

good candidate

to

establish

a

Bible

school near the

hospital compound

in

Sudan,

which

is

one

of

VOM's

goals.

Yes

The leaders

at

VOM

want

AI

Hamilton

to go as

my Silas and

desire

to

meet

him,

Annette Hamilton,

and Susan

(my wife) sometime within the next

two

weeks.

Jim

informed

me that

Dr.

Bert Oubre accepted

the

position as Medical Director,

and

had alreadv arrived

earlier

this week in Bartlesville, Oklahoma,

to

find a home and to

enroll his

daughters

in

school.

Dr.

Oubre has

thirteen-years

experience

building

and

developing aChristian

mission hospital

in the

African

countrv ofCameroon,

not for VOM, but for another organization.

Sudan, hospital

is VOM's

first venture

in this healthcare

delivery

field.

He also

informed

me that

the

first short

trip

could

not

take place

until

24 October

2001, due

to

the

feet

that one ofVOM s Board ofDirectors wants

to

go along with those making the trip. A

call

was placed to Al

Hamilton with

this news, andhewas

pleased

and

elated.

ummgp

Note:

This

is

not the

end

ofthis true story,

but

only

the beginning.

This is

to

be my

continuing journal

of this

venture

with

God and Albert so

that

others may read it and give glory to

God.

Everyone, in

mv

estimation,

needs

frequent renewal

through God

s covenant-relationship

with

his people, especially with those

who suffer

because of

their feith. The core beginning ofany covenant-relationship is God's compassion, grace, and faithfulness, just as

he describes himself in

the

following ways:

I

AM

the Lord

(Exodus 6:2), the compassionate and gracious God.

slow to anger,

abounding in love and

feithfulness, maintaining

love to

thousands,

and forgiving wickedness

rebellion, and sin

(Exodus

34:6-7). And

when Jesus

Christ claimed

that

his

Father gave him glor\ and

the

Pharisees challenged his statement, Jesus said, I tell you

the

truth,

before

Abraham was bom, I AM (John 8:58),

and he

later

confessed that I AM

the way

and the truth and the life;

nobody

comes to the Father except through

me John 14:6). We trust that the I AM God iswith us in this venture.

hamilton al annette 2001 usa&world

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