Despite illnesses, missionary couple faithfully spreads gospel

By Jesse Lyautey

TOGO, West Africa—Ray used to walk from hut to hut to visit villagers, but because of his health he can no longer walk long distances.

So, God provides people to come to him. In one village he preached to a crowd gathered around him and more than 25 people became believers that day.

At 70 years-old, International Mission Board missionary Ray Eitelman and his wife, Patsy, have served more than 33 years in West Africa, first in the Upper Volta (now called Burkina Faso), and currently in northern Togo. They have planted more than 160 churches in countless villages and will continue training locals to plant churches until their retirement next year.

"We start our churches with the idea of going…" Ray said. "They know they need to go tell others and they do."

The Eitlemans' time on the mission field has not been easy.

Ray walks using a cane as a result of polio and tetanus he had as a teenager. He has also had hepatitis, suffers from recurring malaria and recently some throat, spine and shoulder problems.

Pasty has broken a hip and is deaf in one ear, which restricts her balance. Both cause her to need assistance as she visits around town. She has a mysterious condition that affects her liver, causing major health problems, and at one point, almost taking her life. Recently she suffered internal bleeding and lost half of her blood.

"We never know what God has in store for us from day to day," Ray wrote in a prayer newsletter home. "Some are more eventful than others and demand more prayer."

None of this has caused them to return to the United States.

"We stay because God called us here and know that bad health is not only found in Africa," Ray said. "We pray and take it in stride."

This philosophy has helped the Eitelmans deal with many struggles working in West Africa.

Before leaving the United States, their youngest daughter, Julie, refused to go live in Africa. She even ran away from home before they were to leave for language training in France. She is now a missionary with her family in Southern Africa.

While they served as missionaries in Burkina Faso, their oldest daughter, Laura, died at age 15 from hepatitis while on holiday from boarding school.

In a book Ray authored entitled He Set Me Singing: A Long History of Happiness, he wrote that in the midst of the struggles God gave him peace and happiness, leaving "no pain, no anguish."

They continued their work in Koudougou, Burkina Faso, with the two people groups that lived in villages around the town. When the local people could plant churches without their help, Ray and Patsy moved to northern Togo. For more than 23 years, Ray has worked there with the Kabiye (Kah'-baye) people and Patsy with the Kotokoli (Koh-toh-koh'-lee) people.

Witnessing more than 8,000 baptisms and more than 130 church starts while working in Togo, health problems have not stopped the Eitelmans.

"Health problems have not changed our ministry," Ray said. "By God's grace we were able to minister as effectively as others who are healthier."

Patsy translates material for the Kotokoli to use in Bible study or through orality training. She also works with a Kotokoli believer, Toubayé, who teaches literacy and Vacation Bible School.

She partners with other Great Commission organizations to teach the Kotokoli in a local Christian center. Surrounded by mosques, the center is a beacon of light for believers.

On a drive an hour and a half drive south of town, Ray can point out more than 20 churches that were started by central churches he helped plant. He said in any direction out of town there would be a church those central churches have planted during the last two decades.

"I am not really involved in evangelism anymore," Ray said. "I train pastors and leaders and they teach others."

Each month he teaches one-day pastoral training seminars in 20 strategically located churches over a vast territory. Many students come from as far away as 15 miles to these central churches to learn from Ray.

He teaches mostly in French, but can do it in four other languages if needed. During times of good health he drove the equivalent of ten times around the earth on the back of a small motorcycle without ever leaving West Africa.

The Eitelmans learned early in life that happiness comes from serving God. When the Eitelmans leave Togo, the ministry they began over 33 years ago will continue for generations to come as Kabiye and Kotokoli believers carry on the work to share the Gospel.