Cedarville Magazine, Fall 2018

GOD’S EXTRAVAGANT GRACE POURED OUT JENNIFER (BENEFIEL) DEKRYGER ’93 Extravagant grace — that’s what our generous God pours out into the lives of His children who are desperate for Him. God used Cedarville University as a greenhouse for me to grow in Christ and be prepared to serve overseas. As an education and cross-cultural studies major, God opened doors for me to student teach overseas in Senegal, West Africa. Dr. Merlin Ager ’60, then the head of the education department, encouraged me to serve faithfully. He challenged me to not just see my experience as an adventure, but to sincerely serve. Working alongside dedicated missionaries, I was given opportunities to “wash the feet” of others, reluctantly putting my own agenda aside. I returned to the United States with a renewed desire to invest my life in sharing the truth of who Christ is with those who have never heard of the hope we have in Him. After I married my husband, Todd, we left for Togo, West Africa, to serve with the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism (ABWE) in 2003. As a physician assistant, Todd had a passion to establish a hospital in a very dark place. We worked together for 12 years, along with our four sons, to help build the hospital and prepare it to reach a population where only 1 percent of the people are evangelical Christians. God’s extravagant grace was evident with each step. His hand provided the funding for this $6 million facility. He brought the needed construction teams to Togo. He assembled a committed team of career missionaries to serve in the hospital. On February 26, 2015, our dream became a reality; the hospital opened, and we began treating patients with compassionate care in the name of Jesus. Exactly one year after the opening, God called Todd home to heaven after a brief illness. As I watched the man whom I had loved and served with for nearly 20 years slip into eternity, I was again covered by God’s extravagant grace. I chose to believe that the God who called us to go would continue to be faithful to me and my sons. Todd had fulfilled everything God had for him on this earth, but as long as He gives me breath, I believe He has called me to speak of His love for us in Christ. Today, my boys and I continue to serve at the Hospital of Hope in Mango, Togo. God continues to extend His grace to us and is at work each day, sustaining us and opening the eyes of the hearts of our West African friends. Many who have never before heard the name of Jesus spoken are surrendering their hearts to His call of love to them. We as a missionary team strive to be faithful to sow the seeds of truth and to trust the Spirit of God to do the work necessary to call the nations to Himself through this medical ministry. We have seen the platform of medicine open many doors for us as God has allowed us to share the truth about Jesus with our patients. I have been blessed by God’s extravagant grace as He has allowed me to see Him begin to establish His Kingdom in West Africa. There is no life more beautiful and rewarding than a life desperate for the filling and enabling of God that spurs us on to serve others and to share the truth of the Gospel, so as to ultimately see the name of Jesus exalted among the nations. Cedarville Magazine | 25