Recent Newsletter

Below is an informational about us that was featured in the recent PAACS newsletter:

PAUL AND REBECCA GRAY JOIN THE PAACS TEAM AT SODDO

Next month, Paul and Becca Gray will leave their home in Texas to travel to Soddo, Ethiopia, where Paul will become the new Program Director.

Paul wrote recently: “I first felt God's tug into medical missions during a college mission trip to a hospital in central India. Over the next several years God confirmed this as I finished college and attended medical school at the University of Louisville.

“I first learned of PAACS in a lecture given by Dr. Dave Thompson at the Global Missions Health Conference at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville during my second year of medical school. I was drawn to the idea of training others to multiply what a single missionary surgeon could do during his entire career. Furthermore, this was in keeping with Christ's example. While He ministered to a tremendous number of people in His lifetime, He mainly poured Himself into twelve men who carried on after He left.

“Following medical school, I attended a general surgical residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. There I met and married my wife, Rebecca. During my third year of residency, I contacted PAACS by email and subsequently spent the month of May, 2007 at Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, working with Dave Thompson and his residents. This was a definite confirmation of God's plan to us. After asking where we might best contribute, Dave and Bruce Steffes suggested that we prayerfully consider Soddo Christian Hospital in Ethiopia.

“During our prayer and research about Ethiopia, we were visited by both the Andersons and the Adolphs. Once again, we felt confirmed in our decision. God directed to Global Outreach International as a sending agency, and after being accepted as missionaries we set about raising support.

“After graduating from residency in June, 2007, I worked for one year as a trauma/critical care surgeon at Baylor while raising support. At this point, we have liquidated life here in the USA and are excitedly anticipating the transition to a missionary life that is ten years in the making.

“We feel like we’re now on that part on a roller coaster ride where you are strapped in and chunking up the slope to the first drop. You have a dry mouth as you eyeball the height, but there's no turning back! We are confident in the Lord, though, and ready to trust in His grace and provision. The challenges that await us at Soddo are more than daunting, but we’re eager to get at it. May God be praised!”