Dr. Bob Whittaker, Director of the Nigerian Christian Hospital (also known as International Health Care Foundation), was kidnapped by armed gunmen this past Sunday night from his home in southern Nigeria. The abducters have since demanded ransom. Dr. Whittaker and a security guard both were injured by shots. Please pray for both men and their families, and pray for God to perform a miraculous work in the criminals’ hearts. For updates, and for more about this medical mission, click here (www.ihcf.net).
FOLLOW-UP: DOCTOR RELEASED
Dr. Bob Whittaker, whose abduction we announced in Monday’s gracEmail family notes, has been released and is now resting safely in Nigerian Christian Hospital in southern Nigeria. The veteran medical missionary was abducted this past Sunday by multiple armed gunmen, who shot him and a security guard in the process. The announcement of Dr. Whittaker’s release came Tuesday afternoon, August 4, on The International Health Care Foundation (IHCF) website. The IHCF is headquartered in Searcy, Arkansas and several of its past or present board members are among the gracEmail family.
The abductors stormed the physician’s home on Sunday, shooting him in the left arm and shattering his humerus. However, he can still move his left hand, which means he might suffer no permanent damage. Foundation officials are trying to arrange a flight to evacuate Dr. Whittaker and his wife Annette from Nigeria, probably either to England or to the United States.
The Nigerian Christian Hospital was launched in 1965 by missionary physicians including Dr. Henry Farrar. Dr. Farrar’s daughter is Dr. Marty Highfield, whose husband is Pepperdine University theology professor and gracEmail subscriber Dr. Ron Highfield. Dr. Whittaker joined the mission hospital in 1975. IHCF personnel and the Whittaker family have expressed appreciation for prayers from around the world.
For more details, and for ongoing information, see The International Health Care Foundation (IHCF) website (www.ihcf.net/whittaker/index.html) or the Christian Chronicle website (www.christianchronicle.org).
YOUR RESPONSES ON MUSIC — I consider gracEmail to be a conversation, although it is usually one-way. And I very much enjoy hearing from you when you decide to share something with me in return. Several of you did just that regarding the recent four-part series about accompanied and unaccompanied singing, titled “Death of a Distinctive?” To see what gracEmail subscribers said, click here (www.EdwardFudge.com/gracemails/response_distinctive.html). This site includes comments received through Tuesday, August 4.
