The Great Physician's African Bush Apprentice

Every goal begins with a dream…

It has often been said that missionary doctors have a special calling – a voice from God guiding their desire to serve. 

When Paul Thistle was asked when he first realized that he wanted to be a missionary doctor, his natural humour came into play.  “As a boy growing up in Scarborough, canvassing for The Scarborough Mirror, I would never have forecast the signs. ‘Beware of Dog’ was the only sign to look out for. I did not know what to expect. Life is like the road at Karanda Hospital, a washed-out road of twists and turns, with unexpected pot holes. You cannot see what’s around the bend.”  He had no way of knowing that his “wildest dream” would land him “in the wilds of Zimbabwe”.

Dr. Paul Thistle’s calling came in 1981, the year he turned eighteen, while attending Urbana Inter-Denominational Missions Conference.  The call was a need for medical missionaries, especially where the health of mothers and children were concerned and he knew that he wanted to fill that need and make this his life’s work.

It helped that he was fond of study and good at math and, as an added incentive, had the encouragement of a staff of dedicated teachers in a caring community.  As he recalls, his days spent at David and Mary Thomson Collegiate in Scarborough were “great formative years, where we could excel beyond our wildest dreams and expectations. The Thomson spirit was such that kids from middle class families in Scarborough could reach for the stars”.  

After high school graduation, Paul was off to the University of Toronto to begin medical studies.  He earned his medical degree (M.D.) in 1989 and completed further training in his elected specialty, Obstetrics and Gynecology.

During this time, he made his first foray into overseas medical work as a summer student by electing to serve as a Salvation Army volunteer.  His first experience in the summer of l985 took him to an Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan during the Afghan-Russian conflict.  This was followed by three summers (1987, 1988, and 1989) working at a rural Salvation Army hospital in East Java, Indonesia.

In 1995, at the peak of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa he accepted a position at the Salvation Army Howard Hospital in Zimbabwe, 80 kilometres north of the capital, Harare. He loved the work, providing all-too-rare health care to the local communities. He became the chief medical officer in 1999.

As part of a team of several physicians and a handful of nurses, Paul provided physical, social and spiritual care to over 270,000 people in rural Zimbabwe.  300 people a day sought assistance on the hospital’s doorsteps, not including the thousands served by the community outreach programs. 

The sheer volume of needy people placed huge demands upon Howard Hospital’s scarce resources, whose operating budget was one percent of a similar size institution in North America.  The miracle of the loaves and fishes was enacted daily.    

In 1998, he married Pedrinah, a nurse-midwife who worked alongside Paul at the hospital, assisting in surgery and training nurses and midwifes.  Two sons, James and Alexander were added to the family, James in 2001 and Alexander in 2004.

In 2005, Paul and Pedrinah were invited to become Salvation Army Officers.  It was a natural fit, since the work they had been doing was typical of an officer’s duty, and then some.  This involved attending Booth University College, and the officer-training facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  They completed their training in 2007 and were commissioned as officers, with the rank of Captain.  

Paul’s decision to become an officer had deeper, spiritual meaning: “The challenges and achievements of providing medical and spiritual care to an underprivileged corner of God’s kingdom have promoted maturity in my Christian witness.  God had called me to commit my life to full time Christian service.   The desire to become a Salvation Army officer was an extension... a gradual, natural extension of this calling. I have always believed that a commitment to Christ must be wholehearted.  Salvation Army soldiership is a sincere, enthusiastic expression of Christian commitment” 

His first exposure to Christianity began at the age of 10 when he was invited to attend Sunday School at a neighbourhood evangelical church.  Several years later, as a young person still searching for value and purpose in life, he was prompted by the HoIy Spirit to ‘check out’ the Army.  When he walked into the Salvation Army corps in Scarborough for the first time, he was positively influenced by Sunday school classmates and teachers to make a decision for Jesus Christ.  

As he explains, his work made his ministry rewarding, “with fulfillment in the little tasks of our mission at Howard:   a mother saved in childbirth, a malnourished infant restored to health, an adult living with HIV counseled on healthy living.  The axiom I was taught in medical school remains true, ‘cure sometimes, comfort always.’ ”

Despite the huge challenges of missionary service, his faith remains strong “by taking moments for reflection, prayer, Bible study, even when the demands of work forbid it.  Add the support of godly wife, faithful friends around the globe, and a great cloud of witness above.” 

Asked what keeps him grounded and committed, he replies:  “Commitment to and perseverance in the task at hand, using the resources of the Holy Spirit to sustain me during the darker days.  Goodness can spring out of the most desperate situation. Joy will find a way.”

Tina Ivany
Toronto

All photos courtesy: © Douglas MACLELLAN |Copyright 2013. Douglas MacLellan. All rights reserved.