We are the Thiessen family...
...just a couple of people looking to use our skills and abilities to bring God glory.
Jesh is a general surgeon while Julie is the resident chef, housekeeper and homemaker. Together we raise three energetic children.
Jesh is a general surgeon while Julie is the resident chef, housekeeper and homemaker. Together we raise three energetic children.
Where are we from?
Jesh and Julie grew up in the Okanagan, British Columbia, but have spent many years living and travelling elsewhere. For medical school we lived in Calgary, AB and Yellowknife, NT. Most recently we were in Kingston, Ontario for residency. Between the two of us we can add Myanmar, the Dominican Republic, India, Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, the DRC and Rwanda to the list of places we have been.
What did it take to get here?
Before we met one another, both of us spent time working overseas. Jesh had built houses in the Dominican, and worked with a medical team in Myanmar while Julie spent nearly a year teaching in Burundi and then in India.
What did it take to get here?
Jesh completed 3 years of undergraduate studies at Okanagan College and University of British Columbia Okanagan. He went on to complete a medical degree at the University of Calgary and General Surgery residency at Queens University. This is without counting a previous degree in Electronic Engineering Technology, so needless to say, its been a long road!
Our Journey
As cliche as it sounds, we had no idea God would call us into full-time missions when we began the journey many years ago.Before we met one another, both of us spent time working overseas. Jesh had built houses in the Dominican, and worked with a medical team in Myanmar while Julie spent nearly a year teaching in Burundi and then in India.
When we first got married in 2008, missions was a distant dream. Nine years, four cities, three kids and a whole lotta sleepless nights later, it's very much a reality.
As we have gone through Jesh's training, there have been many ways through which we have seen God's faithfulness and felt His prompting. Whether through supportive communities in the various places we called home, the doors opening for multiple trips to east Africa, or the many "coincidences" along the way, He has provided us with the confidence and desire to continue moving forward.
After a lot of prayer and planning, in 2015 we took our family to Burundi to work at Kibuye Hope Hospital and immerse ourselves in the community as best we could. And what we saw we will never forget and it changed the way we thought about everything. It was on this trip that we began to consider perhaps God was calling us to long-term missions.
In 2016, we were accepted into Samaritan's Purse's Post-Residency Program through their medical arm, World Medical Mission. They help enable graduates to begin their career in medical missions through logistical and even some financial support. Upon meeting with them, we were both so impressed with their passion to serve Christ, and incredibly encouraged by all the support they would offer us as we begin this seemingly overwhelming endeavour.
In 2017, Jesh graduated as a general surgeon, and our family spent 10 months of language training in Albertville, France in preparation for medical missions in Africa. Our journey began at Kibuye Hope Hospital in Burundi in 2018 and after 14 months, 600 surgeries, and many wonderful friendships, we moved our family to Hospital of Hope in Togo, West Africa in 2019.
What Next?
In 2020, we began working working at the Good News Hospital in Madagascar and have since help launch and support the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons residency training program.
Sometimes this all feels a little crazy! There's so much we need to learn. And yet we have found it to be true that it's when we reach our end that we get to really see God at work.
So we're jumping in, taking some risks, and learning to live by faith in the process. Here we go!
