Dr. Klaudia Wolff discusses good nutrition with residents of a remote town in Ecuador during a mobile medical clinic.

(Jan. 10, 2014 - by Ruth Pike) At 1 p.m. Sept. 13, 1989, an Avianca Airlines plane touched down in Quito, Ecuador. A German family with five children carrying 16 suitcases stepped onto Ecuadorian soil to begin a new and long-anticipated phase of life as missionaries.

Recently the couple reached a new crossroads in life. "After 24 years of service with HCJB Global, Eckehart and Klaudia Wolff resigned from the mission Nov. 15, 2013," announced Dan Shedd, executive director of HCJB Global's Latin American Region. "They will both continue to see patients at Hospital Vozandes del Oriente (HVO or Hospital Vozandes-Shell) until the end of December when the facility closes under HCJB Global's direction."

A general surgeon with orthopedic training, Dr. Eckehart Wolff, and his wife, Klaudia, now a general physician, first sensed a calling to missions many years before they arrived in Ecuador. Working with the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES) and international students in Germany helped prepare them for the mission field.

Dr. Eckehart Wolff prepares to perform a surgery on a young patient.

After prayerfully considering several possibilities, they finally settled for an assignment with HCJB Global in Ecuador. Since they had five children (Julia, Miriam, Benedikt, Franziska and Monika), the German school in Quito rendered this an attractive option.

"We knew it was the right decision," said Eckehart, admitting that it wasn't all picture perfect. The real need for a surgeon was not in Quito but in the mission hospital in Shell on the edge of the Amazon jungle, a five-hour drive from Quito along a road that was then only partially paved.

After seven months of Spanish language study, Eckehart began working at HVO while the rest of the family lived in Quito. For the first three years they were only able to see each other about twice a month. In the intervening time "we were pretty much independent," said Klaudia. Without cell phones or email, they were only able to send emergency messages by ham radio.

Eckehart was later able to join the family in Quito, working for a time as a surgical assistant before being appointed as acting medical director, in response to hospital needs. "I was suddenly asked if I would be medical director for two weeks-14 days," said Eckehart. Due to unforeseen circumstances those 14 days stretched into 14 months.

Dr. Jim Gage (front) with the surgical team that helped cerebral palsy patients in Ecuador who normally couldn't afford the operations.

This was a challenging but valuable experience which no doubt served Eckehart well in later years when he became the hospital's full-time medical director. "I later tried to involve more missionaries in leadership," he said. "So I stepped back, serving as assistant medical director."

Eckehart also developed a partnership with Dr. Jim Gage, a Minnesota physician with extensive experience in treating cerebral palsy patients, who retired five years ago. Since 1996 international surgical teams have visited Ecuador, enabling many people to walk. "Eckehart helped pioneer the way ahead for the care of disabled children through his work with Dr. Jim Gage," said Shedd.
For more information, visit www.stcroixortho.com/file/orthopaedicexcellence/2011/SCO-2011.pdf.

While Eckehart served in the mission's hospitals, Klaudia dedicated herself to bringing up the children. In 2002 she began working for the missionary personnel department, providing pastoral support to other missionaries. She later went on to study family therapy and, when the children had left home, the couple moved to Shell in 2007.

Klaudia ministered as a family counselor in the hospital and began weekly group meetings for mothers and teenage girls. She also completed her rural year of medical education in Ecuador before joining the hospital as a physician.

The Wolffs' ministry extended far beyond the borders of Ecuador. Twice they served for three-month periods at Pioneer Christian Hospital in Impfondo, Republic of Congo (2009-2010). They also joined HCJB Global emergency medical response teams, assisting patients during the aftermaths of earthquakes in Pakistan, Indonesia, Peru and Haiti.

While Eckehart would attend to physical needs such as fractures, Klaudia provided support to those who had been emotionally affected. Reflecting on the mission trip to Peru in 2007, Sheila Leech, now vice president of international healthcare, said it was "absolutely fantastic to have Klaudia along. She has a real gift of being able to relate to people."

Throughout the years, the family has provided leadership support for Iglesia Cristiana Presbiteriana San Marcos (St. Mark's Presbyterian Christian Church) in Quito, which was a newly formed church when they joined in 1989.

In 1997 an Ecuadorian Quichua evangelist who had begun to preach in an indigenous group in the jungle community of Mondayacu asked for support from the San Marcos church. "I'm an evangelist, but I'm not a pastor," he said.

With guidance from the Wolffs, the youth group from the church in Quito, many of whom were not yet Christians, began to help with the church plant in Mondayacu. They got involved in construction, plumbing and electrical work at the new church building. In the process, "lots of people became Christians," said Eckehart, "mostly young people from San Marcos."

Today Eckehart and Klaudia continue to travel most Saturdays to support the church plant in Mondayacu and are actively involved in the San Marcos church as well as the evangelical church in Shell.

With the closure of HVO on Dec. 31, 2013, they have resigned from HCJB Global but continue to seek God's will for the future. "The Wolffs' resignation signals a new phase of service in their lives," said Shedd. "They believe their call is still with the people of Ecuador."

Source: HCJB Global