How HELP Began
The Goen Family in Nigeria
An American family physician, Dr. Tracy Goen, and his wife Patty, who also has a medical degree, moved their family to Nigeria in 1999 to staff a hospital in danger of closing, due to lack of doctors. During their years in Nigeria, they came to know and love the people and cultures of Nigeria, particularly the Fulani.
The Goens spent 5 years living among the Fulani of Nigeria, as missionaries for Sudan Interior Ministries (SIM), meeting medical needs and forming relationships with the natives. In the summer of 2005, Dr. Goen was honored for his deeds by being crowned Garukua Fulani Yagba West – a king and adviser to Yagbaland’s highest-ranking king, King Magaraji. This act of appreciation and honor has proved to be integral to his continued ministry there, as he travels quarterly to Nigeria’s Kogi State to take part in tribal affairs and learn of the peoples’ needs.
When they returned to the states for an extended leave, Tracy and Patty could not have imagined the ministry to the Fulani that would soon blossom from nearly 6700 miles away. God used their years of ministry in Nigeria to open doors, build relationships, and ultimately as preparation for the ministry to come.
The Fulani are a Muslim, nomadic, uneducated, cattle herding people numbering more than 10 million in Nigeria. Dr. Goen has gained the trust and respect of these previously unreachable people through medical and veterinary care. The Goens may return to live in Nigeria several years from now. But until then, it seems God has an incredible ministry to be carried out from half-way across the world.