Roger Thorpe, Medical Director
Dr. Roger Thorpe donates his services as Medical Director for the PCP. We are grateful to the ECC Department of World Mission for the following biographical statement about Roger and his wife, Eileen.
Roger and Eileen Thorpe were commissioned by the Department of World Mission at the 1965 Annual Meeting of the Evanagelical Covenant Church to serve in Congo/Zaire. They studied French and tropical medicine in Brussels, Belgium, before arriving in Congo in 1966.
While in Congo, Roger served as doctor, surgeon, and Medical Director at Karawa Hospital. He was medical counselor to the CEUM President, and advisor to the African medical director over all CEUM medical work. Roger was field representative and Karawa station chairman, and was instrumental in the initial French worship services at Karawa. He taught in the Nursing School and assisted in the training program (residency) for newly graduated African doctors.
Eileen's work has included teaching piano lessons, elementary school and high school music, and band/orchestra, with two major concerts per year plus musicals and recitals. She worked as station hostess, station bookkeeper, and short-term coordinator, and sewed scrub gowns and suits. Eileen processed visa applications and registered visitors, meeting demands of the National Security Office.
Reflecting on Congo, Roger says, "We are pleased with the capable Congolese leadership in the church, and with vigorous church growth despite very difficult conditions. Many years of missionary mentorship have been put to the test since missionaries were evacuated in 1997 due to civil war. There continues to be a need for more educated leaders, including pastors. Over 800 churches are served by lay pastors, some with almost no training. Urgent medical needs continue, and children often do not receive medical care due to no money. Education for children is challenged by few schools, many of which are without benches and blackboards and school supplies. The economy struggles, and recent elections brought about more violence, thankfully limited in schope, and now all is quiet."
Roger's call to missionary service came early in life. "I felt called to either the ministry or missionary work while in seventh or eighth grade; it was not until the summer before college that I considered a medical career. The one person who influenced me a great deal was Dr. Wallace Thornbloom. It was, therefore, with much joy that I found him at Karawa upon beginning my work in Congo."
Eileen states, "In realizing how great God's love and sacrifice for me are, I am glad to serve him with my life." She believes that God guided her in marriage to someone also interested in the mission field. Since retirement from active missionary service in 1997, Roger continues taking medical mission trips to various countries from Viet Nam to Ethiopia, and Eileen works in the ECC Department of World Mission in Chicago.
Roger graduated from North Park Junior College, Chicago (A.A., 1951), the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (B.A., 1953), and its medical school (M.D., 1956). Eileen is a graduate of North Park Junior College (A.A., 1952) and the University of Michigan (B.S.N., 1956). They have both studied at North Park Theological Seminary.
Roger and Eileen have four grown children: Charles, Douglas, Christine (Olfelt), and Lauren (the second doctor in the family), and eight grandchildren and step-grandchildren.
They can be reached by e-mail using this link.