Memorial Service, Central Baptist Church, Brantford, Ontario

Dr. Bob Foster

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Tributes are pouring in this week for a great humanitarian with strong Brantford connections, who made a major impact in Zambia and Angola.

Dr. Bob Livingston Foster, who died on Sunday in Angola at 87, was a larger-than-life medical missionary who left a legacy of four hospitals in rural Africa, countless churches and dozens of missionaries who were inspired by him to give their lives to the poor.

Dr. Foster married Belva Mark 63 years ago. Her family continues to have strong ties in Brantford and it was the Marks who introduced Dr. Foster at Central Baptist Church then on Brant Avenue, which became one of his supporting congregations.

"He influenced everybody he met," said Brantford's Keith Donald, a former missionary himself.

"He was a man with a lot of energy, vision, confidence and faith and came from an impressive family."

Dr. Foster's father was also a missionary and translated the entire Bible into a Zambian language. Four of Dr. Foster's children are currently working in Angola and another is a Bible translator in Mozambique.

His son Stephen, who was born in Brantford, was honoured in 2010 by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, for medical humanitarian work in Africa.

"I think my father will be remembered as a man who believed God," wrote Stephen Foster on Wednesday. "Not as 'believed in God,' as the devil does too, but rather in the matter of fact way he simply took God at face value ... that God would keep His promises, protect in times of danger, whether from leopards and mambas to the bullets of guerilla warriors."

A man of remarkable directness, Dr. Foster was known for telling people to consider medical mission work and they often responded.

When the doctor wrote a book about his work, The Sword and the Scalpel: A Surgeon's Story of Faith and Courage in Africa, Franklin Graham, son of the famed evangelist Billy Graham, wrote that "Bob is the No. 1 missionary statesman in the evangelical world today and the man God has used in a mighty way to open up new frontiers for the Gospel in some of the roughest areas of Africa."

Graham wrote again on Wednesday to Dr. Foster's widow, saying her husband had influenced his beloved Angola in "monumental ways. But he also had an impact on my life by demonstrating a selfless spirit of a true servant."

The Fosters and their sibilantly named children --Steve, Sharon, Sheila, Stacey, Stuart, Stirling and Shelley -spent several of their furloughs in Brantford, where Belva Foster's mother taught at Brantford Collegiate Institute.

In Africa, Canada or the U.S., where he finally retired, Dr. Foster was known for his big booming laugh and authoritative manner.

Although he often didn't see his parents for years at a time - he was left in a home for missionary children while they were in Africa -he was heavily influenced by them: his middle name was Livingstone in hopes that he would follow in the footsteps of the famous Dr. David Livingstone, the medical missionary explorer -and he did.

Dr. Foster tells tales from his interesting life in both his book and in a professionally shot video presentation where he talks about his education and working in dangerous rural Africa.

During one examination Dr. Foster was surprised when a woman refused to stay for treatment and, instead, warned about 100 other patients not to go to see him. It turned out there was an eight-foot long black mamba snake in the rafters over the exam table. Dr. Foster had to tackle the snake himself as no one else would face it.

In some areas, the African people called him Kahaya, which means "the big white chief."

Dr. Foster's funeral, which is expected to be massive, will take place Thursday in Lubango, Angola.

It will be streamed for Internet viewing.

Dr. Foster leaves his wife Belva, whom he married in Brantford at Central Baptist Church, his seven children and 17 grandchildren.

Memorial gifts in his memory have been requested to Advancing the Gospel in Angola, 25 Maple St., Addison, NY, USA 14801 or The Angolan Fund, CMDS Canada, 246B Main Street, Steinbach, Man., R5G 1Y8, Canada.

Tributes to Dr. Foster can be viewed at http://drbobfoster.blogspot.com and the video of Dr. Foster talking about his own life can be seen at http://bit.ly/drbobfoster.