John Bergen and his wife, Eloise, rest in a Nairobi hospital on Friday. (Sayyid Azim/Associated Press)

The Calgary-area family of two missionaries attacked by machete-wielding burglars in Kenya is collecting donations to bring them home to recover from their injuries.

John Bergen, 72, and his wife, Eloise, 63, were slashed and beaten on Wednesday and left for dead as burglars ransacked their home in the volatile region of Mount Egon. They're recovering in a Nairobi hospital.

"Dad was in the hospital. He was in surgery for three hours. He had a fractured skull and they couldn't count how many times he was sliced up with a machete," Robyn McGough, the couple's daughter-in-law, said from her Chestermere home on Thursday.

Seven people have been arrested in the attack, including two security guards hired to protect the couple's compound, reported CBC News' David McGuffin. He said police are still hunting for four suspects.

The Bergens' daughter, Amanda, shares some time with her son. (CBC)

While the Bergens say they want to remain in Kenya to continue their charitable work, their family hopes they will return to Canada for medical care.

It's expected to cost at least $150,000 to fly John back to Canada with medical assistance, and McGough said the couple does not have enough insurance to cover the total cost of their treatment.

McGough said the family has set up an account through the Bank of Montreal to collect donations for the injured couple. The Hope for the Nations, the Christian charity that the Bergens worked with, has also set up an information line for people interested in sending donations.

The Bergens have two biological sons, Lance, 40, and Darcy, 39; two adopted children, Amanda, 22, and Josh, 19; and eight grandchildren.

Amanda Bergen said it's frustrating not being able to call or see her parents.

"If they come back here, I would want to quit my job and take care of them," she told CBC News. "They took care of me so I'll take care of them."

The Bergens, who lived in High River, Alta., for 10 years before moving to Vernon, B.C., in 2005, left Canada in March to help children in Africa. They set up a refugee camp school and were growing vegetables to feed kids at a nearby orphanage.

"We got a beautiful e-mail telling us about three children that they managed to get off the street and get into an orphanage and they sent pictures and everything sounded really, really good," recalled McGough, who is married to Lance Bergen.

But she had her reservations about the trip: "It was their dream, I didn't care that it was their dream. I didn't want them to go. It's too dangerous."

McGough said her in-laws are the kind of people who will pray for their attackers.