GFA World’s Christian Medical Missions: Africa
Of all the places in the world to do Christian medical missions, Africa is one with the most pressing needs. The continent faces a range of health challenges, including infectious diseases, like cholera, malaria, Ebola and HIV, and a growing number of chronic illnesses. Other problems in Africa, like poverty, armed conflicts and mismanagement, make addressing these health issues way more difficult. The relatively new Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is working to make a continent-wide strategy to improve public health. They have seen some progress, but there is a lot more to be done. Currently, Africa relies heavily on drugs imported from other countries, but locally manufactured medications would be much cheaper, allowing more people to access them. Diagnostics are desperately needed for endemic diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV. Africa also needs to significantly boost the healthcare workforce; for example, there are only 1,400 epidemiologists on the continent when 6,000 are needed.[1]
Clearly, when it comes to Christian medical missions, Africa has a great need. Rwanda, a small country in Africa, is representative of the state of much of the continent. While great progress has been made in increasing life expectancies—it has increased by twenty years since the year 2000—there is a long way to go in the country. Rwanda’s population is nearly 14 million people as of 2023, with predictions saying that number will hit nearly 23 million by the year 2050.[2] Such rapid population growth makes the need for increased medical care and facilities even more vital. Data indicates that there are currently only 1.2 doctors[3] and 9.33 nurses per 10,000 people in Rwanda.[4] While these small numbers show an improvement over the last thirteen years, there are still not nearly enough workers to care for every person who needs it. The second leading cause of death in Rwanda is lower respiratory infections.[5] Such illnesses don’t need to be deadly as they can often be treated with antibiotics or breathing treatments.[6] If care were available for all, many lives could be saved.
GFA World is committed to helping bolster medical Christian missions in the region by first establishing a hospital in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city. The facility will provide medical services, education and training, laying the groundwork for a sustainable healthcare system and extending a lifeline to a community in dire need of it. The hospital in Kigali is part of a vision to enhance healthcare across the continent. The ultimate goal is to form a network of healthcare facilities that will serve as the bedrock for GFA World’s Christian medical missions in Africa. This is about more than treating illnesses; it’s about bringing hope and healing to an area that hasn’t had either for far too long.[7]
Medical missions is nothing new for GFA World. We have been helping people in Asia receive medical care for many years. People like Petrina are a testament to the life-changing impact a medical camp can have. A constant itching across her skin and stomach pain plagued Petrina as she tried to complete her daily tasks. She needed to tend her land and care for her family—three sons, a daughter-in-law and a grandson who all relied on her—but the pain became unbearable, forcing her to lie down and leaving her work undone. To walk to the healthcare center and back would take hours of her day, and the ointments and medications they had given her before had had little effect. Many people in Petrina’s village suffered and even died from curable conditions because proper treatment was not available. And even if it was available, the nearest facility was a trek, and medication was expensive.
GFA missionary Pastor Tallan had grown up in the village, and he saw the suffering of Petrina and others around him. Longing to help his people, ease their suffering and show them Christ’s love, the pastor made the arrangements to host three medical camps at the local church building. Trained medical professionals came with the proper medications to treat people’s ailments. The third medical camp was able to provide Petrina with much-needed medication that eased her stomach pain, caused by an ulcer, and relieved her itching. After being seen at the camp, she was able to return to normal work. The medical camp showed Petrina and the other villagers how much God loves and cares for them.[8]
These medical camps have been a success in Asia, so now GFA World is bringing them to Africa. Christian medical missions care for both bodies and souls as hospital staff show Christlike compassion to those who are suffering. This care guards people’s health, protects them from debilitating illness and possibly even saves them from premature death.[9] Consider partnering with GFA World in this endeavor by giving toward our medical missions. Africa is a continent with a lot of need, but with medical missions, we can make a difference.
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[1] Feldscher, Karen. “Africa CDC head is driving a new public health agenda on the continent.” Harvard T.H. Chan. March 12, 2020. https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/africa-cdc-head-is-driving-a-new-public-health-agenda-on-the-continent/.
[2] “Rwanda.” World Health Organization. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://data.who.int/countries/646.
[3] “Density of physicians (per 10 000 population): Rwanda.” World Health Organization. Accessed December 25, 2024. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/CCCEBB2/217795A?m49=646.
[4] “Density of nursing and midwifery personnel (per 10 000 population): Rwanda.” World Health Organization. Accessed December 25, 2024. https://data.who.int/indicators/i/B54EB15/5C8435F?m49=646.
[5] “Rwanda.” World Health Organization. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://data.who.int/countries/646.
[6] Fletcher, Jenna. “Lower respiratory tract infections: What to know.” Medical News Today. February 11, 2019. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324413.
[7] “Rwanda Medical Mission.” GFA World. Accessed October 30, 2024. https://www.gfa.org/radio/hospital.
[8] “Woman Searches Anxiously for Relief.” GFA World. July 2023. https://www.gfa.org/news/articles/woman-searches-anxiously-for-relief-wfr23-07.
[9] Ibid.