The Next Level Christmas

Christmas is just days away! At Hospitals of Hope we’ve gotten into the Christmas spirit thanks to Bob decorating the our tree and others bringing in holiday snacks! Christmas is such an exciting time with all the decorations, the music, the holiday traditions, time with family and so much more. But we would be doing ourselves an injustice if we did not take time to reflect on more that just the surface level excitement of Christmas.

As Christians, we take Christmas to the next level by celebrating the birth of Jesus, the Son of God. The story of Christ’s birth is a testament to God’s power, love, and grace and gives us all a reminder of the hope we have in Christ.

But is that the ultimate end of celebrating Christmas – celebrating Jesus’ birth? I think there is yet another level with Christmas. While Jesus’ birth is reason to reflect and celebrate, his life and time of ministry give us an incredible example for the holiday season.

Jesus spent much of his time on earth healing the sick and caring for the poor and loving those that weren’t loved. When a widow’s son died, he brought him back to life. When ten lepers met Jesus while he was traveling, he healed them all even though only one came back to thank him. He talked to individuals like a tax collector and a prostitute that were considered the outcast of society.

Jesus himself stated why he had come in Luke 4:18 “…he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”

James, the brother of Jesus later wrote “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” (James 1:27)

Christmas time is fun with all the festivities, traditions, and presents. But what better way to take Christmas to the next level than by following the example he left of caring for those who need it. It is easy to get caught up in the endless gift lists and holiday parties. But we hope that you take time not just to celebrate Jesus's birth, but to be Jesus to those around you and those in need around the world this Christmas season.

We are very grateful for many of you following the example of Christ and helping us with the mission of caring for the sick and bringing hope of Jesus to so many. Thanks to your support and encouragement, Hospitals of Hope has been able to continue in another year of ministry of bringing healing to bodies and souls around the world. Without your financial gifts, prayers, and encouragement we would not be able to have the impact that we have had. We do wish you a Merry Christmas and we hope you are surrounded by the beauty and hope of this Christmas season.

Thank you for an amazing year and we are excited for another great year of bringing Christ’s love and healing around the world.

Medical supply container and Clinic In A Can head to Africa

The first week of December proved to be a busy and exciting week for Hospitals of Hope!
This week we sent a 40 foot shipping container full of medical supplies to Burundi, Africa. We partnered with an organization, Friends of Kibimba Hospital, to send the container.

The container held a wide variety of supplies from basic medical items like needles and bandages, to equipment like an autoclave and patient monitors which were all supplies Hospitals of Hope had collected and were able to redistribute to Burundi.

This was Hospitals of Hope’s third container of medical supplies sent with Friends of Kibimba to Burundi.

Volunteers with the organization spent many hours over the hot summer organizing and packing the container. The container is set to arrive in February and a team from the organization leaves February 15 to meet it in Burundi.

Hospitals of Hope is thrilled to have had another opportunity to partner with Friends of Kibimba by sending much needed medical supplies and help bring healing to bodies and souls in that community.

Also this week, we received word that the three-unit Clinic In A Can that we built in June is on the next leg of its journey to South Sudan. When we finished building the container clinic, we sent it to Omaha, Neb. where it was on display at the Methodist Women's Hospital. The Clinic In A Can could not be sent immediately to South Sudan because of the raining season there.

Hospitals of Hope’s Clinic In A Can ministry worked with Covenant Presbyterian Church and the Healing Kadi Foundation in Omaha, Neb. to send the container clinic to Kajo Keji, South Sudan.

This portable hospital is constructed in three forty-foot shipping containers and will be set up in a “U” shape. This small hospital contains exam rooms, a laboratory, a pharmacy, and surgical and radiology suites. It also holds a generator and water system, enabling it to be self-sufficient regardless of the surrounding infrastructure.

The Healing Kadi Foundation eventually plans to construct a larger hospital, but that will take several more years. In the meantime, the Clinic In A Can will provide much-needed medical care to the more than 450,000 refugees living in Kajo Keji.

This container clinic was our tenth clinic and we have since constructed three more. You can read more about this Clinic In A Can here.

November News

What's new in November?

In case you missed any of this month's news, get caught up with the monthly update. If you would like to receive the monthly email newsletter you can sign up on our website www.hospitalsofhope.org on the tab to the right that says "E-Mail Updates"

We trust everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed time with friends and family. The month of November was yet another eventful month as we are finishing projects for the end of the year and looking forward to the new year! We had our 30 Days of Thanks during the month of November. Each day we took time to express thankfulness for different people, ministries, opportunities, and much more that has had an impact on Hospitals of Hope.

This is a word picture of some of the different things we were thankful for during the month of November.

Baby Isabella arrives!

The most exciting news of the month is the newest addition to the Hospitals of Hope family. We are pleased to announce the birth of Isabella Maria Wawrzewski on Sunday, November 20 to founder Mike and his wife Elizabeth. Isabella weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. Mike reports that mom and baby are healthy and are doing well. We congratulate Mike and Elizabeth, and we are excited for this new member to the Hospitals of Hope family!

HOH travels to Missions Health Conference

Earlier this month, Hospitals of Hope’s Daniel White traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to attend the Global Missions Health Conference. The conference, in its 15th year, is one of the largest medical mission’s conferences in the world with over 2,500 attendees.

The conference is designed to bring medical professionals, those interested in medical missions and many others together to discuss and learn about a wide range of topics including disaster relief, holistic community development, sustainability and empowering indigenous people, clinical health and disease, and much more.

Daniel represented the Hospitals of Hope and Clinic In A Can booth and had opportunities to speak with individuals and organizations about our ministries.

Leaving an eternal impact

Every so often, stories from around the world get back to us of people coming closer to Jesus. It's those stories that remind us why we are a part of Hospitals of Hope and encourage us continue sharing Christ's love. A couple of stories recently came from Bolivia where Leta is teaching English classes at the hospital. She has had several opportunities to touch lives through this ministry. She shares:

I’ve been struck over the last couple of months by how easy it is to share my faith here. Although evangelism is not my gift, just the fact that I am here causes people to ask questions.

The interns who come to do rotations at the hospital are especially curious. We’re reading excerpts from The Purpose-Driven Life in English class, and, on Friday, one of the interns asked me, “What is the purpose of your life?”

Another of the interns, who just completed his 4-month rotation here, is hungry to learn. He has been coming to church with us the last couple of weeks, and, although he is off to work at another hospital now, he has promised to come back to visit. In a note he wrote me before leaving, he said, “I have spent a wonderful 4 months here. I have learned about medicine, and about God and his love.” He doesn’t call himself a Christian yet, but we are praying that God will continue to pursue him as he leaves here.

Thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Without your help, we would not be able to have such great opportunities to share Jesus Christ around the world. Thank you.

A Thanksgiving lesson from Bolivia

Being a nonprofit ministry, Thanksgiving has an even more special meaning than it does for most. For us, Thanksgiving is not just a time of being around family, eating lots of food, or a time of rest, but it’s a humbling time of being reminded how blessed we are.

All month we have been doing 30 Days of Thanks where we reflect on what we at Hospitals of Hope are grateful for. The more we got into it, the more we were reminded that this ministry just isn’t a job, but an opportunity for us and all you who support us to touch lives.

There are two recent stories from Bolivia that beautifully display so many things that Hospitals of Hope is thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Earlier in the summer, a little girl admitted to our hospital in Bolivia after a traffic accident. She was in a car driven by one of her teachers, along with several other students. Unfortunately, the teacher lost control of the car, and it went over a cliff. Most of the students were admitted to our hospital with relatively minor injuries. Lucia, however, was injured more severely and had to stay at the hospital for over 2 weeks, receiving 2 surgeries.

Hospitals of Hope aims to provide affordable care while still being sustainable. Lucia comes from a very poor family and did not have the financial means to pay the unexpected expense. In this case, our hospital administrator went through her bill line by line and removed every fee that he could, but there were still direct costs to the hospital for her care, for things like medications, anesthesia, etc. The remaining amount was over $1000, which her family did not have. We had some volunteers who had raised money over what was needed to cover their trip donate to help pay the bill.

Another story comes not from a patient at the hospital, but from those who work at the hospital. Leta teaches English classes at the hospital. She has had several opportunities to touch lives through this ministry. She shares:

I’ve been struck over the last couple of months by how easy it is to share my faith here. Although evangelism is not my gift, just the fact that I am here causes people to ask questions.

The interns who come to do rotations at the hospital are especially curious. We’re reading excerpts from The Purpose-Driven Life in English class, and, on Friday, one of the interns asked me, “What is the purpose of your life?”

Another of the interns, who just completed his 4-month rotation here, is hungry to learn. He has been coming to church with us the last couple of weeks, and, although he is off to work at another hospital now, he has promised to come back to visit. In a note he wrote me before leaving, he said, “I have spent a wonderful 4 months here. I have learned about medicine, and about God and his love.” He doesn’t call himself a Christian yet, but we are praying that God will continue to pursue him as he leaves here.

These two stories show us why we are so grateful this Thanksgiving season. First we are thankful to God for salvation and a hope that we can share. We are grateful for our founder Mike and his passion to see life change through the power of Christ’s love. We quickly realize, however, that we can’t just do this ministry on our own. With out the support of individuals, churches, family, friends and so many more, we would not have the financial means or encouragement to continue improve healthcare around the world while sharing the Gospel. Both the story of Lucia and the medical interns is a reminder of how grateful we are that we’ve had the opportunity to saves lives and share the saving news of Jesus Christ.

Thank you to all our friends and family for your continued support and helping us in another year of ministry. This Thanksgiving, we are humble and grateful for all everything God has blessed us with.

Baby Isabella Wawrzewski arrives!

We are pleased to announce the birth of Isabella Wawrzewski on Sunday, November 20 to Hospitals of Hope founder Mike and his wife Elizabeth. Isabella weighed 7 lb. 7 oz. Mike reports that mom and baby are healthy and are doing well. We congratulate Mike and Elizabeth, and we are excited for this new addition to the Hospitals of Hope family!

ELWA Building Destroyed by Fire

Last week, our partner hospital in Liberia, ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa) reported that one its buildings caught fire and burned down. The building containing the radio station was destroyed by fire late last week. The cause of the fire is yet to be established. ELWA is still able to broadcast its radio station from a satellite site.

“[Praise the Lord] that we are still broadcasting the gospel which we trust will give some hope and courage to our many listeners and sympathizers during this crucial period,” said one of the ELWA administrators.

More discouraging news come from Liberia as the presidential elections took a violent turn last week. This update comes from our missionary friends in Liberia:

Today was a rough day in Liberia. Our runoff election is scheduled for tomorrow but one of the political parties is asking all of their supporters to boycott the elections. They had a protest today and began to march into town. Things became heated when the Liberian police backed by the UN tried to stop them and several people were killed. We had some of our missionaries in town and they had a bit of a harrowing time getting home. Everyone is safe and we are now restricting our movements. Please be praying for peace and righteousness to prevail.

Hospitals of Hope has had a presence in Liberia, Africa since for several years now.

In our first two years of working in Liberia, we primarily focused on JFK Medical Center in Monrovia, Liberia, the main government hospital in this country of 3.5 million people. When we began work there, JFK was in need of basic equipment, but Hospitals of Hope has donated $1.1 million of medical equipment to JFK, greatly increasing its capacity to effectively treat patients.

Since then, we have shifted our focus to ELWA (Eternal Love Winning Africa), a well-respected and established ministry, which has been at work in Liberia since the 1950s and began as a ministry of SIM (then Sudan Interior Mission).
Although ELWA offers quality care and has great plans for the future, the hospital is in dire need. With only 1 doctor for every 28,000 people in Liberia, ELWA is swamped with patients, and their limited resources are stretched thin. In summer 2010 we sent a volunteer team to work at ELWA, and, in early 2011, we partnered with the Brother's Brother Foundation to send necessary equipment to the hospital.

Join with us as we pray for both ELWA as they recover from this fire and for peace in Liberia through the remainder of the elections.

Update from 11/16/11

It was announced this week that President Sirleaf was re-elected as Liberia's president. Below is a congratulatory statement from the United States that also describes last week's election protest.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY CLINTON

On behalf of President Obama and the people of the United States, I want to congratulate the Liberian people for exercising their right to vote in last week's presidential and legislative elections. These historic elections are important milestones on Liberia's path toward democratic reconciliation. The United States congratulates President Sirleaf on her re-election and we will continue to work with her and all elected officials to advance democracy, and promote peace and prosperity.

The United States commends the National Elections Commission for conducting free, fair, and transparent elections. We applaud the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and others for sending observers to monitor the elections, as well as the UN Mission in Liberia for promoting security during the electoral process.

The violence on November 7th marred this otherwise peaceful process, so we welcome the creation of a Special Independent Commission of Inquiry to investigate the incident. We are also deeply disappointed by the Congress for Democratic Change’s decision to boycott the run-off election in an attempt to delegitimize the election. We urge all political parties to respect the election results and resolve their differences peacefully.

The United States is a long standing friend of the Liberian people and we are committed to their future. Congratulations on this momentous occasion.

The World Race: Blessings in Bolivia

This month we had a team that was participating World Race work with Hospitals of Hope in Bolivia. The World Race takes teams to 11 countries in 11 months to serve in ministries located in each country. The following post is from Amanda who was part of the team who served with us in Bolivia. Check back for more post from other World Racers describing life in Bolivia.

Never did I ever think I would live at a hospital, but Bolivia proved to be a month of firsts. My team was partnered with an American organization called Hospitals of Hope which runs a Hospital in the Bolivian countryside just outside of Cochabamba.

From the second we arrived we knew God had beyond blessed us. The house we lived in behind the hospital was enormous and beautiful, and our contact for the month, Leta, was American and spoke English! This was huge for us, after struggling with elementary amounts of Spanish and contacts that spoke no English for two months our brains were ready for a rest.

Our first night in the house Leta told us the hospital was going to be in a parade for the festival the next morning and they wanted us to be in it too - wearing scrubs. So that night we went through the hall closet filled with scrubs and each picked out the scrubs that fit us best. They didn't typically match, but that was ok. At the parade, the ambulance went first, followed by the med-students/interns and then us, a rainbow blob of white faces with no idea what to do. So we marched on, and when we finished marching we piled into the ambulance and drove back to the hospital.

The hospital itself is made up of two sections, Emergencias, and general medicine. Doctors take appointments every morning from 8 A.M. to noon in specialties such a pediatrics, internal medicine and cardiology. In the US these same doctors would typically work in their own office, in a building far away from a hospital, but in Bolivia, everything is different, and doctors only work half days.

On of my ministries for the month was working at the hospitals' coffee shop, Xelda, serving coffee to the patients as they waited in the waiting room …. Tea or drip coffee was free and occasionally patients would take advantage of it but we also made drinks such as lattes and cappuccinos, often for the doctors or interns, so many mornings I was able to have good, although choppy conversations with the interns and I found that my ministry was really on both sides of the spectrum, both patients and doctors.

My most interesting moment in the hospital however happened when I became the patient. We were conveniently at the hospital all month, so I figured it was the perfect opportunity to get more medication for my hyperthyroidism. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Leta came to the appointment with me because, well, she is fluent in Spanish and I am not. From the second we walked into the room I knew it was going to be an interesting experience, why? Because of the six med students staring at me. We sat down and Dr. Oquendo, the internal medicine doctor, asked me some questions, then he asked me to get up on the examination table. The sea of med students had to part to let me through. He asked me to lie down and I soon figured out I was the teaching subject. Three med students held my right arm, another was listening to my heart, yet another was taking my blood pressure and the last one was poking at my stomach and the whole time the doctor lectured them on the differences between hyper and hypo thyroidism. It was the most awkward five minutes of my life. Even more awkward because these were people I would see and interact with on a daily basis.

But as awkward as some of the moments were at the hospital, I really enjoyed my time there. I loved riding in the ambulance, walking the long, white, hallway between the waiting room and the ER, and how the ER doctors and nurses all jumped in anticipation every time we would open the door late at night to go in the hospital and use the internet.

Hospitals of Hope is the first ministry I've worked with on the World Race that I could really see myself going back and partnering with again, in fact I plan to, but you know how plans go... there's still 8 months left in the race, so I guess I'll see what God has in store.

From the Founder

Hospitals of Hope founder Michael Wawrzewski writes about the many changes happening at HOH. You can read about all the latest news that Michael mentions and more in our fall newsletter (PDF).

After thirteen years of ministry, many things are changing around Hospitals of Hope. Personally, we will be adding another member to the Hospitals of Hope family this November as Elizabeth and I are expecting our first child, a little girl. With all our international traveling and Elizabeth’s dental school, we did not think it wise to add to our family before, but now all seems right….ready or not here she comes.

Here in Wichita, we have also implemented many changes. The warehouse, which has always been packed with medical supplies, is now almost completely empty. Bolivia and many African countries have instituted new laws that prohibit the importation of expired medical supplies, which is what we generally receive in donation. With this in mind, over the past five months we redistributed our supplies and equipment to our partnering organizations. Now the space once used to house donated supplies is a production area for Clinic In A Cans. Over the past year, we have built nine container clinics that have been shipped to Haiti and Africa and we continue to build more. We believe this to be a very economical method to replicate our ministry providing a completely contained, cost effective medical clinic to areas of the world in great need.

Elizabeth and I just returned from Bolivia in September after being absent for seven months. I must admit that I am impressed at the growth and organization of the hospital led by Rudy Guzman, our hospital administrator. Leta Reppert is now in charge of the guesthouse and volunteers serving at the hospital and she is doing a great job integrating the volunteers at the hospital. Another great addition and change was converting one corner of the patient waiting area at the hospital into Xelda’s Café. We have created a very warm and inviting environment. As patients wait to be attended at our hospital, volunteers serve free drip coffee, tea and cookies. Patients feel more comfortable sitting at one of the small coffee tables than a hospital waiting area. These patients more readily reveal personal problems, health concerns and family matters to our staff who take the opportunity to listen and pray with them.

We are very excited about all the changes taking place and the new opportunities to minister around the world!

Thank you as always, for your support.

Michael Joseph Wawrzewski III

Bolivia Update: Growing in Opportunities

Leta updates us from Bolivia about volunteers doing the World Race and about news from the hospital.

The volunteers we have right now are with the World Race, which means that they’re traveling around to 11 different countries in 11 months, volunteering in each country. Since they’re not medical, like most of our volunteers, I’m having them help out at a variety of different organizations. Several of them are helping out at a school for deaf kids, a few of them are painting the school down the road from the hospital, several are helping at orphanages, and a couple are working at an organization that provides support for kids who work (selling things, shining shoes, etc).

With help from them, Shelly, and Rachel (two nurses who are here long-term), I’ve been teaching an English class in the hospital for staff and interns. It’s been a lot of fun. I’ve always loved teaching but hated grading, and, in this class, I get to teach but not grade anything! It’s a lot of fun seeing them being able to start fitting sentences together and starting to understand the way a new language works.

Shelly and Leta in Bolivia

After going back home for a couple of weeks, Shelly is back here, working again as a surgical nurse. She and Rachel are also training to be intensive care nurses. Since we live right behind the hospital, they will be able to go to the hospital with just a couple of minutes notice. Most of the nurses here who are able to do intensive care live 30 minutes to an hour away from the hospital, so having Shelly and Rachel able to just show up and start work will be a huge help.

We have a volunteer coming in a couple of weeks who is studying for her Masters in Public Health. I’m really excited about the work she’ll be doing here – she is going to be working on developing materials so that future volunteers can give more presentations on basic health topics. It’s always sad to me to see how many people are sick with things that could have been easily prevented, or to see kids with their teeth rotting out because they don’t know how important it is to brush their teeth.

Thanks to all of you who are praying us!

80 Hours Makes a Difference

80 hours – the number of hours it takes to drive back and forth from Wichita to Las Vegas twice, the number of hours it takes in class credits to be considered a junior in college and also the number of hours our volunteers gave this month to help Hospitals of Hope.

September was a great month for Hospitals of Hope. We had a number of individuals volunteer their time and abilities to help us continue making progress on our warehouse. Several weeks in a row, we had students from Northfield School help us out. A group sorted materials so we could recycle the metal. Another group inventoried medical supplies. We also had a group of students help us clean our newly constructed Clinic In A Can. We were very appreciative of having these students be willing to do this for us. We also had six physician assistant students from Wichita State University volunteer with us last week. They tackled more inventorying medical supplies and entering them into our data base. Some more people wanted to help, but couldn’t make it into our office during the day. These individuals were willing to still help by looking up values of donations from their home.

We also had some volunteers join Hospitals of Hope in Bolivia this month. Shelly Humphries moved to Bolivia earlier in the summer, but had come back to the United States for a couple weeks. She returned to Bolivia this month to continue working in the hospital. Rachel Longton also moved to Bolivia this month to volunteer in the hospital.

Of course we can’t talk about our volunteers without mentioning our dear friend Bob. Bob is a dedicated volunteer who comes in almost everyday. He even came in on Labor Day to make sure our trash got taken to the curb so none of the staff had to come in on our day off to do it. Earlier this week, Bob had an accident while he was tearing down a barn. He is doing alright, but is very sore. Needless to say we will be missing him around here for a while as he recovers. We are praying for him to heal quickly and to not be in too much pain.

We are so grateful for our volunteers and supporters. It’s amazing our volunteers gave over 80 hours to help Hospitals of Hope continue in ministry. Our volunteers and supporters have been such an encouragement to the staff. It is refreshing to see others have a passion and desire to make a difference and help us continue in our mission to heal bodies and souls. Thank you to each and every volunteer who has served with us either this month or previously – we couldn’t help change lives around the world without your support!

Xelda Ministries Moves to Hospital

Leta shares some exciting news from Bolivia about the Xelda Ministries and the recent relocation of Café Xelda.

Xelda Ministries was born with the help of a donation from the estate of Xelda Ditmer, the grandmother of HOH’s founder, Michael Wawrzewski. She was passionate about sharing the good news about Christ and inspired Mike to take his first mission trip.

After her death, Mike decided that the best way to honor her memory was to start a branch of Hospitals of Hope that would be focused on building relationships and sharing Christ’s love through friendship. The original plan was to start a coffee shop in the city of Cochabamba, but, due to complications with finding the right personnel and a good location, it has now been moved to the hospital, where it can be a more integral part of our volunteers’ ministry and where it can better serve our staff and patients.


We have been serving coffee in the hospital for nearly three weeks now, and it has proved to be a great way to get to know those we interact with on a daily basis. It provides a welcoming environment, rather than a cold, sterile waiting area. Patients often take the opportunity to chat with us about their lives, sharing a bit about their hopes and fears. Sometimes they choose to just sit quietly, reading the Bibles on the center of each table.

We’ve got great plans for the future of the café, as well. In the next few weeks, we’re planning an English class that will meet in the café area, and we’re also hoping to bring in live music, as we’ve got some volunteers coming who play the guitar.

If you’re ever in the area, feel free to stop by for a cappuccino and a chat. We’d love to see you!

September 11: When Volunteers Became Heroes

Not single September 11 comes around without us thinking back to where we were that morning, how we heard about the attack and how it’s changed life forever. One of those changes was actually a positive change. After September 11, 2001, volunteers became more of a hero than a volunteer. You saw people giving their time, efforts and resources to treat survivors, clear wreckage, comfort the families of the victims. In the ten years following that fateful day, we have seen more people willing to volunteer and help others in grave need. While it has been tragic to see loss of life over the past ten years from hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, war, tornadoes, and most recently famine, we have been privilege to see people step up and become heroes.

It is no different than what we’ve seen at Hospitals of Hope. Our volunteers have given their skills, time, money and more to help bring relief, healing and hope to people all over the world. These heroes have treated earthquake victims in Haiti, car accident victims in Bolivia, brought new life into the world in Liberia, as well as so much more all over world.

We are honored to have some of the best volunteers in the world. Our volunteers have not only a desire to serve, but a passion to see change and give hope.

“There is just such a pressing need for help in this country [Liberia] ... [Serving here] has been a renewed fuel to the passion and fire I had to become an international physician,” one of our volunteers said. “I really hope to someday come back and serve in a country like this, if not maybe here.”

While it is always solemn to pause and think about all the lives lost ten years ago, we have been honored to see the positive change of people becoming heroes and respond to the needs not just in the United States, but around the world. Thank you to all of our amazing heroes who make Hospitals of Hope happen.

Friends of Kibimba Hospital excited to send third container to Burundi

One of our partners, Friends of Kibimba Hospital, recenlty filled another container of HOH supplies to send to Burundi. Read more from a blog post about the container and where it is going.

The Friends of Kibimba Hospital board is excited to inform you about another opportunity to send a container of equipment and supplies to the hospital at Kibimba in Burundi, Africa.

Our friends at Hospitals of Hope have recently decided to change the focus of their ministry from shipping equipment & supplies to hospitals and clinics around the world to that of creating Clinic In A Can. These inexpensive, portable container clinics have been used in many countries already, including in Haiti after the earthquake there. You can learn more about them at www.clinicinacan.org.

Because they are changing their primary focus, they needed to clear their warehouse here in Wichita to make room for work on the clinics. Due to our close relationship with them, FKH was given the first opportunity to choose from 200 pallets of medical supplies, as well as gurneys, x-ray, ultrasound, baby warmers, etc. We have enough to fill another container to send to Burundi! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

You can imagine our gratitude and excitement at the prospect of sending the THIRD container in as many years and the impact that this can have on the patients, families, and community in and around Kibimba Hospital. The ability to show Christ’s love through the healing work of Dr. Elisee and the staff is priceless.

We would like to invite you to participate in this undertaking. The cost to ship a container to Burundi is several thousand dollars. We also have needed to purchase parts to repair & update some of the equipment. Would you consider making a donation to help cover the cost of shipping the container and other costs associated with preparation? You can send your tax-deductible contributions to: Friends of Kibimba Hospital, c/o Connie Young, 3220 S. Oak St., Wichita, KS 67217. If you cannot support us monetarily, please continue to keep the Kibimba Hospital and our FKH Board in your prayers.