A small orthopedic surgery team left Colorado one cold January morning in 2006 to start what has become a strong and growing movement to improve Christ’s healing ministry around the world. Stephen King, senior vice president for mission and ministry at Centura Health, had a vision of what the Adventist hospitals in Colorado needed to do to support health care in developing countries. “Our church has a legacy of providing health care through hundreds of Adventist hospitals and clinics around the world,” comments Pastor King. “Unfortunately many of these ministries in developing countries have been neglected and are no longer viable operations. They need help and support, and who better to provide that support than our Adventist hospitals here in the United States.”
With that mandate, Global Health Initiatives was launched in an effort to strengthen Adventist hospitals in the countries of Nepal, Rwanda, and Peru, and to provide medical mission opportunities for hundreds of Colorado- based volunteers. Medical teams were formed which partnered with doctors and nurses in the host country to provide care to thousands of the most needy patients.
During the first ten years, more than 2,000 surgeries and 40,000 primary care visits were given free of charge through GHI’s programs.
While the one-on-one care given to individuals is important, GHI doesn’t stop there. The goal of strengthening Adventist mission hospitals has included additional activities such as clinical and administrative training, both here and abroad, provision of medical equipment and supplies, and upgrading facilities. “These are the core activities which help foster long-term change,” adds Greg Hodgson, GHI director. “I am very proud of the accomplishments we have seen over these past ten years,” Hodgson continues. “We want to celebrate the victories that have been achieved. But our vision is to become even more effective in the next ten years. Our plan is to develop even stronger training programs and staff exchanges. We are working to design more meaningful monitoring and evaluation systems. And we want to focus on activities which lead to lasting change.”
A significant part of GHI’s tenth anniversary celebrations includes a capital campaign the will fund improvements at the three partner hospitals. Plans are now being finalized for a new women’s health center in Nepal, a new surgery center in Rwanda, and new medical imaging capabilities in Peru.
Christ’s ministry on earth highlighted the importance of physical care. GHI seeks to build on that foundation, and looks forward, by God’s grace, to another ten years of extending the healing ministry to those in areas of greatest need. [RMCNews].