Medical Clinic Opens Doors to Evangelize
Posted Feb. 24, 2010
NYANZA PROVINCE, Kenya – All over the world, Christians use a variety of means to share the Gospel of Christ and reach the lost. For First Baptist Church of Alexander City, Alabama, hosting medical clinics opens the door to minister to both physical and spiritual needs.
A volunteer team of medical professionals from the church, including physicians and optometrists, hosted a three-day medical clinic in a Kisii village in western Kenya. The Kisii people are the sixth largest ethnic group in Kenya and are known for their soapstone carvings and harvesting tea.
The team traveled several hours from Nairobi on dirt and pothole-filled roads to reach the village and stayed in tents on a hillside next to an orphanage where the clinic was held.
“Our church likes to do the more extreme mission trips where you are really out there in it,” Sheila Gray, team leader, said. “And we like to do the medical clinics and the evangelism; those are the key elements we have when we go anywhere.”
The first day was dedicated to treating 35 orphans along with members of a local church. Over three days, the doctors saw 647 people, and many were given medicine by the pharmacist.
Common ailments the doctors treated were stomach worms, fever and topical abrasions, and many older patients were given medicines to relieve arthritis pains.
In addition to basic medical attention, optometrists gave free eye exams and distributed hundreds of eyeglasses to patients.
While a big part of the work involved medicine, treating the people’s physical needs was not the only way they were ministered to.
Dr. Gerald Hallmark, senior pastor of the church from Alabama, led evangelism training for local church members on the first day. When the clinic opened to the village the other days, each patient heard the Gospel message from one of the church members after being treated.
By the end of the clinic, 78 people made professions of faith in Christ.
“The nationals took ownership of it,” Gray said. “That’s what you like to have happen.”
First Baptist Church of Alexander City has worked for several years with IMB missionaries Jeff and Kathy Deasy. After Kathy’s mother passed away some months ago, a memorial fund in her mother’s honor was opened to raise funds to purchase land to build a new orphanage.
Currently, the orphanage is home to 35 children who sleep in two rooms. In one room, 20 girls share two beds. In another room, 15 boys rotate through a sleeping schedule every night to share three beds and the ground.
Gray, who has had a longstanding friendship with the Deasys, wanted to serve the orphans in Openda in some way. That desire grew from serving orphans to serving an entire community.
“Being able to help orphans and help the community like that, as well as help that church expand, is what drew us to this area,” Gray said. “God showed us this is where First Baptist is supposed to go.”
In addition to free medical care, eyeglasses and medicines, the team donated new blankets to the orphanage so each child would have his or her own blanket.
Though the work was tiring, the medical volunteers gave each patient personal attention and were examples of Christ’s love for all people.
“Wherever God puts us, it’s like the medical [ministry] is what is most necessary to allow the church we are associated with to grow,” Gray said. “Showing the love of Christ throughout sends a huge message to the community.”
Hallmark invites others to join the work by praying for the Kisii people and for all in Africa.
“This is an opportunity to pray for Africa, for our brothers and sisters in Christ,” he said. “To lift them up and let them know how important it is to be in the kingdom’s work.”
Jacob Alexander is a writer for IMB’s Global Communications Team. He’s currently a seminary student and plans to be a bachelor until the rapture. His passion is telling the stories of God at work throughout the continent of Africa.
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