Healing Hearts and Bodies: Addressing Africa's Needs for Physical & Spiritual Health
Mission Partners For Christ was created after our founder, Sheri Postma, went on a missions trip to Jamaica in 2011. There she fell in love with missions, and she made note of a need that she was uniquely qualified to offer:
“Our team served in Jamaica through several unique ways. We performed construction work at a school for the deaf, volunteered with the Eden school, and served children at a local orphanage. At the orphanage, the children greeted us with their smiles and were so happy to have us there. They loved hugging us and, at the same time, challenged us to games of kickball. It gave me so much JOY to serve God by reminding these children that God loves them and He sees their worth!
I spent a lot of time reading the Bible, praying, and hearing from God. I received clarity from the Lord that my focus should be on medical missions because of my nursing background and God’s gift of organization.The call was clear, and my answer was “yes!””
– Sheri Postma, What Sparked My Passion For Medical Missions
As a registered nurse and a daughter of God, Sheri was able to use her medical expertise to open doors in underserved African communities and share the gospel to teach others just how deeply loved by God they are.
Millions of Africans lack access to even basic healthcare services, leading to preventable deaths and suffering. Seeing this lack, God moved Sheri to create a nonprofit organization to meet the need.
In this blog post, we will explore how faith, specifically the teachings of Jesus, can intersect with Africa’s healthcare challenges to inspire hope, healing, and solutions.
The Healthcare Crisis in Africa
The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that, on average, Africa has the highest disease burden globally, with many nations grappling with soaring mortality rates due to preventable and treatable illnesses. To paint a picture of the problem: Africa accounts for just 3% of the world’s healthcare workers while carrying nearly a quarter of the global disease burden.
Among the key healthcare issues impacting Africa, three critical challenges stand out:
- The lack of access to healthcare services is a pressing concern, especially for remote and underserved communities. Millions of Africans live in regions with limited or no healthcare facilities, leaving them without essential medical attention. Those of us who live in the USA may take for granted how we can just make an appointment with our primary care physician. But for millions in Africa, that isn’t possible.
- The lack of financial resources, both at an individual and a community level, makes it impossible for underserved communities to have access to healthcare or health education, leading to preventable illness and death.
- The lack of qualified professionals who are willing and able to volunteer their time and expertise to ensure that Africans have access to life-changing healthcare.
At the heart of our work is the compassionate desire to not just make healthcare accessible to underserved Africans, but to also empower the communities to thrive long after we’ve left. By providing free health clinics, we are providing a need to those who live in the community to lead healthy and thriving lives. Our gifts of expandable shoes and eyeglasses also set communities and individuals up for success so that they can thrive.
In many places we serve, we also aim to provide clean water wells to ensure that preventable illness from contaminated water is no longer a concern. What we are able to accomplish. on our medical mission trips, while working alongside community leaders and local partners, ensures that the community will not just survive but thrive for many years to come.
Medical Missions & The Gospel
According to the Joshua Project, more than 400,000,000 people in Africa have never heard the Good News of the gospel, which is nearly 30% of the total population. If you are a Jesus follower, these numbers likely feel devastating to you just as it does to us. It’s hard to imagine going through life without that deep personal relationship with Jesus that so many of us have experienced.
This is what Mission Partners For Christ stands for. Without Jesus, we simply wouldn’t exist. It is the love for others’ physical and spiritual well-being that drives us. We long for every person to know that Jesus loves them.
Mission Partners For Christ is hardly alone in this soul-level desire. Did you know that there is a long history of Christian medical missionaries that dates back centuries?
“During a famine in Syria, St. Ephrem the Deacon commandeered public porticoes to set up a 300-bed facility for the treatment of the ill. In A.D. 324, in Egypt, Pachomius established an infirmary in the vast monastery he had founded. In the vicinity of Rome, facilities were founded by Fabiola and Pammachius.”
– Angelus News, How The Church Invented Healthcare
Jesus Himself is was the ultimate medical missioanry and is shown, in Scripture, that He cares not just for the spiritual health of those he came in contact with, but also their spiritual health.
“And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”
-Matthew 8:2-3
“Departing from there, He went into their synagogue. And a man was there whose hand was withered. And they questioned Jesus, asking, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—so that they might accuse Him. And He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will he not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”Then He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand!” He stretched it out, and it was restored to normal, like the other.”
Matthew 12: 9-13
“Now Simon’s mother-in-law was lying sick with a fever; and immediately they *spoke to Jesus about her. And He came to her and raised her up, taking her by the hand, and the fever left her, and she waited on them.”
– Mark 1:30-31
As we serve remote African communities, it is our greatest desire to follow in Jesus’s footsteps, caring for the physical and spiritual health of every person we encounter.
For those of us who know and love Jesus, we cannot ignore the Biblical call for us to share the gospel to every soul and make His name known with all people. It is only through Christ that a person finds salvation.
In addition to caring for the spiritual health of remote African villagers, we also have a Biblical mandate to care about their physical health. As we’ve seen, The current situation in which so many underserved African communities find themselves, with little to know access to healthcare, has created a sense of urgency to ensure that they find accessible and quality healthcare so that they, and their children can lead healthy, thriving lives. Millions of lives hang in the balance, and it is imperative that we respond to this information with compassion.
Here’s where you can help us with the work God has called us to do:
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Donate. It’s always our goal to work WITH local people and churches to bring medical services, like medicines, check ups, and education. Most importantly, we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people we care for at our pop up clinics.
Making a donation is a great way to serve when going on the trip isn’t an option for you!
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Join A Medical Missions Trip. Applications are open for our March 2024 trip to Sierra Leone. However, the December 1 deadline is fast approaching, so don’t delay if God is calling you to serve!
- Share about Mission Partners For Christ with your family and friends. Perhaps donating money or physically traveling with us to underserved and unreached communities is out of your reach, but it costs nothing to share a blog post or a social media post with those in your own community. You never know who God may be calling to missions, and sharing about Mission Partners For Christ might just be the confirmation your loved one needs to get involved!
- Pray for willing volunteers to join our medical missions trips. Pray for clarity on God’s will for you to be involved in our work. Pray for our teams as we serve, pray for those who will be hearing the gospel message. If you want to be more involved and hear about immediate prayer needs, you can contact us to join our monthly prayer meeting.
