A Christian medical ministry opens facility in Egypt

Egypt (MNN) — A Christian medical ministry will be opening a hospital soon in the predominately Muslim nation of Egypt.

CURE International’s Executive Director in Cairo, Derek Johnson, says they’re another step closer to seeing this happen. “We purchased a piece of land here in which we’re going to build a new hospital. This will be a state of the art 2,700 square meter hospital.”

The 60 bed facility will focus on the needs of physically disabled children. With that number conservatively at about one-million, CURE believes they can help. “We know that we probably will not be able to meet all of those needs, but around 40 to 50-percent of those children we can help. And, we expect to perform around 3,000 surgeries in our first year,” says Johnson.

CURE doesn’t hide the fact it’s a Christian organization, says Johnson. He believes they’ll be able to accomplish their ultimate purpose. “There are misconceptions about what it is to be a Christian, coming from the west especially. Our mission is to offer hope and compassion through our medical services. We want to be able to show the life of Christ through the work that we are doing here.”

Since CURE has been up front about their Christian roots, Johnson says that honesty may have helped in another area. “We’ve also be given a license as an international NGO in Egypt from the ministry of social affairs. They have given us their blessing and this is a huge step for us.”

Nearly 80-percent of the $2.1 million has been raise for the project. They hope to open the facility in January 2008. Pray for wisdom as they select personnel for the facility and that God would use each one for His purpose.

CURE International has work in Kenya, Uganda, Afghanistan, Malawi, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Ethiopia and Zambia.