Ecuador (MNN) — Health care has long been a tool to tell people about Jesus. HCJB World Radio has successfully used it. In fact, they’re celebrating a milestone, says HCJB’s Health Care Director for the Latin American Region, Sheila Leech.
“This year we’re celebrating 50 years of the start of our Vozandes Hospital in Quito, Ecuador.”
Leech says the hospital started as a small clinic and has grown to one of the finest hospitals in a city of 1.4 million people. She says not only are they able to provide quality medical care, but they touch the hearts of people they help. “The hospital does have 11 chaplains on staff. Seven of them are salaried by the hospital and four of them are volunteers. And, so we do make sure that every single one of our patients gets visited by the chaplaincy service every single day.”
What’s even more exciting is the hospital isn’t content with status quo. Leech says they’re starting a medical missionary training program, “where we will take Latin American health care professionals, specifically physicians, with a call to the mission field and offer them a two year program to prepare them in missiology, and Bible and Biblical basis for missions and extra skills so that they can go out on the mission field well-prepared and equipped to preach the Gospel.”
HCJB World radio is still waiting on accreditation for the program. Leech believes this will have an incredible impact on evangelism around the world. “Medical missionaries are welcome in countries that would be closed to traditional missionaries. We know that Latin Americans are better accepted in some of the 10/40 window countries. And, they do very well in those 10/40 Window countries.”
