Hope for a Mother and Baby in the Jungles of Africa
This tiny premature baby was born at 33 weeks’ gestation. She and her mom were referred to Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, Africa because she has a developmental malformation called laparoschisis, where her intestines were coming out through a rare defect in her belly wall.
The little one was immediately operated on by teammates of grant recipient Dr. Wendy Hofman, who serves as Medical Director at the hospital. They operated to stabilize her for transport the next day to the capital city of Libreville, 350 miles away, where she would receive a final operation. Dr. Hofman knew the young mother could not afford the medical care vital to her baby’s survival.
“We used [a special fund] to pay for her hospitalization and surgery here at Bongolo,” Dr. Hofman shares. “And then [I] discovered that God had arranged for the hospital in Libreville to be having a rare campaign of free pediatric surgeries starting just that day for a month.” A donor for the hospital also offered to cover the costs for an emergency flight to Libreville on the hospital’s little mission airplane with 12 hours’ notice.
Dr. Wendy Hofman secures mom and baby in the plane before they take off for Libreville.
Dr. Hofman was amazed at God’s providence. “We thank the Lord for all His help. Only by His hand might something like this be possible for a poor mother and baby in the middle of the jungles of Africa,” she believes.
A verse came to mind that Dr. Hofman wants to share. Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight’, declares the Lord.”
“We delighted too, in seeing His hand at work through so many of Christ’s body in this remote place,” she says.
MedSend donors create a pathway for grant recipients like Dr. Wendy Hofman to go and serve, delivering compassionate, Christ-centered healthcare in low-resource countries and training the next generation of rising national doctors. Will you join us in advancing the gospel through healthcare missions?
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