A New Approach to Medical Mission
The first responders to many remote villages after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti in 2021, were team members from MBF’s partners in Haiti: Hopital Ste – Croix mission hospital and FSIL mission nursing school.
These teams were on their way, loaded with supplies and crossing high waters, long before international aid could arrive. Offering immediate care and
aftercare at the hospital, even for those who could not pay, the teams made a tangible difference for thousands of people.
This is a story of courage and hope and healing.
It is also a story that showcases how the MBF approach to medical mission is paying dividends for the residents of developing countries.
This approach centers on developing dependable, locally-owned sources of quality medical care by working with medical ministries of churches in lower-income countries.
Why? First, because the medical care needs in countries like Kenya, Haiti, DR Congo and Malawi are immediate and immense. In the 15 seconds you will spend reading this paragraph, another 650 people there will die, mostly from preventable causes.
Second, because existing church-owned ministries already deliver up to 60% of the medical care in their countries but often have no clear course charted for how to continue to meet evolving medical needs and do so sustainably.
MBF currently partners with faith-based medical ministries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East, including nearly 100 hospitals, nursing schools and clinics. Read more about the impact of our work with them.
Existing hospitals and clinics are coming together to form a medical network in Malawi. This innovative approach improves their sustainability and the quality of medical services they can offer.
One of the first steps in the Malawi Network is a shared surgical residency. Other countries can implement the same approach. Our goal is to see a network in 10 countries over the next 10 years.
Nurses comprise up to 80% of frontline health workers in developing countries. Growing nursing capacity qualitatively and quantitatively is the aim of the Center for Global Nursing Development (CGND).
A central resource for nurses globally, the Center works with volunteers and partners to give nurses in lesser-resourced countries the knowledge and resources they need to develop professionally.
Spiritual ministry as an integrated part of medical ministry is so important to MBF that we have a full-time staff member devoted to helping partners develop their spiritual ministries. Working alongside the partners, MBF helps assure that resources are available, so the ministry makes a meaningful impact on lives.
Quality of clinical care + business acumen equals sustainable medical ministries.
The higher the quality of care offered, the more likely medical ministries can attract more patients, including patients with the means to pay for the cost of their care. Along with sound business and financial practices, this creates the opportunity for ministries to become sustainable providers of international standards of medical care.
Helping the ministries improve their clinical quality, financial practices, and business acumen is part of MBF’s approach to improving the sustainability of medical ministries.
Read more about the work
MBF does with partner medical ministries
