Posted 6:50pm CT Jan 9, 2008, in Minneapolis, USA
LONDON 12:50am 10/1 – JO’BURG 2:50am 10/1 – MANILA 8:50am 10/1 – SYDNEY 11:50am 10/1

“So they set out and went from village to village,
preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.”
(Luke 9:6 NIV).

By Gloriscope staff

Churches are working to help rebuild the healthcare sector in the Republic of Congo (Congo-Brazzaville), a central African country of 3.8 million people devastated by a civil war in the past ten years. The Catholic Church, Protestant churches of various denominations, and Médecins Sans Frontières (Physicians Without Borders) have all been helping the population in this small country that lies in ruins.

The Congolese Minister of Health, Emilienne Raoul, is talking with Catholic and Protestant churches about their contributions to the national plan for the rebuilding of the healthcare sector in the years up to 2011. Churches are the only source of free medical care in Congo.

Churches have their structure of primary healthcare in the country, but they have so far been delivering healthcare without any formalized basis of medical cooperation with the Congolese government. The ongoing talks seek to put this cooperation on a formal, long-term basis.

All churches have declared their willingness to help Congo improve its healthcare sector, not only to rebuild the damaged or destroyed healthcare facilities and build new facilities, but also to train local healthcare personnel. They also plan to acquire new ambulances to replace the ones destroyed or looted during the civil war.

Salvation Army declared that it is ready to build new healthcare stations, notably in Gamboma, Loussala, Mossendjo, and Sibiti, and upgrade them with dental care facilities. In the capital city of Brazzaville, Salvation Army intends to build a medical facility with an imaging unit and a surgical operation unit.

Other Protestant churches intend to construct a hospital in Brazzaville and a center for supply of medications. They also intend to participate in the national vaccination campaigns.

The health of much of the Congolese population is unsatisfactory, there are many people wounded in the past civil war, and malnutrition is widespread. Many town have less than half of the population they had before the civil war, and many women were raped by soldiers.

The people of Congo are suffering both physically and psychologically. Churches are helping in the spirit of Christian love to alleviate their plight in the name of Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples to go and heal people everywhere.

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TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY!

Published in the U.S.A. Copyright © 4T4C News Corp. 2008. All rights reserved.