Setting Bones and Sharing Hope

“The physical is so obvious, but spiritually we all have a need and we all need healing.” – Kristy Graham

As one of its many ministries, World Medical Mission deploys specialized teams around the world to areas where that particular medical expertise is unavailable or inaccessible to those in need. Recently, an orthopedic team traveled to Nigeria where they performed surgery on more than 50 patients in two weeks.

Madison Strausbaugh, the senior program manager of specialty teams with World Medical Mission, tells host Kristy Graham why these missions exist in the first place; physical healing is only a small part of the story.

“Every single detail that goes into one campaign could be for the presentation of the Gospel one time. And that's enough and it's worth it.” – Madison Strausbaugh

This campaign was born out of necessity. The staff at ECWA Hospital in Egbe, Nigeria, explained that surgery is so expensive in their country that people often live with extreme deformities from major accidents because paying for an operation is not feasible.

Many of the patients our team treated have been suffering for decades. The level of their pain is unimaginable. After years of improper healing, performing surgery is not just risky—Kristy learns it sometimes seems humanly impossible. But our surgeons always leave God-room in the operating theater. Their stories of how He has worked and provided miraculous healing are powerful.

Madison explains the severity of many of these cases and how impactful it is for a patient to see a physical change in their body after surgery. It makes them ask questions about a team willing to travel around the world to perform surgery for free. And that curiosity opens doors for Gospel conversations and sharing the love of Jesus.

“I think with ortho[pedics] specifically, the thing that's always on my heart is these patients are going out as walking testimonies of physical healing, but also hopefully of spiritual transformation as well.” - Madison Strausbaugh

We also hear from doctors who volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse along with staff and patients from Nigeria. Even across a language barrier, their joy is contagious.

“The reason why this hospital exists in the first place is that people can come to know the Lord. We are not just concerned with the physical body healing. We're concerned with the soul. We don't know whether we are planting the seed or we are watering the seed, but in the end, God, who is the mastermind behind the whole thing, is going to cause the increase.” – Hans Monono

Many of these patients come from cultures and regions where the Gospel is unknown, but at ECWA Hospital, they are able to hear about Jesus for the first time in a safe and caring environment. Hear one of Kristy’s favorite stories that brought her to tears as one patient learned about Jesus for the very first time through the Bible story on the woman with the issue of blood.

“This patient literally cheered she was so excited by this story. She had not heard the Gospel. This was the first time she heard the Bible. But hearing the story and hearing of the power of our Lord Jesus, you could just see her attraction to that. And she identified with that woman.” – Madison Strausbaugh

Please pray for the patients who were treated during this trip. Pray for both their safety and physical healing and that they would remember what God did in their lives. If you’d like to keep up to date with more stories from On the Ground, please visit SamaritansPurse.org.