Care with compassion is more than a slogan
By Julie Mad-Bondo
I don’t know about you, but waiting on the Lord is one of my struggles in this walk of faith; however, between the school of hard knocks and stumbling a few times – and learning to wait for as long as it takes – I have come to experience God’s goodness for me and this ministry. As we all know, it is in the waiting seasons that He is molding and pruning us.
When I travel for ministry, one of my prayers is for God to open my eyes to where He is already working and join Him obediently. And He has done just that!
When I visited Dr. Dibona and his wife in December 2022, I thought I would be touring a rural malnutrition center run by the Three Strands ministry, not a birthing center.
When I arrived at the campus in Bangui, Central African Republic, the sign on the building caught my attention. It reads: Medical Center –Three Strands – Care with Compassion. Those last three words stayed with me the entire day.
A core conviction
A compassionate birthing facility, or any medical clinic, is one of the greatest challenges for countless expectant mothers and their loved ones living in underprivileged countries. The Three Strands clinic is embedded in the community serving mothers and children with kindness and sensitivity. The culture of care with passion is not just the writing on the wall, so to speak, but a core conviction.
This medical center offers the following services, and then some.
Affordable primary health care, including a small in-patient ward for the critically ill
Free nutrition clinics for severely malnourished children
Scholarships for students who aspire to work with Three Strands
Community malaria prevention and treatment services
Clean water for the community and a community water filtration program aimed at reducing the prevalence of waterborne diseases
Affordable lab testing, ultrasounds, and pharmacy service
Job opportunities for Central African families, facilitating a long-term strategy of sustainability and less dependence on outside funding
Full general surgery services under the care of two board-certified Central African doctors
I am grateful to JHC supporters and friends for your faithful prayers and continued financial support. You make it possible for Julie’s Heart Cry to partner with this like-minded medical center. Your gifts have purchased hospital beds and mattresses, air-conditioning units, baby scales, a refrigerator, oxygen equipment, medications, a heavy-duty gurney, an echocardiography machine, a birthing bed and more. You are helping provide a clean environment and a place of dignity for women during childbirth.
On behalf of Julie’s Heart Cry, I join numerous women in the CAR to express our sincere gratitude to you for showing Christ’s love through your partnership to impact their lives and those of their precious newborns.