A Samaritan’s Purse mobile medical unit provides physical and spiritual care to families in remote parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
When Dieudonne emerged from surgery in Ligunza, Democratic Republic of the Congo, there was no longer the searing, sometimes crippling, pain he’d hidden for years. In place of the bulge of a hernia he had tried to ignore were sutures and a clean bandage. Until recently he’d kept it a secret from his father, Emmanuel. In place of his doubts about God’s love, he felt seen by His Father and full of joy for His provision.
Dieudonne is praising God for medical care that freed him from pain and allowed his body to heal after years with a painful hernia.
Emmanuel and Dieudonne live in rural Niangara in northeastern Congo, where villages are scattered far from permanent health centers. People often endure illness and pain as long as they can, and the cost of treatment is out of reach for many families.
“He hadn’t told me anything about it,” Emmanuel said. “By the time I saw it, it had become really painful for him.”
Then Emmanuel heard that Samaritan’s Purse was bringing a mobile medical unit to a nearby village and could perhaps allow his “son to have peace again,” he said. So, they quickly gathered enough money for nearly a gallon gasoline, climbed onto a small motorcycle, and set out along the dirt road.
Answer to Prayer through Rare Medical Care
The Samaritan’s Purse mobile medical team in Niangara included doctors, nurses, a pharmacist, a nutritionist, and a pastor who prayed with patients and offered encouragement from God’s Word.
The mobile medical unit spent several weeks in Niangara where they conducted screenings, provided treatment, and referred patients for procedures, all provided by Samaritan’s Purse.
“The territory of Niangara is vast. The populations are located very far from fixed health centers,” said Dr. Orly Kubi, a project coordinator. “There is a serious problem with access to quality healthcare.”
Distance, shortages of trained providers, limited medicines, and financial barriers all contribute to high mortality rates, he said, particularly among children under the age of 5.
For six weeks, the team traveled across the health zone of Niangara, providing consultations and treating communicable diseases and other illnesses. Nearly 2,000 patients received care. Among them, 44 patients suffering from painful hernias were referred for surgery at hospital centers and received procedures fully covered by Samaritan’s Purse.
Chaplains were also part of the team, providing prayer and encouragement to patients. Many people received Jesus Christ as Lord after Gospel presentations.
“It was clear that some patients were seeing a doctor for the first time,” Dr. Kubi said.
For Dieudonne, the hernia was only the latest trial.
Nearly 20 years ago, he began losing his sight. At first, he could still see light.
“I could see the stars in the sky, the moon shining,” he said. “After years, what was like a light for me disappeared.”
He remembers the pain in his eyes “like someone was scratching inside” and the night he realized even that small light was gone. He learned to move by listening to the sound of footsteps. He continued working, extracting palm oil with a machete to earn income and playing drums in his father’s church.
Seeing God at Work
At the mobile clinic, Dieudonne was examined and referred to Ligunza for surgery. Within days, he was on an operating table. The procedure and medicine were provided free of charge.
Dieudonne was referred to a surgical hospital where his hernia was repaired free of charge.
“The operation was free. The medicine was free,” Emmanuel said. “It gave me peace.”
For Dieudonne, the surgery touched something deeper than physical pain.
Since losing his sight, he had wrestled with God, wondering if God still cared about him.
“I was asking God, ‘Are You the One who truly created me?’” he said.
When the mobile team arrived, he saw it as an answer.
The mobile unit cared for medical needs but the Gospel was also preached.
“God’s response to me came through you, Samaritan’s Purse,” he said. “That means He’s answering my questions.”
Though his physical sight has not returned, he still sees God at work in his life.
“I thank God for what He has begun to do for me,” he said. “May He continue it.”
Dr. Kubi says the mobile clinics have brought restoration beyond the physical.
“There have been many transformations, many spiritual restorations,” Kubi said, celebrating how God has opened hearts to the Gospel among families receiving care far from clinics and hospitals. “We have seen people give their lives to the Lord.”
Please pray for the mobile medical unit in the Congo to draw even more individuals to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as they hear the Gospel in word and deed through quality medical care.
Dieudonne (front) and his father, Emmanuel, are able to celebrate together how God provided Dieudonne’s critical hernia surgery through Samaritan’s Purse.
