Medical services have resumed while reconstruction progresses on the hospital at Nyankunde, a historic missionary station in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that was destroyed by fighting in 2002.

A new foundation has been dug, and workers are cutting lumber and gathering supplies. Congolese doctors are optimistic the hospital that lay in ruins just three years ago will continue to improve until it is the great facility it once was.

“Once the foundation work gets started, the work will progress quite quickly,” said Aaron Wolcott, who works for Samaritan’s Purse in the DRC.

A lot of the progress made on the hospital can be attributed to Richard and Dr. Ruth Dix, who have returned to Congo 45 years after their original visit. Richard is working as the construction manager, and Ruth, an OB/GYN, does consultations with doctors and works in surgery as needed.

Samaritan’s Purse asked the Dixes to return and take on the project in October 2008. They made a trip to Congo in May and June 2009 to make plans for new operating rooms and an intensive care unit. The project is scheduled to be finished sometime in 2011.

The hospital in Nyankunde was originally built in the 1950s as Taraja Hospital by Drs. Robert Stephens and Robert Carpenter. There were 40 inpatient beds, operating facilities, and a maternity and childcare ward. But in 1960, when Congo gained independence from Belgium, the physicians started to leave. In 1963 and 1964, during the Simba Rebellion, all the missionaries left the area. Nurses tried to continue the work, but they struggled to keep everything running properly.

When the rebellion ended, Dr. Carl Becker decided that there should be a new medical center in Nyankunde called The Evangelical Medical Center of Northeast Congo. He and Earl Dix used some of the current buildings to make a master plan for the new hospital. In 1966, Earl’s son and daughter-in-law, Richard and Ruth, visited Nyankunde. Richard supervised construction work while Ruth directed the maternity and childcare ward.

Dr. Helen Roseveare established a nursing school, which eventually taught lessons at the university level, and by 1985 there were 220 inpatient beds. The hospital continued to grow and prosper until 2002. In September of that year, the hospital became the battle ground for a fight between two rival tribes. Between 1,000 and 1,500 people were killed in three days, and the hospital was destroyed. The training schools relocated to other areas, and everyone left Nyankunde.

People slowly started to return in 2005, and nurses began to see patients in makeshift clinics. In 2007, Dr. Mike Upio, a native of the DRC, moved back to Nyankunde and became the medical director. He wanted the hospital to become the great place it had been before the battle.

One story in particular helped Upio make his decision. A woman from a village near Nyankunde needed a cesarean section, but there were no doctors to perform one. The closest healthcare facility was in Bunia, 25 miles away.

Nurses asked a doctor in Bunia to come and help, but he refused to come until morning because he wanted U.N. escorts to protect him. By that time, the mother had died.

“Knowing this incident pushed me to come back to Nyankunde so these things would not happen again,” he said.

Dr. Upio began seeing patients in the few buildings that had not been destroyed. He asked nurses to join him, but he remained the only doctor. Eventually four more doctors joined the staff.

Two Samaritan’s Purse representatives visited Nyankunde. After seeing how well Dr. Upio had rehabilitated the hospital and how chaplains spoke to every patient about Christ, they agreed to commit to a rebuilding project for operating rooms and an intensive care unit. They asked the Dixes to return and help build up the hospital for a second time.

“Seeing something new happening and an older couple returning to this work have been further incentive to reconciliation of tribal differences, stabilization of security, and stimulation to the local church,” Dr. Dix said.

There are now 103 inpatient beds in the hospital, and about 900 outpatient visits a month from the 40,000 people living within a three-mile radius of Nyankunde. Although the focus now is on the operating rooms and ICU, Dr. Dix eventually hopes that they will be able to put roofs on the hospital chapel, nurses’ houses, nursing school and dorms. She said there also is a need to rehabilitate more outpatient facilities.

The hospital is helping families both physically and spiritually. Emidi, an 8-year-old girl who was hit by a bicycle, needed immediate surgery on her abdomen. Her family brought her to Nyankunde; if they had been forced to travel to Bunia, there is little chance that she would have survived.

“Now they know that God saved their daughter’s life and she has received loving care,” Dr. Dix said. “They will be returning to the church and will be followed up by the pastor there.”

Another young woman who the hospital has helped is 20-year-old Magani Chantal. She had complications while in labor and was unable to deliver her baby. Chantal would have died had it not been for God’s healing power and the staff at the hospital in Nyankunde. Hospital staffers share God’s Word with them every day, and the family continues to thank the workers for helping to save Chantal’s life.

“An awareness of the fact that God is in control and does care for His work at Nyankunde and needs others to be involved has reached into the hearts of many,” Dr. Dix said. “God will continue to expand His Kingdom in this part of Congo.”

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Samaritan's Purse , Democratic Republic of the Congo , World Medical Mission , Rebuilding a Mission Hospital