Doctors in medical missions are not all cut from the same cloth; they come from
different countries, backgrounds, and cultures. However, they are all moved by a common purpose: serving Jesus through caring for the sick and the wounded. Let’s take a moment today to meet just a few of these people.
Dr. Priscilla Busyingye, Uganda
Dr. Busyingye is a unique woman. As an African nun, the women of Uganda are her mission field. Trained as an OB-GYN and a fistula repair surgeon by the Catholic Banyatereza Sisters of Uganda, Dr. Busyingye currently serves as the president of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Uganda, where her influence can impact many people. In 2020, Dr. Busyingye became the first African woman to win the Gerson L’Chaim Initiative award. This award came with a $500,000 prize that She will put towards expanding the Rwibaale Health Center, where she works to save lives every day as a medical missionary.
Source: African Mission + Healthcare
Dr. Tan Lai Yong, Singapore
Dr. Tan did not envision himself going into medicine when he was young. Due to his grades in school, he believed that medical school was not an option. After being encouraged by a platoon mate during his time as an infantry soldier in the Singapore Armed Forces, Dr. Tan decided to take a leap of faith and apply to medical school.
Through the course of his career, Dr. Tan has turned down multiple prestigious career opportunities to serve the poor, the imprisoned, and the marginalized populations of Singapore and China. Currently, Dr. Tan works at the College of Alice and Peter Tan, part of the University of Singapore. He teaches his students the importance of understanding marginalized communities within Singapore. Through his work with the school, he is preparing the next generation of medical students to carry on the work he started. The love of God continually motivates Dr. Tan to do his work. In an interview, he once shared, “when we embrace God’s covenant, God always directs us back to the community to receive help, to share, to exercise compassion, and to find hope.”
Source: National Healthcare Group and Salt and Light
Dr. Chiara Castellani, Democratic Republic of Congo
Dr. Castellani has dedicated her life to serving in medical missions. Before moving to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where she currently resides, this highly trained surgeon also put her life-saving skills to work in Nicaragua. She has managed a hospital in Kimbau, DRC for over 30 years as a medical missionary. Dr. Castellani has worked on countless cases with people who suffer from Ebola, leprosy, and illnesses related to poverty and lack of access to medical care. The greatest joy in her work is seeing how God uses her skills as a surgeon to bring healing into people’s lives. She will often speak of how God is in control of the outcome even in the most desperate and impossible cases.
As of 2019, Dr. Castellani was working with doctors from Trieste to build a Mother and Child Health Center in Buzala to continue her life-saving work.
Source: SouthWorld
Dr. Tongai Chitsamatanga, Zimbabwe
In a country of more than 15 million people, Dr. Chitsamatanga is one of two pediatric surgeons. Trained and practiced in hospitals in the United Kingdom and Africa, Dr. Chitsamatanga now works for a Zimbabwean hospital started by the medical mission nonprofit, CURE International. CURE Zimbabwe is in Bulawayo, the second-largest city in the nation; the hospital is also the only location where children with complicated orthopedic conditions can be treated. At only 41 years old, Dr. Chitsamatanga has dedicated his life to caring for children who otherwise would likely never receive medical treatments as a medical missionary, and he intends to keep going. Remarking on his work and the feedback he’s gotten from his patients, Dr. Chitsamatanga says, “‘This is exactly what the Lord wants at this moment in time. This is why I’m here.”
Source: Christianity Today
Dr. Jason Fader, Burundi
The inaugural winner of the Gerson L’Chaim Prize, Dr. Fader’s passion comes from being the hands of Christ to his patients in Burundi. As of 2017, Dr. Fader was just one of just 14 surgeons in all of Burundi. His work at Kibuye Hope Hospital, the teaching hospital for Hope Africa University Medical School, has been life-changing for each patient who has sought his medical expertise. Dr. Fader has been instrumental in expanding medical facilities and training new staff.
Source: Free Methodist World Missions
