After four decades of providing gospel-centered medical care to rural villages in The Gambia, the Ndungu Kebbeh Health Center faced a crisis.
Its remote location on the north bank of the Gambia River (often accessible only by ferry), the harsh climate, and unrelenting tropical illnesses had slowly depleted the ranks of the ABWE medical staff and Gambian clinic workers who had faithfully served the local population for generations.
“We were praying that the Lord would show us what the next steps were—that he would help us recognize if this was a closed door,” recounted ABWE Team Leader Joan Schmitz.
Since its inception, the clinic had provided inroads for the ABWE team to proclaim the gospel and pray with Muslim patients and employees in the name of Jesus. The skilled, affordable healthcare drew over 9,800 patient visits in 2022, providing vital pre-natal and infant care, immunizations, outpatient care, minor surgical procedures, and basic laboratory testing.
With clinic operations unsustainable, however, the team prayerfully informed the Gambian ministry of health that the clinic would close its doors by the end of 2022.
Yet God was sovereignly orchestrating his plan. As news spread of the clinic’s imminent closure, a Gambian believer connected the team with Pastor Said of Omega Church in the capital city of Banjul. The church had recently established a charitable foundation in hopes of launching a medical ministry to reach villages in their nation. Finding shared values with Pastor Said, himself a Gambian Muslim-background believer, the ABWE team developed a partnership with the Omega Foundation.
Once again, God’s providence became evident—only one year prior, Patrick Reed, a former businessman with contract writing experience, had arrived in The Gambia with his family to serve as ABWE missionaries. With his expertise, the ABWE team was able to transfer the ownership and daily operations of the clinic to the Omega Foundation.
“We see clearly that our prayer was answered of keeping the clinic in good hands, Christian hands who love God and serve him,” said Joan.
The congregation of Omega Church has taken an active role in maintaining the clinic. Several doctors from the church travel weekly to treat patients, while a young woman has relocated to Ndungu Kebbeh as a Gambian missionary to serve as the clinic administrator. The Omega medical providers are expanding the level of care offered by implementing a sonogram prenatal program and introducing updated dental care. They desire to plant churches in the surrounding villages through relationships built at the clinic.
The ABWE team praises God for the ministry potential provided by this transition to national leadership.
“Through the Ndungu Kebbeh Health Center, ABWE has worked diligently to work the soil, plant the seeds, and water the ground in a spiritually dark community,” shared Andy Kirby, ABWE executive director for Africa. “It’s now such an amazing pleasure to be able to encourage harvesters to join us—Gambian nationals, eager to see their brothers and sisters come to know the truth of God’s Word.”
