#Iwitness- The Grieve Memorial Clinic—a Place of Healing in South Sudan

7/26/2019 #Iwitness- The Grieve Memorial Clinic—a Place of Healing in South Sudan

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Home > #Iwitness: The Grieve Memorial Clinic—A Place of Healing in South Sudan

#Iwitness: The Grieve Memorial Clinic—A Place of Healingin South Sudan

Cathy Hoelzer

THE GRIEVE MEMORIAL CLINIC (GMC) is a Primary Health Care Center that serves anextremely undeveloped region in Upper Niles State in South Sudan. As a faith-based clinic weseek to provide holistic health care to our patients. Dr. Bob Grieve started the clinic in the1940s with his wife, Claire, to serve the local Mabaan population. They were both killed inWWII when an Italian plane bombed the region.

Since 2013, I’ve been directing the work of this clinic that provides outpatient services.

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including maternity care, leprosy treatment, and a nutrition village that serves the needs ofseverely malnourished children. Over 50,000 refugees from the Republic of Sudan surroundour clinic, and there are another 60,000 refugees in three other camps in the county. Themajority of these refugees are from unreached people groups and this is the first time theyhave the opportunity to hear the good news. I want to share just five stories from our clinic.

Recently, a Muslim man came for care for his

feet, but he also found a personal relationshipwith Christ. To keep him from boredom while Isoaked his feet, I gave him an Arabic AudioStory Teller. He listened intently and evenstarted “talking” back to it. Soon, I brought inPastor Bulus, our clinic chaplain, to share withhim in his mother tongue. When I came back tocheck on them, I learned that our patient hadgiven his life to the Lord. He is just oneexample of many who have found new life as a

result of looking for physical health. We want tocontinue to offer our patients compassionate,Christ-centered care.

An elderly woman came in with amulets aroundher neck. She walked thirty kilometers to get toour clinic for she had a long history of notfeeling well. I told her the amulets were going tokeep her bound in illness so she asked me tocut them off. She said she immediately startedfeeling better. God is good!

We love the faithfulness of Pastor Bulus. When he is not sharing Christ with waiting patients,he is in the clinic praying for patients and sharing the gospel. He has led many to the Lord. Healso uses the Audio Story Tellers. He will set the Story Teller in the midst of the patients andthey are soon captivated by the story of God’s love and plan for redeeming humanity. As aresult, they seek him out later and ask to learn more. We have given out hundreds of AudioStory Tellers to our illiterate patients who never had a chance to hear the gospel. Pastor Bulusthen tries to follow up with them in the camps or villages from which they come.

There are over two million Falatas in Sudan and they are about 99.99% Muslim. We have yet

to meet any Falata who claims to follow Christ. Fiercely independent nomads and proudlyMuslim, they rarely let insiders into their tight communities. However, for some reason wehave found favor with them and they have chosen GMC as their clinic. Recently, I had severalin the clinic with their various maladies and one child of theirs who was severelymalnourished. It just so happened that I had an Audio Story Teller in their mother tongue.When I first turned on the Story Teller, they weren’t paying much attention to it. Then, all of thesudden, their eyes popped open wide and they exclaimed, “This man is speaking Falata! Thisis our language!” It was an amazing moment and they were thrilled. We pray they continue tocome to us for their health needs. We also pray that as a result of hearing the good news andseeing Christ’s love in our deeds and our staff caring for them with the love of God they willcome into his family.

Even in the midst of crazy hectic days, God often brings divine appointments. This day, in





particular, we were super busy andtreated 160 patients. Every bed wasoccupied by someone on an IV fortreatment of severe malaria. I have tosay, however, that the best part of theday was when Izaddin, a Muslimrefugee, came to the clinic not

because he was sick, but because hewas “hungry”—hungry to find truth.He wanted an Audio Story Teller ashe heard about them in his section ofthe refugee camp. He sat before meand shared that he was searching fortruth and wanted to find out moreabout our belief since he said he’dbeen thinking about becoming aChristian. “What?!” I said to myself.

What an amazing divine appointment! He hungrily ate up the good news I shared with himand then he eagerly allowed me to pray for him that God would help him find the truth. We justgot news that he and another young man from his tribe both are now following Jesus andattending church. Please pray for Izaddin as he shares the Audio Story Teller with them—thatthey too will choose to follow our Lord.

Even in the midst of civil war that is raging in both South Sudan and Sudan, God is using it tobring glory to his name. Those who were lost in darkness are now finding the light of thenations. This is an epic moment in history.

. . . .

Cathy Hoelzer and her husband, Brett, are missionaries working in South Sudan and have been serving there since 2006. They joined the work of SIM in Sudan in 2011 and in 2013 Cathy began managing the SIM Doro Clinic.

EMQ, Vol. 52, No. 1. Copyright © 2016 Billy Graham Center for Evangelism. All rightsreserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from EMQeditors.

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#Iwitness- The Grieve Memorial Clinic—a Place of Healing in South Sudan