Samaritan’s Purse hospital evangelism program offers new tools to equip and encourage chaplains as they share the Good News of the Great Physician.
In 2009, the Rev. Mark Sukulao lay in a hospital bed in Zimbabwe, very ill, discouraged, and in almost constant pain. This hospital was the third one he had been admitted to in less than two months, and now he was facing another surgery.
Many anxious thoughts churned through the pastor’s mind. What was God’s purpose in his suffering? Would he survive? If not, what would happen to his wife, Joyce, and their three children? What would become of the congregation he had served faithfully for years?
Six months and five surgeries later, Sukulao praised God when he finally returned home to his family and his church. A bright spot in that long ordeal was the kindness of a chaplain who spent many hours with Sukulao and his wife, praying for them, speaking words of comfort, and sometimes simply holding their hands.
“I felt the love and care, and that was what made me respond to the call of serving as a chaplain. I’m paying back what I received,” said Sukulao, who came to Karanda Mission Hospital in northern Zimbabwe two years ago.
The Rev. Mark Sukulao prays with a patient at Karanda Mission Hospital in Zambia.
Now the director of the chaplaincy program, he works with nine men and women whose
roles involve visiting with patients in the wards, leading hospital worship services, and conducting community outreach.
Sukulao was excited when he heard that Samaritan’s Purse was launching a training course called “The Heart of a Chaplain” at some of World Medical Mission’s partner hospitals in Africa, including Karanda. He feels the course is greatly needed since most chaplains like him are career pastors who did not receive formal training in counseling.
“When someone is in tears in the hospital, that’s when they need us. Chaplains come with the heart of God and connect with the heart of the patient,” he said. “We put ourselves in the shoes of the patient and point them to Christ in the midst of their pain.”
The 20-lesson course began as a pilot project at Tenwek Mission Hospital and AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya in 2020. Building on that success, the course was rolled out this year at five additional mission hospitals in Kenya, eight in Zambia, and Karanda Mission Hospital in Zimbabwe.
Care for the Whole Person
While doctors and other medical staff attend to the physical needs of patients, it is the chaplains who are primarily entrusted with providing spiritual care. The needs are never-ending. Death is a reality in the wards. Sometimes chaplains burn out from emotional exhaustion.
“It’s an overwhelming task,” said Stephen Rhyne, who serves as the assistant director for hospital evangelism at World Medical Mission. “The chaplains see new life coming into the world, but they see so much going out. They face so much more suffering than I would imagine a local pastor faces because they see it almost daily.”
Rhyne visited Sukulao and the chaplaincy team at Karanda in April to help them kick off the course. During the next 12 to 15 months, members of the team will take turns teaching some sobering but very relevant subject matter from the workbook. Topics include “Ministry to the Sick and Dying,” “A Theology of Suffering, Hope, and God’s Faithfulness,” and “Cults, Idolatry, and False Beliefs in African Cultures.”
A patient at Litein Hospital in Kenya is overjoyed to receive the gift of a Bible from a hospital chaplain.
“How do you approach a family after someone has passed away? How do you share with them why we have hope after death, and tell them about Jesus during a very tragic time in their lives?” Rhyne asked. “What about patients dealing with addictions or who have attempted suicide? This course helps chaplains walk through some of these issues.”
The Rev. David Kilel, a retired chaplain who served at Tenwek for 40 years, helped develop the course material. Along with the workbook, participants receive a tablet with preloaded videos containing messages from Kilel and renowned evangelist Billy Graham.
To support patient ministry, Samaritan’s Purse supplies the hospitals with printed Bibles as well as MegaVoice solar-powered audio Bibles in the local language.
Introductory chapters in the workbook encourage chaplains to exercise personal spiritual discipline through a strong prayer and devotional life. That foundation equips them to know the Word of God so they can more effectively communicate the Gospel to patients or pass along encouragement to hardworking medical staff.
Evangelism-Focused Ministry
Doctors and nurses are not the only personnel who experience stress and fatigue. The chaplains do, too, and “Heart of a Chaplain” has given them the opportunity to sit down together and discuss their own personal struggles.
“People look to us for spiritual guidance and direction. It’s a responsibility that can drain us,” said the Rev. Geoffrey Ndivo, who oversees the chaplains at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya.
The Rev. Geoffrey Ndivo brings encouragement to a mother who is worried about her sick child.
“For example, you are happy for a patient in the maternity ward who has just given birth, and then you turn around and see another patient who is mourning. We are taught to weep with those who weep and to rejoice with those who rejoice, but switching from joy to grieving is not easy.”
Brother Boston Mbilikita has been serving at Chitokoloki Mission Hospital in Zambia for 15 years. He values how the course has equipped the staff with fresh approaches to their one-on-one ministry with patients, some of whom face seve and ongoing health challenges.
“We have a patient in his 30s that was paralyzed two years ago due to an accident and survives through hospital care. His situation has weighed on the hearts of all of us at Chitokoloki,” said Mbilikita. “He asks us a lot of questions regarding the love of God, why he is suffering, and why he has no relatives who will be his caretaker.”
These are hard questions, and although the staff don’t have all of the answers, they do share the most important answer, and they pray it will make a difference in this young man’s future.
“We visit him every day to share with him the living hope of our Lord Jesus Christ, to encourage him through this illness,” Mbilikita said.
Recently he spent time getting to know a 50-year-old patient who had a goiter and whose surgery had been postponed twice due to elevated blood pressure. The man prayed to receive Christ as his Savior, and he later revealed that he was no longer overcome with worry.
Boston Mbilikita and fellow chaplains at Chitokoloki Mission Hospital in Zambia share a message from God’s Word.
“He said he had a better place if anything happened to him. He had a deep smile on his face,” recalled Mbilikita.
Abundant Spiritual Harvest
At Tenwek Mission Hospital, the chaplains have seen the power of the Gospel transform lives. Some who have become followers of Jesus have requested baptism—in the hospital. Others return home and initiate the building of churches in their communities. Through the counsel of a chaplain, many have sought to mend broken relationships within their families.
The first “Heart of a Chaplain” graduation ceremonies took place earlier this year as 14 participants at Tenwek and seven at Kijabe received certificates and enjoyed a dinner hosted by Samaritan’s Purse. Another 90 chaplains are currently enrolled in the course in other partner hospitals.
Chaplains at AIC Kijabe Hospital completed the 20-lesson course and enjoyed a graduation dinner hosted by Samaritan’s Purse.
Ndivo appreciates the encouragement from Samaritan’s Purse, which has reignited his calling to continue ministering to the patients and staff at Kijabe. “Pray that we will remain true to what God has called us to, and that is healthcare for God’s glory,” he said.
Similarly, “Serving God, Serving Others” is the motto at Karanda Mission Hospital, where Sukulao finds his greatest joy in leading those who are hurting and lost to the Great Physician, Jesus Christ.
“I see my life experiences as a tool to uplift and encourage the sick,” said Sukulao. “When a patient heals, we all celebrate, but we celebrate even more when he or she makes a spiritual decision to follow Christ.”
World Medical Mission partners with more than 50 hospitals and clinics in more than 30 countries. The chaplaincy foundations course is only available in English at this time and is geared toward an African audience. However, there are plans in place to adapt the materials for use in other cultural contexts.
Patients appreciate when chaplains point them to the truth of God’s Word.
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
AMINATOU WAS HEARTBROKEN after her baby died in childbirth. But she was comforted by a mission hospital chaplain who prayed for her and told her that Jesus loved her. That day, Aminatou came to faith in Christ. She still receives encouragement from the audio Bible the chaplain gave her. Through our Hospital Evangelism Program, we are equipping dozens of chaplains around the world to minister to the spiritual and emotional needs of people like Aminatou. “This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life” (Psalm 119:50).
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