| Through the wisdom and guidance provided by our gracious Heavenly Father, certain of His chosen people were led to construct a Christian hospital at Bonne Finn, Haiti, under the auspices of the joint leadership of MEBSH and
WIM. It was the conviction of those involved that a hospital would provide an essential and tangible expression of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, who throughout his ministry demonstrated His deep compassion and interest in ministering to the whole man-body as well as soul and sprit. |
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The medical needs of Haiti are staggering and greater then those of any other country in the Western Hemisphere. With a birthrate of nearly three times that of north America, Haiti faces the complex problems of increasing need for medical assistance and food production. More than one million of the nation's five million people live on the southern peninsula.
In 1946 Dispensaire Lumiere opened in Aux Cayes. Medical services grew to include rural clinics serving thousands of patients each year. However, until the opening of the hospital in March, 1977, there was no provision for in-patient care.
In 1973, Dr. Donald Nelson, a California physician and former medical missionary to Zaire, visited his son in the southern peninsula of Haiti. He was deeply impressed with the needs that existed for a greater medical outreach. He volunteered to return and beirfly relieve Dr. Dudley Nelson, a medical missionary serving at the Dispensaire Lumiere. When Dr. Donald Nelson came back to visit the field he was again impressed with the vast medical needs of the Haitian people.
Dr. Nelson returned a few months later to make a survey to determine the feasibility of constructing a hospital and to select a hospital site. Bonne Finn (French for "good end") was selected as the logical and appropriate site.
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Hopital Lumiere Compound
Bonne Fin, Haiti
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It was learned from one of the land owners that his grandfather had told him that God has spoken to him many years ago that some day men would come to build a hospital on this very site. During 1976 and 1977, God used volunteer workers from the U.S. and many Haitians to make the vision become a physical reality. Completed were a surgery building, a surgery ward, an administration building, eleven staff houses and a hydro-electric plant. All of the buildings are cement block construction with cement roofs. |
The cornerstone for the hospital was laid on March 17,1976. A year later, on March 31, 1977, the hospital was formally dedicated. The Hospital of Light was in operation, sending forth its first beams of the "Love They Can Feel" which emanates from our Lord, Jesus Christ.
Lumiere Medical Ministries
3816 S. New Hope Road, Suite 20
Gastonia, NC 28056
Phone: 704-823-0271
Fax: 704-823-0272
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