Dedicated parishioners on ‘Healing Hope’ mission
Oliver’s Pierre and Lucille Hebting travelled halfway around the globe to Africa six months ago to witness what they call “a miracle” to build a new hospital in one of the world’s poorest countries.
Now they’re asking the good people of Oliver and Osoyoos to help them – and the new Bere Hospital – by providing donations of clothing, bedding and footwear for the Healing Hope in Chad project.
Their plan is to fill a large 15-passenger van with materials and transport them by cargo ship to Chad in November. The van will then be used to transport patients and family members to and from Bere Hospital.
The original Bere Hospital was built in the early 1960s and provided medical assistance to more than 200,000 residents in grossly sub-standard conditions.
As dedicated parishioners with the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Oliver, the Hebtings found out about Healing Hope in Chad through a division of their church called Maranatha Volunteer Mission, which spreads the gospel throughout the world and helps the poor in Third World countries through building schools, hospitals and churches.
While his wife of nine years was away at a religious retreat in Armstrong last year, Pierre said he had too much time on his hands and “started to Google” on his computer and discovered the Healing Hope project in Chad.
Because he and his wife – they met as parishioners at their church in Oliver – had participated in other mission work at an orphanage in Mexico and flood disaster relief in Bella Coola, BC in 2010, Pierre was intrigued by the prospect of travelling to Africa to help the poor.
“I took a piece of paper and wrote a letter to my wife . . . and wrote that she was invited to go on a trip to Chad for the next Maranatha project and I placed the letter under a place mat in the kitchen,” he said smiling. “When she got back from her retreat, she found the letter and read it and wondered who had wrote it.” When I told her I had written it and I wanted her to join me, she just smiled and said let’s go.”
Once they decided they were going to travel to Chad to help build a new hospital, they spent more than two months planning the trip and taking care of logistics with the help of Maranatha staff.
“Maranatha has 20 or so building projects going on at any one time around the world,” said Pierre. “So they have staff ready and willing to help volunteers like us who make a commitment . . . so they helped us get our visas and vaccination shots and they help plan the flights over there.”
The Hebtings flew from Kelowna International Airport on January 7 and landed in Chad almost a full day later.
It took a further 10-hour bus ride from the airport to the Bere Hospital.
A group of 21 other volunteers from around the world, including three others from British Columbia, had signed up to help build a new hospital.
Lucille worked in the kitchen, transportation crew and helped build 160 new windows, while her husband worked on a construction crew.
During their two-week stay, where they worked more than 12 hours per day, the Hebtings helped build a new maternity ward, emergency room and four other ultra-modern wards.
“It was a miracle the way everyone worked together to build this new hospital,” said Pierre. “It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen.”
The day before they left to return to Canada, Chad’s minister of health officially opened the new Bere Hospital.
The experience was so rewarding, the Hebtings knew immediately “that we wanted to return as soon as possible.”
Upon their return to Oliver and their church, the Hebtings discovered a passenger van purchased by the church was sitting in the church pastor’s yard after parishioners voted not to insure the vehicle due to liability issues, said Pierre.
“The van was just sitting there . . . and we made a couple of inquiries and members of the church agreed to give it to us,” he said. “We decided, God willing, that we were going to get that van to Chad to help the hospital.”
The plan is to fill the van with clothing, bedding and flip flops, which is the footwear of choice in the blazing heat of Chad, and send those materials and the van overseas to Chad in November.
The Hebtings have volunteered to drive the van and materials to California, where the van and materials will be shipped to Africa on a cargo ship.
If everything goes as planned, the Hebtings plan on returning to Chad and Bere Hospital on another goodwill mission in late November or December.
“The van is 400 cubic feet and we’re reaching out to the people of Oliver and Osoyoos to fill it with clothing, bedding and flip flops,” he said. “Chad is a country where 60 per cent of the people live on less than one dollar per day . . . they can really use the things we will be shipping over there.”
Local business owners in Oliver have shown support by replacing key parts on the van over the last couple of weeks, said Lucille.
The Hebtings said building a new Bere Hospital has already helped save dozens of lives.
“The old hospital was very old and run down,” he said. “Now they have brand new facilities and equipment and the amazing medical professionals there are saving many lives each day.”
Being part of a mission to help the less fortunate in Chad was one of the most life-affirming experiences of their lives and they can’t wait to return, said Pierre.
“It was God’s will that brought us there and we don’t think we did anything special, but it was nice to be part of something that truly makes a difference in helping others,” he said. “The Lord has set our path in life and we were so happy to be part of that experience. That’s why we want to go back again once the harvest is complete. There is more good work to be done for the wonderful people of Chad.”
Anyone wishing to donate clothing, bedding or flip flops can contact Pastor Michael McPherson at the Seventh Day Adventist Church in Oliver by calling 250-689-0451 or the Hebtings at 250-498-6006.
Another contact name for the project is Gordon Kingsfield at 250-498-6923.
You can find out more details about the hospital building project in Chad by going on YouTube and typing in Healing for Hope in Chad.
Keith Lacey
Special to the Chronicle
