Hospitals Of Hope

by Leta Reppert

In early 2001, Hospitals of Hope seemed at the point of collapse. Donated funds had allowed us to remodel a small clinic in Bolivia, but we lacked the financial resources to operate it. For six months, the clinic sat empty except for occasional free weekend clinics.

Michael Wawrzewski, who had founded our organization in 1998, was nearly ready to give up. He had been working for Hospitals of Hope for two years without salary, supporting himself and the newly-formed organization by working part time as a physician assistant. Now, without the finances even to continue the work he had started, he began to doubt that this was really what God had called him to do.

Hospitals of Hope’s supporters suggested a fundraising banquet, which would allow God to make the final decision concerning the organization’s future by either providing or not. Volunteers’ generous donation of time set the Hospitals of Hope banquet in motion, though it still seemed unlikely that even their passion and efforts could save the organization. The night before the banquet, Michael literally cried before the Lord. “If you want this work to carry on,” he prayed, “provide at tomorrow’s banquet.”

As so often happens, God chose this point of desperation to reveal himself. Hospitals of Hope had set a fundraising goal of $25,000 for the banquet. God had different plans. When the funds were tallied, we found that nearly $62,000 had been donated, more than enough to open the clinic for operation.

When the clinic opened its doors on April 2, 2001, 40 people were waiting outside for treatment. Patients kept pouring in, and, eventually, we built a 32-bed, level II hospital to treat them. We have now treated over 150,000 patients in Bolivia and have expanded our work to more than 30 countries.

We don’t know what God has planned for the future of Hospitals of Hope, but we continue to be humbled by the way he uses us and by the way he provides.