Give Thanks Miley IMpact Project

Provided by Kenneth Eagleton

Fissatou was pregnant with her sixth child. At the end of her pregnancy, she felt that things were not going as her previous deliveries. She had contractions for eight days before they intensified and she sought the services of the maternity at the Free Will Baptist Hospital in Doropo, Ivory Coast, Africa. Despite a difficult delivery, the expert and loving care she received at the maternity prevented a tragic outcome, which was common among those who chose to deliver at home. A couple of months later, Fissatou, a Muslim, returned to the Christian hospital to thank them for the care she received.

The hospital at Doropo was started by Dr. Laverne Miley, a medical missionary sent by Free Will Baptists in the early 1960s to an area of the country where there was no Gospel witness. The area was very suspicious of the motives of the foreigners that moved there, and people were certainly not inclined to listen to the claims of this “new” religion. However, the medical assistance offered to a population that had no access to medical care began chipping away at the resistance to hearing and heeding the Gospel. Today, with the moving of the Holy Spirit, we see strong and steady growth of the Gospel with churches of several denominations springing up in the area.

Nearly 25 years ago, IM turned over the responsibility for running the medical work to local Ivorian believers and it remains an important ministry there. Sixty years since the beginning of the work, the hospital is in need of renovation, expansion, and updating of its facilities and equipment. The Miley IMPact Project was born as a way in which our partnership with the Doropo Hospital can come alongside them to continue meeting the medical and spiritual needs of the population.

One of the projects that have been completed was remodeling and upgrading the hospital’s maternity wing, which made it possible for Fiassatou to get the help she needed to deliver a healthy baby. In April, another lady safely delivered triplets. Last year, 823 deliveries were recorded at the maternity ward and 600 during the first three quarters of this year.

Thank you for saving lives as you gave to the Miley IMPact Project. Please continue to support as the project continues to help remodel the patient wards, the operating room, and build a new imaging center.