Home
Foundation of Ecuador
The Lamberts
will be working with an established
Christian-based
group called the Home Foundation of Ecuador.
The Foundation
operates a hospital and medical clinics as
a missionary
outreach to the Ecuadoran people.
"Providing
Health Care to the Needy in Jesus' Name"
Foundation
Board Members
"Fundación Hogar" is a non-profit
organization, recognized by the government of Ecuador. It was formed
in Cuenca in 1989 by a group of people who wanted to share the love of
God with others in a practical way. We began helping families who
needed costly medical attention and were unable to pay for it. We
provide quality care to those in need, with the support of the local church
(Gospel Outreach / Verbo Ministries), the Ecuadorian government, and national
and international health organizations.
We have grown from a one-room doctor's
office operating a few hours a day, to a full-time health center with two
doctor's offices, a pharmacy, surgical facilities, and post-operative care
services. We provide general medical care and medications at a minimal
cost. We refer patients with more complicated diagnoses to one of
the foundation's specialists working in the following areas:
Opthamology,
Orthopedics, Plastic Surgery, and General Surgery.
Cuenca, the third largest city in Ecuador,
is the cultural and economic center for the southern third of the region.
However, we also reach out to rural areas through medical projects.
Some of these projects are organized and coordinated solely by the foundation
while others are coordinated in cooperation with international organizations.
We work with teams of doctors, nurses, and assistants who travel to Ecuador
bringing medical supplies and equipment. The patients are followed
up by our local team throughout their period of treatment and recovery.
Projects like these have been carried out in several rural towns such as
Santa Isabel, Paute, Gualaceo, Sig-Sig, and Chordeleg. It is truly
a blessing to provide quality care in a loving atmosphere to those who
many times are shuffled through the system with little dignity.
Nelly's Story
Nelly grew up as the outcast of her family.
Her physical deformity caused them to view her as a freak. Marfan's
Syndrome had manifested itself in several areas – the most prominent, a
severe scoliosis of the spine which eventually compromises the chest cavity
and impairs breathing.
While suffering from almost constant back
pain, she worked as a maid earning $40.00 a month. How could she
ever afford a surgery that would cost $60,000.00? Nelly was a humble
girl who sought solace in the Lord Jesus.
Fundación Hogar, working with our
local orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Luis Rojas, and a team of surgeons from the
United States, was able to coordinate the necessary surgery. Because
her spinal curve was so great, an anterior and posterior spinal fusion
was required. Nelly was implanted with $10,000 worth of orthopedic
hardware in an operation that took 17 hours.
Nelly has been changed from being shy and
awkward to a beautiful, confident young Christian woman. She can
testify of the Lord's care and that he can move mountains to accomplish
great things. Nelly is only one of hundreds of poor patients who
we are helping through Fundación Hogar.
Our Goal
We hope to establish a fully equipped
hospital that would provide the highest quality care to those in need in
a truly Christian way. Currently we are building a prosthetics and
orthotics facility which will provide artificial limbs and braces.
As we wait for God's timing and fulfill
the responsibilities we now have, we are confident that the Lord's blessing
will come.
Nelly - Update
August 99
As far as the story of Nelly, you could add an update
there if you wanted to... the same disease that caused her scoliosis- Marfan's
Syndrome, also quite commonly causes the person to have an aortic
aneurysm, and she had a large dissecting one.
When we returned here two years ago, I asked
her if she had checked with a cardiovascular surgeon and she said no, she
had decided that if she were operated on in Ecuador with open heart surgery,
she would die, so she had resigned herself to dying around 35 years of
age. ( She's close to 30 ) We communicated with the doctor in Pennsylvania
who did her spine surgery and told him Nelly had part of her ticket paid
to the States, and had saved the rest of the money, and he said he'd like
to see her for a check-up.
He sent us the necessary letters and we gave her
a stack from the Foundation and her doctor here, and she went to Guayaquil
to see if she could get a visa to go to the States. They gave it to her,
and when she got to PA, Dr. Hess arranged for her to see the cardiovascular
surgeon. She was operated on in a matter of days, and is presently recuperating
from her surgery. They worked it out between the hospital staff and hospital
so she wouldn't have to pay anything!
How You Can
Become a Part of this Ministry
We invite you to become one of our
partners. By praying and giving to this work you can help us share
the love of Jesus. You might be interested in working with us on
a short term medical mission. We look forward to hearing from you.
Contact Roy Lambert:
lambpost@hotmail.com
Who
We Are / What We Do / Why
We're Here / The Latin American Missions Bureau
Where
in the World is Cuenca, Ecuador? / How
You Can Participate in this Ministry
Photo
Images of Mission Trips in Latin America / Home
Foundation of Ecuador
Medical
Mission Opportunities / Home