Exciting news everyone!!! The Burundian Ministry of Health finally gave us official permission to open the doors of the Shammah Medical Clinic!!! After a lot of hard work, effort and time, we have received the big “go ahead!” What a sense of relief! What a blessing! This news could not have come at a better time for us. 8 months since we’ve been here, and finally we are legally in the clear!

Thanks to the staff and workers at Burundi Youth For Christ & for all of you who have supported us financially and through prayer, for making this all possible! You are awesome!

So…what do the next few months look like, you ask???

We have permission from the government to open, but we are not ready to open the doors quite yet. Our main goals over the next few months are:

– to get power for the clinic

– to continue shaping our business plan, operating budget and sort out capital expenses.

– to vision cast with the Burundi Youth For Christ staff.

– to allocate the remainder of the equipment we need.

– to interview & hire our staff and begin training with them!

Please pray for our future staff, that we will find exactly the people that we need.

In the meantime, we have been receiving business training from LifeNet International,  which is a huge blessing for us. They have been helping us with our accounting & budgeting, as well as with our investigations on the policies and procedures for running a clinic.

We also have a clinic logo!!! What is super special about this, is that my brother designed it for us! How cool is that!?! It encompasses our vision for the clinic perfectly! ‘Shammah’ is hebrew for “the Lord is present.” The vision for the Shammah Medical Clinic is represented in the logo by an African acacia tree covering a medical red cross. The covering of the tree over the red cross signifies the Lord’s protection over the clinic, the staff, and the patients. And by the protective covering of Jesus Christ, our patients will feel safe, cared for, and loved through God’s mighty presence. Check out the logo below!

Our projected time of opening is January 2014!!! If not sooner… 🙂

Please pray for us and BYFC as we are revving up for a busy next few months!

Nadine