(July 17, 2014 - by Roger Reimer)  The jubilant audience clapped and cheered to inspiring speeches made by some visionary mission leaders who seldom make the news. The choir from Christian Life Mission Church in Accra, Ghana, made this landmark event even more joyful as they sang some lively African praise songs.

The speakers, performers and local residents had gathered for the dedication of the Tree of Life Clinic in Nmai Dzorn (near Accra) on Saturday, June 28. Some members of the local community teamed up to present a skit that intrigued the audience but also gave them an insight into and a foretaste of the clinic’s tagline, “We Treat the Whole Person.”

“This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. We have sunshine instead of rain; we have a patio instead of mud and dirt; we have a building instead of a pit,” said Reach Beyond President Wayne Pederson at the event. He took the audience down memory lane, recounting the clinic’s four-year construction process.

In the same reflective mood, Rev. Theo Asare, president and founder of Theovision International, shared his joy about the fulfillment of this longtime dream. He said it was impossible to ignore the dire health needs of the people in the villages where Theovision ministers through its Bible-listening outreach. It wasn’t good enough to teach the people God’s Word and not demonstrate love and care for their physical needs.

Pederson then prayed to formally open the clinic and dedicate it to God. The chief of the community and Asare joined hands with him during the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then the main door to the Tree of Life Clinic was opened for all to see with its well-furnished offices and pristine wards. As they entered the pharmacy, laboratory and consulting rooms, guests were greeted with the smiling faces of the neatly uniformed clinic staff.

Woodmen Valley Chapel, a large church in Colorado Springs, Colo., was instrumental in sending the first work team to begin the construction of the clinic in 2010. The team joined forces with members of the local community, doing such things as pouring concrete, laying cement blocks, holding Vacation Bible School with the children and helping with a clean water project.

Alex, now directing community development for Reach Beyond in Ecuador, drew on his extensive building experience during the construction of two hospitals in Ecuador to play a strategic role in finishing the construction of the Tree of Life Clinic.

Theovision, a partner ministry of Reach Beyond, has been working to add a healthcare component to its longtime media outreach in recent years. The organization has established three community radio stations in Ghana and has a long history of recording the Bible in African languages, recently achieving the 300-language milestone.

Helping establish the facility reflects Reach Beyond’s priority of touching people’s physical and spiritual needs via medical clinics for more than 60 years. Each clinic represents the local communities’ interests, training and creative ways of addressing unmet needs.

The Tree of Life Clinic in Ghana is another example of Reach Beyond’s model for a combined ministry, sharing the good news via media and medicine. This fits with the mission’s tagline, “The Voice and Hands of Jesus. Together.”

Sources: Theovision, Reach Beyond