Not a dark or hopeless landmass, Africa is a "singing continent," according to Dr. Eckehart Wolff, an HCJB Global Hands surgeon.

Concluding a three-month stint at a remote mission hospital in northern Republic of Congo in January, he said, "It's incredible how they sing! They sing in the morning and they sing at night. They come home from the fields loaded with a heavy load ... and they sing!"

The Congolese sang during surgeries Wolff performed, and amazingly, it began with patients. "The abdomen is still open, and the patient starts singing," said Wolff. "The nurses ... even sing with the patient.

The whole OR (operating room) team is singing, and you're closing the abdomen, praising God for the operation. That is something very, very special I have seen here several times." Even across the crackly telephone line from remote Impfondo, Wolff's emotion is evident.

Such surgical benedictions helped the German physician withstand the brutal realities buffeting the small medical staff at Pioneer Christian Hospital.

Children die of malaria and other infectious diseases; the AIDS epidemic is an ever-present specter that stalks young and old alike. At times death hangs like a pall, punctuated by the wails and cries of mourners yielding themselves to the "spirit of death."

Carved out of the vast surrounding forests, the hospital was originally set up by President Denis Sassou-Nguesso's wife as a communist youth camp.

Decades later his government donated it to Dr. Joe Harvey for use as the country's first Christian hospital. But the spiritual warfare and isolation at Impfondo takes a toll on those who proclaim Jesus Christ, even as they heal diseased bodies.

Wolff calls Impfondo an "island," isolated by dense jungle between Bangui and Brazzaville, that can take two weeks to reach by land or river.

Flights are also available, but "if you have a problem and you cannot solve it, it grows and grows, and then you have a breakdown," he said. Wolff's wife, Klaudia (a physician and counselor), provided a listening ear and instructed the staff in improved OR set-up.

The Wolffs were among nine HCJB Global Hands staff members to serve rotations of up to four months while Harvey is on furlough in North America.

"People have gone completely out of their comfort zones to help," said Sheila Leech, a nurse who serves as the mission's international healthcare coordinator. "And they've found that God was there to help them."

Leech said visiting professionals spent time training and assisting local staff in such areas as sterilization and infection control, nursing administration and care of post-operative patients. "When Dr. Roy Ringenberg was there he led Bible studies with the staff every day for five weeks," she explained.

HCJB Global Hands has an ongoing commitment to help the hospital succeed. "We would like to recruit long-term staff for the hospital. We're looking for people to work alongside the staff there." Source: HCJB Global