Held together by more than plans | Angola

Centro Evangélico de Medicina do Lubango (CEML)

A hospital is steadily rising from the ground in Lubango, Angola. The drawings exist. The vision is clear. But between the plan and the building, there is a lot of human ground to cover.

Our team recently returned from a site visit to the CEML project, and before the dust had settled, they were back on the road again. But what they brought back was less about construction milestones and more about what it means to do this work faithfully. Two things have stayed with them. 

Lesson 1 - Don't assume the worst

Getting to Lubango was an adventure. The road from Ondangwa means fuel stations that don't take cards, a rainstorm so heavy the driver could barely see the road, and losing accommodation at the last minute.

Then, God showed the team small mercies, one after another . Accommodation was sorted at 10pm through a phone call to a stranger who opened his home without hesitation,  a kitchen that should have been closed was still open, and the final accommodation bill came in lower than expected.

Looking back, the trip did not go according to plan. But it  was held together by something beyond good logistics.

Lesson 2 - Humility is a leadership posture

The CEML campus is a long-term vision. A hospital. A future oncology centre that would be only the second of its kind in Angola, serving an entire southern region where none currently exists. A residency programme designed to train and disciple the next generation of Angolan surgeons, so that communities are no longer dependent on outside help but led by their own people.

Dr Foster is one of the founders driving this vision, a man well into a long and accomplished career who travels back and forth between Angola, the United States, and Canada to keep the work moving and the support coming in. When the EMI team sat with him and the broader CEML leadership, they expected to find someone with a lot to say about what he had built. Instead, they found something else entirely.

In the middle of a complex, pressured, multi-year project, that kind of posture matters. It sets the tone for everyone involved, including the EMI team walking alongside them.

This work carries on because of people who believe in it, and because of those who hold it in prayer. If you would like to stand with the CEML team, here is where things stand right now.

Pray with us

• Wisdom in communication across cultural and language barriers as the team works more closely with the contractor on site.
• Openness and confidence among all parties to ask questions and seek clarity without fear.
• Provision of a mechanical engineer and specialist support the project urgently needs.

• Unity across a team that spans six countries and many disciplines.
  That the vision for CEML, (more than just a hospital?), would be held with faith and not just managed as a project.

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