Missionaries

Global Health Ministries

Who We Are

Global Health Ministries (GHM) is an independent Lutheran nonprofit (501c3) established in 1987, and specializes in capacity-building for Lutheran health systems in under-resourced countries, serving some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

We believe all people should have access to a healthy life. But they don’t. Together we can make a difference.

Each year thousands of volunteers gather in our Minnesota-based warehouse to help sort and pack medical equipment and supplies to share around the world. At the request of our international partners we also offer grants and volunteer consultants to help build their capacity to move the needle on health in their communities and effect sustainable and enduring change.

Like a Spring of Water

Global Health Ministries’ (GHM’s) roots run deep in the red dirt of Madagascar, in Liberia, Tanzania, and Cameroon. These places were home, at least for a time, for many of GHM’s founders and early supporters.

The origins of GHM are rooted in Lutheran missionaries who lived and worked and often raised their families in these countries. Many were medical missionaries, serving alongside local colleagues as doctors and nurses at mission hospitals they helped build. Eventually, many of the missionaries returned to the U.S. to practice medicine in Minnesota, California, Wisconsin, Montana. But the people and places they had come to love stayed in their hearts.

By the 1980s, administration of mission hospitals had largely transferred to local churches, but few could absorb the financial responsibilities associated with running hospitals. Lack of funds resulted in shortages of medicine and supplies, and aging equipment they couldn’t afford to replace. A small group of American medical missionaries serving in Madagascar and Liberia met at a conference in Kenya in 1986, and shared their experiences and frustrations with each other. They learned the Presbyterians had similar challenges, and in response had successfully formed a fundraising organization to provide support. Energized by what they heard, they reached out to their network of friends and supporters with a letter describing an organization that would “support and assist our overseas Lutheran churches in realizing the full potential of Christ’s healing ministry.” The idea of Global Health Ministries was born, and took root.

This network of friends and supporters, called GHM, has grown exponentially for over three decades. Dr. Steve Friberg, long-term missionary to Tanzania, says it well: “One of the amazing things about God is that when God is working, there’s a ripple effect; materials go a lot farther, and people that weren’t connected get more connected.” Donated medical supplies and equipment are now sent by sea container from a 12,000 square foot warehouse instead of in cardboard boxes packed in a garage. We are still marked by deep relationships, and the connections that move us forward. We continue to serve alongside international colleagues, now in 14 countries, expanding our programs to include leadership consulting and accompanying partners in grassroots efforts to improve community health. Sometimes we have been amazed at all that is accomplished - the materials that arrive just when we need them, the funding that comes in the “nick of time,” the projects that flourish against all odds. But God is working, watering the deep roots with water that never fails.

INVESTING IN CHANGE:

The Ilula-Minnesota International Medical Conference Global Health Ministries has been a key sponsor for the Ilula-Minnesota International Medical Conference for a number of years. Held in Iringa, Tanzania, in 2025, this gathering brought together doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and administrators from dozens of southern Tanzania Christian hospitals, along with medical teams from the United States, to talk about healthcare advancements and share knowledge to create lasting change. I was honored to be a part of this conference as a consultant from GHM. The first day of the conference focused on a quality improvement model and tools such as pareto, run, and flow charts. Most participants were new to the methodology. Key themes included keeping it simple, starting small and expanding, recognizing that all improvement requires change, and viewing all work as a process. On the second day, I led a break-out session for the administrators — attended by approximately 30 individuals. We chose topics that were highly relevant to all the hospitals, such as competition, insurance denials, compliance with electronic medical records, new streams of revenue, customer care and quality improvement. Competition is recent in Tanzania, especially in rural areas. The government has built health care facilities throughout the country, often close to existing faith-based health facilities. These government facilities are new and fully staffed due to the government’s higher salaries and reported lax management style. We discussed how faith-based facilities have a competitive advantage because the community trusts them, and they offer prayer to patients, families, and staff. We focused on using this new competition to improve care and service to the community. SafeCare is an internationally accredited standard for resource-restricted settings. As members of the Christian Social Services Commission, a SafeCare self-assessment tool is available free of charge to the hospitals. Many of them believe they will try this new tool. Participants shared examples of new revenue streams they were exploring, like adding specialty doctor services, reducing the amount of denials from the claims submitted to the National Health Insurance Fund, and producing agricultural products such as maize, trees, sunflowers, and goats. The Ilula-Minnesota International Medical Conference provided a valuable platform for knowledge exchange, networking, and innovation, paving the way for a more collaborative and resilient global health community. Cindy Wilke, MHA, GHM Consultant

Years of Positive Change in El Salvador

The Community Health Program of the Salvadoran Lutheran Synod addresses issues that Sandy and I have worked with since serving as Peace Corps volunteers from 1969 to 1972. We have maintained involvement with the people of El Salvador over the years in many ways, including Pastors for Peace and as leaders of civil war immersion tours with the Augsburg Center for Global Education. In 2007, our congregation of Saint Paul-Reformation established a sister church relationship with Cristo Libertador in El Salvador. We learned that the congregation’s pastor, Rev. Concepción Vanegas, was also a registered nurse and coordinator of the church’s health programming. She shared her dream of a village-based health education and first-responder initiative as an expression of congregational mission in witnessing to Christ’s love. We encouraged her to develop a proposal to share with GHM. Sandy, a public health nurse, joined Rev. “Conchi” to assess the need and support for involvement in a pilot region of eleven villages. That was the beginning of GHM’s funding relationship with El Salvador which has continued each year since then. The first thirty village health workers received training in 2008. Today, more than 200 workers serve throughout the nation, meeting monthly for training in addressing local health issues, reaching more than 20,000 village residents with education to prevent disease, adopt healthy living practices, provide emergency first responder attention, and link with local government health centers. We believe this model for community-based health care is an equally important methodology to a hospital building. Prevention education is also significantly less expensive. The Lutheran Church in El Salvador focuses on ministry to the whole person — physically, emotionally, spiritually, financially, safety and security. Global Health Ministries has been a key partner in this wholistic approach to health care and contributed to years of positive change in health and wellness outcomes among the people of El Salvador. For this, we say thank you to GHM and all who make possible the work that will continue in 2025. Rev. Tim and Sandy Iverson GHM Volunteer, Consultants