Hispanic and Anglo churches join to offer healing for body & soul

clinic

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HOUSTON—A partnership between two Houston congregations—one Anglo, the other Hispanic—provides healing of bodies and souls through Casa El Buen Samaritano, a clinic that ministers to Hispanics who have little access to other medical care.

Jessica Henriquez, a member of Iglesia Horeb in Houston and a community college student, greets patients every Tuesday night at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic

West University Baptist Church provides medical and administrative assistance, as well as some clerical help. Iglesia Horeb members interpret, provide spiritual counseling and share the plan of salvation with patients and their families, along with filling clerical roles.

While the clinic only opened last May, West University had been looking for a way to minister to Hispanics since it bought the property for its current location more than four years ago, Pastor Barry Landrum said.

“I was asked at that time by someone: ‘100,000 Salvadorans are living within a stone’s throw of your church. What are you going to do to reach them?’ So, we started thinking about that,” Landrum said.

Six months later, Landrum asked Steve Spann, a physician in his church, what it would take to set up a clinic.

“And he just lit up,” Landrum said.

Royce Hassell, a member of a committee trying to determine the best way to reach out to the Hispanic community, said it seemed obvious to combine outreach with the clinic.


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Sarah Shearer examines the ears of a young patient at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic in Houston.

For the next 18 months, the team made visits and phone calls to other clinics sponsored by churches and Christian organizations around the state to put together an operational model. In the process, Hassell met Iglesia Horeb Pastor Campo Londono.

“Our thought almost immediately was: ‘Why reinvent the wheel? He already has a ministry,’” Hassell recalled.

After looking at several locations, the team decided to investigate using a trailer on the Horeb property to house the clinic.

“The first trailer website we went to, there it was—‘discounted medical trailer for lease.’ Another organization made the down payment for it to be built but then went bankrupt before it was completed. It was perfect for us,” Hassell said.

Walter Hassell, a premed student at Rice University and English/Spanish interpreter, checks the blood pressure of a patient at Casa El Buen Samaritano clinic in Houston.

The trailer provides space for four exam rooms, a lab area for blood work, and office area and restrooms, a break room for volunteers and room for spiritual counseling. A play area for children is located nearby at Iglesia Horeb.

The clinic is open each Tuesday evening, staffed by two doctors, a medical practioner or physician’s assistant, a nurse or two, usually one or two medical or pre-medical students and a clerical staff of about five. In addition, four or five people provide interpretation and spiritual counseling.

The doctors see a variety of ailments. “We see all sorts of things—women for checkups; diabetes, a lot of times totally out of control; joint pain and orthopedic problems; infectious diseases; abcesses; respiratory problems,” said Spann, the clinic’s medical director. “It’s just sort of a broad spectrum.”

The doctors all are related to the Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Medical Center, and some are department heads.

“The standard of care the people who come here are getting is incredible,” Hassell said.

Attending physicians make referrals for patients whose conditions overreach the clinic’s capabilities.

Jessica Henriquez, a member of Iglesia Horeb, sets up the appointments. Many of the patients have a hard time believing the medical care is free of charge. Still, many insist on paying something, she said.

“It might be $5 or $30, but they want to help,” Henriquez said.

A business management student at Houston Community College, she is pleased to assist in the ministry. “I’ve always had my heart set on working in God’s ministry, and coming on Tuesday nights and serving God by serving the Hispanic community is wonderful,” Henriquez said.

Lydia Eckhoff recently joined the clinic’s team as executive director and the venture’s first paid employee.

Eckhoff, a recent University of Texas graduate with a degree in foreign language education, said knowledge of the opening was of immediate interest to her because her parents worked during her childhood years as doctors in Haiti.

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In the past, Eckhoff worked with a number of nonprofit groups in their work with impoverished children.

“Those were all secular groups, and they were doing good work, but it was leaving out the main thing. Here I get to share the gospel,” she explained.

And those who come with a variety of pains and illnesses are finding solace for their souls, as well. More than 50 have made professions of faith in Christ through the work of the clinic. One Tuesday evening, five of the 28 patients made professions of faith.

“We really early on came to the conclusion that we wanted it to be unashamedly Christian and share the gospel,” Hassell said.

Iglesia Horeb was having trouble reaching the neighborhood surrounding the church prior to the clinic’s opening, Pastor Londono said.

“We were dreaming about how to minister to the community, and we were thinking about activities, not something continuous. I thank the Lord he gave us this opportunity,” he said.

“Our challenge now is to build a bridge between the clinic and the church. For us it is very significant that we have this partnership between two churches of different ethnicities.”

Last fall, the two churches met together for a fellowship event that drew more than 400.

For the last several months, every appointment time at the clinic has been filled, with several people showing up without appointments.

“I really believe if we opened every night, we would be full every night, but we can’t do that without more medical volunteers,” Hassell said.

 


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