Field hospital: HEAL Africa and the politics of compassion in Eastern Congo1

The essay explores the image of the church as field hospital so as to make explicit the interconnections between evangelism, ecclesiology, and politics. Founded by Dr. Jo Lusi and his wife Lyn, HEAL Africa’s holistic ministry in and around Goma in Eastern Congo provides an illuminating example of mission’s critical and constructive engagement with societies, change, and conflict. Accordingly, by attending to the story of HEAL Africa, the essay shows how the church’s engagement with a wounded world takes the form of compassion in its many dimensions. Thus, what HEAL Africa’s compassionate engagement in Eastern Congo helps to illumine are the historical, practical, and spiritual dimensions of the church as a field hospital.