Miracle Hospital : Adult Mission Story for September 13, 2025

By Andrew McChesney

Editor’s note: One of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath projects is to construct a kitchen and laundry for Chitanda Lumamba Adventist Hospital in Chibombo, Zambia. Here is an inside look at the hospital.

Mwate Mwambazi, a pediatrician and Seventh-day Adventist Church leader, sees Chitanda Lumamba Adventist Hospital as a miracle story. She says it is only by the grace of God that the hospital is Adventist.

Chitanda Lumamba is the name of a tribal chief who donated 10 hectares of rural land to build the hospital in northern Zambia. He gave the land to a nonprofit Christian organization that uses personal and corporate donations to construct infrastructure projects.

The original plan called for the hospital to be turned over to the Zambian government.

But then the tribal chief and nonprofit Christian organization approached the Seventh-day Adventist Church with a proposal. They asked, “Could you take this hospital and use it like you use Mwami hospital to reach people with physical and spiritual health?”

Mwami Adventist Hospital is located in southern Zambia.

The hospital and land was offered to the Adventist Church on the following conditions: the hospital must operate as a nonprofit, it must start operating within a year, and it must meet the needs of the rural community.

“It was donated to the church under those conditions,” Mwate said. “We were gifted the structure.”

The area around the Adventist hospital is populated by seasonal farmers who plant maize in the rainy season but usually only enough for personal use. They do not have much extra income.

Before the grand opening, the Adventist Church installed floors and plumbing in the hospital and dug wells on the land. Zambia’s president, who is a Seventh-day Adventist, also contributed to renovations out of his own pocket, said Mwate, who is the health ministries director for the Northern Zambia Union Conference.

“By the grace of God, the head of state was very interested, and he even put up some of his own money to assist us with renovations and opening,” she said. “He came and helped us open it.”

At the opening ceremony in October 2023, the president, Hakainde Hichilema, promised that the government would also fund a back-up generator and a morgue.

Power cuts are frequent in Zambia because of a lack of water to generate electricity in the drought-hit country.

The generator arrived five months later, and the morgue was in the process of being constructed when Mwate met with Adventist Mission.

The hospital is already proving to be a beacon of hope in the community, said Mwate.

“Our presence, and if we are able to offer slightly advanced medical care, goes a long way toward relieving the suffering there,” she said.

Before the hospital opened, the nearest one was 55 miles (90 kilometers) away. Only one ambulance was available to take people to that far-away hospital on rough gravel roads. Mothers died trying to reach that hospital.

The hospital’s priorities now are a kitchen and a laundry, Mwate said.

A kitchen is needed to prepare food, not only for patients but also for their relatives.

“In Africa, if you have one person who is sick, the whole community comes together to support him,” Mwate said. “So if you go to the hospital, at least five people will accompany you to the hospital. They need a place to eat.”

A laundry with washing machines and dryers is seen as vital for improving patient care.

“Now we have to wash under a tree,” Mwate said.

Your Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will help Chitanda Lumamba Adventist Hospital open the much-needed kitchen and laundry in Zambia. Thank you for planning a generous offering on September 27.