History

Luke Society inception

As a volunteer physician in Rehoboth, NM, in 1964, Dr. Marvin “Van” Vanden Bosch of Denver, Colo., felt the Lord calling him to help the Rehoboth Mission Hospital, deemed “inadequate” by the New Mexico Department of Public Health.

Vanden Bosch, along with five other doctors and dentists, met in the basement of the Third Christian Reformed Church in Denver to lay the groundwork for a new nonprofit organization to support and ensure the continuity of health care in Rehoboth. The organization was named the Luke Society, Inc., and was approved by the Christian Reformed Church Synod in 1964.

Vanden Bosch served as the Luke Society’s first medical director in Rehoboth from 1964-68, and the facility was renamed to the Rehoboth Christian Hospital.

Within five years, the Luke Society had grown to 120 members, who were instrumental in constructing and dedicating a new Rehoboth hospital in 1970.

Domestic expansion

After serving as a pediatric missionary in South Korea for six years, Dr. Peter Boelens sensed the Lord calling him into a new mission field.

In 1971, Boelens made an appeal to the Luke Society to support a new ministry in the Mississippi Delta aimed at breaking the cycle of poverty by teaching Biblical principles through a holistic health approach.

The Luke Society Board of Directors approved his proposal and he began a ministry in Cary, Mississippi, where he initially worked out of a 12-by-60-foot mobile trailer. His work had an immediate impact and provided a much-needed service to one of the most impoverished areas in the United States.

Boelens later became the first executive director of the Luke Society in 1978.

International growth

While serving as a missionary in South Korea, Dr. Peter Boelens witnessed the global need for medical professionals in remote areas.

In 1978, with the board’s blessing, Boelens worked with Christian agencies to explore opportunities for medical ministries internationally. Boelens recognized the best way to do this was not through U.S. doctors, but by empowering indigenous professionals who knew the local culture, languages and medical needs of each region.

The Luke Society’s first international partnership was started in the Philippines in 1980. Within 10 years, the ministry had expanded to Ecuador, Dominican Republic, India, Ghana, Mexico, Peru, Uganda and Honduras.

To the ends of the earth

The Luke Society has come a long ways since its humble beginnings in Rehoboth, New Mexico. At the beginning of 2022, the Luke Society was actively partnering with 37 ministries in 29 different countries — a span that reaches across five continents.

However, the impact cannot be completely understood without acknowledging the thousands of lives who have experienced the Spirit’s transforming power during the last six decades. Since 1964, the Luke Society has supported indigenous doctors and medical professionals at 79 ministry sites in 43 countries, each who use their skills in medicine as a tool for a greater calling to improve their communities and transform lives through Jesus Christ.

The following is a complete list of ministry partnerships the Luke Society has supported since its inception. Over time, some ministries graduate to a point of self-sustainability. Others are partners for a season then move on for different reasons or circumstances.

Ministries in bold and those with links represent active ministries. Please note that some active ministries do not have a separate page on our site due to their politically sensitive locations and our desire to protect them as best as we can.

Ministry timeline

1981: Iloilo Island and Negros Island, Philippines.
1982: Tuni, India.
1983: Olancho, Honduras.
1988: Kasei, Ghana; Moyobamba, Peru.
1991: Pitesti, Romania; Los Angeles Dominican Republic.
1992: Kiev, Ukraine.
1994: Gracias, Honduras.
1996: Patzun, Guatemala; Matupi, Myanmar; Kampala, Uganda; Freetown, Sierra Leone.
1997: Transcarpathia, Ukraine;  Xocenpich, Mexico.
1998: Trujillo, Peru; Quibdo, Colombia; Colomoncagua, Honduras; La Joya, Honduras; Palawan, Philippines.
1999: Vicksburg, Mississippi; Kayes, Mali.
2000: Nairobi, Kenya; Odisha, India; Papua, Indonesia.
2001: Encarnacion, Paraguay; Jinotepe, Nicaragua.
2002: Jalapa, Mexico; Quininde, Ecuador.
2003: Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo.
2004: San Pedro, Guatemala (became San Juan, Guatemala, in 2012); Bamenda, Cameroon; Dahra, Senegal; Yacuiba, Bolvia.
2005: N’Dali, Benin.
2006: Pucallpa, Peru; Corinto, Colombia; Anshan, China.
2007: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Birtamod, Nepal; Rivne, Ukraine; Monrovia, Liberia; Izamal, Mexico.
2010: Kaya, Burkina Faso; Cordoba Argentina; Cayes-Jacmel, Haiti.
2011: Chilimarca, Bolivia.
2012: El Pimental, El Salvador (became Metapan, El Salvador, in 2014); Moundou, Chad; Madaoua, Niger; Naryn, Kyrgyzstan; Southern Laos.
2013: Lugansk, Ukraine.
2015: Masatepe, Nicaragua; Segou, Mali.
2016: Rafey, Dominican Republic.
2017: Northern Egypt; North Maluku, Indonesia.
2018: Habaraduwa, Sri Lanka.
2019: Kaniaka, Mali.
2020: Koutiala, Mali; Mbongo, Cameroon.
2021: Leon, Nicaragua; Riobamba, Ecuador.
2022: Central Burkina Faso; Tchaourou, Benin; Maradi, Niger.
2023: Eloxochitlan, Mexico; Tekanassar, Niger