Helen Roseveare

When she arrived at a clinic, usually five hundred, sometimes a thousand people were there to greet her. Helen's reputation as the unstoppable Mama Luka had gone before her - she could do more to heal a sick child or baby than all the witch doctors in the area combined. This was the work God had called her to pioneer, and that belief encouraged her. Helen Roseveare served as a medical missionary in the Congo during one of the most chaotic periods in the nation's history. Arriving in 1953, Helen felt God lay on her heart the task of training future nurses to provide desperately needed medical care in the Congo. Helen worked tirelessly as a doctor in the villages and jungles, training medical workers and overseeing the building of hospitals. Gifted with an incredible amount of strength and energy, Helen yearned to see the Congo flourish. Even in the face of violence during the struggle for independence from Belgian colonial rule, Helen refused to give up Janet and Geoff Benge are a husband-and-wife writing team with more than twenty years of writing experience. Janet is a former elementary-school teacher. Geoff holds a degree in history. Originally from New Zealand, the Benges spent ten years serving with Youth With A Mission.