About Us
About Bongolo Friends
Bongolo Friends was launched to be an accelerator of long-term, high-return, strategic projects that allow Bongolo Hospital and other Christian hospitals in Africa to provide excellent and compassionate medical services to all who come.
We are an international nonprofit based in the United States focused on helping Christian hospitals in Africa that demonstrate the compassion and love of Jesus Christ through healthcare.
Not just to the rich, not just to those who believe what we believe, but to all who come. Rich or poor, Christian or Muslim.
We envision funding that will help create a beloved community of Christian hospitals in Africa, serving together in a way that emphasizes health and well-being for the people they serve as well as the training of African medical specialists wiling to serve throughout Africa.
Why
Even in Africa, hospitals that raise the living standards of the people they serve must continue to improve.
Bongolo Hospital has brought medical miracles to Africa for nearly four decades, but to address the next frontier of healthcare delivery in Africa, more financial resources are necessary.
First Priority
Our first priority is the long-term presence and productivity of Bongolo Hospital, and as God provides, we will be an enduring resource for as many other Christian hospitals in Africa as possible.
How
What this Means
- Helping Christian hospitals in Africa overcome the constraints that threaten their survival, prosperity, and ministry to the sick.
- Seeking funds to help Christian hospitals improve emergent and critical care services.
- Raising funds to support, develop, and sustain well-trained medical staffs.
- Providing the housing needs for key staff members, students, and trainees.
- Providing grants to upgrade buildings, critical infrastructure and equipment.
- Developing medical training programs for Bongolo Hospital’s needs and the needs of other hospitals in Africa.
- Providing funding for vital strategic planning.
Meet Our Board
Rev. Glenn Hanna
President and Chairman
Dr. David Thompson
Board Vice Chairman
Dr. William (Bill) Wilson
Board Member
Rev. Harry Metzger
Board Member
Dr. Rosanna Hess
Board Member
Chris Marasco
Board Member
Glenn Hanna
President and Chairman of the Board – Bongolo Friends
Glenn is a former businessman, small business owner, contractor, inventor, and pastor.
He retired in 2021 from serving as Mission Pastor at the 2,500-member Allegheny Center Alliance Church in Pittsburgh, Pa., 12 years.
Glenn founded and is President and Chairman of the Board of the Christian Immigration Advocacy Center, a successful not-for-profit law firm that provides very low cost or free legal services to the refugee and immigrant community in Pennsylvania and surrounding states.
He is also a leader of the annual national “Converge” Missions conference, involved in the annual planning of this event.
Glenn is an author of various articles and has presented seminars on missionary preparation and mentoring, collaborated on the writing and publication of the Missions Engagement Assessment Tool, and served as a mission driver in the WPA District of the C&MA as well as at the national level.
He has served missionaries and missions endeavors in 46 countries, many cities and traveled to more than 20 countries.
Glenn sits on the Oversight Committee for Bongolo Hospital in Gabon, West Africa.
Dr. David Thompson
Dr. David Thompson earned his MD degree in 1973 from the University of Pittsburgh and completed five years of general surgery training in San Diego and Los Angeles.
He married his wife Rebecca in 1973, and from 1977 to 2012, they served at Bongolo Hospital while raising their family.
In 1996, he founded the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) and began a program to train and disciple African surgeons. Since then, the PAACS program at Bongolo Hospital has graduated 19 surgeons, and PAACS has expanded to 11 other Christian hospitals in Africa.
In 2012, Dr. Thompson and his wife moved to Harpur Memorial Hospital in Egypt’s Nile delta, where he opened another PAACS program while his wife launched a nursing school in the region.
In 2018, the Thompsons retired and currently live in Redding, California. Dr. Thompson continues to serve as the Board Chairman for Bongolo Hospital’s Oversight Committee and visits the hospital each year.
He has authored five books: On Call, The Hand on My Scalpel, Beyond the Mist, Christian Mercy, and Training God’s Surgeons for Africa.
The Thompsons have three grown children and six grandchildren.
Dr. William (Bill) Wilson
Dr. Wilson obtained a B.S.in biology from Virginia Tech and an M.D. from Hahnemann University prior to completing his internal medicine residency at Rhode Island Hospital and gastroenterology fellowship at Hahnemann.
After four years with the Air Force he joined Dayton Gastroenterology for the next 30 years. Bill was on staff at Miami Valley Hospital also for the entirety of his career where he served in various roles including Chief of Staff and Board member.
Bill and his wife Marly have three grown children and six grandchildren. Photography, hiking, sailing and gardening are among Bill’s hobbies.
The Wilsons have been members of Fairhaven Church and the Christian and Missionary Alliance for 40 years and active in short term medical missions since 1997 including trips to Swaziland, Mozambique, Guatemala and Ecuador.
Since 2009, Bill has made 12 separate trips to Bongolo Hospital. His work at Bongolo has been some of the most meaningful of his life as he has helped train and mentor young African physician/leaders to deliver first world medicine to a healthcare-deprived continent.
Bill's vision is to see the mission of Bongolo continued for years to come and to witness transformational change of a continent for Christ through the hospital’s healing and sending ministry.
He believes Bongolo Friends is the means God will use to reach that goal.
Dr. Rosanna Hess
Rosanna grew up in Pennsylvania and is married to her husband, Nelson.
She has a Bachelor’s of Nursing from Columbia University in New York and Masters in Intercultural Studies Missiology from Wheaton Graduate School.
She served as a missionary nurse educator with the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Gabon Africa from 1980 to 1998. In Gabon, Rosanna served at the Bongolo Hospital and later led the Primary Health Care ministry using Community Health Evangelism.
Since completing her doctorate degree in Nursing Practice at Case Western Reserve University in 2002, she has taught nursing research in the School of Nursing at Malone University, Canton, OH.
She led the non-profit organization, Research For Health Inc. from 2005 to 2018 and has been a part of numerous U.S. and international research studies.
Rosanna and Nelson live in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio and Lehigh Acres, Fla. They enjoy golf and biking.
Our Vision
To glorify God by empowering Christian hospitals in Africa.
Our Mission
To promote the long-term viability and stability of Bongolo Hospital and other Christian healthcare endeavors in Africa by funding medical, educational, spiritual, missional, and infrastructure advancements.
Our Core Values
- Advancing the primacy of the Gospel witness through healthcare
- Providing compassionate care of the poor at all times
- Promoting excellence in healthcare
- Depending through prayer, the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, and the truth of the Bible to guide
- Valuing every human life from conception to death
- Honoring the fair and merciful care of all people regardless of race, tribe, nationality, gender, or religion