from Samaritan's Purse: In memory of Dr. Bob

Medical missionary pioneer Dr. Robert Foster passed away on January 8 in Angola, Africa, at the age of 87. 

Samaritan’s Purse and its medical ministry, World Medical Mission, worked with Dr. Foster for decades to help send Christian physicians to mission hospitals in Africa on short-term assignments, and to provide those hospitals with medical equipment and supplies. 

Dr. Foster was born to missionaries in Zambia, grew up in Canada, completed his residency in the United States, served as a medical missionary in Zambia and Angola, and was a mission leader in England and the United States. He was involved in numerous medical and evangelism outreaches in Africa. He established Cavango Mission Hospital in Angola, and Mukinge and Luampa hospitals in Zambia. He also helped launch church planting and medical projects in Madagascar. 

When he was 83 years old, Dr. Foster camped for six weeks in the Angolan bush to help build a medical clinic. 

"I was just looking for a place to use the gifts God had given me," Dr. Foster said as he looked back over 60 of ministry. "I wish more young people would do that."

Dr. Foster’s greatest motivation was to serve the Lord by sharing the Gospel. The hospitals he created were also centers for evangelism. 

"I believe that medical missions is the most valuable tool of evangelism," he said. "People are needy when they come to the hospital, and the opportunities for reaching them for Christ are tremendous."



In 1995, Dr. Foster received the "In the Footsteps of the Great Physician Award", presented by World Medical Mission. In 1988, World Vision International named Dr. Foster as its Missionary Statesman of the Year. Dr. Foster’s book, Sword and Scalpel, recounts his experiences on the mission field. 

Many Christians have been influenced by Dr. Foster’s lifetime of selfless service, including Franklin Graham. “Bob Foster has inspired and challenged me, not only in the ministry with which I’m involved, but also in my personal spiritual journey," Graham said. "When I get to the end of life’s road, I pray that God will have used me at least a fraction of the way He has used Bob Foster.”