Frontlines - Missions Central
After serving a decade as one of the primary training physicians with Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) at the Bongolo hospital in Gabon Africa, Keir was moved to Cleveland in 2016 to serve as the organization’s Chief Medical Officer. With PAACS just recently becoming an independent mission organization, Keir’s title has changed to Executive Vice President. PAACS mission is to train African surgeons to glorify God and to provide excellent, compassionate care to those most in need.
The long-term goal is to keep these trained surgeons serving in the African countries where they are so desperately needed. While addressing the patients’ medical needs, they also strive to share the Gospel. In many locations of Africa today there is only one surgeon for every 250,000 people. PAACS is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Like most ministries, the progression during the first ten years were challenging, but about the time that Keir joined the organization in 2006, things began to advance. In 2008, Bongolo was able to graduate its first resident surgeon in 9 different programs. Today PAACS has 16 programs in 8 countries partnering with 12 mission hospitals. They have 121 graduates now serving in some of the most underserved countries in Africa and are currently training 105 residents.
Keir and his wife Joanna raised their children Luke and Sarah in the jungles of Africa. Joanna self-taught their kids through their elementary years. Keir’s new assignment requires him to travel to various locations in Africa during the year. However, Keir noted in a recent correspondence that the global pandemic has resulted in his role with PAACS being “office” based with him not traveling to Africa from February to December of 2020 – the longest he had been out of Africa since 2006.
The historic foundation and current emphasis is to produce general surgeons, however in recent years they have diversified into several needed specialty training programs such as orthopedics, pediatrics, neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery. At the launch of 2021 they are planning to add several more surgery specialties to their training programs. Plans are under way to add three new general surgery programs in 2022 in Madagascar, Burundi and Malawi.
The long-term goal is to keep these trained surgeons serving in the African countries where they are so desperately needed. While addressing the patients’ medical needs, they also strive to share the Gospel. In many locations of Africa today there is only one surgeon for every 250,000 people. PAACS is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Like most ministries, the progression during the first ten years were challenging, but about the time that Keir joined the organization in 2006, things began to advance. In 2008, Bongolo was able to graduate its first resident surgeon in 9 different programs. Today PAACS has 16 programs in 8 countries partnering with 12 mission hospitals. They have 121 graduates now serving in some of the most underserved countries in Africa and are currently training 105 residents.
Keir and his wife Joanna raised their children Luke and Sarah in the jungles of Africa. Joanna self-taught their kids through their elementary years. Keir’s new assignment requires him to travel to various locations in Africa during the year. However, Keir noted in a recent correspondence that the global pandemic has resulted in his role with PAACS being “office” based with him not traveling to Africa from February to December of 2020 – the longest he had been out of Africa since 2006.
The historic foundation and current emphasis is to produce general surgeons, however in recent years they have diversified into several needed specialty training programs such as orthopedics, pediatrics, neurosurgery and cardiothoracic surgery. At the launch of 2021 they are planning to add several more surgery specialties to their training programs. Plans are under way to add three new general surgery programs in 2022 in Madagascar, Burundi and Malawi.
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