The CURE Center for Orthopedic Specialties in Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic (MNN) ― Steve Bostian with CURE International is heading to the Dominican Republic next week to head up the ministry facilities there as executive director.
Established in 2003, the Center for Orthopedic Specialties in the Dominican Republic was CURE's first presence in Latin America.
Says Bostian, "About 80-85 percent of the children that are gripped in poverty just don't have the resources to get a permanent cure for their disability like kids in the United States would."
According to CURE, the Pan American Health Organization estimates that about 7% of the general population of the Dominican Republic is disabled, meaning that there are more than 400,000 Dominicans with disabilities, many of them children and most of them coming from the lower socio-economic classes.
Less than 15% of the disabled in the Dominican Republic have access to any sort of rehabilitation services. Only the wealthy can afford to pay for these services.
Most public hospitals are in extremely poor condition and must deal with crisis situations rather than a disability which is not always viewed as something worth treating.
That's why CURE began work in the region. Today, the hospital serves more than 700 outpatients each month and maintains a very active spiritual ministry.
Bostian says, "We use the medical ministry as a platform for evangelism and spiritual ministry. The Gospel is shared with every child that comes into the hospital or clinic and his or her family. Even afterwards, every child is visited in his or her home."
The scope of their work is not limited to the Dominican Republic. The small country is on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, between Cuba and Puerta Rico. The Dominican Republic occupies 2/3 of Hispaniola, while Haiti occupies the remaining third.
Haiti is widely seen as the poorest country in the western hemisphere and has only a fraction of the physicians seen in other Latin American countries. CURE expanded their DR work into Haiti and now makes regular trips every 3 months to Haiti from the hospital in the Dominican Republic.
No newcomer to developing self-sustaining indigenous programs, Bostian has served as assistant U.S. director for Hope Unlimited for Children. In this role, he was responsible for the organization's marketing and development efforts, volunteer relations and special events. He also previously held positions with Samaritan's Purse and World Relief.
The end goal: seeing CURE as a self-supporting ministry in the Dominican Republic. Aside from weaning off U.S. funds, Bostian says, "A long term goal that I have is to work with Dominicans that have the means to give and work with the church in that country to raise the level of indigenous support," which includes not only the economics of it but also the discipleship investment in their communities.
Keep praying for Bostian, along with his wife, April, and their three children: Jason, Alex and Ashley. He notes that the transition will be difficult for his children, now teenagers, so pray for his family as they adjust to life in the Dominican Republic. Pray, too, that the Lord would give him wisdom as he leads the ministry.
