our story
Ray of Hope’s story begins in 2012 and is a testament to God’s faithfulness and of the hope that He gives to us.
Ray of Hope Medical Missions became a 501(c)(3) in November 2012 to save the life of then 3-year-old Franny. She had been staying with founders Rebecca and Kerry as her host family while receiving medical care in the United States.
After spending 11 months living stateside, she was sent back to her home. Once there, her condition worsened. Getting her back to the United States to get medical care was a life or death situation.
With no legal means to bring Franny back again, Ray of Hope Medical Missions nonprofit was granted approval from the Attorney General within 24 hours, and 10 days later Franny returned to the United States.
In the beginning days, Ray of Hope existed simply to save Franny’s life, and there was a lot of uncertainty about the future of the nonprofit — if there was one at all.
God knew.
Within 6 months, we had received 21 referrals for children who needed to come to the United States for medical care.
While running the medical assistance program for many years, in 2014 Rebecca was on her way to return a child to their home and was introduced to rural southern Uganda.
The infant/maternal mortality rate in the area was 64 percent at the time, meaning more than 1 in 2 mothers or infants were not surviving birth.
Our founder Rebecca is a nurse, and she felt strongly that Ray of Hope Medical Missions could make a difference in that area to cultivate healthier moms and babies.
In 2016, construction began on our first building - The Birthplace.
Though this was an exciting time, it was wrought with spiritual warfare from all sides both Stateside and in Uganda.
In May 2019, the building was completed just in time to welcome the first Birthplace birth - baby Hope.
The first baby ever born at The Birthplace was baby Hope. Though it was a whirlwind inaugural birth that required full resuscitation of baby, it was the beginning seed of all that Ray of Hope Medical Missions and the Hope Centre campus in Uganda would grow into.
Her birth marked a new beginning.
In 2020, Covid swept across the globe.
It became a blessing in disguise, though, for it allowed the Hope Centre campus in Uganda to grow organically with the community there.
Prior to that, our presence was uncomfortable for the locals. There was a lot of spiritual, physical, and mental pushback during that season. Covid became a doorway for connectedness to take root between us and the local community there.
In the following years, we continued to grow and flourish.
We now have an 11-acre campus that is a safe haven for all who enter. The property has our medical clinic and birth center, a lodge for visitors and missionaries, a pavilion that is used for all kinds of gatherings, a solar-powered electrical system, a water filtration system, and plenty of land where kids from the surrounding can have a safe, clean place to play.
"I'm not their answer, I'm not their savior, I just get to be a tool. I hope I'm not a very important tool, just one of many tools.”
- Rebecca, Founder
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