Patrick loved playing soccer in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

He kicked the ball this way. He kicked the ball that way. It was fun to chase after the ball on the soccer field. It was even more fun to kick the ball into the goal area and score a point for the team.

But one day something happened that wasn’t fun. Twelve-year-old Patrick was playing soccer with his friends when he fell down on the grass. He fell hard, and he couldn’t get up. He held his belly and cried. 

Mother took Patrick to the hospital. There, the doctor said the boy needed an urgent operation to repair his spleen. 

The spleen is a soft, spongy organ near the stomach that cleans the blood and makes white blood cells. When Patrick fell down, his spleen was torn. 

Patrick knew that it was an emergency. Mother knew that it was an emergency. The doctor knew that it was an emergency. But the doctor wasn’t willing to do the operation for free. 

“The operation will cost $5,000,” he said. 

Mother didn’t have U.S.$5,000. What could she do? Every hospital that she knew required patients to pay before receiving treatment. She began to cry.

Someone at the hospital noticed her tears and had an idea. “Go quickly to the Seventh-day Adventist clinic,” the person said. “They can help you, and it won’t cost as much.”

Mother and Patrick went straight to the Adventist clinic. There, an Adventist doctor examined Patrick and immediately rushed him into the operating room. He didn’t say anything about money. Mother was surprised. “How can you operate without asking me to pay first?” she asked.

“It’s an emergency,” the doctor said. “We’ll operate now and talk about money later.”

The operation lasted six hours. Two doctors worked together to repair the spleen.

Afterward, Patrick was sent to a clinic room to heal. On the boy’s fourth day in the clinic bed, the doctor told Mother that the operation and clinic stay would cost $1,000.

Mother didn’t have $1,000. “I only have $300,” she said. “Can you take that instead?”

The doctor agreed to take $300.

Mother was very happy and very relieved. 

“I now understand that you are a man of God,” she said. “I want to be a member of your church.”

After ten days, Patrick had recovered completely and went home. He was delighted. His belly no longer hurt, and he could play soccer again.

As he and Mother prepared to leave, Mother told the doctor, “I want to be a member of your church. Please baptize me.”

The doctor called the hospital chaplain, who made arrangements to study the Bible with Mother. Later, Mother was baptized.

Today, Patrick is a happy, healthy boy who goes to church with Mother every Sabbath. Mother comes to the clinic to work as a volunteer several times a week. She mops the floors and keeps the hospital neat and tidy. It’s her way of saying thank you to God for saving her son’s life at the Adventist clinic.

Part of a previous Thirteenth Sabbath Offering, also known as the Quarterly Mission Project Offering, went to help refurbish and expand the clinic that cared for Patrick in Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The full name of the hospital is the Adventist Clinic of Kinshasa. Thanks to that previous offering, Patrick and many other people have been able to receive medical assistance and to learn about God. One of the mission projects for this quarter will also help teach people about God in Kinshasa and beyond. The project is a new media center with Hope Channel, Adventist World Radio, a social media evangelistic center, and a French-language call center in Kinshasa. Thank you for giving generously to this important project.