Perry and Brenda Jansen are U.S.-based SIM partners who have a heart for showing God’s love through medical treatments in missions. Twenty-four years ago, God called them to move to Malawi, where Perry would serve as a physician.
“I knew I’d be facing HIV there,” Perry said. “But I really wasn’t prepared for the impact that it would have on me, taking care of people dying with HIV in 2000, with no help. I remember calling out to the Lord to say, ‘Doesn’t anyone care that people are dying here?’”
The Jansens soon became part of the National Ministry of Health’s HIV treatment program for bringing HIV treatments to Malawi. God continued to burden them with Malawians suffering from HIV, and after 16 years, the Jansens founded a nonprofit called Partners In Hope.
“Resources started to show up for HIV, and that was the focus of our ministry. And so, it grew well, and it grew fast,” Perry said.
However, God had plans for Partners In Hope beyond what the Jansens could see. He wanted them to see that Malawians would run, operate, and own the nonprofit in due time.
“I don’t want to have founder syndrome. I don’t want to be there and always have my hands in the pot, but instead, I wanted to build structures, build people, and build funding streams and strategies that could keep it running long after I was there,” Perry said. “It was only by God’s grace that it did happen.”
After 16 years in Malawi, God began calling Perry and Brenda to return home to the United States to care for their aging parents and growing children.
“It was a hard thing for me,” Perry said. “We grew this organization from five people to, at the time, about 600 people … I was thinking, ‘How am I going to ever hand this off?’”
Local prayer warriors joined with Perry and Brenda to pray for God’s help.
“It was God’s hands. He had already put in place some Malawian leadership that could competently take over what we started,” Perry said. “Very early on, it was like disassembling my plans that I had set in place and God saying, ‘I have something else in mind.’”
Partners In Hope is now run by three Malawian women who have tripled its size, impact, budget, and staff. There are now 1,500 employees working in nine districts in Malawi, caring for 200,000 people with HIV.
Since returning to the United States, God has placed a burden on Perry for health systems. He led him to join African Mission Healthcare, a nonprofit that works with 35 mission hospitals in 18 countries to train national physicians and healthcare leaders in Africa.
“The thing I’m most encouraged by is the people that God is raising up from within these nations,” Perry said. “The nationals, the physicians mostly, but the nurses and administrators as well. God is raising these people to transition from missions to church-led healthcare ministries.”
From Malawi to the United States, God is using the Jansens to provide healthcare in His name, proclaiming that there is healing in the name of Jesus. God continues to use their obedience, whether they are home-based or serving overseas.
Their story is a testament to God’s power over disease, His heart to heal the sick in all nations, and how God can use anyone, located anywhere, to serve His Kingdom.