Hearts for Mission International (H4MI), an ASI Missions, Inc. organization, successfully performed the first ever open-heart surgery in Malawi at the Blantyre Adventist Hospital in November of 2023. The moment was a monumental milestone and a beacon of hope for the millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa that suffer from heart disease with no access to medical care.

However, Hearts for Mission International’s story begins long before the monumental surgery in Malawi.

Hearts for Mission International was conceived when cardiologist Dr. Nan Wang and his wife, Sandy, along with a few former members of the Loma Linda Heart Team and their colleagues, desired to continue the work of performing open-heart surgery in Africa.

In 2021, Dr. Wang and Sandy visited South Africa and were deeply impressed by the people of the region. During their visit, Dr. Wang inquired into the accessibility of cardiological care in Sub-Saharan Africa. He quickly learned that outside of South Africa, very few heart surgeries were being performed in the region.

Unfortunately, the lack of heart surgeries is not due to a lack of need. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease is responsible for an estimated 1.3 million deaths annually in Sub-Saharan Africa, and that number is only expected to grow. Cardiovascular care in the region poses a multitude of challenges, including a shortage of trained healthcare professionals, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

Upon returning to the United States, the Wangs discussed the dire need for cardiac care in Sub-Saharan Africa with their friends, Pam and Dale Timothy and Patti Catelano. Dr. Wang recognized the need for a local heart surgeon to spearhead the endeavors in Africa. Pam and Dale introduced Dr. Wang to Dr. Arega Fekadu Leta, a Loma Linda trained cardiothoracic surgeon working at a Christian hospital in Kenya. Dr. Leta had a heart for medical mission work and desired to partner with an Adventist hospital in the region to advance access to cardiology care.

In March of 2022, the Wangs began preparing for a trip back to Africa to meet Dr. Leta in person and to visit the Blantyre Adventist Hospital in Malawi. Dr. Wang and Dr. Leta hoped to partner with the Blantyre hospital and local officials to organize a team of medical heart specialists to perform surgeries there. As they were in the midst of planning, Dr. Wang received a serendipitous text message from his niece, Charlene Wang, a medical student at Loma Linda University who was doing medical mission work at the sister institution Malamulo Adventist Hospital in Malawi.

During one of her rotations, Charlene met Young Banda, a 15-year-old

living in a mud brick home in the rural hills of southern Malawi. Young Banda was ill. He was always tired, had joint pain, and often shook with Rheumatic fever. Upon being admitted to the Malamulo Adventist Hospital, Banda was diagnosed with Rheumatic Heart Disease, a painfully common and hopeless disease for so many in the country and region. Banda would need open-heart surgery to relieve the blockage in his heart as well as a double heart valve replacement—neither of which had ever been done in Malawi before. Sub-Saharan Africa has 14.3 million people for every one cardiothoracic surgeon—and none of these surgeons were in Malawi. Those with resources suffering from heart conditions were forced to travel to South Africa or India to receive life-changing surgery.

Young Banda’s situation was close to hopeless. With no surgeon in Malawi to help and no resources to travel abroad, he had no pathway to recovery. After Charlene told Dr. Wang about Young Banda, he connected his niece with Dr. Leta in Kenya. After evaluating Banda’s condition and conducting further tests, Dr. Leta agreed to take the case.

Charlene quickly began raising funds. In only a few short months, Young Banda traveled to Kenya and, on July 4, received his life-changing surgery.

Young Banda’s story added fuel to the fire of the small team that desired to increase access to heart care in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Wang, along with his friend Dr. Nathaniel Liu, a retired dentist from Fallbrook, California, and the small team that had formed began work to establish H4MI as an official nonprofit organization. Hearts for Mission International, in partnership with ASI Missions, Inc., obtained its nonprofit status in December of 2022.

A few short months later, several H4MI team members returned to Malawi to meet with hospital leadership and government officials to plan for the first official heart surgery team visit. Malawi’s Deputy Minister of Health, Halima Daud, was thrilled, asking if the first heart surgeries could be performed in six months time.

Hearts for Mission International and its small team had originally planned on a one-year timeline, but placed the work in God’s hands and agreed to expedite their goal. In November of 2023 during a 10-day cardiac camp, H4MI performed the first-ever open-heart surgery in Malawi at the Blantyre Adventist Hospital.

The patient was Eliza Frank, a 33-year-old mother of four who used to be a subsistence farmer before contracting Rheumatic Heart Disease. Her symptoms—shortness of breath and heart palpitations upon any exertion—forced Eliza to stop farming and rely on her mother and sister for support. With limited access to medical interventions, Eliza’s situation, much like Young Banda’s, was all but hopeless.

However, Eliza was one of two patients in Malawi selected to undergo the life-changing procedure and was the first one to receive open-heart surgery. The surgery was a resounding success and Eliza recovered successfully at the Blantyre Adventist Hospital. Eliza’s surgery was a major milestone for Malawi and an extraordinary step toward long-lasting cardiovascular solutions for Sub-Saharan Africa.

There is still so much work to be done. Millions of others in Eliza’s region are suffering from cardiovascular conditions with little hope of recovery. Surgical procedures that could dramatically improve the lives of millions are simply unattainable under the current conditions. By collaborating with government officials and healthcare professionals both locally and abroad, H4MI is fervently working to be an integral part of the solution.

H4MI includes a team of dedicated doctors and supportive staff, including cardiothoracic surgeons Dr. Nan Wang and Dr. Arega Fekuda Leta, cardiologists, including Dr. Tiffany Priester, and Malawian general physician Dr. Blessings Mkundiza, together with anesthesiologists, perfusion specialists, general surgeons, and a dedicated team of support staff including Dr. Randy Bivens, board chair, and Jason Blanchard, CEO, and other board members.

H4MI is committed to continuing the work of providing life-changing care and plans on traveling to Malawi twice each year to perform life-saving surgeries. Their next trip is planned for April of 2024 when 12 patients are already scheduled to receive heart surgery.

But the story does not stop there. Hearts for Missions International has goals above and beyond two trips to Malawi each year. Their long-term goal and mission is to build a cardiac surgery hospital with an interventional cardiology department. Their goal is to include housing for staff members and to train a team of African cardiac surgeons to run the department. While this goal is ambitious and five to seven years out, it is a crucial element of H4MI’s plan to create a permanent presence in Malawi.

While their long-term goal is slowly materializing with the assistance of an incredible team, donor support, and prayer, H4MI will continue to provide critical solutions to crucial needs in Sub-Saharan Africa.

H4MI is truly giving the gift of life.