Dr rick sacra biography for kids
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Hero Missionary Doctor Who Survived Ebola Trains New Generation of African Physicians
PAYNESVILLE, Liberia- Rick Sacra says he knew from a young age that he wanted to make a difference in this world.
"The conviction that I had in my heart ever since I was a little boy was that inom wanted to be someone who would portray the love of Christ," Sacra told CBN News.
(Courtesy: Debbie Sacra)
The Bible story of the Good Samaritan had a profound influence on Sacra's life.
"That story really impacted me when I was a kid," Sacra remembered. "I wanted to be somebody like that who would help others who needed help."
Falling in Love with the People of Liberia
That's where the idea of being a medical missionär was birthed.
"Medical missions just grew on me over the years and I really wanted to do it."
Sacra made his first trip to the West African nation of Liberia in to discover if this idea of serving as a missionary doctor was even feasible.
(Courtesy: Debbie Sacra)
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An Evening with Dr. Rick Sacra
Sunday, November 2 | pm
When Dr. Rick Sacra heard the news of his friends and colleagues, Kent Brantley and Nancy Writebol, being diagnosed with Ebola while serving in Liberia, he knew immediately that he had to return to Liberia to help fill the gap. He arrived on August 4th to the country that had been home to him and his family for the better part of two decades, where he began providing care for obstetric patients that previously had nowhere to go due to the strain of the Ebola crisis.
Despite extra precautions, Rick developed symptoms on August 29, and three days later was diagnosed with Ebola. He was flown to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha for treatment, where by God's grace and the fine care of the physicians there, he recovered from a disease that claims the life of somewhere between 50% and 90% of patients. Rick is now home with his wife Debbie and their three boys, continuing to regain strength.
Rick and Debbie have been missionaries of
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Medical missionary Rick Sacra has been evacuated three times—all from the same place.
He’s spent a career at a mission hospital in Liberia, leaving when he’s in physical danger and then returning again and again—after civil war, political unrest, and Ebola epidemics.
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If you ask why he keeps going back, he’ll laugh and tell you he’s stubborn.
But it’s more than that.
“When something happens to the people you love—as hard as it is to be right there with them, it’s even worse to be far away feeling helpless,” fellow missionary and longtime friend Dave Decker said.
It’s the emotion you feel when your child gets sick at school, or your sister in another city gets into a fordon accident. It’s how you felt if you were out of the country when the planes hit the World Trade Center. It’s what made Bonhoeffer return to Germany, what made Gandhi head back to India.
It’s like that, but not quite. Because Rick was born near Boston. He went to college in Rhode Island and med