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Surgery Helps Foundation

Madagascar Burundi

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Your generosity fuels our mission!

You can support ministry work that matters to you with confidence, knowing your gifts advance our key charitable purposes and uses funds efficiently and effectively to fulfill the ministry goals that you cherish.

The Great Commission Foundation ("The GC") is a charitable trust, established by a Deed of Settlement made as of September 1, 2002 and governed by an Amended and Restated Deed of Settlements made as of October 22, 2024.

The GC is a public foundation that is registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (with Canadian Charitable Registration Number 859928483 RR0001).

The charitable objects of The GC are:

1. The advancement of Christianity by spreading its principles;

2. The relief of poverty by the assistance to those persons lacking the necessities of life by giving them food, clothing, shelter or financial assistance;

3. The advancement of education including, without limitation, by the teaching of scripture and the promotion of literacy; and

4. The advancement of other "charitable purposes" as defined within subsection 149.1(1) of Income Tax Act, which includes the disbursement of funds to "qualified donees" as also defined in subsection 149.1(1).

We engage other ministries as agents to carry out projects that fulfill our charitable objects.

The GC anticipates raising an estimated amount of $12,000,000.00 this year from donation for the fulfillment of its charitable objects from donors in Alberta, Canada. The processing of these donations will cost, on average, six percent. The money raised will be going to fulfill the charitable objects of The GC.

For further information, please contact our Donations Team at donations-ca@thegc.org or call us at 1-855-488-7020. To speak directly to the GC's Donation's Manager, please call Kathy Stewart at (604) 229-8008. The GC has two (2) Canadian offices. Please visit our contact page for further details

About This Project

Surgery Helps is providing quality, compassionate and safe surgical care to patients in underserved regions of the work as a reflection of Jesus. We are addressing the surgical needs in the most challenging communities through strategic partnerships with qualified Christian surgeons, training new doctors and assisting the poorest of the poor who cannot otherwise afford life-changing surgery.

Canadian-trained surgeon Jesh Thiessen and his family lived and served overseas, working in low-income and hard-to-reach locations in Africa. They witnessed first-hand the significant resource limitations that often disabled patients from receiving necessary surgical care.

Living and working alongside national surgeons, they identified an opportunity to improve the sustainability of surgical missions by equipping the nationals who are already there, ready to serve their people. Quality residency programs like the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons are preparing young surgeons, but they are sometimes unable to get back to the hospitals with greatest need due to the lack of available resources.

Over 5 billion people in the world do not have access to safe surgery. Surgically treatable diseases often go left untreated and can result in lifetime disability or death.

But we can make a difference, one patient, and one surgeon at a time. 

Will you join us to help bring healing to those in desperate need?

Visit our website at www.SurgeryHelps.ca for more stories of hope.

“For let us not grow weary of doing good…
for in due season we will reap, 
if we do not give up.”
Galations 6:9

Ministry No. 1487

Program Countries: Madagascar, Burundi

Focuses: Medical Care, Evangelism, Community Development, Education, Health Care, Poverty Relief, Discipleship, Leadership Development

Website: https://www.surgeryhelps.ca/

Team Lead: Dr. Jesh & Julie Thiessen

Team Members: Dr. Jesh Thiessen, Dr. Andrew Huang, Julie Thiessen

Surgery Helps Foundation logo

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*The Great Commission Foundation (the "Foundation") operates on the basis of Donor-Advised Funding. It is our utmost goal to meet the Donor's desire and intent to provide support to particular Foundation projects but, ultimately, the responsibility for the disbursement and ministry use of funds is the Foundation's. If the Foundation does not use the donation in the way the donor prefers, the Foundation will not return the donation to the donor.

*You will receive an official Canadian tax receipt for all eligible donations by the end of February of the following year. Thank you for your support of the missions and programs of the Foundation.

Need to update your contact or giving information?

Call our donations department toll free 1-855-488-7020 or local 1-604-960-2595 Ext. 425

Office hours are 7am – 4pm (PST) Monday to Friday. (GCF’s office is closed on stat holidays)

Email donations-ca@thegc.org – Please do not send credit card numbers via email.

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