GMHC 2023

Dr. David Thompson is a retired Alliance missionary surgeon who, with his wife Rebecca, served under the Christian & Missionary Alliance at Bongolo Hospital, in the country of Gabon, for 35 years, and at Harpur Memorial Hospital in Egypt for 5 years, retiring in 2018. David grew up in Cambodia, the son of missionary parents Ed and Ruth Thompson, both of whom were martyred in Banmethuot, Vietnam, in 1968. David and his wife Becki married in 1971 and have three children and six grandchildren. He is currently retired and living in California. He is currently 75 years old. Dr. Thompson led the Alliance team in Gabon that built Bongolo Hospital. Since the hospital's inception, more than 20,000 patients have come to faith in Jesus and many churches have been planted in the region, several of which the Thompsons personally started.

In 1996, Dr. Thompson helped establish the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) and in 1997 started the first PAACS program at Bongolo Hospital. Between 2013 and 2018, Dr. Thompson and his wife Rebecca moved to Egypt to open a new PAACS training program and a nursing school, both of which are still thriving. The Thompsons left Egypt in December 2017, after turning their work over to others IW's.

Since retiring from full-time missionary service in 2018, Dr. Thompson has remained active on the PAACS Board of Directors and on the Bongolo Hospital board. He has made numerous trips to Gabon and Egypt to visit both hospitals, and this year served as the Interim Medical Director of the hospital during the month of June. Dr. Thompson is also an active speaker at missions conferences, such as the Prescription for Renewal Conference in Orlando in October of 2022, and speaks several times a year at PAACS fundraisers. In early November he is scheduled to give the final plenary message at the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, KY. He also serves on the board of Bongolo Friends and of Partners in Evangelism (PIEI) - Grace Hospital, a new hospital in a refugee city in northeast DRC.

Finally, Dr. Thompson is a volunteer in serving Redding's homeless community, providing medical care in homeless camps, and sharing the gospel. Dr. Thompson has authored five books describing his years of overseas experience: "On Call", "The Hand on My Scalpel", "Beyond the Mist", "Christian Mercy",  and "Training God’s Surgeons for Africa".  All are available on Amazon.