The Friends of IMCK is an association whose members include anyone with a heart for the people of DR Congo and the work being done by the Christian Medical Institute of Kasai. We are churches, organizations, missionaries, children or grandchildren of missionaries, doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, individuals who have visited IMCK, and anyone who supports the work being done in the challenging environment of the Kasai region of this country.
The specific mission of the Friends of IMCK is to raise awareness of the Institute, establish and grow a permanent endowment fund, and promote fundraising for current needs at IMCK. We welcome all who are interested and encourage you to join our mailing list for our newsletter and other updates.
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Friends of IMCK Board of Directors

Dr. Merle Miller (Vice President) is a daughter of Dr. John K. and Aurie Miller, co-founders of IMCK, and lived in Congo/Zaire through high school. She graduated from Tufts University with a degree in International Relations, worked at IMCK for a year, then returned to Boston for premedical coursework. Merle received her MD from UNC-Chapel Hill and while there did a research project at IMCK with Dr. Anthony Fauci. She trained in Emergency Medicine in Denver where she met her husband, Dr. Alex Maslanka. She practiced Emergency Medicine in Colorado for 22 years, was board certified in Palliative Care and practiced in Colorado and Northern California for 8 years. She and Alex, now retired, live in Boulder County, Colorado, and enjoy gardening, hiking, reading and travel.

Dr. William Pender (Secretary) has served as a Presbyterian minister for over 40 years—in North Carolina, Florida, South Carolina, and Tennessee. His Ph.D. is from Duke University (with an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College and M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary). In retirement, he and wife Sheri enjoy living in Montreat, NC. His connection to IMCK goes back to childhood, as his home congregation in Marietta, GA, regularly talked about the “mission work at Good Shepherd Hospital.” In his last pastorate at the First Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, TN, he reconnected with the Rule family (Bill and Effie Rule, founding members of IMCK, had deep roots there—Bill grew up in Knoxville and the two of them lived in retirement there, with Effie serving as the first woman elder in the congregation).

Dr. Henry Sperry Nelson is the son of Henry and Katie Nelson, long time mission workers in China and Congo. They were instrumental in the founding and growth of the IMCK. Sperry grew up at Luebo and attended Central School at Lubondai until 1960. He graduated from Vanderbilt University and received his M.D. from the University of Tennessee. He is a Professor of Surgery at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville where he is involved in education of residents and medical students. His area of special interest is endocrine and minimally invasive surgery.

Rev. Ruth Low Reinhold was born in the Congo and moved to the US after high school. She got her MDiv degree from Emory University and completed advanced studies in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola University. Ruth has worked at Church World Service, was campus minister at Georgia Tech and West Georgia College, managed a homeless shelter in Falls Church, Virginia, and pastored six churches in Virginia, California and Arizona. She’s been a marriage and family therapist in Manassas, Virginia and a chaplain at Walnut Creek Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California. Recently, she has worked in the real estate market. She and husband Russell live in Fort Collins, Colorado and have a son who lives in Seattle.

Hope Farrior, CNM, MPH, is the daughter of Dr. Hugh and Ellen Farrior who were involved with IMCK in the late 1960s-early 1970s. She spent formative years in the Congo/Zaire until 8th grade. Hope took a gap year from Davidson College to return to the Congo on her own and work with opening Didisha Dimpe Nutrition Center alongside Cecile, Mpoyi Jacque’s wife, and Dr. John Miller. The last 18 years of her career, Hope provided comprehensive women’s healthcare at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center where she interacted with global health specialists from USAID, NIH, and WHO. Hope and her family have been active members of L’Arche, an international spiritual community supporting persons with intellectual disabilities, for over 40 years. Hope and her husband, Dave, cherish time with their two grown children and three grandchildren who live nearby.

Robert Irish (President) served as a Presbyterian mission co-worker at IMCK from 1989-93. With an engineering background, Bob worked with the maintenance and hydro teams in Tshikaji to ensure that the hospital ran smoothly and electricity and water was available. He received a Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from California State Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, and worked in the electronics and aerospace industries in engineering and program management. Bob has been active as an elder and deacon at First Presbyterian Church in McMinnville, Oregon and serves on the Mission Committee there.

Holly Miller was raised in the Congo as a daughter of Presbyterian medical missionaries, John and Aurie Miller. As a young person, she spent many hours helping out in her mother’s lab, sorting donated drugs in the pharmacy and later assisting her father with baby clinics and nutrition programs. She attended Central School, Emory University and did graduate work at the University of Georgia. After graduate school, she worked for Jimmy Carter as Governor and President. She spent most of her career working in the Pacific Northwest for both King County, Washington and the City of Seattle. She is married to John Gayman and has two children, Sam and Anne and two grandchildren, William Knox and Lila Anne.

Kent Galloway (Treasurer) worked in finance for 40 years, the last 27 as the CFO of The ICEE Company. He earned a BS in Accounting, a CPA certificate, and an MBA in Finance. Kent has participated in mission trips to Uganda and Zimbabwe. He resides in Alta Loma, California, with his wife, and they have one daughter and two granddaughters. Kent recently published “Courage in the Congo: A Doctor’s Fight to Save the Pygmies,” based on 27 years of letters written by his second cousin. He enjoys beekeeping, and all honey sales support boy’s soccer and girl’s netball in Uganda. Kent is a member of New Song in San Dimas and he enjoys their Garden Ministry.

Elizabeth “Bizza” Britton is the daughter of Henry and Katie Nelson, long time mission workers in China and Congo. After graduating from Rhodes University in 1976, she joined the Peace Corps and served in Benin, followed by 2 years at the IMCK doing Public Health projects with Dr. John Miller. She returned to the US to pursue a Masters in Nursing from the University of Tennessee in 1983, and spent the next 40 years in Baton Rouge as a Nurse Practitioner. The last 23 years, Bizza worked in the Louisiana prison system as a Hepatology (liver) specialist, working on the development and implementation of the first statewide Hepatitis C Elimination program that is now a model for the national effort spearheaded by Dr. Francis Collins. Retiring in Aug 2023, she and husband, Ed are looking forward to traveling to see friends, their two grown children and three grandkids, and hiking the rest of the Appalachian Trail, like her Mom!

Dr. Susan B. Girois is a public health professional currently serving as the Director of the Norfolk Department of Public Health in Virginia. She holds a medical degree from Penn State College of Medicine and an MPH from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Her career has spanned service in inner-city Philadelphia providing HIV/AIDs care, to France, serving people with disabilities in low-income countries. She attributes her love for public health to her upbringing in the DRC (then Zaire) with her parents, Drs. Richard and Judith Brown, Presbyterian medical missionaries who served in Bulape, Kinshasa and at IMCK. In 2021 she moved back to DRC to work under Dr. Larry Sthreshley at IMA World Health, leading a large ‘health systems strengthening’ project in 3 rural DRC provinces. During her tenure, she returned several times to IMCK where she connected with staff and villagers who had known her as a child.

Maureen Sarewitz has spent her career in global health and technology. She owns a consulting business that supports startups, social enterprises, and non-profits on digital strategy, marketing, and operations, and is the founder of Trove, an organization that brings visibility to diverse and talented professionals. She is a part-time faculty member at the University of Washington where she teaches Project Management to MPH students and serves as a mentor to entrepreneurship students. Previously, Maureen spent four years living and working in sub-Saharan Africa, including with a local NGO in Tanzania and for the International Training and Education Center on Health in Tanzania and Namibia. Maureen lives in Seattle with her husband, Jeff, and enjoys her dogs, hiking and cheering on Seattle sports teams.