The Joy That Service Brings

While studying medicine from 1905-1913, Albert Schweitzer also delivered theological lectures, gave organ concerts, wrote on organ building, completed his scholarly work, Quest for the Historical Jesus, wrote a 844 page German edition of his book on Bach (an earlier version had been written in French), married, preached almost every Sunday, and raised money to establish a hospital in French Equatorial Africa. Over the years he built a large hospital that served thousands.

In establishing a medical center in the heart of Africa, Albert Schweitzer subordinated careers as organist and organ builder, writer, professor, theologian, philosopher, and historian. He surrendered comfort and cultural pursuits to become a spiritual adventurer who, through action, saved and promoted life: wrote of the joy service brings:  

Those who are so favored as to be able to embark on a course of free personal activity must accept this good fortune in a spirit of humility. They must often think of those who, though willing and capable, were never in the position to do the same. And as a rule they must temper their own strong determination with humility. They are almost always destined to have to seek and wait till they find a road open for the activity they long for. Happy are those who are able to give of themselves really and completely!

Affirmation of life is the spiritual act by which man begins to devote himself to his life with reverence in order to raise it to its highest level. At the same time the man who has become a thinking being feels a compulsion to give to others the same reference for life he gives his own. He accepts as being good: to preserve life, to promote life, to raise to its highest value life which is capable of development. A man is ethical only when life is sacred to him and when he devotes himself to all life that is in need of help. 

Now one hundred years old, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital continues to serve people across Gabon.

• Gabon’s healthcare system is considered to be one of the best in West Africa
• Gabon has a 90 percent rate of access to healthcare
• Its citizens enjoy one of the highest ratios of doctors to patients in the continent. 
• Lambaréné, a thriving city with a population of 24,000, has emerged as a nexus of medical care, research and scientific engagement
• The Albert Schweitzer Hospital has developed collaborations with international institutions like the University of Tübingen, attracting global and regional talent and fostering research to tackle diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria