The Luke Society was initially organized in 1964 by a group of physicians and dentists to save a mission hospital in Rehoboth, N.M. In 1970 Dr. Peter Boelens, a member of the Society, founded its first community health and development program in Cary, Mississippi. Today, that ministry is independent and continues to serve the people of the Mississippi delta under local leadership. In 1979, under the direction of Dr. Boelens, the Luke Society broadened its focus to include international ministries as well as domestic. In 1996, the Luke Society appointed regional coordinators, indigenous Christian leaders already serving as Luke Society ministry directors, to seek new ministry opportunities on their own continents and to help mentor new ministry directors. This has resulted in rapid expansion with great potential for future growth in the ministry. Dr. Boelens retired in 1998, and the organization's headquarters were moved to Sioux Falls, SD, where Dr. Wrede Vogel now presides as executive director. The Luke Society currently has partnerships with more than 30 ministries around the world.
ministry timeline
- Monrovia, Liberia - 2007
- Rivne, Ukraine - 2007
- Nepal - 2007
- Ethiopia - 2007
- Colombia - 2006
- China - 2006
- Pucallpa, Peru - 2006
- Benin - 2005
- Bolivia - 2004
- Senegal - 2004
- Cameroon - 2004
- San Pedro, Guatemala - 2004
- DR Congo - 2003
- Ecuador - 2002
- Jalapa, Mexico - 2002
- Nicaragua - 2001
- Paraguay - 2001
- India - 2000
- Indonesia - 2000
- Kenya - 2000
- US - 1999
- Mali - 1999
- Trujillo, Peru - 1998
- Transcarpathia, Ukraine - 1997
- Myanmar - 1996
- Uganda - 1996
- Sierra Leone - 1996
- Patzun, Guatemala - 1996
- Gracias, Honduras - 1994
- Dominican Republic - 1991
- Romania - 1991
- Moyobamba, Peru - 1988
- Ghana - 1988
- Olancho, Honduras - 1983
- Philippines - 1981