African Christian Healthcare was born in Nigeria. As early as 1953, missionary nurses began serving the sick and wounded through backdoor clinics. Dr. Henry Farrar, his wife Grace (RN), and their five children went to Nigeria in 1964, and were joined by two missionary nurses the following year: Nancy Petty and Iris Hays. An outpatient clinic was opened in 1965, and the Nigerian Christian Hospital opened in 1966.

To support this ministry and other future ministries, African Christian Hospitals Foundation was legally incorporated in 1974. After growing from Nigeria to Ghana, ACH temporarily joined medical mission efforts to Haiti, Honduras, and Guyana (because of this growth, we added “International Health Care Foundation” to our name in 1997).

In more recent years, we have focused on growth opportunities across Africa, adding health facilities and community health ministries in Tanzania, Eswatini, and Angola, while our earliest ministries in Nigeria and Ghana continue to grow and flourish with our support.

In 2025, we shortened our name from “IHCF/African Christian Hospitals” to “African Christian Healthcare.” However, our mission remains unchanged after 60 years. As our founder Dr. Farrar said in 1964:

“It is our hope to have a part in bringing the light of truth to dispel spiritual darkness and the healing arts of medicine to relieve the suffering of humanity even as did the Great Physician himself.”