The History
Project Compassion began its ministry to the people of Mexico in 1991. During the first five years we made hundreds of single and five-day trips into the Northern and Central Baja regions providing free medical care where there was little or no care available. We were also instrumental in building clinics, planting churches, and assisting orphanages.
In 1995, our capabilities grew to allow us to perform weeklong clinics in other developing nations. This has proven to be our area of expertise, and we have assisted tens of thousands in need all over the world.
Project Compassion has responded to emergency requests, and has provided disaster relief from devastating events such as Hurricane Mitch to Nicaragua and Honduras, and earthquake relief to El Salvador. Our global response outreaches have included Central and South America, the Pacific Islands, Asia, Europe, and Africa. We continue to receive requests for help from all around the world.
About Project Compassion
Project Compassion operates by responding to the personal invitation of a local church or missionary within a developing country. The clinic is used as an evangelistic outreach to their community. It has proven to be an effective and positive influence on the community and is considered a valuable resource to those that work in developing nations. The experience also provides a potentially life changing encounter for the volunteers that may deepen the mission awareness and encourage further participation.
Through a strong network of dedicated individuals, we are able to bring our proven and invaluable service directly to the point of need. Most often the clinic sites are in very rural and remote locations where medical care is limited or inaccessible.
All volunteers are used to run a full-functioning clinic, regardless of the volunteer’s career experience. A medical background is not essential, as we draw from the talents and knowledge of each individual. The environment varies with each country we visit, and we have conducted clinics in both churches and schools, local clinics and orphanages, and are even completely functional in open fields with mud-walled thatched-roof huts!
Accommodations vary from trip to trip and range anywhere from five-star hotels to sleeping in hammocks as guests of indigenous people. Likewise, the team meals can provide a flavor of adventure. Some are taken from wonderful local restaurants, with items not available in the U.S. Other times meals are cooked over an open fire in the middle of a jungle. One thing is for sure: Every time, it is an experience!
Our clinic can be set up in approximately thirty minutes, even in the most remote locations. We provide all equipment needed to obtain vital statistics on each visitor and supplies necessary for the physicians to perform examination/diagnoses. We also provide a fully stocked pharmacy to fill the prescriptions written by the examiners. Clinic logistics provides for private individual examination with the physicians, as well as one-on-one sharing in the Prayer and Counseling area.
Project Compassion has proven to be an effective and positive influence on those we visit, and is considered a valuable resource to those that work in developing nations. Our services are open to all without prejudice, and all services and pharmaceuticals are provided at no charge: There are no exceptions. The talents required from volunteers are quite varied, but the most valued element is a compassionate heart.
Our Co-Founders
Pastor Bob Maddux
Project Compassion co-founder has been in full time ministry since 1968. He is the founding pastor of Trinity Church San Diego, located in Poway, California a suburb of San Diego, where he served as senior pastor from 1988 to 2015. He continues to serve as part of the church pastoral staff. Under his leadership the church has had an international impact through its various outreaches. Besides his Pastoral work he has ministered on five continents training national pastors and doing evangelistic outreaches. In 1976 he founded Capital Bible College and served as its president for nine years. In 1979 he founded and directed Jesus West Coast, a large annual missions festival attended yearly by thousands and credited with recruiting’ many into missions. He’s the author of 5 books (novels and non-fiction) and has produced various documentary films. Besides his pastoral duties, he is writing, producing and developing film and tv projects as well as working on another novel. He and his wife, Claudia, have been married since 1969. They have 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren.
Cyndi Bradbury
Cyndi Bradbury, Project Compassion co-founder, worked within the hospital environment for more than twenty-five (25) years. Her passion in 1990 was Labor and Delivery – the participation in the bringing of life! In the early 1990’s, she suffered a rare illness that forced her to leave work for a while, but it did not stop her passion for life. During this time the ministry of Project Compassion was founded, and over the next five years, hundreds of medical clinics were conducted in Mexico providing care to thousands of people. It became so successful that in 1995 Project Compassion reached out to other nations and brought teams for a week at a time to Central and South America, seeing hundreds on each trip. She was then diagnosed with cancer, and forced to leave hospital employment. She endured surgery, four rounds of chemo, and stem cell transplant and radiation therapy over the next five years through recurrence after recurrence. Not working at the hospital allowed her to give full time attention to Project Compassion, and the ministry grew tremendously! During that period she went on every trip except two, and has lead people all over the world including the Americas, Pacific Isles, Africa, Asia, and Europe. What was meant for destruction was turned to building the Kingdom through a unique woman with a powerful life.