Unreached People Groups: Recent Episodes
MedicalMissions.com
Mentors are instrumental in the professional and personal growth of healthcare professionals. However, mentoring relationships often fail to realize their full potential. Attendees will be encouraged and equipped to initiate mentoring relationships that provide both mentor and mentee with a rewarding experience.
A panel of those who entered full time missions after age 50 will discuss how God overcame and is overcoming objections, difficulties and fears to place them in service. https://bit.ly/gmhc2022_bond_burgess_makingamidcareermove
In this session, It will seek to help guide you on how to respond to God’s Command and Commission, The quest for discovering and following God’s will and purpose for one’s life is often an illusion to many children of the Living God, Many believers resorts to imitating others and or live a hypocritical phantom life as they are tied down to daily engagements and undertakings of everyday life, It is hoped that discovering the reason for living your life with purpose is made easier. You will discover the purpose for which God design you and gain the confidence to fruitfully be where you belong, through the power of the Holy Spirit. You will be guided through a biblical process and principles to seeing exactly God’s intent for your unique being and person, as Gods design, where you will discover that It all began with God before the foundations of the earth. Ever since, before the fall of humanity, God has you in mind, and he designed you for a purpose and through a process, but as a result of the departure of humans from God, through disbelief, you became blind and were kept ignorant of His plans for you. However, you will discover that His Deep love and Great Mercy, God called you to salvation, you became a new creature and adopted as His Child, hence He qualified you, by being a new creature in His image, He desires for you to return and rediscover His plan and purpose for your life As He God Intended. Responding to Gods Command and Commission, is a call to be ready, Dressed for service fully equipped and Lacking in nothing as you Respond through Obedience, based on a biblical Principles, These herculean task by helping you identify your uniqueness within the body of Christ, and to enable you walk confidently and victoriously where you belong in the program of God through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Finally, through the Scriptures and the Power of the Holy Spirit, You will be exposed and guided to God’s Command and Commission, That you begin to instantly manifest the reality of your purpose for living, Emblemed and empowered with full of Zeal, Passion and Fruitfulness, Genuinely ready for all the good works God has designed you to accomplish – Loving God with all your heart, soul and strength and loving others through your service of obedience to his Commission, Praying, Evangelizing, Discipling, Equipping and living a lasting fruit to the Glory of God. Our focus will be what it does take to be dressed, ready for service from your call to salvation to your call to service, Exploring your Meditational life, Family Life and a life of Obedience to His Command and Commission. AS YOU RESPONDING TO GOD’S COMMAND AND COMMISSION
Are you comfortable asking people for money? Do you understand the critical areas you must address if you are going to ask people to invest in you? This session will give you an understanding of the basics in fundraising that is fundamental to anyone in ministry. You will learn 5 critical things you must do in order to raise your own support. There is a solution to the obstacle of educational loans which often prevent many from going due to the amount of money that must be raised – MedSend. Additionally, you will understand how to qualify for a MedSend grant and what the Board is looking for in those who apply. Finally, you will gain and understanding of what you need to be doing right now if you are hoping to go to the field soon, next steps.
This session will consider case studies of biomedical research in mission contexts, derive best practices in biomedical research that enhance the work of mission institutions, and describe how to get involved in biomedical research in faith-based settings. Presentation Slides: https://bit.ly/gmhc2022_marktopazian_biomedicalresearchandfaith
In this session participants will be exposed to the role rehabilitation professionals can play in addressing the needs of persons with disabilities around the world and how addressing these needs can advance the gospel. We'll explore the prevelance of disabilities in the world, and what God has to say about His love for and care for persons with disabilities. https://bit.ly/gmhc2022_roy_canclini_mrowiec_howrehabprofessionals
There is a shift happening in missions, what is God up to and what is my role? https://bit.ly/gmhc2022\_charlievittitow\_whatismyplace
Like the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament, many times we as followers of Jesus who seek to make His name known, find ourselves crying out to God “I have had enough Lord”. Learning how to find God in our trials and to trust His loving faithfulness to refine us is a necessary part of our journey. Though sometimes difficult to share openly, the failures, disappointments, and hard times are important in the life of a global worker. Most often, just as in Elijah’s life in I Kings 19, the beauty and majesty and power of God meet us in these times. Sharing from her personal journey in medical missions as a general surgeon in the Middle East and in Kenya, Dr. Carol Spears will explore ways from scripture to find hope and beauty in the desert experiences of missionary service. The scripture is I Kings 19
God painted His heart for the Nations throughout the pages of His Word, from Genesis to Revelation... If we live our lives, spend our money, eat/drink, exercise, pray, and practice medicine without catching this vision, we're missing out on the greatest masterpiece ever created! We create a false dichotomy of domestic healthcare and that which is international. God doesn't see it this way and neither should we.
Today over three billion people, a third of the inhabitants of the earth, have yet to hear the good news of Jesus. They have no opportunity to believe in him as their Savior. Of all the injustices in the world – and there are many that are quite distressing – this is the worst, because of the eternal consequences. In light of this staggering need, we will explore the five Great Commission passages, where Jesus methodically unfolds the essence of the Church’s task in reaching the unreached. This is not just an opportunity to be aware of the need, but a rallying cry for believers today to respond. This presentation will cast a vision for ways to get involved in reaching the unreached. Although the task of reaching three billion people seems overwhelming, this practical presentation points us back to the words of Jesus of how it is to be done. https://bit.ly/gmhc2022\_marvinnewell\_athirdofus
This session is for those interested in leaving a lasting impact in one's overseas involvement. Often, the impact lasts only as long as the team is on the ground. If you would like to discover one way to have a lasting impact without creating dependency, this session is for you. https://bit.ly/gmhc2022\_jaimesaint\_fiveprinciples
We live in the most amazing days since Jesus walked the earth. The global church is sprinting toward the finish line of the 2000-year Great Commission race, and by God’s grace, our generation may be the one to finish it. In this session, Douglas Cobb of The Finishing Fund will explain the global effort to get the gospel for the first time to the world’s last few unengaged people groups and will present the amazing promise of Matthew 24:14 that the completion of the Great Commission will open the door to the return of Christ.
Breaking the Chains of Dependency: Impacting underserved communities through servant leadership Underserved communities, such as those in Africa, have been the long-time recipients of outside aid, yet there is little sustainable change. Dependency on outside resources and hierarchal, foreign leadership remains. Could following the example of Jesus’ use of servant leadership be a way to break dependency and bring sustainable change to these communities? A small, community-based health clinic in Mauritania, Africa, was a traditional, non-governmental run clinic for 15 years, relying heavily on foreign staff for leadership and decision-making. Desiring to empower local leadership and encourage ownership, a new leadership style was introduced. Using a servant leader, holistic approach along with cultural contextualization, education, guiding a shared vision, and instilling dignity and hope, in less than a year a shift happened. Personal ownership, critical thinking, shared-decision making, and local leadership are replacing previous dependency.
The missional landscape has changed. The recent global events, the shifting distribution of Christians, and the realities of what God is allowing; are presenting a whole new missional landscape. What then are the new structures, approaches, and strategies that are proving effective for missions in our days? This will be shared with a special emphasis on the emerging role of medical missions and the strategy for partnerships. https://bit.ly/gmhc2022\_florencemuindi\_ourcurrentmission
Hear healthcare missionaries share their journeys. In the first hour hear a panel of two docs and two nurses answer your questions as well as: How do I find God’s guidance in the journey? Why and How do I connect with a mentor, agency, team, and/or training? What about student loans, and raising financial support? What if my spouse or family are not supportive of me doing missions? The second hour will be small discussion group with a missionary coach and others like you in your current stage: Exploring whether or not to consider full-time missions Heading towards full-time missions Single or married Here are some comments from a previous GMHC: “My group leader was great and answered a lot of the questions that I had.” “My leader did a great job being open and honest about her experiences.”
We are all called to live missionally. It is the Lord's plan for all peoples to know of His glory. As nurses, we may have access to those who have never heard the Gospel. We can get behind closed doors working within communities, establish trust, pray with patients, and provide wholistic care. Nurses care for the physical, spiritual, and emotional needs of people. We can use the discipline of nursing to be the hands and feet of Jesus. We can show honor, respect, caring, and compassion to everyone the Lord brings into our path, no matter where we are serving Him. As believers, we can make disciples. Healthy, authentic disciples make healthy churches. The church is not a place, or an event, it is the people. We as nurses have extra tools in our toolbox to pray, teach, encourage, advance the Gospel, and give glory to the Lord. https://bit.ly/gmhc2022\_rebeccameyer\_roleofnursesinmissions
The missional landscape has changed. The recent global events, the shifting distribution of Christians, and the realities of what God is allowing; are presenting a whole new missional landscape. What then are the new structures, approaches, and strategies that are proving effective for missions in our days? This will be shared with a special emphasis on the emerging role of medical missions and the strategy for partnerships.
In this session, you'll learn the most important questions to ask when considering a potential mission sending organization. Find your best fit by attending this seminar!
As a health care professional on the mission field, the task of language learning is both essential and complicated. We say that language learning is a high value and priority for ourselves as missionaries, and yet it often is the first thing to take a back seat in life and ministry. Why is that? How can we do better? With over 15 years of experience in educating, training, and coaching missionaries in language and culture learning, Dr. Mullen will cast a vision for what it takes to truly become “fluent” in your target host language. She will offer biblical, theoretical, and practical advice for missionaries and missions leaders alike on how to prepare, execute, and continually improve communicative competence in a second language and cross-cultural setting.
Are you a nurse? Are you a pharmacist? A doctor? A physical therapist? A medical professional? Then you ARE a Market Place Professional! Bring your job, spread the Gospel, live in air-conditioning, and pay your own way!
This session will share answers on how to select a mission agency. Each person who attends will receive a card when they enter the room. The moderator, John McVay, will group and select questions, direct them to appropriate panelists, and receive questions from the floor. Probable topics discussed from questions expected are: agency focus, doctrine, finances, services, leadership, locations, compatibility.
Oftentimes short term mission trips sideline the indigenous church. The local church is the key to transformation and must be empowered to participate in the Great Commission. The members of the local, indigenous church are the best people to reach their community with the Gospel. They speak the same language, look the same, and understand the culture. By giving the local church the responsibility, allowing them to be in the driver's seat, we will be able to empower them with skills that will meet the biggest needs in their own community. Missions is designed to be a relay race. We will discuss seven principles to assist us in our short term mission trips to have sustained, long term impact without creating dependency.
Hear healthcare missionaries share their journeys. In the first hour hear a panel of two docs and two nurses answer your questions as well as: How do I find God’s guidance in the journey? Why and how do I connect with a mentor or agency or team or training? What about student loans, raising financial support? What if my spouse or family are not supportive of me doing missions? The second hour will be small discussion group with a missionary coach and others like you in your current stage: Exploring whether or not to consider full-time missions Heading towards full-time missions Single or married Here are some comments from a previous GMHC: “My group leader was great and answered a lot of the questions that I had.” “My leader did a great job being open and honest about her experiences.”
Our residency and training programs prepare us for professional service. Might it make sense to give heightened attention to preparation for full time kingdom service following professional training? Join Rick, Lance, Kelsey, and Chad as together we explore the need and potential for a new equipping model for long term kingdom service. For senders and those seeking to be sent: all medical, dental, and administrators, join the conversation as we explore foundational spiritual formation, life on life discipleship as we seek to be the missionaries here and now that we want to be then and there.
We've seen the church thrive around the world through missionary efforts. How do we leverage the impact of the global church to the nations where there is no church sharing all the things God has uniquely given us?
In view of a changing world context, what is the future of medical missions? Does the traditional mission hospital have a place in today's world? Where does medical missions fit into globalization and urbanization and increasing populations where there is high restriction on religion? What are healthcare strategies that will work in the 21st century? This session will review the history of medical missions, where we are today, and what are the new additional approaches that will meet needs and open doors for the Gospel.
Why are you heading overseas as a healthcare missionary? What's your ultimate long-term goal? Is your dream, for example, to vaccinate multiple thousands of children against preventable childhood diseases or ... do you dream of launching movements of missional-communities (churches) among a Muslim group who will share Christ with their entire people group ... AND vaccinate all their children, too? The Kingdom needs missionaries who will do both. This workshop will help you learn key aspects of what to look for when joining a team, and how to form and prepare a strategic team to go and do it together.
Theology is, simply put, our talk about God in Christ and his actions as shown to us in the Bible. Missions is all about witnessing in various ways to God in Christ and his actions in the world. In other words, theology and missions go hand-in-hand. Though we often think of "missions texts" - our go-to verses for supporting missions - missions is far more than a collection of verses but is part of a larger story of God's salvation and making that salvation known. In this session we will see how the Bible tells that story and how we are called not just to "know" but to take our place in that story and be Christ's witnesses in the world, no matter what gifts and opportunities God gives us.
When we show Christ’s love in honor-shame cultures, often people first see merit making, proselytization and apostasy however pure our motivation may be. We will look at a worldview that is based on honor-shame, come to understand how they may interpret what we do and from there understand the risks and look at what practices may help us to show and share God’s love appropriately. The workshop will use observations from tsunami relief and urban poor work in SE Asia to illustrate these principles.
Health Environmental and Learning Program (H.E.L.P.) (www.missonforhelp.org) is a Christian development mission and non-profit organization registered in 1999 and founded by Tim and Lani Ackerman, an ecologist and medical doctor. The Ackermans served in the Himalayas for 8 years, and while there trained Nepali Christians to lead the organization, founding an NGO. Using the model of Jesus' ministry to meet both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor, HELP's focus is to equip the national church and assist them in developing their own community. In multiple areas, Christian Community Development works through literacy, animal husbandry, health, agriculture, income generation, environment preservation, an orphanage and sponsorship program we serve the poor of the Himalayas and see Christ transform. In a grass-roots approach, trainer of trainers methods, multi-tier discipleship, and close follow up, HELP partners with hundreds of Nepali believers and leaders, bringing non-formal education, health training, pesticide-free farming, gardening, income generation, veterinary work, and ministry to the poorest of the poor, addressing social determinants of health and championing social justice through the gospel. This session will help participants understand how social determinants of health, social justice, and health equity can be addressed through the church and with discipleship
We are all "Servants in Training", "Missionaries in Training" or both. What's the difference and how might God be preparing us? Dr. Dowell will be discussing the importance of each of those seasons in our development as yielded vessels "living sacrifices". We will learn the answers to those questions, find encouragement in times of difficulty, and be inspired to answer the call along the way as we glean wisdom, and learn a few guiding principles from the lives of biblical and historical servants who have been called and used of God in times past.
Dr. and Mrs. McDonald have served in international ministry with over 30 years of experience. Offered an international career with the UN and World Bank, they took the path less traveled, and it has made all the difference…for eternity! With work experience in over 50 countries, together they have helped set up or empower scores of development projects that continue today. These include hospitals, clinics, medical training, orphanages, community centers, schools from preschool to graduate level, businesses, farms, plantations, factories, safe houses, all providing products and services for the local community and export. Trial and error have revealed ten important principles foundational to success in social enterprise. One of them of particular interest in ministry is the issue of multiple “bottom lines.” Profit, the usual bottom line, cannot stand alone. Their core value is that any effort must produce spiritual results, at least in opening doors. Results are God ordained, not man driven. For what profits a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Other principles flow from this core foundational premise. How do you determine the most strategic set of needs when there are so many? And how do you prioritize? How do you find a competitive advantage? How do you diversify to minimize risk? How do you write a business plan to know viability? How do you find the “Champion” if you are not on the ground yourself? How do you avoid colonialism while creating accountability? How do you measure results? How do you avoid corruption? Be encouraged that there is nothing greater than empowering a people group sold out to Christ to become independent to leverage the gospel in their own community! The story of McDonald’s journey is there’s no greater joy than seeing men, women and children come to know the True and Living God while standing free and reaching their own through economic, social and spiritual empowerment! Phil holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State in international development and is the CEO of L.E.A.D. Inc. Rebecca is the Founder and CEO of Women At Risk, Int’l, addressing multiple risk issues in 56 countries and licensed in all 50 states to train medical professionals in anti-trafficking. As a family, they raised four children in the developing world and know the unique challenges of marriage, family, career, ministry, business, and social entrepreneurship in a cross-cultural environment. They never expected to be serial entrepreneurs. Last year Phil authored an Amazon bestselling book entitled, “unreal: Adventures of a Family’s Global Life.” Written in memoir form, the book recounts 90 stories that highlight 60 principles learned from more than 30 years of experience.
Some mission experts estimate that up to 90% of young people who consider missions cease to pursue it because of various fears and obstacles, including the fear of fundraising. This session will help participants: 1. Identify various obstacles and fears relating to fundraising 2. Consider ways that God can help us overcome these barriers 3. Become aware of best resources and training materials used to help missionaries build and maintain a full and engaged prayer and financial support team 4. Know what questions to ask about support raising with possible mission agencies when evaluating where and how God will have you serve
This session focuses on women in mission and will highlight the role of women in missions, challenges faced, and some practical ways to overcome those challenges.
Fear, in its various manifestations, is one of the Enemy's most effective means of limiting our obedience. The Bible offers practical strategies for overcoming fear with faith--many of which are demonstrated in an Old Testament story of sex trafficking, racial hatred, and genocide.
As a health care professional on the mission field, the task of language learning is both essential and complicated. We say that language learning is a high value and priority for ourselves as missionaries, and yet it often is the first thing to take a back seat in life and ministry. Why is that? How can we do better? With over 15 years of experience in educating, training, and coaching missionaries in language and culture learning, Dr. Mullen will cast a vision for what it takes to truly become “fluent” in your target host language. She will offer biblical, theoretical, and practical advice for missionaries and missions leaders alike on how to prepare, execute, and continually improve communicative competence in a second language and cross-cultural setting.
When we think of God's global mission, we cannot overlook the U.S. as a mission field. It is a nation in spiritual decline, and widening gaps between the church and groups that are becoming increasingly unreached. What works in international missions, works here. This session will focus on the medical missions movement here in the United States, how it relates to overseas medical work, and how the two go hand in hand. We will look at several case studies, and address challenges and bottlenecks in this growing movement.
This session will present the need for healthcare workers to understand that their response to women who are being abused can make a crucial difference in whether the patient feels safe or shamed. Behavior that can incite fear will be identified: Physical gestures, facial expressions, distance, tone of voice, etc. This session will also discuss how showing skepticism, insensitive questioning, and telling the patient what to do can shut down the opportunity to help her . Helpful ways to communicate concern, respect, and autonomy to make her own decisions, will be identified.
The idea that missions is about going and doing for people in other countries is being replaced by seeing missions as a relay race. We need to train indigenous Christ followers with skills their people need so they can meet real needs in their communities as a door opener to share the Gospel. This training must be focused, in-depth, and self sustaining so that we do not create dependency.
This is not our grandparents' world, with clear First, Second, and Third World nations. Accelerating worldwide social, cultural, and political changes call for reflection and alteration of our missionary strategies.
How are we Christian medics different from non-Christian humanitarians? How do you answer a patient who asks, "Why didn't God answer my prayer for healing? Did the devil win?" Does our role as medics conflict with God's highest plan for healing, such as the Miraculous? In this session we will search the Scriptures and consider natural revelation to answer these questions. We will show that God has an active, deliberate role in "natural" healing, "medicinal" healing, and "miraculous" healing, and that our role in this spectrum as Christian medics is vital and profound. We will expose the falsehood of the "medical prosperity gospel" and show that God is actively working in our spiritual lives in the "artistic medium" of illness and healing.
We’ve seen the church thrive around the world through missionary efforts. How do we leverage the impact of the global church to the nations where there is no church sharing all the things God has uniquely given us?
We have all witnessed how quickly the world has shifted and put our lives on pause. Short-term and long term sending has been halted in almost every major region of the world. In that, we have people God is calling to take the gospel to those places who are forced to wait. In this waiting, how do we walk alongside and guide our participants, donors, and teams through this unexpected season? Today we are going to walk through how to keep people engaged when we are not sending and some practical tips to help you care for and guide your team, participants, and donors in to missional living in the absence of sending. Resources Links: https://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org https://calendly.com/drewmiller/consult https://www.servicereef.com https://www.missionsmadesimple.com
Are you a woman health professional, for whom God has opened doors for education and training leading to a career in healthcare? Is God calling you to be involved in missions? Do you also dream about having a family? Do you wonder how on earth you would ever be able to combine those roles? Relating from my personal story and experience, we will explore lessons learned from 16 years as a medical missionary in Kenya and discuss how to incorporate a family, missions ministry and a medical career.
Dental disease is the most prevalent disease world wide. When the call to make disciples is combined with the dental vocation, opportunities to care for people in new ways emerge. Join this strategic session to learn how organizations, teams and individuals can have kingdom impact through dental care.
For those in training and just finished (i.e., recent grads, residents, med students, pre-med, PA/NP, RN, PT/OT/ST, dental), we will learn how to maximize your current season. We’ll tackle topics like falling in love with Jesus, original motivation, how to suffer well, pearls and pitfalls of living in community, debt, vision for one’s next step to the nations, and helping the vulnerable now tensioned with investing in education to help others later. With leaders live from the different fields and stages, we’ll answer the individualized questions you have, brainstorming how God might sustain you now and lead you in the upcoming season.
Jesus commanded us to heal the sick and to make disciples. In this session I will teach you how I use a story-telling format to share the gospel, and share stories of healing and human needs ministries that were paired with disciple-making. These stories are taken from twenty-five years of medical missions experience among unreached peoples.
Have you longed to integrate your Christian faith into your patient care – on the mission field abroad, in your work at home, and during your training? Not sure how to do this in a caring, ethical, sensitive, and relevant manner? This “working” session will explore the ethical basis for spiritual care plus provide you with profession, timely, and practical methods to care for the whole person in the clinical setting.
Nurses and other members of the healthcare team who serve on the mission field have the chance to be the hands and feet of Jesus as they care for the whole person. They have the opportunity to touch the untouchable, love the unloved, and be with people from a variety of backgrounds, in the same way that Jesus did. Serving others is sacred work, by showing compassion, grace, and humility with power from the Holy Spirit. People are sometimes on a search for their purpose, so this session will examine the ways nurses and other healthcare professionals can use their discipline, and all the gifts and talents the Lord gave them, to build relationships, serve others, and provide honor and dignity in a cross-cultural context. The importance of a solid spiritual foundation will be included, and culturally appropriate approaches to health promotion strategies will be explored. Some of the ways cultural values and beliefs influence healthcare practices will also be discussed. And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send Me” (Isaiah 6:8)
While recognizing the medical limitations in the developing world, one must also capitalize on the "assets" present there. "Specialists" are rare, unavailable, and/or too expensive for most of the poor, disabled people. "State-of-the-art", while the aspiration of the west, is usually unavailable in the developing world. How do we capitalize on the assets and provide a reasonable alternative for the numerous disabled of the developing world? Some African countries have modified their medical approach and have found their solutions in alternative medical practitioners with less training and credentials but sufficient skills and judgment to reasonably meet the needs of many of the disabled. Some of these objectives were achieved in a mission hospital in Africa not because it was the first choice, but it was seemingly the only choice. Now, at that facility, a higher level of care has been achieved. However, can such a model be replicated in other settings in Africa?
Can short-term health care teams play a key role in indigenous Gospel movements? Come hear the incredible story of God’s indigenous-led movement in a corner of Asia and the important role that short-term teams played in its advancement. Join in a discussion of the dynamics of an effective short-term partnership that bolsters indigenous work. Understand the key aspects of an “opening doors” access strategy using mobile health and dental clinics. Identify advantages and pitfalls of short-term indigenous partnerships, key contributions of short-term health care workers, and the central role of prayer and encouragement in God’s kingdom work. Christ-centered health care teams can play a strategic role in promoting sustainable indigenous ministry and Gospel advancement.
Exploring how the story line of the Bible is the theology of missions and how we take our part in that story. We all have a story--like a testimony, for instance--but how often do we think of how our personal stories are connected to the story of God's work in the world? In this session we will take a look at how the story of missions unfolds throughout the Bible and learn how each of can learn to internalize, communicate, and actively participate in that story. In other words, how to build and live out a Biblical Theology of Missions.
Spiritual warfare is an often misunderstood or neglected aspect in the preparation for missions. This session will briefly overview the Biblical understanding of spiritual warfare and examine how our Western worldview (which is not entirely Biblical) is often limited in addressing the broad needs present in a host culture. As some illnesses may be spiritual in their origins, an appropriate understanding and application of spiritual warfare can bring a comprehensive view to treating illness. Also, some basic weapons necessary to prevail in warfare will be presented.
Whether or not they all identify as Christians like us, tens of thousands of Muslims from diverse corners of the Muslim world are transferring allegiance from Mohammed and the Qur'an to Messiah Jesus and His Kingdom. They welcome you and your medical skills to serve with them in the Muslim World. But what's your ultimate objective? Is it physically healed Muslims, a few of whom join churches? Or is it a Church Planting Movement among Muslims who transfer their allegiance to Jesus and then bring in His Kingdom? It's easy to focus on the former and pay too little attention to the latter. You'll learn of "Muslim Believers" who focus on both ... and how you can participate.
Strategic indigenous medical training to impact the Church Planting Movement and the Kingdom of Heaven.
God's timeline is different for each of us. This session will look at the particular challenges and blessings of entering medical missions in "Round Two."
Explore a strategy used to transform lives physically and spiritually. Participants in this session will engage in participatory learning activities that investigate the Community Health Evangelism model and its application to wholistic individual and communal health.
This session will cover both the technical and social engineering side of protecting one's personal information & organizational data in the missions field. In this we will cover the dos and don'ts of using technology services as well as train user in identifying social engineering scams hackers use to bypass security technologies.
Do you love hearing a good story? Jesus’ ability to connect a story to a person’s heart is one reason people flocked to hear his teaching. During this session, you will learn to use Bible stories to communicate the story of Jesus to others. You will participate in a story fellowship group to hear and learn a story, and to discuss the story in the context of a small group.
Clear communication is essential in any effective healthcare environment. Working in another language adds a whole new layer of complexity to the communication process. Learning another language can seem like a daunting task, especially if you had a negative past experience with a foreign language, or it can be viewed as an exciting adventure. This session will focus on practical tips that engage your internal motivations leading to appropriate language proficiency for kingdom impact.
A review of the lessons learned from surveys of mission hospitals in 7 developing countries to identify the key best practices that have been successful at improving the spiritual ministry of the hospital, involving staff more fully and improving effectiveness of evangelism with patients and families.
Living "incarnationally" (among a culture different from your own), especially among marginalized people (the poor, immigrants, etc.) is a proven way to face your own cultural biases, muster courage, learn greater dependence on the Holy Spirit, and develop meaningful relationships with people very different from yourself. Besides being good for your soul, it's ideal preparation for international healthcare missions.
About 25 years ago, while sharing an early morning cup of coffee with my dear friend and practice partner, family physician John Hartman, MD, he asked, “Walt, how come we don’t bring our faith to work with us more often?” It was a question the Lord used to convict me of the fact that although my personal relationship with God was the primary and most important relationship in my life, more often than not I tended to leave Him at the door when entering the hospital or medical office. The question was the catalyst for this talk: Spiritual Interventions in Patient Care.
Research findings, a desire to provide high-quality care, and simple common sense, all underscore the need to integrate spirituality into patient care. It is highly ethical for healthcare professionals and healthcare systems to assess their patients’ spiritual health and needs and to provide indicated and desired spiritual interventions. Clinicians and health care systems should not deprive their patients of the spiritual support and comfort on which their hope, health, wellbeing, and longevity may hinge.
Before you get started, I must share this caution from Stephen Post, PhD: “Professional problems can occur when well-meaning healthcare professionals ‘faith-push’ a patient opposed to discussing religion.” However, on the other side of the coin, “rather than ignoring faith completely with all patients, most of whom want to discuss it, we can explore which of our patients are interested and who are not.” Simply put, a spiritual assessment can help us do this with each patient we see. We can potentially gain the following from a spiritual assessment:
- The patient’s religious background,
- The role that religious or spiritual beliefs or practices play in coping with illness (or causing distress),
- Beliefs that may influence or conflict with decisions about medical care,
- The patient’s level of participation in a spiritual community and whether the community is supportive, and
- Any spiritual needs that might be present.
Several fairly-easy-to-use mnemonics have been designed to help health professionals, such as the “GOD” spiritual assessment I developed for CMDA’s Saline Solution:
G = God: − May I ask your faith background? Do you have a spiritual or faith preference? Is God, spirituality, religion or spiritual faith important to you now, or has it been in the past?
O = Others: − Do you now meet with others in religious or spiritual community, or have you in the past? If so, how often? How do you integrate with your faith community?
D = Do: − What can I do to assist you in incorporating your spiritual or religious faith into your medical care? Or, is there anything I can do to encourage your faith? May I pray with or for you?
However, this and other spiritual assessment tools fail to inquire about a critical item involving spiritual health: any religious struggles the patient may be having. A robust literature shows religious struggles can predict mortality, as there is an inverse association between faith and morbidity and mortality of various types.
Sir William Osler, one of the founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital and frequently described as the “Father of Modern Medicine,” wrote, “Nothing in life is more wonderful than faith…the one great moving force which we can neither weigh in the balance nor test in the crucibIe - mysterious, indefinable, known only by its effects, faith pours out an unfailing stream of energy while abating neither jot nor tittle of its potence.” You can experience that driving force of faith when you apply these principles of spiritual assessment in your practice of healthcare, thereby allowing you to minister to your patients in ways you never imagined possible, while also increasing personal and professional satisfaction. One doctor recently shared with me, “Ministering in my practice has allowed God to bear fruit in and through me in new and wonderful ways. I can’t wait to see what He’s going to do in and through me each day. My practice and I have been transformed.”
This session will address five common misconceptions about missions that are based on assumptions and conspire to prevent people from exploring their own fit in mission.
A Partnership with long term missionaries, Indigenous evangelists and a short term medical training team in one of the most persecuted areas in the world brings light to the darkness.
Through sharing personal experience and case studies, current demographics, trends, treatment and challenges of HIV care will be discussed
As we consider the commission that Jesus gave his followers, while realizing that over 3,000,000,000 have never heard the name of Jesus, there is too much work to be done for us to not work together. While there are many ways we are different, we have One God, One Savior, One Spirit, One Body and One Mission. If we are going to fulfill the Great Commission, we must not only work together, but we also must empower indigenous, national Christ followers to further the Great Commission. Only by handing the baton off to them will we be able to fulfill this commission. We must do God’s will, God’s way.
When we understand the Mission we have been given, we will understand the only way to accomplish the Great Commission is by doing it together -- across language, culture, national and other boarders with those who love and follow Christ.
The session we are featuring today explores unique ways to partner and empower people around the world.
We fool ourselves if we think we can enter the Enemy's territory on behalf of God without thorough spiritual preparation. Potential healthcare missionaries must be grounded in robust spiritual habits of seeking and hearing from God.
In this breakout called "For all to hear" we will take a look at the current state of missions and the Gospel worldwide. Where is the church struggling to penetrate? What are some strategies that are being developed to get into those areas? What role can medical professionals play in getting the Gospel to unreached people?
Bonded labor is still a massive issue in the Subcontinent and despite all the technological advancements in the field of brick making, in Pakistan and India, still the centuries-old skill of manual brick making is used. The laborers are paid very less and are totally deprived of not only the health facilities and clean water but also the gospel. They don't know the Lord and they are bound to work regardless of the work conditions. We are working with the unreached groups like these in Pakistan and we exclusively share the good news of Christ's love with them through medicine and health care education. God has given me the burden to take my family medicine practice and skill of public health out in the remote areas of Pakistan to reach out to these unreached and untouched people who are neglected not only by the society but also the so-called top most Christian leadership of the country. We have seen excellent results as not only improved health status but also people being won for Christ.
Short Term Missions in the "Spiritually Darkest" areas of the world are becoming a challenge as access is being denied to western missionaries. The Lord has provided a model to equip indigenous believers with medical skills that will provide opportunities to share the Gospel. These believers know their language and culture that allow access to evangelize and transform communities in the name of Christ. Dr. Tom McKechnie founder of Teach To Transform and Kingspride Hammond founder of Alabaster Project in Ghana will discuss the impact of this model as an evangelical tool.
This session will discuss removing educational debt as an obstacle to missionary service
This session will address systems solutions to short-term mission (STM) drug-related quality of care problems. The quality of care various STM systems are capable of providing varies tremendously: -Well designed STM systems enable physicians, pharmacists and other providers to deliver high quality care and have the greatest possible impact for patient health and for the Kingdom. -Inadequately designed STM systems provide poor quality care and often cause more harm than benefit regardless of the training and expertise of team leaders and providers. We will assess mistakes made and lessons learned on over 45 global STMs, as well as 15 years long-term missions clinic practice in an area frequented by STMs. STM systems based on the work of missionary mentors, Jesus’ teaching and evidence based guidelines will also be reviewed.
This session will have many practical tips on how you can bring your spiritual faith into your everyday clinical care. These Bible-based principles have been taught around the world in the author's "Saline Solution," "International Saline Solution," "Grace Prescriptions," "Workplace Grace," and "Going Public with Your Faith" books, conferences, and small-group courses. After this session, you'll be able to share Christ and His Grace with each patient you serve and each colleague you meet.
This is a Student Focused session for medical, dental, pharmacy, nursing and all other health related future practitioners. This session is open to all beyond students, please feel welcomed and come. As you contemplate life after “medical training” short term missions might be in your plan. Many students choose their area of medicine with that life goal. Intentions can be good but often obstacles get in the way and many years could pass before that first trip is realized. Don’t wait for that one day to start. Serving the Lord through short term medical missions has many blessings. The rewards the Lord bestows for those that are obedient to this calling are life changing. Come and hear from a seasoned short term medical missionary things he has seen and learned.
One of the most-cited (or unspoken) barriers to missions service, especially for young couples, is concerns of raising children on the mission field. Hear from a doctor and nurse on how they are raising a thriving family among unreached Muslims in the impoverished Sahel in Africa.
Whether or not they should, tens of thousands of Muslims from diverse corners of the Muslim world are transferring allegiance from Mohammed and the Qur’an to Messiah Jesus and His Kingdom ... while still identifying themselves as Muslims. You'll meet many of them. Taking your medical skills to the Muslim World? What's your objective? Healthy Orthodoxic Christian Converts who ascribe to our Creeds? Healthy Orthodoxic and Orthopraxic Believers (some still remain in the fold of Islam) who transfer their allegiance to the Son of God and live/obey all He commands? It's easy to focus on the former and pay too little attention to the latter. You'll learn of Insider Movements of "Muslim Believers" who focus on both.
International Healthcare Professional Education - What You Need to Know: This session will discuss (1) the advantages of teaching overseas, (2 ) its limitations, ), and (3) lessons learned from experience teaching overseas. Long Term Medical Teaching Overseas: This session will discuss opportunities for and the benefits of long term healthcare professional training overseas, using the example of residency training of Africans in Africa. Opportunities for paid professional medical teaching positions overseas, some in English, will be briefly discussed. Short Term Medical Teaching Overseas: This session will discuss different types of short term healthcare professional teaching opportunities overseas and give examples of their impacts. Whole Person Medicine and Whole Person Teaching: This session will outline the nature, benefits, and wide acceptance of whole person medicine education and the wholistic teaching methods used to teach it. Whole Person Medicine Education – The Kenyan Story: This session will tell the story of how whole person medicine education was brought to Kenya and how it has become an indigenous ministry with wide impact.
As healthcare professionals learn to utilize spiritual interventions in patient care, they quickly learn they do not have enough time or resources to meet all of their patient's religious or spiritual needs. This session will have many practical tips on how you can be a change agent to establish a spiritual care team wherever you are called to serve as a healthcare professional. This Bible-based care system has been taught around the world in the author's "Saline Solution," "International Saline Solution," and "Grace Prescriptions," books, conferences, and small-group courses. After this session, you'll be prepared to build a team of Jesus followers to share Christ and His Grace with each patient you serve and each colleague you meet.
With the exploding number of new medical and nursing schools (Christian and secular), especially in Africa, finding teachers for the basic science years is a priority and opportunity. In the past, teaching basic science subjects to health care professionals has not usually been viewed as a missionary career path. This workshop will be a panel that will feature short presentations by health care educators, who have worked on the mission field. The needs and opportunities for basic science teachers will be presented followed by a time of discussion and questions from the audience. There will be an open discussion as to how we might find and recruit basic science teachers from schools in the High and Middle Income Countries (HMIC’s) to teach in health professional schools in Low Income Countries (LIC’s).
Asian American Christians health care workers have shown a high level of interest in medical missions as evidenced by a disproportionately large percentage of Asian Americans who attend missions conferences such as Urbana or Louisville GMHC. Yet relatively small percentage end up as long term medical missionaries at this time. A panel of long-term Asian American health care workers will discuss potential barriers as well as potential solutions for Asian Americans serving as long term medical missionaries.
Bonded labor is still a massive issue in the Subcontinent and despite all the technological advancements in the field of brick making, in Pakistan and India, still the centuries-old skill of manual brick making is used. The laborers are paid very less and are totally deprived of not only the health facilities and clean water but also the gospel. They don't know the Lord and they are bound to work regardless of the work conditions. We are working with the unreached groups like these in Pakistan and we exclusively share the good news of Christ's love with them through medicine and health care education. God has given me the burden to take my family medicine practice and skill of public health out in the remote areas of Pakistan to reach out to these unreached and untouched people who are neglected not only by the society but also the so-called top most Christian leadership of the country. We have seen excellent results as not only improved health status but also people being won for Christ.
This session will discuss removing educational debt as an obstacle to missionary service
Nearly all Christians acknowledge the Bible as God's word, but many disciples, including aspiring health care missionaries, struggle to consistently apply its power to their lives and ministries. Come be encouraged to systematically read, love, and be transformed by the Holy Spirit's most powerful tool. Your future fruitfulness depends on it.
Have you ever been asked, “Why are you still single?”. If so, then this session is for you! We will address common misconceptions about single ministry by looking to God’s Word and sharing our own experiences as single women working in urban Memphis.
God's Kingdom is one of paradox. He is famous for His heart for the poor and for His heart for the nations. However, most don't realize how intimately these two passions of His are intertwined. This has massive and unexpected implications for any disciple of Jesus. Paradoxically, global poverty will never end until every nation is reached with the Gospel.
Being a medical missionary is not easy. Now try leading a team of them! These folks tend to be intelligent, passionate individuals with big dreams (just like you). These are often important qualities for the work at hand, but they can easily lead to dysfunctional teams, explosive conflicts and national partners who feel steamrolled. In this session we want to discuss how leaders can keep team vision focused, community life vibrant and partnerships flourishing in the midst of the crucible that is the mission hospital. This session is for everyone regardless if they are the "team leader" because every medical missionary is a leader whether they want to be or not. Here’s a bit of catnip to help you along your way.
This session will review the most common medical considerations you should be aware of before traveling on a short-term medical mission trip. I will review common malaria prophylaxis medications, immunizations, treatment of traveler’s diarrhea as well as other tips and tricks to know. This session is ideal for those with minimal international travel experience.
Short Term Missions in the "Spiritually Darkest" areas of the world are becoming a challenge as access is being denied to western missionaries. The Lord has provided a model to equip indigenous believers with medical skills that will provide opportunities to share the Gospel. These believers know their language and culture that allow access to evangelize and transform communities in the name of Christ. Dr. Tom McKechnie founder of Teach To Transform and Kingspride Hammond founder of Alabaster Project in Ghana will discuss the impact of this model as an evangelical tool.
Values and assumptions vary widely from culture to culture. This gives rise to potential conflicts and barriers in the communication process. This session looks at Not the American values and assumptions which can create misunderstandings, damage relationships, and even pose significant danger in the delivery medical treatment in a cross cultural context.
This session will describe the unique roles that women have in medical missions and the challenges faced by women in the international missions context.
How can urban health care missions be done in urban settings, especially in government owned facilities? This breakout session seeks to address this questions. Ministry can be done in and through government hospitals and institutions by connecting with healthcare personnel, sharing the gospel and discipling them and bringing them into healthy churches. This breakout session will give some insights and specifics into how to do this.
The similarities are many. Perhaps the best preparation one can get for long-term overseas missions is learning to be fruitful as they serve cross-culturally and incarnationally in domestic communities where the needs are great and the resources are slim. Christian clinics that serve the domestic poor have a major role to play in preparing Christian health professionals for serving God's global mission.
there are more unreached today than there were last year when we met at GMHC. 21 million more to be precise. We are going backwards in our task to complete the great commission and that is not OK. Meanwhile our traditional missions model has sidelined over 99% of Jesus followers who look at the model and do not see a fit. Yet God has made everyone for His purposes and uniquely talented them to fulfill the purposes. Those who are talented in the medical profession, who are passionate about it and believe they were created to do it have been told they have to leave that and do something different, (oh and raise support to do it) or simply do it on a short term mission trip or even as someone told me last year at GMHC, 'forget your specialty and come do general health care'.
We will continue to go backwards unless we engage the whole body of Christ and engage them wholly. In other words send them out to be who God has created them to be. As GP's, Surgeons, Radiologists, Dentists, Pediatricians, Nurses..... what ever God has uniquely made them to do. The world is changing, the missions model has to change. Come hear how we are changing the face of mission and how you, as a medical professional can be at the cutting edge of that - but be warned our call to you is to be who God has made you to be, where He is not worshipped. This is session is for those who are truly interested in using all of their life to reflect God's glory and goodness.
Why do Christians suffer? What made the Apostle's such effective missionaries? There are almost as many answers and opinions about suffering as there are Christians. To some suffering is just part of living in a fallen world. It is to be avoided if at all possible and, if necessary, to be endured with Jesus’ help until we escape this life and get to heaven. Others may think it is all from the Devil. Others believe the primary source is personal sin or the sin of others. Some believe it is from a lack of faith and if we just had more faith suffering would not come. There is some truth in each of these perspectives of course but they are not the whole story.
Anyone following Jesus will experience suffering at some point in their lives including those who abandon themselves to follow him in mission anywhere in the world. This seminar will look at what the Bible teaches about suffering and discover what it teaches about the role of suffering in our lives, how God uses it to fulfill his purposes for us and how it prepares us to be more effective missionaries and servants in his name.
Be missional!
How do you keep up with the demands of ministry while balancing the needs of family, not to mention your own needs?
How do you keep doing more with less?
How do you protect yourself from burnout while advocating for the least of these?
How do you establish boundaries without neglecting the needs of your community?
These are some of the questions Dr. Thomas hopes to explore as he shares lessons from the field. He serves as the Medical Director at Dayspring Family Health Center and co-pastors a local church, answering a call to serve vulnerable and marginalized communities. He is married and has three teenage children. Serving his family and discipling his children are some of his top priorities. Despite the busyness and numerous challenges of ministry and family life, he continues to learn the importance of balance, boundaries, and rest.
If you are experiencing burnout or having a difficult time keeping “afloat”, this session may give you some insights on how to maneuver through the ups and downs of missional living.
The ability to prevent and respond to human disasters and the acute needs of displaced persons has now become an essential competency for healthcare personnel. This session addresses the common conflicts surrounding care for complex human emergencies and the principals of both acute relief and of longer-term resettlement. This presentation makes use of interactive role-play and small group exercises will enhance the learning experience.
The need for medical, dental, and other care in remote areas around the world correspond to areas where the Gospel is typically not prevalent or readily available. The need is so great that no one individual or organization can meet the need alone. By working together to empower local Christ followers in remote areas to reach the medical, dental, and other needs of people in their own communities as a door opener for the Gospel, we will be able to fulfill the Great Commission. This task requires multiplication of participants through discipleship. We must work together to equip and empower local Christ followers, handing them the baton to continue the race after the training team leaves.
Serving is sacred work, with power, grace, and humility from the Spirit – small tasks done with love. This is what medical missions for nursing students is all about. According to Mother Teresa, we are touching the body of Christ, even though they may be covered with dirt, maggots, and wounds (Poplin, 2008).
Long-term impact in health-related missions from a short-term team must consider both long-term and short-term goals and objectives. Perhaps surprisingly, some or many of the long-term impact might not be directly related to healthcare! Understanding the potential long-term goals and objectives requires the short-term team to explore coordinated interaction between communities, local leaders, government, and technical experts. This workshop will identify several models for interacting where short-term healthcare workers can explore how to have a lasting long-term impact, as well as highlighting pitfalls to be avoided.
The US is a much overlooked mission field. 96M people in America still live in areas designated as "medically underserved". All of those areas are communities where poverty is rampant and resources are low. Not only are those areas of great need, they are areas of tremendous opportunity where the harvest is ripe for the gospel. The director of CCHF will share an overview of the issues impacting this cross-cultural domestic mission field and will discuss how Christian health professionals are intentionally living out the Gospel through healthcare among the poor in the United States.
"Am I 'called' to missions?" We're all familiar with that question and perhaps we've asked it ourselves, but what exactly is a 'call' to missions? In this session we will take a look at what we usually mean by "calling" and what the Bible has to say about God's guidance of our lives. Once we see what God promises us, and what he desires for the world, we are set free to pursue, with confidence, whatever paths he opens up.
The command "fear not" or "be not afraid" occurs more than a hundred times in the Bible, including many times from the mouth of Jesus. The fear of the LORD is healthy, but our Enemy uses fear as a principal weapons to hinder Christian obedience and fruitfulness. Courage is not the absence of fear, but boldness to proceed in obedience despite fear--because of faith in the Person and promises of God.
This lecture will help potential missionaries understand how God utilizes the church to accomplish his mission to the nations, differentiate between biblical and cultural understandings of calling, and discern their role in God's mission.
Values and assumptions vary widely from culture to culture. This gives rise to potential conflicts and barriers in the communication process. This session looks at those North American Values and Assumptions which can create misunderstandings, damage relationships, and even pose significant danger in the delivery of medical treatment in a cross cultural context.
Dentistry has a great opportunity to reach the least, the last and the lost for the needs are overwhelming and universal. I will use various countries to evaluate and discuss how to take advantage of different opportunities and situations that may be available. It is important for us to discuss and understand the government and the culture and what it entails to move forward on a venture into a closed or creative access country. How to work with national partners. Concerns with communication. How about a site visit. How to select a team and prepare them for such a great opportunity. Time for discussion and asking questions. Lets have some fun.
Why do we serve? Where should we go? How do we make disciples? Why should we make disciples? What is the purpose of missions? What does it mean to be missional? How can I go from theoretical to practical? All of these questions, and more, will be discussed in this workshop, using THE source material – the Bible!
Dr. Ralph Winter, founder of the US Center for World Mission and Perspectives… said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said for lack of mentors. What is a mentor? What do mentors offer prospective long-term medical missionaries? Come to this session if you desire a mentor or if you desire to become a mentor. Before the session you may want to familiarize yourself with GMHC’s mentoring service at https://www.medicalmissions.com/community/mentoring . John McVay and I will walk you though this process. This session strives to translate your dreams of serving as a long-term medical missionary into reality.
There are over 50 million disabled people in Africa. 18-20% would likely improve with some surgical care. Africa has insufficient surgical expertise to provide for this need, and will likely not have sufficient sub specialists for 50-100 years. An alternate form of limited training is needed both for the surgical and the support needs of the disabled.
Care for the disabled opens spiritual doors for both the child and the parents. It may also open doors into traditionally "closed" countries.
This session will share answers on how to select a missions agency. Each person who attends will receive a 3 x 5 card when they enter the room. The moderator John McVay will group and select questions, direct them to appropriate panelists, and receive questions from the floor. Probable topics discussed from questions expected are: agency focus, doctrine, finances, services, leadership, locations, compatibility.
About the moderator:
John McVay is a missions mobilizer who organizes and moderates a panel of doctors and nurses at GMHC. For prospective missionaries in the USA John launched the Ask A Missionary email newsletter (circulation 2,000) and website. He co-founded The Journey Deepens weekend retreats and served for nine years as a missions pastor. He, his wife Nicole and their children lived and served as missionaries in China for a semester and in France for a year. John now serves In His Image International as Chief Operating Officer for the Family Medicine Residency and missions outreaches. John has a M.S. in Electrical Engineering and a M.Div. in Theology and Missions.
Christianity and culture have had a complex and adversarial relationship since the beginning. Early Christians were counter-cultural—and had an immense impact on the peoples around them. Likewise, medical missionaries have deeply influenced the lives of the peoples where they served over the past two centuries. How? At the same time, they were sensitive to the culture around them, learning language and culture and adapting to religious, social and economic constraints. How have they done this? What does this look like in reality? To answer these questions, I will share survey results and moving stories of medical missionaries serving diverse cultures and religions in culturally intelligent ways in over ten countries on two continents.
Where you choose to serve in healthcare missions will depend on your preparedness, your call, and your goals. This workshop will help you determine how to identify service opportunities that are most likely to match up with your call and your goals. You will be given a variety of tools to use to prepare for service, and to improve your preparedness as you serve.
The Gospel is not only the starting point of a Christian's walk, it is the power that transforms us and sets our life on mission for the Kingdom of God. Living each day in the Gospel is a necessity for all who follow Jesus and desire to serve him.
This session will have an emphasis on medical mission organizational mission true behavior, and will look at why Christian organizations or institutions, including those committed to using medical missions as a tool for gospel outreach, drift away from or sometimes shift their purpose away from their original intention.
after 21 years of implementing transformational development, an independent team has researched on the work of Life in abundance. Life in abundance works in 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. The session will share and discuss the findings that confirm the model of development has outstanding impact.
Christians are called to love yet often times, our communities are rife with conflict and unresolved hurt. Interpersonal conflict is cited as one of the major reasons why missionaries leave the mission field.
Using concepts from Ken Sande’s Peacemakers and his personal experience working as a the Medical Director in an FQHC in Appalachia, Dr. Thomas will review …
- The cost of conflict for the individuals, the organization, and for our witness
- The difference between Peacemaking vs PeaceFaking
- Strategies to develop a culture of peace in your organization
- Healthy ways of addressing conflict and working towards reconciliation
Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons(IDP’s) face significant challenges to their health and well-being that are unique, due to lack of necessary resources including food, water, sanitation, shelter, security and healthcare. Caring for people in these situations requires an understanding of their unique needs as well as having realistic goals regarding what can and cannot be done for them.
Recent experiences in providing healthcare missions in disasters in Nepal, Kurdistan and Turkey – both natural and manmade – highlight the need to be well prepared when serving in these difficult situations. Focus areas for the presentation and discussion will include team selection and preparation; travel and logistics issues; identifying and addressing the needs of the people being served, including physical, psychological and spiritual needs; partnering with other relief organizations and local authorities; and returning home successfully.
We are called to serve the “least of these”, and the victims of disasters and crises certainly qualify. Often these events, though causing much hardship and suffering, create the possibility for doors and hearts to be open to the message of Jesus that otherwise would be closed. We must be both willing and well prepared if we are to serve well when we are called to respond to those in need.
Andrew recently completed writing his first book, entitled Scatter. His desire is that it will inspire a new generation to “scatter” into the hardest, furthest and darkest parts of the world, where they may experience an incredible adventure with God.
Whether you see yourself as a leader or not, you play a critical role in determining the success of your experiences and those around you. How you plan, recruit, and execute your Short Term Trip strategy will impact your entire church/organization and any trip participants... the ripples of which you may never fully know. Don't have a Short Term Trip strategy yet? We can help you think through that as well.
Whether you are wanting to lead a trip for the first time or have done it so long that you can't remember everything you know, this session will help reduce your stress and, more importantly, increase your impact.
This survey was created by someone that God led on an amazing journey. In hindsight this person realizes they were on a quest. Their quest started with one goal, “To find a deeper, more intimate relationship with God—one in which they would be able to recognize God’s “still small voice.” Prior to The Quest, this person had been a fairly average Christian leader, with seasons of spiritual fervor and seasons that were spiritually dry.
The questions in the survey fit in one of two categories. Some come from the issues this person began wrestling with that led them to embark upon The Quest. Others are inspired by all the things this person realized had changed or were changing as God led them in The Quest.
Many have found taking this survey helps them to assess where they are spiritually in their relationship with God. It is a tool to help explore various facets of one’s relationship with God. The intent isn’t to compute an overall score, but to help people begin to identify where to focus attention for future growth. Its ultimate effectiveness is realized as people re-take the survey months and years later and compare themselves with where they were previously.
Want to know the key to raising resources for a life-time of ministry or for a short-term mission trip – its Effective Ministry Partnership Development (MPD). We’ll address how correct thinking, biblical principles and practical principles are the key. This session will explain “why people give,” “how to effectively gain their support and involvement,” “ways to grow your list of prospects” and “what the basis is for successful long-term financial partnership.” Anyone wanting to increase the involvement of others in the ministry and increase their financial partnership should attend this session.
Jesus cured individuals and transformed society. As doctors on the edges of the Kingdom, we are called to care for the suffering patient as well as the crumbling community. A medical mission's approach that integrates curative and public health will be stronger than focusing on either alone; these are complementary not mutually exclusive options.
Hinduism unlike the Judeo-Christian and Islamic faiths has a radically divergent worldview; the New Age ideology/faith while being an eclectic network, is in its foundation a western, modern adaptation of Hinduism. The presentation is prepared with a view to equip the missionary to get into the shoes of these worldview followers so that they can better communicate the Gospel of Christ in God.
This session will enable participants to understand the necessity for demonstration and proclamation of the Gospel in their daily lives and in missions.
This workshop will provide an overview of Community Health Evangelism (CHE), a breakthrough mission strategy that seamlessly integrates evangelism and discipleship with disease prevention and community-based development. Through these ministries people become followers of Jesus, churches are planted, and entire communities are lifted out of cycles of poverty and disease. Participants will learn the basics of the strategy, and get practical information about how to start a CHE ministry in a target community.
This session will discuss understanding the value of medical outreach and allied professionals for outreach to closed countries and unreached people groups. We will learn about different steps for engagement in closed countries. We will also look at how to have clarity in one's role in global missions.
Every person has a worldview, a deep sense of what is real and how the world works. What we believe and value and what we do and say are shaped by our worldviews.
All cross-cultural ministry brings us into different worldviews in missions.
Our approaches to healthcare ministries whether in our home country or another are liberated and limited by (1) our own worldviews (2) our awareness of our worldviews and how they are formed and transformed and (3) our capacity to recognize and work with the worldviews of the people to whom God sends us.
By the end of this session, we will have grown in all 3 of those areas. We will leave with resources for continuing growth.
This participatory session will include learning from person reflection, discussion of Biblical stories, and the wisdom of other participants.
This document contains the Community Transformation Training that I give overseas to missionaries and to nationals. It teaches the basics of church planting strategies for restricted access countries.
I hope to share both from a Biblical, Missiological, Geo-Political standpoint how health care professionals can be part of a mass movement of Jesus followers to the unreached. Where they can live out who God has created them to be as a passionate and highly qualified medical professional where God is not worshipped. This is not about going to work in Christian hospitals, rather the health care institutions in countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Oman, Dubai where American HCP's are sought after, paid well and if serving with excellence will have opportunities to reflect the glory and goodness of God in these closed environments.
Spiritual formation is a way of describing the life-long journey of becoming who God created us to be. That’s the essence of being a “disciple” or learner. Our experience in healthcare ministry continues to "form" in us the ability to love God with all our heart, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves.
In this break out, we will collaboratively identify characteristics of a person who is “prepared” for healthcare ministry, and practices that help us cooperate with God’s efforts to form us for that work.
The "missionary-call" can be a source of high anxiety and soul-searching for those who think God is leading them to the mission field. But what do we mean, and more importantly, what does the Bible really have to say about the call to missions? And what do we think of when we use the word "missionary"? Does our view match what we find in the Bible? In this session we will explore some of the misconceptions of what it means to be "called to missions," and take a look at how the Bible has more to say about God's guidance rather than the traditional idea of a "call." Hopefully we can set aside some of the anxiety and focus on how God has given us the opportunity to spread the news of his grace in Christ according to the various gifts he has given to each of us.
Participants will learn about the unique roles of women in missions and how to overcome the challenges which women encounter. Suggestions for preparation for missions service as a woman will be presented.
The Ten Questions Everyone Asks About Career Missions: How do I pick a mission agency? How do I know I'm "called?" What about raising children overseas? How can I avoid burnout? These and other questions are answered in this popular talk illustrated with real and sometimes humorous real life stories.
This session will share answers on how to select a missions agency. Each person who attends will receive a 3 x 5 card when they enter the room. The moderator John McVay will group and select questions, direct them to appropriate panelists, and receive questions from the floor. Probable topics discussed from questions expected are: agency focus, doctrine, finances, services, leadership, locations, compatibility.
Should you do a domestic or international rotation while in training? When? Where? How do you make it happen? All are questions mission-minded healthcare professionals ask as they explore opportunities to serve during training. Join us as we discuss domestic and international locations, best practices and steps you can take in selecting an opportunity that fits your goals, timeframe, skills, and budget.
Why are you heading overseas as a medial missionary? What’s your ultimate long-term goal? Is your dream, for example, to vaccinate multiple thousands of Berber children against preventable child-hood diseases or ... do you dream of launching movements of missional-communities (churches) among the Berber who will reach all the Berber for Christ … AND vaccinate all their children too?
The Kingdom needs missionaries who will do both. This workshop will help you form and prepare a strategic team to go and do it with you.
How can we share the Gospel in such an increasingly diverse world? In a world where cross-cultural encounters and relationships take place right outside our door? The answer lies in learning how to apply and use the stories and texts we find in the Bible - ultimately the big story of the Bible itself. To do so, we must also consider the worldview of the people we meet - the lens through which they look at the world, how they answer life's questions, and how they identify themselves and their place in the world.
Session Description:
Widely acceptable in Middle Eastern countries, gender based violence (GBV) in the region is far from being well documented. Inherent socio-cultural norms in most settings, contribute to eclectic tolerance of GBV, a fatalistic attitude and helplessness among victims. Women, adolescents and other vulnerable population groups, especially internally displaced people (IDP) and refugees are at high risk suffering preventable clinical complications and fatal consequences.
This session will survey GBV in the Middle East highlighting its inherent root causes presenting the epidemiological picture in the region. You will learn of the clinical consequences of female genital cutting. The importance of region-specific data, and challenges in data-driven documentation will be discussed. UN prevention and care programing, and culturally acceptable initiatives will be introduced. Anecdotal experiences from the field will be shared on ministering to refugees and IDP victims of GBV.
Malaria has been a health threat for hundreds of years, yet continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, particularly in developing countries. Using case presentations, and drawing from the speaker’s international experience, this workshop will explore what’s new in malaria diagnosis and treatment and consider the emotional, mental, social and cultural as well as medical implications of the disease.
This is a primer of how to get started in palliative care and can be used to teach others as well. There is also a companion Palliative Care Toolkit Trainers Manual available for use with medical missions physician assistants, doctors, and nurses.. Both documents are available in a number of languages.
Why is HIV/AIDS still a concern on the mission field? HIV prevalence and AIDS death rates have declined in many countries, yet HIV/AIDS continues to have tremendous medical, emotional, economic and social challenges. Using case presentations, this workshop will explore HIV/AIDS treatment and care drawing from the speaker’s experience in Africa.
For the last 18 years, as the relationship has deepened between Southeast Christian Church and Life in Abundance, an African organization, much has been learned about how to minister cross-culturally together. As these 2 organizations serve alongside one another, exponential kingdom impact has happened by engaging the skills that both entities possess in a complementary way. As we look at the issue of dependency around the world, this is a refreshing model to consider as a solution to this struggle in missions.
Effective short-term healthcare missions requires actions that facilitate long-term change in the local setting - in healthcare services, in combating poverty, and in addressing spiritual needs. Unprepared short-term teams often do more damage than good. This presentation will provide strategies and tactics to properly prepare a short-term healthcare team and to build a relationship with a national partner that improves national conditions over the long-term with short-term teams.
Discipling that yields 3rd & 4th generation followers of Jesus more rapidly is not a program, but is fueled by the life-giving pattern from the scriptures. Discover the essentials of the simple & reproducible Kingdom pattern that will lead to effectiveness in making disciples that make disciples that make disciples. You’ll learn from case studies of those doing it how to get started in multiplying multipliers & pleasing our King.
The Next Generation of students, just like each generation before it, is different and is engaging the world in a new way. In order to effectively attract and retain these students, the church will have to adjust as well. Students no longer want to be a part of a church where they sit, listen and give an offering each week—students of this generation want to know where their money is going and to be a part of the movement. They want to engage in the mission of God in a tangible and real way. Because the entire world is available to them more than ever before, they want to be involved both locally and globally.
Suppose you were born in Central Thailand 60 years ago. As a teenager you found a numb spot on your arm, later on your arm became painful and finally your hand was deformed and you couldn’t feel or grip anything. You and your family were frightened. The monks at the Buddhist temple tried to help, but their expensive poultices did not help. Your family loved you, but they felt they had no alternative than to put you out of the house. You were a social outcast and would have to live a life of begging.
What is worldview? What is your worldview? What is the worldview of the community described in the scenario above?
The great majority of medical missions in East Asia takes place in Buddhist and Chinese (Confucius) contexts. Are they the same, similar or different? What obstacles must be overcome to make an impact physically and spiritually in East Asia? What must a medical missionary understand and put into practice in order to work effectively with peoples in Buddhist and Chinese worldviews? Finally, what is the unique role that medical missions can have in these contexts?
This session will feature Dr. David Leung, a family medicine doctor who has worked at Evergreen ministries in Taiyuan, China for over 15 years. He will present the Chinese worldview. I will present the Buddhist challenge.
This session will discuss the role of women in health care missions today. It will include examples and personal stories that will encourage expanded vision and new perspectives on opportunities and needs.
Integrating evangelism into medical missions can be difficult, particularly in areas that are closed to the gospel. We will discuss the topic from the big picture down to details and examples.
Spina bifida is usually a devastating diagnosis in any part of the work, but it is even more grave in the developing world. Embarking upon a treatment regimen demands that the parents have full information about what limitations should be anticipated for their child. Also, the full repertoire of potential operations, needed care, and life expectancy should be discussed with the family. The mother should be advised about long term folate utilization if she anticipates continued sexual activity while being in a child bearing age. Full information will allow a better understanding by the parents of anticipated changes in the child's disposition over a life time. As the child matures, more and more information will also needed to be shared with the patient.
4 years ago my wife and I felt the Lord was calling us to relocate our family of five into a historic African American community in Memphis, TN. While the neighborhood had a proud heritage it had fallen victim to seeing most of the successful professionals move out of the neighborhood and as a result drugs, gangs and poverty had now replaced the proud heritage with a reputation for being one of the most violent and toughest neighborhoods in Memphis. While the calling was clear our emotions and fears fluctuated as we prepared and ultimately made this move. I will share the journey to adapt to a new culture and how medicine has been a great tool to graft ourselves into a neighborhood so that the name of Jesus can be proclaimed.
Before we can understand God's will for us, we must first understand his overarching plan to glorify himself among all nations. This breakout session will explore God's mission and our response to him, common barriers that prevent us from surrendering to God's mission, and disciplines that prepare us to do God's will.
The United States is a much overlooked field in global missions. 96 million people live in areas designated as medically underserved. All of those are communities where poverty is rampant and resources are low. Not only are those areas of great need, they are areas of tremendous opportunity where the harvest is ripe for the gospel. The Director of Christian Community Health Fellowship will share an overview of the issues impacting this cross-cultural domestic mission field, and will discuss how Christian health professionals are intentionally living out the gospel through healthcare among the poor in the United States.
Despite declining HIV prevalence and AIDS death rate in many countries, HIV/AIDS remains a tremendous challenge with medical, emotional, economic and social problems. Using case presentations and an interactive format, this workshop will explore HIV/AIDS care and treatment issues particularly from the speaker’s experience in Africa
While embarking on a general surgical career as a worker in Africa, I found the breadth of surgical need far beyond my narrow thinking. General surgery gave way to gynecolgy, plastic surgery, orthopedics, urology, and ultimately neurosurgery as pertaining primarily to children with hydrocephalus and spina bifida. The rehab surgery has endured as my focus for the last thirty years. It has been a journey where there are few surgeons involved and where the huge needs seem to have opened a wonderful spiritual path.
Opportunities for mentoring , discipling and learning from majority world healthcare leaders of today and tomorrow have never been more available or diverse. Ministering healing in Jesus’ name can occur within CANs; within national nursing, medical and other allied health schools; and within a growing number of Christian university-based ,health professions schools. Making a long term commitment allows relationship based discipleship that can produce servant healers from among the Americas, Africa and Asia.
This session will outline the advantages of medical education missions compared to direct care missions, give examples of organizations with which attendees can participate in short term medical education missions, identify challenges participants face and ways they can be overcome, and provide examples of the long term impacts recent short term medical education missions have had.
It is the general idea that the short-term missions is one sided. Often creating dependency- teams from USA go to the underdeveloped country to help and bring short term relief and address felt needs in the comminutes of the countries they visit. While that may be true, ‘passing on of skills’ showcases how the trend can be reversed and these very missions can impact providing long term and sustainable projects and help move from ‘relief’ to ‘development’ and self sustaining mode. Caleb Rayapati, will show case how the “Pass on the skills” is making an impact on the ground, a firsthand account of the partnering mission using the Dental Outreach skills in self sustaining method, involved in community development in India impacting through practice of Biblical wholisim- a first hand account of how Indian Church has impacted using health care skills.
"A disciple is not above his teacher...if they persecuted me, they will persecute you...if they have called the head of the house Beelzebub, what will they call the members of his house?" Since Genesis 3, all human beings have suffered, but disciples of Jesus, especially those who seek to glorify Him as missionaries, inevitably enter into His peculiar sufferings: loneliness, alienation, rejection, humiliation, and physical pain. Some disciples will pay the ultimate price of martyrdom.
We don't pursue suffering for its own sake, but obedient disciples can't avoid hardships. We need a biblical theology of suffering that protects us from despair--and allows us to benefit from suffering's redemptive and maturing power.
2 Kings chapter 2 through 8 list 16 miracles related to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. 2 Kings 7:2 says something I have frequently found myself saying: "Even if the Lord opened the window of Heaven might this thing be..." Or translated it might say "That couldn't happen" or "God can't possibly do that." My stories of God's goodness and answers to prayer fit in the category of 1. Impossible Obstructions, 2. Impossible odds, 3. Impossible Poverty, 4. Impossible visibility, and 5. Impossible timing. They illustrate how God Provided, Guided, Protected, and demonstrated His Providence over 81 years as a missionary child of a medical missionary and then a medical missionary starting in 1966 in Ethiopia.
Dr. Ralph Winter said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said for lack of mentors. What is a mentor? What do mentors offer prospective long-term medical missionaries? Come to this session if you desire a mentor or if you desire to become a mentor. Before the session you may want to familiarize yourself with GMHC’s mentoring service at https://www.medicalmissions.com/community/mentoring . This session strives to honor God by helping you translate your dreams of serving as a long-term medical missionary into reality.
We would all like to believe that as we reach out to share our medical expertise and the love and the compassion of Christ we will all be safe, but is there any place in which we can be safe today? One question we all have to answer is: Is security the absence of danger or the presence of the Lord. But, being good stewards of the great blessing of volunteers serving the least and the last is our obligation. We need to be prepared and have trained and seasoned team leaders to know what to do when the unthinkable happens. We will discuss how to approach these situations from the standpoint of evaluation of risks, minimizing exposure, preparation and training for an encounter with the unthinkable.
Everyone in every culture loves to share and hear stories - and the Gospel is the story of all stories. The Bible comes complete with stories that show all the different aspects of the Gospel and learning how to use them - that is, doing more than simply reading them out loud is one of the most effective ways to share the story with everyone. There are even ways to share the whole story of the Bible in one sitting! And everyone can do it. It is particularly helpful in oral cultures and settings.
This session will share answers on how to select a missions agency. Each person who attends will receive a 3 x 5 card when they enter the room. The moderator John McVay will group and select questions, direct them to appropriate panelists, and receive questions from the floor. Probable topics discussed from questions expected are: agency focus, doctrine, finances, services, leadership, locations, compatibility.
What can we learn from God's word about effectively sharing a vision? What can we learn from recent evidence of ministries who have demonstrated an ability to effectively share a vision? What gets in the way of effectively sharing a vision?
Fund-Raising for Short-term or Long-Term Missions
Want to know the key to raising resources for a life-time of ministry or for a short-term mission trip – its Effective Ministry Partnership Development (MPD). We’ll address how correct thinking, biblical principles and practical principles are the key. This session will explain “why people give,” “how to effectively gain their support and involvement,” “ways to grow your list of prospects” and “what the basis is for successful long-term financial partnership.” Anyone wanting to increase the involvement of others in the ministry and increase their financial partnership should attend this session.
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven shaped every aspect of Jesus’ ministry - - his healing, prayers, teaching and even his identity . As we follow him in health care missions, the Kingdom should also define our goals, methodologies, and ways of relating with those we serve and with our co-workers. It should fuel our hope and our perseverance.
Everyone who has been on a medical mission has some embarrassing and/or hilarious stories of cultural or language blunders. Sometimes the events are just funny. Sometimes they can seriously compromise relationships and the intended impact of the whole mission, including our Christian witness. This session offers perspective, spiritual grounding and practical tools for building healthy relationships, avoiding, or at least recovering from many of the common mistakes in cross-cultural missions.
Long-term improvement in health-related indicators for a population depends on coordinated interaction between communities, local leaders, government, and technical experts. Long-term input from outsiders can be valuable, as can coordinated input from outsiders who engage in appropriate partnering relationships with nationals. This workshop will identify several successful models for partnering where short-term healthcare workers can have a tremendous impact, as well as highlighting pitfalls to be avoided.
Nursing practice varies from country to country based on the healthcare needs of that country and the educational systems in place for educating nurses. This panel is made up of nurses who have been educated outside of the US and now practice here as well as US nurses who have become familiar with the nursing practice in their mission host countries. Come learn how nursing is both the same and different in other countries.
Missions is about who we are and what we're called to be. We often think of missions as primarily something we, or others, "do." Of course we engage in missions but when we look at the Bible we find that missions is at the heart of God's story of making all things new in Christ. We are called to take part in this story--not only tell it and study it but live it. When we see that missions in the Bible is not simply a handfull of texts but is at the very heart of God's unfolding plan then we can find our place in God's redemptive story. In this session we'll take a fresh look at what missions is all about in the Bible, and how God has gone about fulfiliing his promise to the nations in Christ and what that means for us today. Hopefully each of us will go away with a renewed vision for the missional life God has given us.
Worksite wellness is one of the 5 groups of communities for community engagement. Schools are a specialized workplace. Consistent health / wellness messages in schools and worksites will reach the family from two strategic directions.
Public health is not often formally established in mission's organizations. Public health is a more sustainable compassionate ministries outreach than clinics and hospitals therefore should be a key part of indigenous church strategies.
Community engagement is the facilitation of communities to own their own problems and solutions within their resources. Key cross cultural communications competencies and skills are necessary to effectively facilitate community engagement.
This session will share answers on how to become a medical missionary. Each person who attends will receive a 3 x 5 card when they enter the room. The moderator John McVay will group and select questions, direct them to appropriate panelists, and receive questions from the floor. Probable topics discussed from questions expected are: Guidance, Agencies, Training, Funding, Singles, and Families.
Over 96M Americans live in medically underserved areas (MUAs) right here in the United States. Most MUAs are located in strategic areas of need where service is desperately needed and where people are ripe for the gospel. Medical mission pioneers are responding to needs in our own nation by applying in domestic settings proven strategies that have worked in challenging international fields. These courageous disciples recognize that our mission really is "global" and not just "international"; that "mission" is not something you do 2 weeks in the summer, but is a lifestyle; and that serving in cross-cultural, impoverished communities here not only fulfills our Christian mandate, but is the best preparation they can get for work in other countries.
This session will examine what gospel-driven healthcare looks like in the U.S., and discuss the principles and strategies that are helping Christians extend Christ's love through healthcare to the neediest of our neighbors.
Traditional ways of serving in medical missions have included working in mission hospitals, clinics and aspects of community development and public health. Less well-known—but significant—medical mission ministries from the beginning include medical education and cooperating with local and national governments in planning or providing healthcare, including national healthcare. As entry into many areas of the world has been restricted for traditional medical missions over the past generation, these other less well-known thrusts have increased in strategic significance.
Three distinguished panelists—Dr. James Smith, Dr. Daniel Tolan and Dr. Matthew Koh— bring extensive experience from nearly all continents to this session. They have served in both Christian and secular contexts and short and long term programs that have greatly enhanced the scope and effectiveness of medical missions worldwide. Join us to expand your horizons of opportunities to serve in these medical ministries.
Medicine is one means of meeting the needs of people throughout the world. Working with the disabled opens closed doors and is an outreach to those I consider "unreached". Three to ten percent of the world is considered to have some type of disability. Only a very few in the developing world can find care to improve their plight in life. Surgical rehabilitation, and its associated care, has opened doors throughout East Africa and has opened doors into closed countries. Kenya was the beginning. In 2006 a team entered a country where we were told, "There are no Christians, national or expats!" The third day there a medical student commented, "I have never met a Christian." A recent publication suggested that only 1 in 15 in that country had every met a Christian. Now, seven years later we have touched the physical lives of probably thousands, and we have planted a lot of seeds. Children with hydrocephalus, spina bifida, burn contractures, club feet, cleft lips/palates, and other disabilities are receiving care that was not previously available, AND children from 4 surrounding regions are also coming for care. The work of BethanyKids in Kenya, and of the Lord, saw about 7,000 people come to the Lord in 2011. Most of Africa has nearly no significant medical care for the disabled. With added workers and further training, doors could be open to much of the developing world.
Knowing medicine or dentistry is not enough to be a successful missionary. There are many things beyond medicine you need to master to be effective. You need to learn how to recruit, train and supervise people. You will likely be involved in fund raising, program design and development, evangelism, leadership, government relations, project proposals, public speaking and much more.
This session will give you an overview of many of these areas and get you started down the path to be a life long learner. Dr. Stevens will share clear principles and practical experience seasoned with examples from his missionary experience. He will point you to good resources to learn what you need to know beyond medicine.
How did 145,000 Muslims find Jesus in a single decade? Shadanke faced a decision: He could woo foreign health-care professionals to Sierra Leone to meet dire medical needs among his people. Or he could partner with a few foreign health-care professionals to launch out-of-control movements of reproducing Jesus-Communities (churches) that would explode the Kingdom among hundreds of thousands of his people while training/equipping them to meet those physical needs in Jesus’ name. He chose the latter. And a decade later there are literally hundreds of thousands of baptized believers, half for them former Muslims, who continually ravage Satan’s kingdom, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and it’s power, healing all kinds of diseases.
What’s your ultimate long-term goal? Is your dream to vaccinate multiple thousands of Berber children against preventable child-hood diseases or … to launch movements of missional-communities (churches) among the Berber who will reach all the Berber for Christ … and vaccinate all their children too? Is your goal to treat five thousand TB patients among the Bedo of Jordan or … to establish reproducing Jesus-Communities in the desert that actually bring the Kingdom’s blessing to all Bedouins … and who themselves become the hands of Jesus serving TB patients among them? Is your ambition to establish and/or staff emergency clinics for the never-ending flow of refugees, or … is your life ambition to launch out-of-control movements of simple churches that sweep through a people group … and serve their sick as part of being the church.
This breakout session will give you hope that the bigger vision is possible and help you form and prepare long-term teams that can embrace such a challenge.
In management, there is a saying, "you get what you inspect, not what you expect". However, how do we know exactly what to inspect in the transformational development process? for example, if we looked only at the instruments showing the vial signs of a patient in a coma but kept alive on life support systems, the instruments would show that vital signs are within the ideal range. However , the doctor treating this patient would be most concerned about when the patient's CNS would take over responsibility for all the vital organs to function normally. We understand this well in Medical science, but somehow forget all about it when it comes to community development. Empowerment takes a back seat, and other indicators take on prominence, despite the fact that we know that things like vaccination levels, disease incidence etcetera can be made to "look impressive" by directing inputs in a particular way. We are often content to become service providers for health care and management, and take on the responsibility for 'ensuring that the community is healthy'. We are even happy with the community being a passive recipient of our services, because the outcome is good - immunization levels are up, people are healthy. But what happens when the program is over? Do things just revert back to where they were before we started? does anyone go back to check? A good friend of mine , Dr. Stanley Foster (who spent over 50 years in Public Health in CDC and Emory University) is a strong advocate for evaluation of intensive massive health care projects two years after the projects are over!!!
One can say without a doubt that if the community was not engaged from the beginning in the planning and empowered as a part of the project design to take responsibility for their health ; the outcome would be pretty embarrassing. This session focusses on identifying what matters in the development process (Empowerment, progress towards the MDGs, etcetera) & finding ways to measure them.
"Justice" has multiple meanings in the Bible. When the psalmist declared that "righteousness and justice are the foundation" of the Messiah's throne (Psalm 89:14), he was speaking of an equity and fairness that goes beyond punishment for bad people. God's zeal for justice is found throughout the Old and New Testaments. This breakout session will define biblical justice, describe present day healthcare injustices, and demonstrate that working for healthcare justice is a powerful means of glorifying God and expanding the Kingdom of Jesus.
Are you and your family planning to be missionaries in the US or overseas and wondering the impact on your family life? This session will provide advice from a couple who served 8 years in Asia, where 3 of their 4 daughters were born. They'll give suggestions, some of it learned the hard way, for how you and your family can thrive on the mission field. Included will be strategies and insights for successful family preparation beforehand and healthy family life after your begin serving. Time will also be available during the session for asking your questions.
Mission Medical: Assessing and Addressing Spiritual Needs of Patients
We'll discuss (1) why healthcare professionals have been reluctant to take a spiritual history, (2) the positive association of spirituality/religiosity and physical/mental health, and (3) several spiritual history tools to consider for use in clinical care.
This seminar will examine the biblical call to make disciples and most importantly how to do this. You will learn the practical aspects of both having a discipler/mentor and serving as a discipler/mentor for someone else. If you ever have or have ever wanted to invest your life strategically into another person, then this seminar is for you!
Although the principles of medical and dental care are the same worldwide, the need for translation, existing local health beliefs, customs, teaching methods, and other social and political factors may present barriers which have a significant impact on the effectiveness of efforts to teach healthcare professionals cross-culturally. This session will examine several of these.
This session will compare short term mission efforts which provide direct care to patients in an area to those which provide education and advanced training to healthcare professionals, which most often have a longer term benefit both to those who are taught by these healthcare professionals and to patients needing healthcare in that area.
God has called you to missions but how do you make a smooth transition from student to missionary physician? Join us as we look at steps to take during your education and training to prepare you for a career in medical missions. We’ll examine what questions you need to ask, what you should be aware of and what can you do over these next years to be equipped to move from training to ministry.
Have you longed to integrate your Christian faith into your patient care – both on the mission field abroad and in your work at home? Not sure how to do this in a caring, sensitive, and relevant manner? This “working” session will explore the ethical basis for spiritual care plus provide you with profession, timely, and practical methods to care for the whole person in the clinical setting.
Is it possible to equip indigenous believers to meet the needs of their own people so that the work continues when the short term team returns home? Jaime will share stories from the mission field regarding training and equipping indigenous Christ-followers with especially designed tools so that they can meet the felt needs of their own people, through which they develop relationships and have the opportunity to both demonstrate and share the love of Christ in a tangible way.
This session will review the missionary influence on WHO evidence-based international guidelines to achieve global development goals. Lack of implementation of these Biblically-based guidelines has resulted in a world-wide “Slow-Motion Disaster". The global epidemic of non-communicable diseases primarily due to obesity and smoking recently resulted in the second ever UN General Assembly on Health in its 67 year history; and, as reported by the UN "... constitutes one of the major challenges for development in the twenty-first century, which undermines social and economic development throughout the world and threatens the achievement of internationally agreed development goals.” As emphasized by the UN and WHO, the root cause of this impending worldwide health, economic, and development disaster is not medical and it cannot be resolved by doctors and nurses. For this is a Lifestyle problem, a problem of beliefs & values. It is a spiritual problem, and it will not be resolved until the Church reassumes its responsibilities for the holistic (mind, body, spirit ) health of its members, its community and its country.
We will conclude by demonstrating how the local Church, regardless of size or resources, can begin to provide the evidence-based holistic health and healing necessary for true transformational development.
How can a ministry continue after we leave? Drawing from the speaker's mission expereince and using case studies and an interactive format, participants will explore successful principles and strategies for sustainability in medical missions.
Effective Ministry Partnership Development is the key to raising resources for life and ministry. We’ll address how correct thinking, biblical principles and practical principles are the key. This session will explain “why people give,” “how to effectively gain their support and involvement,” “ways to grow your list of prospects” and “what the basis is for successful long-term financial partnership.” Anyone wanting to increase the involvement of others in the ministry and increase their financial partnership should attend this session.
We would all like to believe that as we reach out to share our medical expertise and the love and the compassion of Christ we will be safe, but is there any place in which we can be safe today? Security as we know is it is not the absence of danger, but the presence of the Lord. Being good stewards of the great blessings given to us of volunteers serving the least, the lost and the last is our obligation. We need to be prepared and have trained leaders to know what to do when the unthinkable happens. We will discuss how to approach these situations from the sandpoint of evaluation of risks, minimizing exposure, training for the eventuality of the most common conditions that could be encountered and preparation for the unthinkable. Unfortunately there is evil in the world and if one looks at the statistics: in 2009 there were 278 reported victims of 139 serious security incidents compared with 1999 when there were 65 victims involved in 34 such incidents. This trend continues to go up in all areas from kidnappings, road attacks, mob violence, ambushes, robberies, to suicide bombings. This situation hightens our responsibility and be wise and prepared even as we trust the Lord for our provision and protection. To God be the glory.
Short-term missions offer a unique opportunity for sustained spiritual formation away from the distractions of a busy life in the U.S., in a setting where the traveler is often far removed from their comfort zone and power zone. This workshop presents ideas and guidelines for the trip leader in recruiting, selecting, and preparing trip participants to act as the Body of Christ in their service, and to reduce opportunities for the deceiver to cause division and strife and to cast dispersion on the name of the Lord. It will also offer suggestions for proactive steps to take that may minimize potential disruptions within the team and between team members and nationals.
Everyone who has been on a medical mission has some embarrassing and/or hilarious stories of cultural insensitivity or language blunders. Sometimes the events are just funny. Sometimes they can seriously compromise the intended impact of the whole mission, including our Christian witness. This session offers perspective, spiritual grounding and practical tools for building healthy relationships, avoiding, or at least recovering from many of the common mistakes in cross-cultural missions.
Our discussion will include:
• Framing the problem: Why doesn’t everyone see the world my way?
• A spiritual foundation: Humility – be a Learner
• Communication: Language is more than just words. A simple, practical language/culture learning process – even for short-term missions.
• Relationships: Essential Bridges - - build them to last
• Good news is not always Good News: Why context is always important. Looking for systemic roots to disease, poverty and hunger - - and how to work for lasting change.
Ralph Winter said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said of lack of mentors—and the lack of appreciation of the resources that are available to fan into flame serving in medical mission. What is a mentor? What are the resources available? Come to this session to find what’s available to keep you on track for medical mission. As an extra bonus, meet a young medical missionary (not me, obviously) on home assignment to discover how he found a mentor and what this means to him.
Dental Surgery can be particularly challenging on the mission field. Often dealing with cross cultural and language communication problems, the proper positioning of the patient, proper light, possibly no x-rays, limited or no suction, sometimes limited trained assistance, and possibly not all the equipment that you might need. Many dentists do only limited oral surgery in their practices. The challenges are great in the often uncomfortable environment of the mission field. How can we be prepared and what are some of the techniques that we can use that might be of help for us as we care for those who often have never seen a dentist before and are in pain or have been. Relieving pain and infection and doing no harm is one of our most pressing issues in areas where there is no dental care available. It is a matter of getting our of your comfort zone and working in a small dark area, in which you could injure your self as well and where the incidence of HIV may be quite high. Lets look at some way to work in and through these difficulties for the glory of the Lord and the benefit of those who need to know Jesus and seek relief from their suffering. May His great love and compassion show in all we do and say. To God be the glory.
This session will provide a brief introduction to the Islamic faith, culture, and worldview of health and illness. Particular emphasis will be given to obstetrical and women’s health issues encountered among an unreached people of a Southwest Asian country where the speaker, a Family Nurse Practitioner, is presently involved in ministry. Equipped with a general knowledge about the culture of Islam and the Islamic worldview of health and illness, health care providers are better prepared to interact with their Muslim clients and their families and will be able to provide care that is accepted by the client. This in turn can lead to a decrease in the amount of racial and ethnic disparities that occur in health care in our society today.
It is estimated that 3-10% of people in the developing world are disabled. The care of disabled children in Sub Saharan Africa is nearly nonexistent. Africa lacks sufficient specialists to provide reasonable care for the vast majority of disabled children, and very few training programs are training such specialists in Africa. A remedial solution for surgical care is necessary in order to provide for this need. Selected doctors with surgical skills might be trained to provide 10-15 surgical procedures thereby providing care for possibly 80-85% of the surgical needs of the disabled. I am a general surgeon who began providing surgical care for the disabled thirty years ago. The care expanded to include children with polio, club feet, burn contractures, club feet, hypospadias, hydrocephalus, spina bifida, and various other disabilities.
This seminar will examine the biblical call to make disciples and most importantly how to do this. You will learn the practical aspects of both having a discipler/mentor and serving as a discipler/mentor for someone else. If you ever have or have ever wanted to invest your life strategically into another person, then this seminar is for you!
Buddhists in East Asia largely believe in one of the dominant Buddhist traditions, animism and ancestor worship. They believe in karma, the moral law of cause and effect which demands that every soul suffer for its past “sins;” so there is no value in alleviating suffering. While very few Buddhists have come to Christ through the direct preaching of the gospel, some have responded to the compassion shown by medical missionaries since the early 19th century. This session features the plight of one leprosy patient, an outcast in society who gradually found new life through the lives of Christians who dared to touch him, clean his wounds and tell him about Jesus. This session will bring attendees face to face with a culture that is very resistant to the gospel, the reasons for that resistance and what we can do about it.
There are countless barriers that prevent aspiring healthcare missionaries from achieving their goals. Come learn strategies for recognizing and overcoming both obvious and hidden obstacles.
There are inherent dangers that come with following Jesus into a ministry of medicine. God's ways are not the ways of men and all too often health care professionals are slowly led astray from their original intent and calling to follow Jesus into a life of healing. God's heart is to bring restoration to a fallen world. But God's purpose of restoration can easily get lost as we enter into the health care system. Now more than ever, we need to maintain biblical fidelity in our medical practices. In this seminar, we will focus on Jesus' mission to bind up the broken hearted by surveying the biblical foundations for healing ministry in Isaiah, Luke, and Acts. We will also discuss what it will take to recover the holy call of healing.
Work among the poor in the US is remarkably good preparation for healthcare workers interested in serving overseas. This session will demonstrate how work in the inner-city of Memphis TN has prepared many missionaries for the toughest fields on earth--and how this model could be employed all over the U.S.