Economic Development

Mental Health challenges are among those that bear the greatest burden of disease and disability in every country evaluated. Special challenges of diagnosing and caring for people suffering from mental health challenges in Africa will be addressed.

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 sustain...

Can a church in a poor and vulnerable community run a sustainable healthcare ministry in her community? Yes, if the church and short term medical team are well prepared for ministry. Here are the steps we have taken in Ghana to enable local churches run sustainable healthcare ministries as result of short term medical teams equipping them.

"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,...

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 sessio...

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 involveme...

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 relationship...

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 wh...

Microfinance has become a very popular strategy for helping to stabilize and grow the incomes of poor families in the Global South. Given the close association between economic prosperity and physical health, there is a tremendous opportunity to integrate microfinance progams with various health initiatives. This workshop introduces the basic concepts of microfinance and gives examples of attempts...

Healthy individuals and families require healthy communities. Historically, many attempts to create such communities have used a "needs-based approach" which focuses on the deficits and short-comings in those communities, the assumption being that outside resources would be the catalyst for change. In contrast, an "asset-based approach" identifies, connects and mobilizes the re...

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.

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...

Given the societal situation of people with disabilities worldwide, true life transformation can only come from a wholistic approach. The needs of people with disabilities worldwide are complex and multifaceted, but the additional challenges faced by those in the majority world require a multidimensional approach. This approach needs to take place on 2 fronts – among those living with disability a...

Human trafficking refers to the sale of adults and children in to commercial sexual activity or as bonded laborers. It is often referred to as modern day slavery and viewed as a criminalized industry. However the roots of human trafficking lie in the poverty and marginalization of communities, broken families and the low values placed on children especially girls. Most agencies have approached the...

How should I manage medical and surgical diseases in a resource limited setting? How do I decide whether to test or just treat? Should I treat the poor, rural farmer in Africa for mild HTN as I would a farmer in Minnesota? Learn an evidence-based probabilistic approach to rational, ethical, shared decision making with patients in resource limited settings that leads to cost effective care. Learn h...

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,...

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 wil...

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. Howeve...

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...

It's estimated that more than 4 Billion people in the world are oral learners. They can't, don't or won't read. Regardless of the reasons or situation, oral communication methods and participatory/discovery learning processes are important tools in most of the world. In this session we'll look at case studies and experiences my wife and I have had helping friends in North India...

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.