Endocrinology

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."

This break-out session will describe how global learning experiences affect the practice of healthcare students and professionals after they return home, beyond cultural competence.

Our generation faces the reality of a world where 3 Billion will spend a lifetime never hearing the good news of Jesus. We are simply not in the neighborhoods and marketplaces where the majority of these unreached live. We dream of a different reality - a follower of Jesus imbedded in every community. A follower of Jesus in every place of work - embracing their God-given design to reflect the glor...

Ethical Medicine in Short Term Trips

Sharing personal experiences from 16 years of field medical missionary service, the session will highlight lessons learned on the journey to balance medical practice, mission ministry and motherhood.

Suturing

Explore the role of women in missions, challenges women face, and ways to overcome challenges

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...

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 i...

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...

Brain drain of healthcare workers is a huge challenge in low income countries, particularly in rural areas, and yet these locations represent arguably the greatest healthcare needs in the world. This session will discuss rural medical education as a potential solution to brain drain in raising up compassionate, competent healthcare workers in the local setting.

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.

Do you participate in short-term medical relief trips? In this session, relief organizations and volunteers (both medical and non-medical) will be challenged to think deeply about the practices they employ in the field and the impact they make on foreign patients/communities. We have high standards for health care in the United States, but there currently exists no standardized way of assessing th...

Spotlight on fifteen of the world's most un-evangelized people groups.

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.

Sourcing Safe Medicines for Missions

Many times in the missions world, we follow culture by implementing solutions borrowed from others in our same field. But what if we created in such a way that changed our industry? With more than 3.5 billion people living without access to the good news of Jesus, we need to start changing the way we look at solving our challenges. At this session, you will learn a process and tools to bring your...

Do you want to "live on mission" with your patients regardless of whether you are stateside or abroad? This session will present proven and practical methods that will help you assess and address the spiritual needs of your patients in a professional, ethical, and compassionate manner. These tools have been utilized in secular and faith-based healthcare settings worldwide. Bob serves as...

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...

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 ful...

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 fro...

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 shar...

Health professionals in all settings should take a history from their patient(s). National guidelines in the U.S. recommend a spiritual assessment be included with most or all patients. Yet, surveys show that over 95% of patients say that no health professional has ever inquired of their spiritual or religious beliefs. Furthermore, most health professionals indicate that they never been taught how...