MedicalMissions.com Podcast

Short-term teams can be a huge blessing to long-term workers on the field! They bring with them fresh perspective and energy. Their curiosity is invigorating. They often bring much needed specialty skills. They take back firsthand accounts of your ministry. And, not to be underestimated, they may also turn into long-term workers! This is a great opportunity to renew partnerships and relationships...

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...

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...

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 reproduc...

Abstract: Poverty is an issue that should interest all Christians especially physicians working in mission settings in charity hospitals and also physicians working in public health doing development work. Poverty is often understood in monetary terms. The Millennium Development Goal team has defined it as less than 2$ a day. This presentation seeks to understand poverty in “wholistic” terms. Pove...

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...

"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,...

Ministry that originates from a community, rather than from outside, has heightened power to transform individuals (including those delivering services) and neighborhoods. Using examples from inner-city Memphis, TN, we'll demonstrate that powerful things happen when disciples of Jesus live as the Church-- cross-culturally and in community.

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...

The Changing Role of the Pastor and the Church in Healthcare Missions. This session will equip pastors and church leaders to be able to lead and implement effective medical missions engagement in the changing missiological landscape of the 21st century. You will learn practical and biblical sound ways of changing your church members from being spectators into participators, from consumers into con...

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.

What could small groups of people from the USA do during week-long trips to help invigorate, inform, and empower the local people for months, years, and even generations? This workshop will present some field examples of this happening, clarify some key factors for this style of Short-Term Missions (STM) to be successful, and generate your input on how to measure a truly successful STM trip. Come...

Transforming Individuals, Groups and Neighborhoods for Better Health. We will discuss how healthcare workers can reach out to geographical areas where their patients live with a view to helping their patients discover that they must take more control of their own lives if there is to be an improvement in their overall health. Peer groups and family are the main providers of health not medical prof...

In recent years there has been a tsunami of short-term healthcare volunteers going into the developing world; both faith-based and humanitarian. Recent estimates tell us that 29% of students enrolled in medical schools participate in some type of short-term global health project prior to graduation. Dental, nursing, and allied health schools are also beginning to follow suit. Yet, few churches or...

We spend so much time, money, and resources on short-term missions trips that we often forget about the mission field at home. How can we live intentionally for 52 weeks each year in the mission field God has placed us in?

Community Health Evangelism (CHE) is 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. By participation and completion of this workshop, the participant...

In this session we will gain a vision for church initiated community health ministries that shape culture, influence policy, and impact millions. We will examine a few case studies, explore current opportunities, and learn a a simple and trasferable ministry strategy that is achieving nationwide impact in several countries.

International short-term healthcare teams are challenging to develop and lead, due to the need for cultural intelligence, strong spiritual preparation of the team, and complex regulatory requirements in each country. Organizers must assure that they understand the myriad cultural complexities of working across cultural barriers, and how to educate their short-term team on the essentials. Spiritual...

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!

Every aspect of Jesus’ ministry - - his prayers, teaching, healing and even his identity - - seems to have been shaped by his vision of the Kingdom of God. 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. In this session, we will: • Learn...

Preventing and Managing Burnout Cross-cultural medical workers are under multiple levels of stress peculiar to their professional roles. They often serve as mental health resources to colleagues and other cross-cultural workers, have difficulty limiting the hours of work with minimal reprieve for rest and restoration. This session will focus on cognitive and behavioral tools that can improve the m...

Goals of This Breakout Session Include: 1. Review the list of evidence-based, low-cost, mortality-reducing interventions for critically ill patients that are appropriate for use in resource limited settings. 2. Share practical lessons learned including successes and challenges from running an ICU in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Global Health Issues: Major Existing Global Issues Intensive Medical Education in Low Resource Areas Speaker: Ndidi Musa Location: ED 210/212 Abstract: To achieve the Millennium development goal 4, which is to reduce under-five mortality by two-thirds by 2015, still remains a challenge for low resource countries. Emergency and critical care services are often the weakest parts of the health system...

Healthcare provides a unique opportunity to engage the deepest issues of life and faith alongside those who are suffering. Can you care for patients in a way that brings them before Jesus and offers them peace, healing, and wholeness? Discover how to practice healthcare as your ministry…starting even now as a student or resident.