Sarah Riggsbee – Saying Yes: Our Journey to Nepal
In this session at the 2017 M3 Conference, Sarah Riggsbee, an acute care speech language pathologist, shares her family’s story of what happened after they answered “Yes” to God’s calling into missions. Their “yes” led her and her husband, a family medicine physician, and their two children to Nepal, where they serve at a mission hospital.
Click here to follow Sarah Riggsbee and her family’s adventures and/or to support the work they are doing.
Click here to learn about the work going on at United Mission Hospital Tansen in Nepal where they serve.
The Riggsbee Family serves through Samaritan’s Purse. Click here to learn more about the work Samaritan’s Purse is doing around the globe.
Serve to No End.
Serve to No End. Love Where You Live. Love Where You Go. This is the heart of the Mission Ministry of Woodlands Church. Their mission is to see a community of people radically devoted to eagerly and selflessly serving, giving of themselves to authentically love the one in front of them. To see the liberation and transformation of millions of lives and communities through the proclamation and demonstration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To see the dehumanizing oppressive reality of poverty forever broken and communities transformed to wholeness of life through Christ Jesus. To see the awakening and release of the God-given potential of countless next generation followers of Jesus Christ as agents of transformation.
Woodlands Church creatively uses every means available to share and show the hope of Christ, leveraging relationships and strengths of local churches around the world. They may lead initially with clinics, building projects, education, or business enterprise, but each is a means to meet very real physical needs and opens the door to sharing Christ, resulting in lasting life-change.
Through global and local missions, disaster relief, Farmer Field Schools, and the WC Trading Co., Woodlands Church makes a significant impact in the hearts and lives of people around the world. At the Mobilizing Medical Missions (M3) Conference, Woodlands Church sets up their WC Trading Co. Fair Trade Store. WC Trading Co. exists as an expression of Woodlands Church because they believe every life has purpose. Every single person has God-given gifts and talents. WC wants to help empower others to break the chains of poverty and help lift them with dignity and hope to reach their God-given purpose. Buyers at any of the WC Trading Co. stores are a part of a gift that gives twice! By purchasing products at a fair wage, WC Trading Co. is able to break poverty cycles and create sustainable change and development. Each item represented in the store is handmade and uniquely characterizes a different person, culture and story. WC Trading Co. has the opportunity to give artisans from remote parts of the world a global voice simply by shopping with purpose!
It is a privilege for us to partner with Woodlands Church through the M3 Conference. Click here to learn more about the heart, mission and projects of Woodlands Church.
Peter Hotez, MD, PhD – Neglected Tropical Diseases: The Ancient Afflictions of the Poor
Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are the most common diseases of people living in extreme poverty. More than one billion people are affected globally, including the impoverished Christian-majority countries of Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Through programs of mass drug administration we have made a big dent in terms of reducing their global prevalence, in some cases up to 50 percent or more, but there is still an enormous amount of work that remains. Moreover, we have seen the rise of several new vector-borne NTDs such as dengue, Zika, chikungunya, leishmaniasis and schistosomaisis. The rise of these diseases has been especially acute in Latin America, Southern Europe and in the conflict zones of the Middle East. However, we have also seen an uptick in the Southern United States.
In this session at the 2017 M3 Conference, Dr. Peter Hotez discusses NTDs and the efforts that are underway to develop new vaccines for these conditions, many of which are under development at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, where Dr. Hotez serves as Dean.
Click here to learn more about the programs and projects of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Click here to learn more about the work of the Sabin Vaccine Institute.
Hope Smiles is Committed to Developing and Providing a Sustainable, Community-Based Dental Delivery Model
The M3 Conference Team is eternally grateful to its partners and supporters that have come alongside us to bring attention to the pressing global health needs. One of those generous partners is Hope Smiles. We were honored to have Hope Smiles’ Founder, Phillip Kemp, DDS, AAACD, join us as a speaker at the 2017 M3 Conference.
Originally named Project Smiles, Hope Smiles was founded in 2005 to meet the unmet dental needs in Middle Tennessee by providing dental students unparalleled mentorship and experience while serving the under-served. Partnering with the dental school at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Phillip Kemp and a nine-member board invited dental students to take up their mission for real action through a unique advanced education opportunity. This mentoring program has provided dental care to many who would otherwise not receive treatment.
Now, just twelve years later, Hope Smiles is not only growing and continuing its work in the U.S., but is also developing sustainable dental care in Haiti and Uganda. As pioneers utilizing excellent, innovative, sustainable, and compassionate dental care, Hope Smiles’ mission is to bring physical, spiritual, economic, and social transformation to people and their communities in the name of Jesus Christ.
Hope Smiles seeks to inspire, equip, and mobilize a movement of believers to impact the world through dentistry through their talent, their love, and their faith.
Hope Smiles is committed to developing and providing a sustainable, community-based dental delivery model that serves populations with more than a one-time or irregular episode of care. Hope Smiles’ approach is to develop clinics, both mobile and fixed, where people can receive not only dental care, but also education, training and discipleship in Kingdom work that will go on to transform their personal lives and communities. The Hope Smiles clinics provide not only local services, but also engage communities in need through outreach events, and community development initiatives.
Hope Smiles dental clinics serve as the nexus for education and development opportunities for dental professionals and students through practical on-the-ground mentorship from dental professionals committed to giving their lives away, not only in service to others but also in raising up the next generation of professionals to continue the legacy of serving others.
This interweaving of providing excellent care, mentorship, continuing education, and discipleship while serving the marginalized or underserved is the unique and defining characteristic of the work of Hope Smiles.
Click here for more information about the programs and projects of Hope Smiles and find out how you too can make a difference in dental missions both locally and abroad.