Top Ten Do’s and Don’ts of Medical Missions
- Surrender your kingdom.
- Don’t be proud.
- Be relational.
- Withhold judgement.
- Be a learner.
- Be flexible.
- Do no harm.
- Be low maintenance.
- Don’t discourage.
- Remember God is GOOD.
In this session from the 2018 M3 Conference, John Cropsey, MD, will discuss his top ten do’s and don’ts of medical missions. He will explore the heart-level adjustments required to productively engage in cross-cultural relationships and medical care, as well as review common pitfalls made by short-term and long-term missionaries. Dr. Cropsey will also examine how one’s faith informs the missions experience in which one will be faced with advanced presentation of pathology in the setting of severe resource limitations and crippling poverty.
As a missionary kid, John Cropsey grew up at a mission hospital. As an adult, he began doing short-term mission trips, and then medium-term mission trips, which eventually led into long-term missions. Today, Dr. Cropsey is a professor of Ophthalmology at Hope Africa University and Kibuye Hope Hospital, in Burundi. He and his family serve with Serge mission.
Calling to the Greatest Need: Medical Missions Past, Present and Future
Medical missions has historically been critical to early Christian missionary efforts, meeting the “felt needs” of communities in Christ’s name. Mission hospitals have been used to advance the gospel, plant churches and improve health outcomes in some of the world’s most needy and hard to reach places. But the work is far from done. There are still millions of people with poor access to essential health services. There are also millions in hard to reach areas who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ, including “closed access” countries that do not allow “missionaries” but welcome well-trained health providers.
In this Plenary session from the 2018 M3 Conference, Perry A. Jansen, MD, DTMH, explores the opportunities available to health care providers to advance God’s kingdom. Watch and learn how He can use you.
Dr. Jansen is the Senior Vice President for Strategic Partnerships at MedSend. Click here to learn more about MedSend’s programs and projects.
10 Years of Clinic Growth, Village Health Teams and Sustainability
In this Breakout session from the 2018 M3 Conference, Dr. Martin Nkundeki from Wentz Medical Center in Gaba, Kampala, Uganda, shares lessons learned about missions, the local church, the community and hospital sustainability. This one medical center raises up to 90% of its funds from local services. Additionally, the medical center has supported the establishment of four other rural health units using medical camps, church engagement, village health teams and measured levels of care to keep healthcare as a sustainable instrument of Christian medical witness.
Martin Nkundeki, MBChB, MBA, is the Medical Director at Wentz Medical Center in Uganda, an outreach of Africa Renewal Ministries. Click here to learn more about the programs and projects of Wentz Medical Center.
Surgical Safari: Low Resources, High Complexity
What do you do when the nearest surgeon is HOURS away? In this breakout session from the 2018 M3 Conference, Kristin Long, MD, will discuss the disparities in surgical availability in Sub-Saharan Africa, including an assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of KenyaRelief.org’s ambulatory surgery center as a model for building capacity.
Additionally, Dr. Long will examine some of the clinical and ethical challenges of providing highly complex surgical interventions in this setting and discuss how forming sustainable community partnerships are essential to long-term success in the mission field. Lastly, Dr. Long will review the unexpected, never-boring challenges that come with venturing out on a “surgical safari.” Dr. Long will also share how KenyaRelief.org can help you “Take the First Step” towards a surgical mission trip!
Kristin Long, MD, is an endocrine surgeon at the University of Wisconsin, and she serves with KenyaRelief.org helping to build surgical capacity in Western Kenya.