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.
Mission Impossible, Made Possible
We were honored to have Issam I. Raad, MD, FACP, FIDSA, FSHEA, join us at the 2018 M3 Conference! He is the Founding President of Health Outreach to the Middle East (H.O.M.E.), and in his session at the recent M3 Conference, he shares how he discovered the power of medical missions.
As Dr. Raad says, “I was saved to serve, and I was born again to be burdened with the salvation and the eternal destiny of the people around me.” Dr. Raad describes how the impossible mission of reaching the suffering people of the Middle East caught in the cross fire became possible through faith in Christ Who eternally loved people unto death of the cross. He shares how “medical missions represents the healing hand of Christ,” and through specific examples, Dr. Raad shows us how the power of firefighting faith in action makes the impossible possible.
Click here to learn more about Dr. Issam I. Raad and the programs and projects of Health Outreach to the Middle East (H.O.M.E.).