Content Resources

It is the general idea that the short-term missions is one sided. Often creating dependency- teams from USA go to the underdeveloped country to help and bring short term relief and address felt needs in the comminutes of the countries they visit. While that may be true, ‘passing on of skills’ showcases how the trend can be reversed and these very missions can impact providing long term and sustainable projects and help move from ‘relief’ to ‘development’ and self sustaining mode. Caleb Rayapati, will show case how the “Pass on the skills” is making an impact on the ground, a firsthand account of the partnering mission using the Dental Outreach skills in self sustaining method, involved in community development in India impacting through practice of Biblical wholisim- a first hand account of how Indian Church has impacted using health care skills.

Can a church in a poor and vulnerable community run a sustainable healthcare ministry in her community?Yes, if the church and short term medical team are well prepared for ministry. Here are the steps we have taken in Ghana to enable local churches run sustainable healthcare ministries as result of short term medical teams equipping them.

Both parenthood and missions are God's idea. But can these two crucial roles fit well together? In this session, a couple with 8 years experience raising children on the mission field will share insights into balancing parenthood and missions.

“Prepare your shields, both large and small, and march out for battle! Harness the horses, mount the steeds! Take your positions with helmets on! Polish your spears, put on your armor!”Jeremiah 46If God has called you to be a healthcare missionary, you will experience one of the most satisfying – and challenging – careers in the world. You will be a warrior for God in a hostile land. Like any soldier, you need a time of preparation – what the military refers to as “boot camp” – and that time should begin before you enter your mission field. The time to live, think and pray like a missionary is now!

"A disciple is not above his teacher...if they persecuted me, they will persecute you...if they have called the head of the house Beelzebub, what will they call the members of his house?" Since Genesis 3, all human beings have suffered, but disciples of Jesus, especially those who seek to glorify Him as missionaries, inevitably enter into His peculiar sufferings: loneliness, alienation, rejection, humiliation, and physical pain. Some disciples will pay the ultimate price of martyrdom. We don't pursue suffering for its own sake, but obedient disciples can't avoid hardships. We need a biblical theology of suffering that protects us from despair--and allows us to benefit from suffering's redemptive and maturing power.

2 Kings chapter 2 through 8 list 16 miracles related to the prophets Elijah and Elisha. 2 Kings 7:2 says something I have frequently found myself saying: "Even if the Lord opened the window of Heaven might this thing be..." Or translated it might say "That couldn't happen" or "God can't possibly do that." My stories of God's goodness and answers to prayer fit in the category of 1. Impossible Obstructions, 2. Impossible odds, 3. Impossible Poverty, 4. Impossible visibility, and 5. Impossible timing. They illustrate how God Provided, Guided, Protected, and demonstrated His Providence over 81 years as a missionary child of a medical missionary and then a medical missionary starting in 1966 in Ethiopia.

Dr. Ralph Winter said that for every 100 people who made a mission commitment at some point in their lives, only one made it to the mission field. Why? For lack of mobilizers! The same can be said for lack of mentors. What is a mentor? What do mentors offer prospective long-term medical missionaries? Come to this session if you desire a mentor or if you desire to become a mentor. Before the session you may want to familiarize yourself with GMHC’s mentoring service at https://www.medicalmissions.com/community/mentoring . This session strives to honor God by helping you translate your dreams of serving as a long-term medical missionary into reality.

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 or why to incorporate a spiritual or religious assessment into their patient history. In this session you'll learn why a spiritual assessment is now considered a part of quality, evidence-based patient care. In addition, you'll be exposed to a number of spiritual history instruments to consider using in your patient care and you'll be exposed to options of how to utilize the information obtained from a spiritual assessment.Finally, you'll be introduced to a small group training tool that you can use at home to facilitate the introduction of these principles to other health professionals.

We would all like to believe that as we reach out to share our medical expertise and the love and the compassion of Christ we will all be safe, but is there any place in which we can be safe today? One question we all have to answer is: Is security the absence of danger or the presence of the Lord. But, being good stewards of the great blessing of volunteers serving the least and the last is our obligation. We need to be prepared and have trained and seasoned team leaders to know what to do when the unthinkable happens. We will discuss how to approach these situations from the standpoint of evaluation of risks, minimizing exposure, preparation and training for an encounter with the unthinkable.

Everyone in every culture loves to share and hear stories - and the Gospel is the story of all stories. The Bible comes complete with stories that show all the different aspects of the Gospel and learning how to use them - that is, doing more than simply reading them out loud is one of the most effective ways to share the story with everyone. There are even ways to share the whole story of the Bible in one sitting! And everyone can do it. It is particularly helpful in oral cultures and settings.

This session will share answers on how to select a missions agency. Each person who attends will receive a 3 x 5 card when they enter the room. The moderator John McVay will group and select questions, direct them to appropriate panelists, and receive questions from the floor. Probable topics discussed from questions expected are: agency focus, doctrine, finances, services, leadership, locations, compatibility.

In the mission field today, there is no shortage of work that needs to be done. Small minded thinking tells us that we are the only ones trying to accomplish a particular mission or that we are the only ones that can do it right. By working together as the body of Christ, we can accomplish more together than we can alone.