Category: Growth and discipleship
-
Healthcare and making disciples. Do they go together?
After we heard and responded to God’s good news with faith, we became part of God’s family. We did what most babies do – they grow and learn many new things. That is what being a disciple (learner) is all about – learning and growing in the truths of God’s Word, abiding in Jesus, and…
-
What does it mean to be human?
We will care for patients better when we treat them as human persons, not objects. Christians have much to contribute to this important dialogue; the gospel calls us to this task.
-
“A certain weightiness has settled on the hospital.”
Here is part of an email from a missionary doctor and his wife, who serve in a mission hospital in Africa. Healthcare missions can be discouraging, even in a reasonably well-functioning setting. And while we can be discouraged, hope arises when we step back to gain a wider, gospel perspective. As we head into this…
-
Pathology, pills and programs alone?
Seoul Statement helps connect healthcare and the gospel, which proclaims and displays Christ
-
Why health is more than medical care
Why is health more than just medical care? Here are some reasons: Medical care tends to address matters of the body but not of the spirit. As medical professionals we are trained to diagnose, treat and manage medical conditions. We seek to apply scientific evidence to our craft. And yet health is something more than…
-
A cheerful heart is good medicine
In medical school I learned that the death of a spouse is a risk factor for one’s death, and many times the surviving spouse dies near an anniversary of the sad event. The connection between our soul and body is closer than we can imagine. The book of Proverbs says it this way: “A cheerful…
-
Taking it in steps?
A missionary doctor, nurse or health provider in his or her first term is all enthusiasm. After all, he or she may think, “After all that preparation, let’s get on with the real work!” But those first few years show how much more there is to learn! First there is the adjustment to the new…
-
Too much to do? Time to re-examine our own assumptions!
Stress and burnout are recognized themes in medical missions. One source of stress is the sheer magnitude of physical needs; one billion people in our world have no access to a trained health worker and healthcare workers often stand in the gap. In the face of overwhelming need how do we maintain healthy margins? Overextended,…
-
“…not merely a doctor”
“The doctor has so objectified himself that he never faces up to himself and his own life at all.” “Somewhere in Pembrokshire a tombstone is said to bear the inscription, ‘John Jones, born a man, died a grocer.’ There are many whom I have had the privilege of meeting whose tombstone might well bear the…
-
Navigating a path to sustainable Chinese medical mission participation
Take a look at some the challenges that Chinese Christian doctors could face as they consider God’s call to missions. And this article doesn’t even begin to address the cross-cultural issues of Eastern and Western medical worldviews! As you consider these hurdles, let’s not think ‘it can’t be done!’ Rather, let’s think that “God is…