Mission Matters

A visit to CMDA HQ in the USA

I was recently given the opportunity to visit our colleagues at the HQ of the Christian Medical and Dental Association in the States. A truly impressive purpose built building in the most beautiful woodland setting in Tennessee. It was good to meet and find out how they support and promote involvement in healthcare mission overseas.

One project that interested me was that, within a multidisciplinary context, their overseas Department facilitates numerous short-term overseas mission team trips every year with the primary purpose of spreading the gospel and promoting medical care. I'm aware that many CMF members travel overseas as individuals and we do have links with organisations that promote team involvement but should CMF be taking a more active lead in this area? I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

Global Missions Healthcare Conference, November 2003

I was also able to attend a three-day Global Missions Health Conference held each year in Kentucky. Some 1,500 delegates were present. The five excellent plenary session speakers, both nurses and doctors, shared from their personal experience in overseas mission and there was a choice of some 60 seminars/workshops to attend. Some 80+ agencies participated in the Exhibition Hall.

Some quotable quotes from various Speakers

Community Health is what people do to help themselves
Teach healthcare as obedience to God's word
Train the RIGHT people
We seem to be more interested in curing disease than in healing people
Our time is a gift - to waste or invest
Life is too short to waste
Live life in reference to eternity
Delayed obedience is disobedience
People are the key to completing the task, not strategies and goals
Anything, anytime, anywhere, (motto of the US Navy Seals)

Developing Health Course 5-16 July 2004 at Oak Hill College

Brochures (including application forms) have been widely circulated and copies are available from the Office.

There will be a whole day on HIV/AIDS facilitated by Gisela Schneider from Gambia who was involved with the 2003 course. Other overseas contributors will include Anne Merriman from Hospice Uganda who will be speaking on Palliative Care, Chris Lavy from Malawi on Orthopaedic matters, Mark Pietroni from Nepal on Non Communicable Disease and hopefully Nigel Pearson will be home from DR Congo to talk about delivering healthcare in conflict zones. Debbie Lovell and Marion Knell will be speaking on member care issues. The workshop sessions, included last year, will be expanded.

I have attempted to group the daily sessions under specialties so that folk interested in a particular specialty can attend as day visitors.

Publications

A new revised edition of Preparing for your Medical Elective Overseas is now available from the CMF Office. Following the format of the new Handbook for Medical Mission, it will contain a separate insert of Appendices with lists of useful addresses taken from the HealthServe Pages on the MMAHS website.

A revised edition of Healthcare Elective Opportunities (October 2003) listing agencies and hospitals willing to take elective students is also available from the CMF Office.

The Appendices for the new Handbook for Medical Mission, mentioned in the last newsletter, have already needed to be updated and a new version is available from the CMF Office.

Website

Healthserve Pages on the MMA HealthServe website at www.healthserve.org contains a vast amount of continually updated information for those interested in or working overseas - short or long term. The site is likely to become the place to visit for information on all overseas matters following the merger of CMF and MMA Healthserve.

£10,000 grant to ICMDA

The CMF Executive has approved a grant of £10,000 to be given to the development Fund of the ICMDA (see p 7) early in 2004. This money is over and above our current annual subscription of ~£20,000 and is to support regional activities, and the build up to the next World Congress in Sydney in 2006. The money will primarily be used to support the European Regional Conference in Germany in September 2004, and to cover the travel costs of ICMDA Regional and Student Secretaries, at a very exciting time of growth for the organisation.

Merger with MMA Healthserve

The final terms of CMF's merger with MMA Healthserve (MMAHS) have now been formally agreed by both organisations. In March 2004 MMAHS will transfer all its undertakings to CMF under the oversight of an expanded Overseas Service Committee. The committee will be jointly chaired by Mr Howard Lyons, former MMAHS chair and Hospital Manager, and Bruce Richard, Consultant Plastic Surgeon and will consist of at least six doctors and at least six from other healthcare disciplines.

Existing MMAHS staff (Steve Fouch and Laura Risdale) will join a new expanded overseas department within CMF, which would become multidisciplinary and thereby act as a catalyst for those in professions allied to medicine to grow and develop their mission activities as well. The merger will bring considerably greater resources to CMF, and will greatly simplify administration and cut duplication. The ACC (Anglican Consultative Council), with whom we used to share the 5th floor of Partnership House, moved out on 12 December, making it possible for us to take on the extra space needed.

The aims of CMF's new expanded 'overseas department' will be to promote godliness amongst Christian healthcare professionals and students, especially with regard to mission; to motivate, mobilise and equip them for mission involvement; to support them working abroad; to encourage innovative and strategic thinking about global healthcare mission and to mobilise resources.