Those of you who have read the last edition of our
magazine will be aware that this year is our 125th
Anniversary, and about the work done by the MMA
Hostels down the years. But MMA has been
involved in a lot more than just the hostels. Though
we have not been in the business of sending out men
and women ourselves, many have gone out as a
result of MMA’s ministry, and have served God
faithfully and effectively across the globe for many,
many years.
The Pioneers
When the MMA started, most of the world was still un-reached by the gospel, and the routes of the various European empires were the main avenues by which missionaries reached the nations of Africa, Asia and southern America. To many today, those pictures of white missionaries surrounded by crowds of Africans and Asians may seem a reminder of an embarrassing colonial past, but in reality many of these medical missionaries were true pioneers, taking Western medicine and the gospel to people for the first time, and fulfilling a holistic understanding of the Great Commission – healing bodies, minds and spirits.
Looking back over issues of ‘Conquest by Healing’ (MMA’s magazine until 1962) several things strike you. The familiar names of some mission hospitals (Ludhiana, Kapsowar, Chikankata), unfamiliar countries (Ruanda, Belgian Congo, Rhodesia, Eastern Pakistan); the old fashioned language of some of the articles, and the old fashioned clothes in the pictures. But perhaps even more striking, is that the issues, questions and needs being addressed by the missionaries are so familiar to us today. Questions about the relevance and sustainability of healthcare as a part of mission, the balance between evangelism and care, the impact of nationalism and religious militancy on missions, the lack of missionary fervour in the British church, the shortage of skilled personnel etc, etc. Some of these articles could have been written today! Many things have changed, but the global needs, both physical and spiritual have barely changed at all.
It was in response to those needs that many have felt called by God to leave their homes and families and careers and travel to work in the world’s most needy areas. In the sixties and seventies, many went out on the OYSTER scheme (one Year’s Service to Encourage Recruitment) – a sort of missionary work experience for doctors. As one OYSTER participant wrote, expressing what had stuck her most about her experience ‘[it was] the need! I had no idea, no idea at all of the need!’ Some forty years later, we hear the same comments echoed back to us by students returning from their electives; there is a world out there, suffering from a lack of healthcare, from material poverty, and the need of a Saviour. Once seen, how can we turn our backs on this hurting world?
Throughout the first half of the last century, many doctors trained in medicine because they felt that God had called them to serve Him in overseas mission. One young doctor put it thus:
The pages of MMA’s earlier publications, ‘Saving Health’ and ‘Conquest by Healing’ are replete with testimonies of students who moved into the MMA hostels to be part of thriving Christian community while completing their studies prior to going into the mission field. What ties together all these stories is a real sense from each individual that God had called them to this work – they hadn’t just stumbled into it, however much it felt like it at the time.
The production of a regular magazine that collected and diffused these stories has been a feature of MMA’s work since its inception. It has always worn its Christian conscience on its sleeve, denouncing the British support of the opium trade in nineteenth century China, criticising the early precursors of apartheid in Natal Province, and even today, questioning the impact of globalisation on the health of the poor. Yet at its heart was the simple desire to encourage and motivate people to see what the needs are, and the ways in which health professionals can serve God and the poor.
In this edition of HealthServe Nick Mott, our IT Coordinator has written about how we are seeking to use the medium of the Internet to continue this work in the twenty-first century, and in so doing reach an even wider audience.
Where Next?
The needs are still there, although the world has changed in many ways. At one time it took weeks or even months to get to a remote mission hospital. Today it can take at most only a few days to reach the most remote places – and often only a few hours. Even in the middle of the Congolese rainforest or the Mongolian steps, the modern healthcare missionary may only be a satellite phone call away from a colleague thousands of miles away when in need of advice or information. Nationally trained doctors and nurses, administrators, and latterly physiotherapists and OTs are becoming more commonplace. Many mission hospitals (especially those in India) are increasingly run by nationals rather than expatriates, although in many of the poorer and least evangelised regions, this is still not the case, and expatriate Christian health professionals are still very much needed. In other areas, specialist training input is still of value, and many with specialist skills are able to take a few weeks to a few months out of their time to give to supporting nationals, either in training, or in providing locum cover to allow national staff to have a break, or attend further training courses.
MMA HealthServe still has the vision to encourage British health professionals to help the work of God’s Kingdom, and through its long standing links with many other bodies, plans, in one form or another, to continue this work, mobilising health professionals into global mission, for as long as it is needed.
An on-line archive of MMA’s magazines dating back to the mid 1990s exists at http://www.healthserve.org/pubs/. We aim to archive the older magazines over the coming year.
The Pioneers
When the MMA started, most of the world was still un-reached by the gospel, and the routes of the various European empires were the main avenues by which missionaries reached the nations of Africa, Asia and southern America. To many today, those pictures of white missionaries surrounded by crowds of Africans and Asians may seem a reminder of an embarrassing colonial past, but in reality many of these medical missionaries were true pioneers, taking Western medicine and the gospel to people for the first time, and fulfilling a holistic understanding of the Great Commission – healing bodies, minds and spirits.
Looking back over issues of ‘Conquest by Healing’ (MMA’s magazine until 1962) several things strike you. The familiar names of some mission hospitals (Ludhiana, Kapsowar, Chikankata), unfamiliar countries (Ruanda, Belgian Congo, Rhodesia, Eastern Pakistan); the old fashioned language of some of the articles, and the old fashioned clothes in the pictures. But perhaps even more striking, is that the issues, questions and needs being addressed by the missionaries are so familiar to us today. Questions about the relevance and sustainability of healthcare as a part of mission, the balance between evangelism and care, the impact of nationalism and religious militancy on missions, the lack of missionary fervour in the British church, the shortage of skilled personnel etc, etc. Some of these articles could have been written today! Many things have changed, but the global needs, both physical and spiritual have barely changed at all.
It was in response to those needs that many have felt called by God to leave their homes and families and careers and travel to work in the world’s most needy areas. In the sixties and seventies, many went out on the OYSTER scheme (one Year’s Service to Encourage Recruitment) – a sort of missionary work experience for doctors. As one OYSTER participant wrote, expressing what had stuck her most about her experience ‘[it was] the need! I had no idea, no idea at all of the need!’ Some forty years later, we hear the same comments echoed back to us by students returning from their electives; there is a world out there, suffering from a lack of healthcare, from material poverty, and the need of a Saviour. Once seen, how can we turn our backs on this hurting world?
Throughout the first half of the last century, many doctors trained in medicine because they felt that God had called them to serve Him in overseas mission. One young doctor put it thus:
‘Christ calls His followers, each one, without exception, to follow Him, to keep His commandments, to be His witnesses, to serve Him; not in any occasional or part time capacity, but for life.Magazine
Two years after my conversion, God put into my heart the desire to do medicine, and to then to serve Him overseas. During my five years in a London medical school, the Lord showed His faithfulness day-by-day.
After I qualified, I served in the army for two year’s National Service in Jamaica. On my return I became impatient to know what was God’s plan – where would He send me? How nearly, during eighteen months of further hospital training, was I deflected from His purpose, attracted by the love of medicine for its own sake; by comfort and worldly ambition and the prospect of success. How often I longed for my own way. But I was Christ’s disciple, His servant. He had called me.
His call is to a wider and deeper service than I could have set myself: to preach the Gospel and heal the sick. Perhaps He is calling you to leave homeland, career, and comfort, to go for His sake where He sends you.’
[from Conquest By Healing, Vol. XXXII, No. 1, March 1956]
The pages of MMA’s earlier publications, ‘Saving Health’ and ‘Conquest by Healing’ are replete with testimonies of students who moved into the MMA hostels to be part of thriving Christian community while completing their studies prior to going into the mission field. What ties together all these stories is a real sense from each individual that God had called them to this work – they hadn’t just stumbled into it, however much it felt like it at the time.
The production of a regular magazine that collected and diffused these stories has been a feature of MMA’s work since its inception. It has always worn its Christian conscience on its sleeve, denouncing the British support of the opium trade in nineteenth century China, criticising the early precursors of apartheid in Natal Province, and even today, questioning the impact of globalisation on the health of the poor. Yet at its heart was the simple desire to encourage and motivate people to see what the needs are, and the ways in which health professionals can serve God and the poor.
In this edition of HealthServe Nick Mott, our IT Coordinator has written about how we are seeking to use the medium of the Internet to continue this work in the twenty-first century, and in so doing reach an even wider audience.
Where Next?
The needs are still there, although the world has changed in many ways. At one time it took weeks or even months to get to a remote mission hospital. Today it can take at most only a few days to reach the most remote places – and often only a few hours. Even in the middle of the Congolese rainforest or the Mongolian steps, the modern healthcare missionary may only be a satellite phone call away from a colleague thousands of miles away when in need of advice or information. Nationally trained doctors and nurses, administrators, and latterly physiotherapists and OTs are becoming more commonplace. Many mission hospitals (especially those in India) are increasingly run by nationals rather than expatriates, although in many of the poorer and least evangelised regions, this is still not the case, and expatriate Christian health professionals are still very much needed. In other areas, specialist training input is still of value, and many with specialist skills are able to take a few weeks to a few months out of their time to give to supporting nationals, either in training, or in providing locum cover to allow national staff to have a break, or attend further training courses.
MMA HealthServe still has the vision to encourage British health professionals to help the work of God’s Kingdom, and through its long standing links with many other bodies, plans, in one form or another, to continue this work, mobilising health professionals into global mission, for as long as it is needed.
An on-line archive of MMA’s magazines dating back to the mid 1990s exists at http://www.healthserve.org/pubs/. We aim to archive the older magazines over the coming year.
