I hope that what is described in this first edition of CMF News for 2006 will encourage you. Let me highlight some special issues for praise and prayer. As featured on the front page one of our biggest challenges in the coming months is our approaching move from Partnership House. It is essential that we get this right and that we are hearing and following God’s leading. In addition we will be trialling some new database software to improve our communications facilities. The GivenGain system enabled us in October to launch an appeal to support two Pakistan mission hospitals treating victims of the Kashmir earthquake and raised over £75,000, most of it online.The system also helped us to email selected groups of members about a number of conferences, including the ICMDA World Congress.
With this mailing you will find full booking details for the CMF National Conference on 28-30 April. The theme is ‘Choosing God’s Way’and the Bible Reader is Hugh Thomson.The Rendle Short Lecture will be given by Michael Varnam. Please book now.
The Students’ National Conference at Swanwick on 10-12 February 2006,‘Radical King, Radical Kingdom’, is CMF’s largest and probably most strategic annual event. Students are our future and we have always made a priority of investing in them. It’s also an opportunity for many student leaders from other countries throughout Eurasia to visit, both to encourage us and to glean ideas for growing their own national movements.With the upcoming change in Mark Pickering’s role to focus on training and development, the search for his successor and the development of a new student’s executive, our student ministry is undergoing a period of real growth.
The ICMDA 13th World Congress in Sydney from 11-16 July, ‘Health and Hope’(preceded by a students/juniors conference on 7-11 July), will bring together over 1,000 Christian doctors and medical students from all over the world.We will either have emailed you, or if we don’t have your address,‘snail mailed’you about this event and more information including how to book online is available on the CMF website in the events section.Why not combine a visit to the conference with a well-earned holiday in Australia or New Zealand?
CMF specialty breakfasts at College conferences are a great way to meet and catch up with other Christians in your specialty. From March to July this year there will be breakfasts for the specialities of gastroenterology, paediatrics, rheumatology, ophthalmology, dermatology, psychiatry and plastic surgery. Details on page 8 and the CMF website.
Two exciting new developments this year are the PLAB doctors’ conference on 21 January and the Christians in Surgery day on 1 April. The former event is for international medical graduates of refugee status who have passed the PLAB 2 examination.The day is free of charge and will focus on CV construction, job applications and interview skills. The latter event has been inspired by the already successful Christians in Psychiatry conference that started two years ago.
Meanwhile the Saline Solution roadshow on ‘integrating faith and practice’continues into a third year. So far 34 day conferences have been held with six more planned for this year thus far (see p8 for dates and venues) Do book in for one near you if you haven’t already been.
We hope you can join us at one of these events, or if not, benefit from tapes available from the CMF Office. Full details of all conferences are available on the CMF website at www.cmf.org
