Content Resources

Community engagement is the facilitation of communities to own their own problems and solutions within their resources. Key cross cultural communications competencies and skills are necessary to effectively facilitate community engagement.

This session will share answers on how to become a medical missionary. 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: Guidance, Agencies, Training, Funding, Singles, and Families.

Urban health care and the gospel must embrace our communities. Living, working and serving within the context of the community we serve draws us toward God’s love for people and helps us identify with our neighbors. Should one try to move into communities of poverty in order to serve there? How can we encourage those indigenous to our communities to stay to serve God within the context of their lives? This workshop will explore Christ’s healing ministry among those he came to serve. Susan Post, the director of Esperanza Health Center and Tony Gonzalez, an Esperanza leader will share their experiences, challenges and vision for health care ministry as one who relocated into North Philadelphia and one who grew up in North Philadelphia. We need one another to be able to gain a more complete vision for effective Christ-centered health care ministry.

In health care ministry, we share the compassion of Christ. Christ's compassion "suffers with" those we are called to serve. Engaging deeply with our patients can be difficult if our own lives are not bound with our Savior. We can find ourselves disillusioned, distant, or overwhelmed as we share in the suffering of others. Spiritual vibrancy and worship are vital for compassionate ministry. This workshop will explore Christ's call to share in the suffering of others, the importance of a life of worship for ministry, and some ways we can foster spiritual vibrancy in our lives of ministry.

Over 96M Americans live in medically underserved areas (MUAs) right here in the United States. Most MUAs are located in strategic areas of need where service is desperately needed and where people are ripe for the gospel. Medical mission pioneers are responding to needs in our own nation by applying in domestic settings proven strategies that have worked in challenging international fields. These courageous disciples recognize that our mission really is "global" and not just "international"; that "mission" is not something you do 2 weeks in the summer, but is a lifestyle; and that serving in cross-cultural, impoverished communities here not only fulfills our Christian mandate, but is the best preparation they can get for work in other countries. This session will examine what gospel-driven healthcare looks like in the U.S., and discuss the principles and strategies that are helping Christians extend Christ's love through healthcare to the neediest of our neighbors.

Given the societal situation of people with disabilities worldwide, true life transformation can only come from a wholistic approach. The needs of people with disabilities worldwide are complex and multifaceted, but the additional challenges faced by those in the majority world require a multidimensional approach. This approach needs to take place on 2 fronts – among those living with disability and among those around them. It must also take place from a multi-disciplinary framework, addressing the spiritual, emotional, physical, social, intellectual and economic aspects of the woman - each as a part of the whole being. Come and hear what God has done and is doing in the lives of women with disabilities in one of the toughest places on earth to live. Find out how you can be part of what He's up to among this unique population of unreached people!

When? Where? How? All are questions mission-minded healthcare professionals ask as they explore rotations or volunteer service during training. Join us as we discuss domestic and international locations, best practices and steps you can take in selecting an opportunity that fits your goals, timeframe, skills, and budget.

Human trafficking refers to the sale of adults and children in to commercial sexual activity or as bonded laborers. It is often referred to as modern day slavery and viewed as a criminalized industry. However the roots of human trafficking lie in the poverty and marginalization of communities, broken families and the low values placed on children especially girls. Most agencies have approached the problem of human trafficking by advocating for stricter regulation, policing towards rescue among policy makers, law enforcement bodies and civil society. Some focus only on the rehabilitation of those rescued. However if human trafficking has to stop it is equally important to prevent the trafficking by using a preventive community based approach and to work on tackling some of the fundamental problems that undergirds and results in trafficking. In this session we will outline some of the community based initiatives that we have worked on to prevent human trafficking.