Content Resources

The Changing Role of the Pastor and the Church in Healthcare Missions.This session will equip pastors and church leaders to be able to lead and implement effective medical missions engagement in the changing missiological landscape of the 21st century. You will learn practical and biblical sound ways of changing your church members from being spectators into participators, from consumers into contributors and how to guide agencies and NGOs to work through your church and not just with your church.. Emphasis will be on how God wants to use ordinary people and how you as church leader can fuel this reformation of deeds that is going on by launching church initiated interventions and trips. This will also apply to how to see this become a reality in the global south whether through short term trips of your church members or through individual participation

Mission Medical: Assessing and Addressing Spiritual Needs of Patients We'll discuss (1) why healthcare professionals have been reluctant to take a spiritual history, (2) the positive association of spirituality/religiosity and physical/mental health, and (3) several spiritual history tools to consider for use in clinical care.

What could small groups of people from the USA do during week-long trips to help invigorate, inform, and empower the local people for months, years, and even generations? This workshop will present some field examples of this happening, clarify some key factors for this style of Short-Term Missions (STM) to be successful, and generate your input on how to measure a truly successful STM trip. Come prepared to participate, and leave motivated to change. (repeat of last year)

Transforming Individuals, Groups and Neighborhoods for Better Health.We will discuss how healthcare workers can reach out to geographical areas where their patients live with a view to helping their patients discover that they must take more control of their own lives if there is to be an improvement in their overall health. Peer groups and family are the main providers of health not medical professionals therefore it is critical to involve a patients trusted peers and family in the individual’s health.Then as a group how can people begin to transform their neighborhood. The clinic/health ministry serves as a catalyst, organizer and trainer to help this happen. The cost to the clinic is minimal. But the overall impact for individuals and their communities is tremendous.

In recent years there has been a tsunami of short-term healthcare volunteers going into the developing world; both faith-based and humanitarian. Recent estimates tell us that 29% of students enrolled in medical schools participate in some type of short-term global health project prior to graduation. Dental, nursing, and allied health schools are also beginning to follow suit. Yet, few churches or educational institutions have any knowledge of what constitutes best practices in global health. This workshop will review the six guidelines for best practices in global health as they appear in the book “When Healthcare Hurts: An Evidence Based Guide to Best Practices in Global Health Initiatives”. It will also review the four primary areas of global health best practices which include the following. 1. Patient Safety2. Healthcare System Integration and Collaboration3. Facilitation of Health Development 4. Community Empowerment

We spend so much time, money, and resources on short-term missions trips that we often forget about the mission field at home. How can we live intentionally for 52 weeks each year in the mission field God has placed us in?

Community Health Evangelism (CHE) is a breakthrough mission strategy that seamlessly integrates evangelism and discipleship with disease prevention and community-based development. Through these ministries people become followers of Jesus, churches are planted, and entire communities are lifted out of cycles of poverty and disease. By participation and completion of this workshop, the participant should be able to: 1. State the purpose for integrated ministries such as Community Health Evangelism.2. Identify transformational indicators used to measure the success of an integrated Community Health program. 3. List the steps in implementing a Community Health Evangelism program.4. Find resources and collaborative partners to help build and expand their programs. 5. Recognize three keys to building successful integrated community health ministries.6. Tell the story of successful CHE programs in different contexts around the world.

In this session we will gain a vision for church initiated community health ministries that shape culture, influence policy, and impact millions. We will examine a few case studies, explore current opportunities, and learn a a simple and trasferable ministry strategy that is achieving nationwide impact in several countries.

International short-term healthcare teams are challenging to develop and lead, due to the need for cultural intelligence, strong spiritual preparation of the team, and complex regulatory requirements in each country. Organizers must assure that they understand the myriad cultural complexities of working across cultural barriers, and how to educate their short-term team on the essentials. Spiritual formation of the team, and strong support of the disciple-making ministry of national partners must include strong, proactive preparation of team members and establishing a safe, ministry-focused environment for service. Careful planning with credible national partners is essential for both effective spiritual ministry, and for negotiating the many legal, regulatory, and customs requirements in developing country settings. This session will discuss mechanisms to plan for, prioritize, and measure desired actions and outcomes.

This seminar will examine the biblical call to make disciples and most importantly how
 to do this. You will learn the practical aspects of both having a discipler/mentor and serving as a discipler/mentor for someone else. If you ever have or have ever wanted to invest your life strategically into another person, then this seminar is for you!

Every aspect of Jesus’ ministry - - his prayers, teaching, healing and even his identity - - seems to have been shaped by his vision of the Kingdom of God. As we follow him in health care missions, the Kingdom should also define our goals, methodologies, and ways of relating with those we serve and with our co-workers. It should fuel our hope and our perseverance.In this session, we will:• Learn about the Kingdom of God and healing from several gospel stories• Identify conflicting or paradoxical perspectives on the Kingdom that may fog or hinder our healthcare ministries• Outline a vision of the Kingdom that can give focus and power to our healthcare missions• Explore the relationship between evangelism and healthcare missions• Collectively identify resources and networks that give ongoing help as we clarify our vision and strengthen our faithful practice.

Preventing and Managing BurnoutCross-cultural medical workers are under multiple levels of stress peculiar to their professional roles. They often serve as mental health resources to colleagues and other cross-cultural workers, have difficulty limiting the hours of work with minimal reprieve for rest and restoration. This session will focus on cognitive and behavioral tools that can improve the mental self-care with attention to appropriate and assertive limit-setting, sleep preservation, stress management, and team development.The session will also discuss strategies for managing burnout when it emerges including these tools as well as clinical tools of formal assessment and bio/psycho/social/spiritual interventionsObjectives:1- Participants will be able to describe the main sources of challenge to mental health of cross-cultural medical workers and the signs of emerging burnout2- Participants will be able to describe at least three cognitive-behavioral strategies that can be utilized to improve mental self-care and burnout management.