Resources

Approximately 50 million people in our world are blind and many more suffer from low vision and eye disease. Approximately 80% of these eye problems are either preventable or treatable
with effective screening and affordable health intervention. 80 to 90% of avoidable blindness is in the developing world. This session looks at the major causes of world blindness and low vision and what is being done to combat these both clinically and in project planning.

Eye care and blindness prevention in resource-limited areas of the world continues to present many challenges. Blindness from cataracts remains the number one cause of blindness in our world
and it can be easily treated. This session looks at ways
to deliver effective, safe,
and cost-effective cataract screening, surgery, and follow up to communities where reliable eye care is either lacking or nonexistent. The discussion will be based on the example and experience of the Tenwek Eye Unit in south- western Kenya.

Community Health Evangelism (CHE) has been continuously in process in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) for 20 years. It started very small with one village, but has multiplied dramatically and now is being used by over 500 villages in the Central DRC. The unique effectiveness of this program has been evaluated carefully by outside respected experts. This evaluation has suggested that CHE has reduced both infant mortality and malnutrition by 50%. In addition its effect on villages’ self esteem and spiritual growth has been described as unparalleled in the 30-year experience of one outside expert evaluator. The area has had no outside missionaries residing in the area for 14 years, and receives less than $50,000 (USD) per year in outside support.

Learn how to identify, recruit, mobilize, and empower
the Christian leader of the 21st Century who can lead community health and development ministries in this age of globalization. Learn why this is one of the five key components of the PEACE Plan.

Scores of creative ministries are providing quality healthcare to marginalize people in the name of Jesus here in the United States. This session will look at the problems of access of care for the poor, and the problems of sustainability and spiritual care integration for health and healing ministries who work with under-resourced communities. We will share several best-practice models of care that are providing superior care to the sickest and neediest among us, and doing it as both an expression of and a platform for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.

In these days of numerous natural disasters we are blessed to be a blessing around the world but we must be well prepared for all contingencies. This session will take a look at the essential preparedness for disaster relief—specificities of surgery in time of natural disaster, health management after a disaster, appropriate surgical technology (what works on the field), lessons learned from the field, personal security, trip planning, and logistics. Crowds and mobs, hostile negotiations, entry/travel/ vehicle checks, convoy driving and control, and field hospital set up and site assessment will be covered. I will save some time for questions and answers in this important area of disaster relief where we want to do it all with excellence for the glory of the Lord.

Oral lesions can present clues of a systemic disease—the appearance, the character
of the lesions, the size, the duration, and the location of the lesions can give some insight as to a possible systemic disease. On the mission field, without all the desired tests and studies, it is very helpful to have an idea what lesions may be part of a system disease and what lesions are most likely to respond to local measures. There will be time for questions and answers.

Dental emergency care with a basic overview of dental emergencies for non-dental health care practitioners in limited resource situations including a brief course in dental evaluation and treatment.

This session will focus on how to teach a technical skill. The session will include a brief literature review on skill development, a discussion of teaching strategies including simulation for the low budget educator, and a brief outline of cognitive task analysis
as a tool in developing an educational program. An interactive format will be utilized.

The objective of the session is to show how short-term missions can break the cycle of dependency by teaching basic medical and dental skills to the church community. This then empowers the church to provide a sustainable healthcare model to share the Gospel.