Resources

While not a new problem, human trafficking is now a globally acknowledged issue of our times. Even so, many people do not have a solid grasp of what exactly it is, how it happens, and what the core issues are in order to counter it. An overview of human trafficking internationally, including to/from the USA as well as outside the States is presented here. Some specific examples of how human trafficking may intersect the life and work of health care professionals are given, but more depth on that topic is given in other talks.

Human trafficking has grave consequences on the health of victims and includes a wide variety of health issues. This talk is designed to inform health care professionals on what these issues are, and how they may specifically work with a trafficked person, given the trauma that a victim may experience. Health care may be one of the few intersection points where a trafficked person meets someone in the public sphere and a few indicators for identifying someone who may be trafficked will also be discussed.

Teaching nationals can expand your impact. Our session will explore avenues to produce success in missions, both at home and abroad. We will speak on dentistry producing explosive church planting in Sierra Leone, the process of training nationals on a short term trip including the effects it has on the dentist/trainer, and how dentistry has equipped nationals in Nigeria for long-term service. We will also hear about the initial presentation of our medical module in Haiti and Sudan.

Usually the focus of short-term medical missions is to meet the needs of the population visited. This presentation will shed some light on Spiritual survival tips needed for the team members. Addressing their Spiritual need will equip each member of the medical mission team to become more efficient in reaching target population medically and Spiritually.

Jesus asked us to imitate Him. With Jesus as our model we will present teaching approaches that will empower nationals to serve their community. By presenting teaching methods tested and proven successful with dentistry, we propose to apply them to other areas of medicine to allow believers to meet the healthcare needs in their communities.

The New Testament gives not one but several models for doing missions. New Testament models of missions are far more flexible and less narrowly defined than the way we typically think of missions. The usual conception of a missionary as one who follows a “call” to go abroad is just one facet of missions. In this session we will explore the Biblical patterns and trajectories of what it means to do missions—at home and abroad, and discover what the Bible has to say to us about being “missional” in the 21st Century.

A Biblical view of money and material things will help you to keep student loan borrowing to a minimum so that you can serve where God has called you-- without delay.

The nuts and bolts for students of an international health-care short term mission rotation. Choosing, preparing for, and successful completion of a short-term mission opportunity. This is for nursing, pre-professional, medical, dental, pharmacy, public health and other allied health-care students and post-graduate residents. Purpose: Acquaint the professional student with (1) Blessings, advantages and benefits of an international rotation especially in a mission setting. (2) Preparing oneself personally, including spiritual, emotional and academic preparation, for the best experience. (3) Process of choosing where to go, permission from your school, funding, establishing mentors and other preparations to gain the most from the experience. (4) The importance of post-trip debriefing and mentoring while looking toward the future.

Cross-cultural Spiritual Ministry in Healthcare. How does one address spiritual needs in cross-cultural healthcare ministry? There are important principals and presuppositions we must understand if we are to effectively address spiritual needs and dimensions of people and communities. You cannot reach competency in wholistic healthcare missions simply in one or two hours. What is the goal of this session? To challenge you through stories, lessons learned, mistakes made and discussion to pursue a deeper understanding of the needs, barriers, opportunities, expectations and joys of integrated spiritual ministry in a cross-cultural international setting. Goals: (1) Setting the tone for spiritual ministry (2) Understanding the importance of culture and worldview (3) Establishing a team approach (4) Hindrances, especially to the western-trained professional (5) Resources

Why don’t they see that what they are doing is wrong! Why don’t they understand my explanation? Why won’t they look at me when I talk to them? Why won’t they make a decision…after all, any decision is better than no decision at all! Why won’t the listen! Learn why these and other “misunderstandings” result in “mis-communications” in the world of cross-cultural ministry and how we can overcome them.

Buddhists in East Asia largely believe in one of the dominant Buddhist traditions, animism and ancestor worship. They believe in karma, the moral law of cause and effect which demands that every soul suffer for its past “sins;” so there is no value in alleviating suffering. While very few Buddhists have come to Christ through the direct preaching of the gospel, some have responded to the compassion shown by medical missionaries since the early 19th century. This session features the plight of one leprosy patient, an outcast in society who gradually found new life through the lives of Christians who dared to touch him, clean his wounds and tell him about Jesus. This session will bring attendees face to face with a culture that is very resistant to the gospel, the reasons for that resistance and what we can do about it.

Short-term health-related missions have been criticized for inadequate long-term impact on local health indicators, and on the actual team participants. Costs for short-term medical missions appear excessive to some, given the limited impact on spiritual and physical needs. This session will examine the criticism and present proposed measures of effectiveness that can be used by short-term and long-term trip planners and strategists so as to support improved planning and execution of short-term medical missions trips.