I praise God for CMDA where I have developed great friends and wonderful mentors through the years. I have met strong people of faith who have challenged me to be more like Christ. I love these verses from Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Of course, we are to do this with our local body of believers at church. However, CMDA offers an avenue to encourage like-minded healthcare professionals to grow in Christ and to advance God’s kingdom together. I strongly urge all Christian healthcare professionals to get involved with CMDA, because what we accomplish together will usually have a much greater and wider impact than what we do individually.

CMDA offers us individual opportunities to be educated, equipped and encouraged so we may then do the same for other healthcare professionals and students. That’s why our local CMDA Fresno Community Chapter meets monthly for fellowship, teaching and service projects. We typically have a speaker every other month rotating with a fellowship family gathering. We always include spouses of healthcare professionals at all our meetings. We plan one to two domestic medical mission outreaches on a Saturday modeled after the Global Health Outreach (GHO) model with up to 50 CMDA volunteers. This includes up to 10 dental mobile operatories set up serving the poor who have little access to dental care. We lead one international trip with GHO per year, offering another avenue to serve God with your skills and training. After a while, your CMDA chapter becomes family…like a band of brothers and sisters serving the Lord together. So much so our sisters in Fresno formed a Women Physicians and Dentists in Christ (WPDC) group that meets quarterly and a Side By Side chapter that meets quarterly.

I encourage everyone to take advantage of the CMDA resources of education, counseling and services so they may be able to encourage and disciple others to do the same. If you have a medical school or residency program in your area, please reach out to them. They are the future of CMDA, and we are blessed to mentor and help train them. I personally proctor medical students of all faiths and am open with my faith. I pray for them to see Christ in me and for them to come to a personal or greater knowledge of God.

Soon we will be having a baccalaureate for graduating Christian medical students sending then off to residency with gifts and prayers. Then, early in the fall we will have a welcome breakfast for all new medical students who want to know more about Christ and CMDA. It’s a joy and blessing to see growth and the pursuit of God’s will in these students.

I’m excited to see CMDA grow nationally and better represent the body of believers in medical school and residency, which is increasingly ethnically diverse. However, with growth, there are often growth pains. We should become unified such that we are a light to the world, drawing all men to Christ. Jesus prays this in John 17:20-25, “that we be one as the Father and He are one so that we be brought to complete unity and the world will know Jesus is for real…sent by the Father” (my paraphrase).

One of my favorite things to do on our international mission trips is to worship in a different language with our national faith partners. To me, it’s a slice of heaven. I look forward to the day of Jesus’ return when we are united with Him and to each other. Revelation 5 speaks of persons from every tribe, language, people and nation coming together to worship the Lamb who was slain (Revelation 5:12).

Let’s take advantage of that here on earth while we can. Reach out to your brothers and sisters who are from different socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds and have fellowship with them as brothers and sisters. The CMDA National Convention is also an opportunity to meet and be with people from all walks of life. We just enjoyed a successful National Convention in Black Mountain, North Carolina. We hope you are able to make it to the 2025 CMDA National Convention in St. Charles, Missouri.

Join or start a CMDA chapter in your community. We did so ourselves some 30 years ago with three couples. Now, we have more than 400 healthcare professionals and their spouses on our mailing list.