Missions Archives – Christian Medical & Dental Associations® (CMDA)

Going on Mission Without Leaving Home

A high number of CMDA members want to go on or have served on an international mission trip. Why? Hopefully, not to just see another country, but to bring the love and message of Jesus to those who don’t know Him. Do we need to leave home to do this? Should we leave home to do this if we aren’t already reaching out to those around us who don’t know the Lord?

CMDA Plays Major Humanitarian Role in The Russian/Ukranian War

On a CMDA Matters podcast in March 2022, CEO of International Christian Medical & Dental Associations (ICMDA) Dr. Peter Saunders and Ukraine Medical Outreach (UMO) President Dr. Jim Peipon shared with CMDA CEO Dr. Mike Chupp about how they responded to the medical needs created by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Mary/Martha/Mission/Me

“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men” (1 Corinthians 12:4-6, NIV 1984).

Missions: Three-Legged Stool

Missions: Three-Legged Stool August 7, 2018

“That evening after sunset, the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases…” (Mark 1:32-34, NIV 1984).

The Secret

Do you know the secret of making it to the mission field after you know God is calling you? Do you know the secret of faithful service to the Lord once you get there? Do you know the secret of overcoming the many obstacles you will face on your journey from heartbreaking medical cases, to burn out and the difficulty of being away from your family?

Tell Me Why

The real question that must be answered when it comes to missions is not Where? or How? Or even Who? The real question is Why? If we can answer this question, all other questions will take care of themselves.

Critical Care: The Grey Zone, The Heightened Costs and Being a Missionary Physician

For every physician who cares for extremely sick patients, there comes a time when you reach a grey zone. A critically ill patient or ambiguous diagnosis confronts you at 2 a.m., and you are unsure of your ability to save the person from death or permanent disability.

You Don’t Have to Come Back

In his book The Insanity of God, Nik Ripken (pseudonym) shares the story of a Russian pastor sent to a Siberian prison because of his faith. His wife and children followed him there to support him in his suffering, and they too suffered.

First Things First

You could easily argue that my first six months on the mission field in Kenya were a waste of time and energy. Jody and I, along with our 3-year-old son Jason and 1-year-old daughter Jessica, weren’t living at Tenwek Hospital, where God had called us to serve. Instead, we were stationed 35 miles south of the hospital at Kaboson, a two-hour mud-slogging drive in the rainy season if you didn’t get stuck.

I Could Have Been a Better Missionary

I’m an overachiever, probably just like you and most other healthcare professionals. Okay, that is not completely accurate. I confess, I’m an over overachiever. I’ve always wanted to be the best of the best.

Pyromania

I love a real log fire. It is a feast for all my senses. The flames dance before my eyes in yellows, reds, blues and purples. The popping and snapping is a never-tiring music and the smell of wood smoke fills the house. A real fire is so nice that I will arise from my warm cushy comfort to go out into the bitter cold to add logs and then stoke the fire.

Why should I do Short-Term Medical Missions?

Do you ever ask what you should get out of serving? What is the benefit to you? How should you be changed by the act of serving? Here are the heart-felt thoughts of someone struggling with exactly these questions.

10 Questions to Ask Before Sending a Medical Missions Team (Part 2)

There is so much need, and so much help that you can provide by partnering with people in an intentional and thoughtful way. Thanks to all of you that have blessed me and our hospital in the last 4 years by doing just that, and for those of you who will come to places just like ours.

10 Questions to Ask Before Sending a Medical Missions Team (Part 1)

I’ve read a few articles lately about how short-term teams are negatively impacting children in orphanages, how shoddy building projects mock underemployed communities, how quick-fixes can cause long term damage.

The Reality of Today’s Long-Term Medical Missions

Perhaps our concept of a career missionary doctor’s family might sound similar to this . . . a poor missionary surgeon and his family give up a “good American doctor’s family life” to live in endless poverty. They suffer through a hand-to-mouth existence in an African country full of intrigue, Satan worship, witchcraft, fear, poisonings, arson, coups, Marxist takeovers, massive killings and persecution of Christians. Their children are forced to be homeschooled by their parents. They have jobs at the mission hospital from a very young age. Their future education and life is tenuous at best. They can’t possibly amount to anything and will probably die early of some terrible tropical disease that is yet to be unearthed.