Breakout 1B: 2nd Chair Leadership – Western Missionaries Leading and Following Nationals and Expatriates
Description: I have been asked from time to time what lessons that I learned over the course of a 20 year missionary career that I wish had been explained to me before I started my career in Africa as a general surgeon. One of those primary lessons would be the power of example coming from a second chair leader who effectively demonstrates how to be a trustworthy and diligent follower. This is especially true if the first chair leader is a national responsible for the institution or ministry we are serving.

Whether you are an institutional, organizational, or departmental in-charge or a subordinate leader in a healthcare missions ministry, you appreciate the incredible advantage of management teams with subordinate leaders who use their influence for good throughout the organization. Health care professionals who follow Christ have the greatest role model for using influence in a way that honors God but we have come from a culture that recognizes power, politics, and position. In this talk we will discuss principles for thriving in a subordinate leadership position in order to bring glory to the Father, even if our first chair leader isn’t a believer or a great team leader.

Plenary 3: Capacity-based Paradigm for Healthy Life of Ministry
Description: In this session we will explore biblical, philosophical and practical aspects of what it means to run a capacity-based (versus needs-based) mission training hospital. We will share our own journey of moving past a scarcity mindset (which leads to a short-term view), towards a biblical view of abundance that leads to long term impact. Moving through a series of difficult but important decisions, we can protect the physical, emotional and spiritual well-being of the national and missionary staff which ultimately leads to longevity and joy-filled service.

As an overarching principle, maintaining a capacity-based approach requires practical application in several ways. Specifically, we will discuss the choices we make in human resource development, donor relations, partnerships, cultural understanding, services and technologies, and scheduling. Our goal is to simply share what we have learned so far, as we are still learning.

Leading and running mission hospitals can feel overwhelming. And yet God’s word tells us to be anxious for nothing and present our requests. We can and should draw on the Lord’s strength with a deliberate effort towards proactive (rather than reactive) ministry decisions that lead to healthy healthcare ministry and sustainable impact for the Kingdom of God.

Breakout 2A: Preparation & Support of Healthcare Missionaries
Description: Healthcare missions are in trouble. Medical care can take on a life of its own. Healthcare missionaries ask how the whole enterprise of medical missions fits with church planting and the Kingdom of God. Too many are discouraged or burned out. The tremendous legacy of medical missions is at risk. This breakout will be a conversation about the roots of the problem and what we, as mission leaders, can do about it.

We are missing a coherent picture of how medicine and the gospel are integrated. The profession of medicine has become specialized and secular, and the gospel, too, is often driven by a separate, spiritual agenda.

We will explore together how cultural assumptions have driven healthcare and missions apart and how the unified story of the Bible helps us integrate them.

We will explore, for example, the connection between the cultural mandate at creation and Jesus’ Great Commission.
Paul will take some of his remarks from his new book, Healthcare and the Mission of God: Finding Joy in the Crucible of Ministry. Without the big picture of what God is doing in the world, we lose our way. Let’s restore joy to individual missionaries and shape the future of healthcare missions.

Breakout 4B: Prioritizing Team Unity in Global Health Settings: An Intentional Onboarding Approach for Developing and Maintaining Shared Purpose and Relational Health
Description: For a team that includes both national and international team members to be healthy and high-functioning, all team members must share an abiding commitment to the mission, vision, and core values of the organization.

This commitment calls for an intentional, scalable onboarding approach for those new to the organization. For international team members, this approach begins with humility: while international team members may bring specialized skills, knowledge, and experience, those resources must not diminish the contributions of the national team, even if unintentionally.

This talk will explore a comprehensive onboarding process that includes both classroom and field settings, and that familiarizes team members with daily practices and ongoing processes to promote team alignment. Instead of a one-day orientation session, the described onboarding process unfolds over several weeks. This up-front training investment clarifies organizational fit for both the organization and the new team member.

Importantly, the approach includes exposure to a predefined conflict management process. This process acknowledges the reality of conflict in any organization, provides a roadmap for moving through conflict, and anticipates restored and even deepened relationship as a result of well-managed conflict.