2024 Healthcare Missions Leadership Summit
Tuesday, November 5 - Thursday, November 7 | Louisville, KY | Southeast Christian Church
Education Topics
Plenary Sessions
The Criticality of Cross-Cultural Unity- Building It, Maintaining It, and Enjoying Its Fruit | Presented by Echo and Harry VanderWal
Description Coming Soon
From "The Call" to "Launch"- Catalyzing, Screening, and Discipling Those on the Journey | Presented by Will Rogers
Description Coming Soon
A Capacity-Based Paradigm for Sustainable Impact | Presented by Marjie & Tim Benadum
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.
Missions Medicine and Spiritual Warfare: Companions or Antagonists | Facilitated by Celestin Musekura
The talk introduces the experiential and biblical reality of spirits, curses, possession, and deliverance, especially as pertains to mission medicine. A brief historical development of spiritual warfare among the evangelical Christians will be presented to the audience. Questions regarding the progress from demon exorcism to spiritual or demon deliverance will be discussed. The presenter will share his encounter with demon activities that include both spiritual, medical, and mysterious realities. Together we will explore challenges and opportunities of integrating missions, medicine and spiritual warfare for a wholistic health and deliverance from all ills and evils that prevents wholistic health.
The Leader as Follower - How Healthy Followership Impacts Your Global Leadership | Presented by Bert Jones
Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fill-A once said, “To excel at leadership you must first master followership."   The absence of a healthy view of followership in our culture is a limiting factor in our impact and influence in leadership.   Join Pastor Bert Jones as he addresses this critical subject as we seek to serve as servant leaders missionally in a global context.
Practical Financial Considerations for Healthcare Missions MemberCare | Presented by Charlie Collins and Loren Gill
Description Coming Soon
MK/TCK Education- Special Considerations for Healthcare Missionary Families | Presented by Ruth Van Reken
Finding good educational options is one of the primary challenges facing any family working in global missions. For healthcare workers, however, this challenge may be amplified. Often mission hospitals and training centers exist in remote places where there are no international schools available. Local schools may not seem adequate for the goals parents have for their children. Even if the local school is educationally strong, what happens if the language of instruction is different from the language used at home or back in the passport country? Parents themselves may be stretched to the limit due to the unending work load they face. While there may be a good variety of resources available for Western missionaries, what about those from the New Sending Countries? Do they have access to similar resources? While all the answers are not in yet, we will bring some of these issues to the table and consider what are some approaches that may be helpful to care well for the children and their families as they seek to fulfill God's call on their lives.
Breakout Sessions
Understanding How Cultural Values Impact Education | Presented by David Narita and Shari Falkenheimer
We are better educators when we seek to truly understand our students including their culturally defined perceptions and values. This session will use case studies to discuss the characteristics of effective teachers, learners, their culture, and systems and techniques to consider which may be effective in different settings to overcome cross-cultural issues and differences.
Community Health Evangelism and Healthcare Missions Beyond the Walls of the Hospital Compound | Presented by Victor Chen
Biblical concepts of sozo and shalom have strengthened healthcare missions with a deeper understanding of wholistic healing and community transformation. Frameworks like the global multidimensional poverty index and social determinants of health have helped nuance the interplay between health and poverty as well as the importance of community. In this session, we will discuss healthcare missions through the strategy of community health evangelism and other community-based examples that emphasize community ownership, the use of local resources and networks, a focus on prevention, multiplication and wholistic discipleship. This will also be an opportunity for participants to share their experiences with effective healthcare mission "outside the walls of the hospital compound."
The Importance of the Interdisciplinary Healthcare Team in Missions | Presented by Caroline Mrowiec
The importance of the interdisciplinary team has been emphasized in the training and workplace of most healthcare professionals. When it comes to medical mission work though, the interdisciplinary team is still in development, especially when it comes to allied health team members. This session will explore the needs and barriers for allied health on the mission field. We will also explore the unique roles and opportunities available to allied health professionals that build upon or differ from that of primary care team members. Come to both learn and share on the interdisciplinary team in medical missions and how, together, we can expand and support our mission teams to more effectively reach the hearts of others in the name of Jesus.
Strength and Resiliency, The Longevity Project | Presented by Kim Snyder
Healthcare professionals serving abroad face challenges that can lead to burnout, family stress, and mission abandonment. The Longevity Project ensures family support and well-being, providing holistic support through a self-directed care grant that covers professional, spiritual, and relational health.  Learn more about these important, meaningful, impactful solutions which not only supports the welfare of the missionary family, but it also works to ensure they can continue in their service on the mission field, saving lives and introducing their patients to Jesus.
Revolutionizing Healthcare Missions with AI: Embracing Innovation for Greater Impact | Presented by Emmanuel Okaalet
In this session, we'll explore how artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionize healthcare missions, particularly in faith-based contexts. We will delve into how AI enhances everyday life and can be harnessed to support healthcare missions through advanced applications. From cultural competence training to language translation services, patient engagement, and leadership alignment, AI offers numerous opportunities to improve healthcare delivery. We will also discuss practical steps for AI adoption, ensuring human oversight and alignment with organizational goals. Join us to discover how integrating AI can lead to more effective and culturally sensitive healthcare services, ultimately helping to share the love of Jesus Christ more broadly and effectively.
Why do Your Healthcare Missionaries Struggle with Moral Injury? | Presented by Jim Ritchie
Moral injury has recently been identified as a major contributor to the burden and distress that healthcare missionaries face in their challenging fields. But the concept isn't widely understood and is often a blind spot for member care. In this session we will explain moral injury and its serious consequences, will explain recent research sponsored by MedSend and CMDA, and will suggest ways to prevent and "metabolize" this "spiritual toxin."
Prioritizing Team Unity in Global Health Settings: An Intentional Onboarding Approach for Developing and Maintaining Shared Purpose and Relational Health | Presented by Echo VanderWal
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.
2nd Chair Leadership - Western Missionaries Leading AND Following Nationals and Expatriates | Presented by Mike Chupp
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.
Balancing Hardship Awareness and Hardship Aversion in Healthcare Missions | Presented by Mark Crouch
"So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." Christ’s words promising his presence and comfort among the difficulties of this world offer a strength in our ministry that eclipses our own abilities. How do missionaries endure when they are daily buffeted by the claims, crises, and calamities of a longing Creation? How does one acknowledge the very real hardships promised by our Savior in His service without losing the ability to minister in a capacity that reveals His supernatural presence? This session will explore these questions from the perspective of a decade-long effort to provide life-giving care in a rural mission hospital while attempting to maintain a healthy spiritual and family life, using scripture and stories from the field. "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart; I have overcome the world." (John 16:22,33 ESV)
