Christian Healthcare Pros Plan Annual Conference, Health Missions Fair
by Jenni Parker
February 11, 2004
(AgapePress) - A gathering in Georgia this April will bring Christian doctors, dentists, nurses, medical missionaries, and other caring believers together for the annual national meeting of a fellowship dedicated to proclaiming the gospel through health ministry throughout the world.Once again the members of the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship (BMDF) and the Baptist Nursing Fellowship (BNF) are convening to share stories and resources and to hear reports of what God is doing through the ministries of healthcare missionaries and ministries around the globe.
This year's annual gathering of the fellowships is being held April 1 through 4 at Callaway Gardens, a pleasant resort about 100 miles south of Atlanta. And according to Dr. Fred Loper, M.D., associate executive director of BMDF, the event is by no means a closed meeting. "Although the names of our groups might suggest that they and the meeting are just for Baptists, this is not at all true," he says. "We have many non-Baptist members and attendees at the meeting."
Loper says the fellowships encourage Christians of all denominations to come and see what healthcare ministry is all about. Healthcare professionals, missions and ministry workers, students pursuing or considering careers in medicine, dentistry or nursing and all others interested in these areas of outreach and ministry are welcome to take part. Attendees are expected from all across the United States as well as from Macao, West Africa, Yemen, and many other parts of the world.
The theme of the 2004 national BMDF/BNF meeting is "Unto the Least of These." Among the featured speakers are the Southern Baptist Convention's International Missions Board president Jerry Rankin; Cooperative Baptist Fellowship coordinator Daniel Vestal; and medical ethicist Stewart Sprague. Also, there will be a healthcare missions fair to provide information and resources on a variety of networking and service opportunities. And the event will include special breakout sessions on a number of important issues, including continuing education, inner-city healthcare outreach, and health ministry in regions of the world that have limited access to the Gospel.
Taking Christian Healthcare 'Unto the Least'
Loper notes that while it can be difficult in many areas to do traditional Christian missions work such as church planting and Bible teaching, healthcare ministries are usually welcomed everywhere. Still, even medical missionaries face challenges, especially in countries where repressive regimes are hostile toward evangelical missions. Nevertheless, the work of sharing God's love and caring for people goes forward, even under difficult conditions.
At this year's meeting, one of BMDF's partner organizations, Medical Missions Response, will be giving a presentation about its work in places such as Afghanistan, and BMDF will be sharing about their exciting new partnership with the Byelorussian Baptist Union to promote healthcare missions in the former Soviet republic of Belarus.
"Another important emphasis of the program will be ministry to indigent people in the inner cities," Loper says, adding that a presentation will focus on the work of San Antonio Christian Dental Clinic and the medical/dental clinics of Mission Arlington. The session will examine these clinics' models of care and outreach to the urban communities of San Antonio and Arlington, Texas, where both organizations work through area churches to provide a comprehensive array of healthcare and other services to uninsured and needy people. The presentation will discuss how these healthcare ministries meet the needs of the inner city's poor and, at the same time, help many come to a belief in Christ through acts of mercy.
Dr. Loper urges all who are interested in learning what God is doing through ministry and missions across the nation and around the world to come to the 2004 BMDF/BNF annual meeting. He says the conference will be of special interest to healthcare professionals, "but anyone with an interest in proclaiming the Gospel through health ministry will be fascinated and inspired."
