Christian Docs Urged to Give 'Four Percent' to the Needy
by Mary Rettig
February 16, 2006
(AgapePress) - - The director of campus and community ministries for the largest faith-based organization for Christian doctors says there is a new resource for doctors to fulfill the scriptural mandate to serve the poor.It is called "The Four-Percent Solution" -- and Dr. Al Weir with the Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) says it is an easy and effective way for doctors to put their faith into action. He explains that it is all about donating four percent of something, whether it is time or money. "We are calling out doctors to fulfill their responsibility to the poor in a number of different ways," says Weir.
"Many doctors do this by serving overseas for the poor," he continues. "We have a number of arms of CMDA that work overseas such as Global Health Outreach and Medical Education International." According to a report in MedicalNewsToday.com, Global Health Outreach offers more than 40 trips each year to minister directly to poor patients, and Medical Education International sends doctors to instruct physicians in other countries about the latest techniques in patient care.
"If a doctor spends two weeks overseas working for the poor in missions arms such as that or [in] arms of their church, then that would qualify for four percent," Weir adds. In addition to CMDA's missions-minded groups, he recommends the Baptist Medical Dental Fellowship or a local mission for the poor.
There are other avenues of service outside of the missions option, the CMDA spokesman says. "Other ways that doctors might be able to do this is to see one out of every 25 patients in their office as uninsured, unpaying patients -- or to serve eight hours a month in a healthcare clinic for the poor," Weir suggests. "Or if they can't do either of those, then they can give four percent above their normal church giving to care for the poor."
Basically, Weir tells MedicalNewsToday, CMDA is asking doctors to "commit to specific strategies to use God's blessings to them in a way that blesses someone far less fortunate."
The CMDA spokesman says the program is just beginning, but that he is hoping it becomes a facilitator for Christian doctors to really serve the poor. The ultimate goal for the project, he adds, is to get all of the approximately 17,000 members of the CMDA giving four percent of their time and resources to bless the poor. CMDA executive director Dr. David Stevens says his organization is "convinced that Jesus -- the Great Physician -- would encourage doctors to focus on opportunities to minister to the needy among us."
Mary Rettig, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
