Nurse Esther Ash wrote in this letter summarizing her time on our 2018 trip to The Ivory Coast (Côte d’Ivoire). We hope this will help you get a taste of what an experience with Mission Partners for Christ could be like. We would love for you to join our next trip!
Greetings, Bon Jour!
I have arrived back from Côte d’Ivoire or the Ivory Coast, The general language is French, and then about 47 dialects are used throughout this nation. I haven’t used French since my high school class about 35 years ago, but I was able to pick up some again to be able to understand. My team, Mission Partners for Christ from the United States, consisted of 5 medical doctors of family practice, 2 medical students along with a Nurse practitioner. There were 5 nurses, a licensed minister who helped fit glasses, a photographer who works for the Chicago sports industry, Shenita, my roommate, who weighed all the children and Brian who helped fit everyone for shoes.
With all the prayers that we received, we were able to be a very united team through all the long hours of traveling and seeing patients. In all, we were able to see and treat 1456 patients in 4.5 days. That was a pace to be set. We tried to see our patients in family groups. In Triage, where I was a part, we took temperatures on all the children and blood pressures on all the adults, and if they were over the age of 40 we checked their blood sugar and asked what they wanted to be seen for by the doctor. Malaria issues were the main symptoms. Now add to this the translator of French to English and then another translator for the native dialect and the triage area can be a noisy area. Having chickens occasionally strolling through and the hot sun beating down made it a different experience, but the smiles and laughter kept us going, and knowing why we were doing it made all the difference.
Our days started very early and, for some, even earlier as intercessory prayer covered our members, our travels, our partners and the people we wanted to reach. Breakfast of eggs, fruit, and croissants started the day, and the luggage was loaded. We traveled by vans to our destinations and were joined by our translators, our cooks, and other volunteers. We joined the traffic every morning and the adventure started, you could literally reach out and touch the vehicles next to us. There are few traffic lights in Abidjan and few painted lines for traffic and everyone wants to go at the same time, our travels took us hours out in to the countryside down deeply rutted roads sometimes covered in water. Remember also that there are NO roadside rest bathrooms, but we managed!
We were there at the end of the rainy season and were blessed to not be rained out. The people were waiting our arrival and happy to see us. The villages had to prepare an area for us to set up under tents which meant clearing the land and cut poles for the tarps which they covered with palm leaves. They allowed us to use almost every table from their homes. There is much preparation behind the scenes before our arrival — which our team leader and so many others with Global Hope Network International had already done. We set up daily and started the day seeing patients, giving out medications for high pressure, diabetes, intestinal worms, and general aches and pains along with treating wounds. We gave out eyeglasses and shoes that grow, and then saw to their spiritual needs as well.
Our first village was Effaoho, and they already had progressed in their 5-year plan to having a VIP latrine, a clean water source, and a school. Healthwise, you could already see the difference it was having for the people of the village. Global Hope Network makes agreements with these villages to come in and partner with the people to teach them healthy living and teach surrounding villages skills to use to generate an income. They do not take over a village but rather teach with an exit plan already in place.
We returned to this village a second day and people from villages further out came as well — creating the ripple effect that we hope for in changing people’s lives for the better and giving them hope. As we entered the village on day two, the children were jumping up and down in joy and smiles all around. We did get rained on, and the village wanted to give us a goat in appreciation. Goat loans are also a part of the program developed by Global Hope. We didn’t take the goat and had to delay our departure due to one of the van’s being stuck in the flooded road. Getting home on day two took a bit longer as one of the vans broke down. Packing skills took on a whole new level. A van that was designed for about 17 now carried 27. Togetherness!
Our second village was Atakassikoro, where someone had died the night before, so our arrival had an added dimension. This village is not as far as the previous village. Their water supply was built by UNICEF and kind of forgotten. The water was salty, and when the rains came it became dirty. They did not have a school in their village, and the children traveled six miles one way for lessons if the bridge wasn’t washed out. Their level of hope was low, as one of the villagers told us that for 3 generations things hadn’t changed and no one came to help.
The first day, the people were not waiting but day two of being there, the people were lined up hours before we arrived. Hope is an amazing thing. We were a very tired group of people when we packed out of this village, and the children were so glad and dancing around. It was hard to leave; the road to the village was so bad that we literally had to pack in and out because the vans could not get up to the village. On the half day of clinic in Abidjan our team split and half went to a church in the slums where sewage flowed, and outside street vendors were cooking fish guts. It does make an impression and hard to add the smells and sounds in writing.
So many little things could be added to this letter about the things that happened and were experienced by my team. Were we exhausted? Yes. Are they already planning other trips? Yes. There are over 900 people groups yet tobe reachedh. Can you make a difference? Yes.
Prayers, donations and more people to travel to these places are needed. Do you have to be a medical person? No. Just ask Brian or Shenita or the many other volunteers. But if you are a medical person or know a medical person. share this with them and send them to the Mission Partners For Christ website!
Thank you for all your support and prayer covering!
Are you longing to serve on the missions fields and unsure how to begin?
That’s a great goal for life–wanting to serve. Wanting to serve in any place will train you to serve on a missions trip in some ways you might not expect. It all begins with the willingness to ask God good questions in prayer and then start to serve in the best ways you know how to do right where you are.
How do you wash a dish in the sink or dishwasher at home–is it done with love and care for the next person who will use the dish? How do you speak with your coworkers about critical matters during high-pressure moments? Do you maintain your composure and stay focused on the task and care for people while remaining alert to the Holy Spirit?
Do you remember young Samuel when he ran to Eli as God called on him because he thought it was Eli calling for him? That’s a willing heart. He wanted to see what Eli needed, so he got up to go to him (1 Samuel 3:1-21). We can be like this.
You are stronger than you know!
Many people don’t realize they already are servant-leaders in the making or they are already making a difference in that way.
Every time we accept responsibility for something, commit to it, and see it through–that is service and leadership in action. Doctors and nurses who studied, prepared themselves, and practiced all they would need to in order to become medical professionals are one example of this. Students and parents who learn how to fundraise for their friends’ mission trips and go out in the community to help make it happen are another example.
We so often hear words like “leadership” or “service” and perhaps think it will involve the more difficult types of work that we feel unprepared for or not called to do, and sometimes it might be more difficult, but not necessarily something we’re not called to do. God will give you strength and grace for it. He allows you to go into challenges that will build character and other traits, so there is no need to feel we are too weak or unknowledgeable to improve our leadership skills and enlarge our servant hearts.
You know more than you think you do!
Younger or older, you have knowledge and experience others do not have. Your specific way of seeing a need and filling it might differ from someone else’s way, but when it’s paired with a group of people intently focused on serving others and leading themselves with honor and love, it’s boosted–and it might boost what others are doing too. So don’t be afraid to come off the sidelines and volunteer to go support a mission’s trip in some way. You might be surprised what you can learn, how you will grow, and how others around you will learn and grow too.
What are you waiting for?
There is plenty of work to be done all over the world, so if you’re ready, you can begin. You don’t have to wait till you’re a great dishwasher or communicator to go on a mission’s trip, by the way. You just need a willing heart and faith. If you’re interested in learning more about our upcoming 2024 destinations, have a look here.
Do you need some questions answered before you say yes? We’d love to answer your questions about joining our team. Click here to submit your question via our contact page. We will get back with you as soon as possible!
There are seasons in every Christian life that might see us going out into the world to share the love of Jesus, and there are seasons where we might be called to stay home while others go. For those of us that remain behind, it is important to note that we are still called to serve. But our service might look different than the missionary in Africa.
Our service might appear to be quieter, but it is certainly no less significant. For every missionary called abroad, many more of us are called to work that is just as important: supporting the people in our lives as they serve on their mission trips.
Support comes in many different forms. Today, I want us to look at a few ways we can support the missionaries in our lives.
Pray
We often hear the phrase, there is power in prayer. While we believe there is power, it isn’t in the prayer itself, it is in the God to whom we pray. This is the God who shaped the universe, set each star in its proper place, and crafted the mountains. This same God not only created you, me, and every human being throughout history, but He also ordained the times and places in which we would live so that we might find Him (Acts 17:26-27)
It is this God that people serve when they embark on their mission trips. They seek to bring His truth to those who need it the most and to love them in action as they live out the gospel. Remembering them in prayer as they do this important work is to hold them in your hearts and to connect to their work in the best possible way.
Help With Fundraising and Communication
This is an often overlooked area for many Christ servants who need support from their loved ones and their communities.
Samuel Werner, guest posting on Sharon K Hoover’s blog, wrote about the importance of assisting missionaries with things like setting up websites, creating fundraisers, tracking donations, etc… Most who choose to serve have limited time to keep track of updating supporters or fundraising. Taking a little time out of your day, week, or month to assist them with these things would be a greatly supported gesture.
Werner says,
“A huge help for me in the past was I had someone help me with my mailing newsletters. I would send them an email with the writing and a few pictures. They’d take it and form a pretty little newsletter to send out to my supporters. They’d even keep track of the mailing list for me. That was a HUGE blessing. There is a lot more to being a missionary than just ministry. Offer your services. Just ask, “Is there anything I can do to help you?”
Samuel Werner
Do you have organizational skills or the ability to help set up a GoFundMe? You can put those skills to work by supporting your missionary loved one.
Give Generously
This is perhaps the most common way to support those who are sent out into the world to share the love and gospel of Jesus. But it remains one of the most important forms of support. Without the generosity of believers, like yourself, many mission trips just could never happen. It costs money to travel. It costs money for lodging. It costs money for supplies.
Arrange Housing For Furloughs
For those who serve on a full-time basis, furloughs are a big part of their work. Popular to popular opinion, furloughs aren’t just a break from being in the mission field, although that can be part of it. Furloughs are also important for recruiting new people to the team, fundraising, and more.
Dr. Don Sisk explained how furloughs are often misunderstood in his Ministry 127 blog post from 2014,
“Even though it is good to separate for a time, furlough is not vacation. I remember my wife Virginia sharing a conversation that she had with a pastor’s wife during our first furlough. The pastor’s wife said to her, “I wish my husband got a year of vacation after every four years.” Most of the time, a furlough schedule bears little resemblance to a vacation since missionaries must travel from city to city visiting potential supporting churches or participating in mission conferences.”
Dr. Don Sisk
Often, those who return home on furlough, need someone to help them secure housing for themselves and their family for the length of their stay. As you can imagine, this can be a difficult task when you’re not even in the same country where you will need to find a home. This is where the support of their loved ones and community can be extremely helpful. You can check out potential rentals on their behalf or you can go through your own list of contacts to see if anyone has room to spare.
Perhaps you, yourself, have a guest house or spare room and can offer to host?
Stay in Contact With Loved Ones Serving On A Medical Mission Trip
Being a missionary can be rewarding work in many ways, and yet it can also be lonely and exhausting. Hearing from loved ones back home can be a great way to feel supported while in the mission field. Just knowing that your community is remembering to include you, in some way, in their lives is a great encouragement.
This can include letters, video chats, care packages, and more. Even picking up the phone to send a quick, “thinking of you” text is sure to bring a smile to the face of your beloved missionary.
Hear Directly From Those Who Serve
Youth With A Mission (YWAM) created their own video back in April 2020 to discuss what ways of receiving support from their communities have been most meaningful for them. Take a look now in their video, “How To Support A Missionary Without Money”
Did you learn something new about how to support the missionaries in your life? Leave us a note in the comments and let us know!
If you are new to the Mission Partners For Christ organization or haven’t heard of medical missions before, you might find yourself wondering, “what is the point of all of this?”
So many of us who are living in the USA (or other first-world nations), might find it difficult to empathize with the need for medical missions. Most of us can simply pick up the phone and make an appointment to see our primary care physicians. Most of us have also grown up with some amount of knowledge about health and how to care for our bodies.
It can be hard to see it, but many of us actually carry a great deal of privilege. We can take it for granted that, when we need it most, we can have access to medical care for ourselves and our families.
Many people around the world have never seen a medical professional before. Those who grow up in developing nations may also lack access to things like medication, proper foot or eyewear, or basic knowledge about nutrition or how to care for their bodies.
This is where organizations like Mission Partners For Christ come in.
We Provide Free Screenings and Treatments At Our Clinics
Did you know that some nations have only a handful of doctors to treat the thousands or millions of people who live there? The medical professionals who work in these places are dear and precious resources, but they become overwhelmed by the sheer number of people who need their expertise. That only includes those who are able to find the transportation and money necessary to see these medical experts. It is a privilege in many places to have access to any medical professional.
Many people live in remote villages and/or lack the resources to see a doctor due to the level of poverty around them.
Mission Partners For Christ goes exclusively to places where access to medical care is limited or non-existent for the people who live there. When we travel to a location, we work with our local partners who already have established relationships with the people who live in that area. Working together, we open free clinics that make healthcare accessible to all who need it. The doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals who volunteer with us spend hours each day meeting with people, screening them for health issues, and providing whatever treatment or medication is necessary.
We Provide Health Education To Those Who Need It
In a previous post, we discussed why health education matters in medical missions. It isn’t simply a way to teach people about their bodies and the growing bodies of their children, although that is extremely important. It’s also a way to help people connect with their bodies, and to give them a greater sense of agency and control over their lives. For many who have lived in impoverished nations, health education is a luxury that is simply not affordable.
Mission Partners For Christ is able to help bridge the gaps wherever they exist. We love nothing more than to help people understand better how to care for their bodies. We can teach them about proper nutrition and hygiene to prevent or manage serious illnesses. We can teach them how to prevent injuries by taking notice of the signals that their bodies are sending them and how to respond to those signals. We can teach them what are normal and healthy developments of growing bodies and when it’s time to get help from an expert.
We Share The Gospel With Those Who Have Never Heard It
We don’t just care for bodies on our medical mission trips, we also take the time to care for the souls of those people too. We go on these trips to love people in action and in truth, and so we make it a priority to share the gospel whenever we can.
When Mission Partners For Christ opens a free medical clinic to work with underserved communities, we don’t just see them as bodies to treat. We see them as souls who are deeply loved by the Creator of Heaven and earth and Who so desperately wants a personal relationship with each one of them.
Our medical mission trips have enabled us to share the saving gospel of Jesus Christ with countless thousands of people since our founding less than a decade ago. The ability to share the message of the Cross with the unreached is our motivating factor to do the work that we do.
After we leave a location, we remain in touch with our local partners and we often hear reports of how our work in these places has made lasting differences in the lives of those we interacted with. And we rejoice for the opportunity given to us, by God, to share Jesus with those who needed Him.
Would you like to make a lasting difference too? Consider how you might get involved with Mission Partners For Christ.
We also need people to consider supporting us financially – we can only do the work that we do because of generous people like yourself. Because Mission Partners For Christ is a 501c3 status nonprofit, your donations are tax-deductible.
Consider a commitment to holding our organization in prayer. We have a monthly prayer meeting that you can join. Contact us for more information on how to get involved.
Spread the word! You never know who in your network might be looking for a way to get involved in missions, and you might be the one person who gets to introduce them to Mission Partners For Christ and the work that we do!
Consider inviting Sheri to speak at your church or event. She has a wealth of experience to share about medical missions and is excited to introduce people to this way of sharing the gospel.
Did you learn anything new about medical missions? Leave us a comment and let us know!
In the coming days, you will probably hear a lot about giving because next week is Giving Tuesday!
It’s a relatively recent holiday, starting in 2012 as a global movement to incorporate a day of giving into our yearly calendar. Here, in the USA, the timing of Giving Tuesday feels particularly apt. The day is sandwiched between two major holidays: Thanksgiving (a day to give thanks for all the blessings in our lives) and Christmas (a day to commemorate the greatest Blessing of all: the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ).
So let’s quickly dive into the Bible to see what it has to say to us about the act of giving.
Giving Is An Act Of Stewardship
A central belief of Christianity is that every good thing in our lives is a gift from God. This includes the extra money in our bank accounts. There are wonderful things that could be done to help others with that money, but the first step is to acknowledge that because the money came from God, it belongs to God. And because it belongs to God, it is important to think carefully about how best to use it for His purposes.
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms
Worship is not just about showing up in church on Sunday mornings and singing some hymns. Worship is an attitude (Romans 12:1-2). Worship is a way of life. Worship is about how we love Jesus and how we love others.
Whatever you do (including the act of giving) is absolutely an act of worship if it is done in the name of Jesus Christ.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
Giving to those in need is an act of service, but it is also an act of love. It is declaring that the people you choose to give your money and time to are worthy of God’s blessings. It is a declaration that they are beloved by God. In choosing to give to those who need it most, you are choosing to love.
And love, as Paul once taught us, is the fulfillment of the Law (Romans 13:8).
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Mission Partners For Christ Is In The Business of Changing Lives
Thanks to the generous donations of supporters, like you, Mission Partners For Christ has managed to do amazing things for people around the world. Here are just a couple of examples of what your generous donations have made possible:
We have partnered with Renew World Outreach to make the gospel more accessible than ever before. Long after we leave a location, our local partners can continue to share the gospel for many years to come via The Jesus Film Equipment. For a long time, accessibility to the Bible has been a major obstacle for many people due to illiteracy and vision problems, but now that obstacle has been overcome – thanks to God! Technology allows evangelists and missionaries to open doors to a whole new population through Jesus film equipment and audio Bibles.
For each location that Mission Partners For Christ serves, we leave behind the equipment necessary for our local missionary partners to continue to share the gospel long after we’re gone. The cost for this equipment starts at $1550.
Here are just a few pictures that capture the our evangelist partners as they share the gospel with the Jesus Film equipment:
Solar Audio Bibles allow African people to hear the Bible in their own languages. Our partner, MegaVoice, supplies us with all the solar audio Bibles we need to equip brand new believers with the Word of God. These are quite amazing inventions and allows people all over the world the ability to learn about God and grow in their faith in a way that simply wasn’t possible for so very long.
Each solar audio Bible starts at $50, and we bring many along with us at each of our medical mission trips. Your generous donations make it possible for us to continue to provide these at out medical outreach clinics.
Here are just a couple of pictures of the solar audio Bibles we take with us on each medical mission trip:
Here’s How You Can Help Today
Today is Giving Tuesday. 100% of the donations raised through this fundraiser go to the mission work; none of your contributions will go to our administrative cost, so you can rest assured that all of your money will go directly towards the work done in the mission field.
What’s more, your donations are tax-deductible!
You can donate directly to Mission Partners For Christ here on the website or through PayPal.
A Final Thought
To all those who make the generous choice to financially support Mission Partners For Christ, we want to take a moment to thank you. From the very bottom of our hearts, we appreciate the gifts you give so selflessly to support our work in medical missions.
It is not an exaggeration to say that lives are saved and changed for the better through the donations that you send; those who support our work financially are just as important as those who physically travel with us into the field.
Sharing about your missions trip is a wonderful way to ignite a flame of inspiration that burns year-round
Whether you are a seasoned medical missions trip volunteer or about to go on your very first medical missions trip, one of the things you might be looking forward to doing once you are home is sharing about your missions trip.
There may be people in your church, workplace, family, peer group, or general community who are unaware of the different ways medical missions teams help or where we go. Some might be people who would be inspired to do more in their communities, homes or even overseas, when they hear about your story of how God moved through what you and your team did together with the people who were served. There are different things you can do to make it easier to share your story once you return home. We hope these three things will inspire you now, during the trip, and afterward.
Keep a journal
Keeping a journal is a brilliant way to have a record of the situations you encountered and how you worked through anything particularly challenging, how God was with you or someone else, and various other things like time spent with new friends or insightful moments and prayers.
The act of writing before, during, and after the trip may serve to collect your thoughts, memories, and ideas into one central place where you can return to again to read and reflect or be inspired. It can serve as a note for future family members to read one day and get a glimpse of what it was like to serve as a medical missions volunteer. What you write in your journal can become a sort of “first draft” of what you will share with people in your church or community.
Some good “before” trip journal posts could be questions or things you would like to notice or learn about while on the trip. During the trip, since you will be focused on serving more, you could jot down more of what you experience. Then after the trip, you could write about what you experienced and possibly also what you learned or what you would like to share with others.
Take lots of good pictures
While you are on your medical missions trip, you may want to take lots of good pictures. If that sounds like you who enjoys having photographs to remember where you have been and who you have met, consider bringing a camera, batteries, charger, or battery pack with travel adapter (if needed).
Though you will be working quite a bit of the time, there will be moments to snap photos of buildings, landscape, animals and plants, and you with your new friends and team members. This is a really fun part of it–all the people! Make sure you’re in some of the photos too. When you take photos, you will want to be mindful of privacy and how the photos will represent everyone involved in a respectful way. Your group leader is able to help you know if there are any other guidelines to observe.
When you have lots of pictures, you will be able to remember the faces of the people you may write back to, the places you have been, and refer to it even years later when you want to pray for them or remember. Sometimes teams or individuals put all the photos together for use in sharing about your missions trip to churches and other groups.
Stay updated on the news of your team and new friends
Another great way to share about your missions trip is to stay updated on news of any changes or breakthroughs for your new friends overseas. When it is not unwise to do so, you can share the updates with loved ones, friends, or other members of your community–particularly those who already have expressed interest. People may hear the updates and praise God or go into prayer for them. They might also be inspired to one day go on a medical missions trip or somehow serve in a new way. You will have a friendship with someone who may also enjoy hearing about you.
Would you like to learn more about Mission Partners for Christ? You are welcome to visit and follow our Facebook page, Mission Partners for Christ, where we share encouraging posts and information. You could also head over to the FAQs page of this blog.