This blog post is based on insights from a webinar in May 2025, Mission Partners For Christ was blessed to be able to host Dr Providence Uwimana Okaalet on our first ever Lunch & Learn webinar. Dr. Providence is the medical Director at Watermark Health, and serves as a physician in urgent care and mobile clinics in Texas. Dr. Providence was born in Rwanda, raised in Kenya and Texas, and has successfully negotiated medical mission time into her employment contracts throughout her healthcare career.
For Christian medical professionals feeling called to medical missions work, one of the biggest barriers isn’t skill or passion—it’s getting time off from work. Whether you’re a doctor, nurse, or healthcare worker dreaming of serving in remote villages, the challenge of balancing your calling with your career responsibilities can feel overwhelming.
But here’s the encouraging truth: it’s more possible than you think. With the right approach, research, and conversation skills, many Christian healthcare professionals are successfully integrating missions work into their careers. Here’s how you can start that journey.
Choosing Mission-Friendly Medical Employers
Research is your best friend. In today’s digital age, you have unprecedented access to information about potential medical employers and their stance on Christian service and missions work. Before accepting a healthcare position, spend time investigating whether an organization already supports community service, faith-based initiatives, and medical missions.
Look for hospitals, medical practices, and healthcare organizations that demonstrate a heart for giving back—whether through local community health initiatives or international medical missions. Many Christian hospitals, faith-based clinics, and medical practices already engage in medical mission work and actively seek mission-minded healthcare professionals.
As Dr. Providence notes, “There are a lot of hospitals, a lot of clinics, a lot of practices that do missions and they look for people who are mission minded.”
Don’t limit yourself to organizations already doing international medical missions. If a healthcare company is actively serving their local community through health outreach or medical volunteering, it’s usually not a big leap for them to support international Christian medical missions when the right employee makes the case.
Aligning Medical Missions with Company Values
Most healthcare organizations share more common ground with medical missions than you realize. Medical organizations, by their very nature, are already in the business of healing and helping those in need. Many have established corporate social responsibility programs, healthcare volunteer hours, or charitable medical giving initiatives that align perfectly with Christian medical missions.
Even secular healthcare workplaces often have frameworks that support what you want to do as a medical missionary. The key is finding that common ground and presenting your medical missions calling in terms that align with your healthcare organization’s existing values and community health goals.
Start small to build credibility. If your medical employer offers volunteer hours for healthcare initiatives—even just a few hours monthly—use them for medical volunteering or community health work. This demonstrates your commitment to medical service and shows your employer that healthcare missions and community involvement are genuinely important to you. It also provides a natural conversation starter about your broader interest in medical mission trips and Christian medical missions.
The Art of Creative Advocacy for Medical Mission Time
Remember: you can negotiate in the medical field. Many medical professionals, especially women in healthcare, forget that employment terms are often negotiable. In a field with persistent healthcare worker shortages, you bring significant value to any medical organization. As Dr. Providence reminds us, “You come already at a place where you do have a lot to offer to the organization.”
Think beyond traditional vacation time for medical missions. Instead of simply asking for more PTO, consider proposing medical mission-related benefits as part of your healthcare compensation package.
Some creative approaches for securing medical mission trip time include:
- Negotiating unpaid leave specifically designated for medical mission work with Christian organizations
- Trading other perks (like medical conferences you’re not interested in) for medical mission trip time
- Requesting that part of your medical missions time be covered by existing healthcare volunteer hours
- Proposing that medical colleagues join you on short-term medical mission trips, creating healthcare team-building opportunities
Make medical missions mutually beneficial. Emphasize how your medical mission experience enhances your clinical skills, brings positive publicity to your healthcare organization, and aligns with their stated values of healing and helping others through medical care. Frame medical mission work as an investment in your professional medical development that ultimately benefits your healthcare employer and improves patient care.
Real-World Success Stories in Medical Mission Negotiations
The contract negotiation approach works for medical missions. Dr. Providence successfully negotiated medical mission time into her healthcare employment contract by being upfront about her calling to medical missions during the hiring process. She requested specific time off for disaster relief medical work, and while the medical employer negotiated a 12-month waiting period, they ultimately agreed to include medical mission time in her contract.
Dr. Providence successfully negotiated medical mission time into her healthcare employment contract by being upfront about her calling to medical missions during the hiring process.
The key was presenting medical missions as a non-negotiable part of who she is as a Christian healthcare professional. When she moved to her current position, two years ago, her new medical employer easily understood and accommodated the same arrangement for medical mission work.
Timing matters in healthcare negotiations. Be strategic about when you make your medical mission request. Between healthcare positions, during medical contract renewals, or after establishing yourself as a valuable healthcare employee are all optimal times. You need to be valued as a medical professional before you can effectively negotiate for unique benefits like medical mission trip time.
Starting the Medical Mission Conversation
Research your current healthcare policies first. Before approaching anyone about medical mission time, thoroughly understand your existing medical leave policies and healthcare benefits.
Begin with relationship-building, not medical mission requests. Start casual conversations about your interests in medical volunteering and Christian service. Share photos from previous medical mission trips or discuss your heart for healthcare missions. Lay groundwork before making formal requests for medical mission time off.
Work through the medical chain of command systematically. Start with your direct medical supervisor, but don’t stop there if they don’t know the policies about medical mission time. Ask to speak with healthcare HR or medical management who might have broader knowledge of company policies regarding medical missions and healthcare volunteering flexibility.
Discerning Your Medical Mission Calling
Prayer with expectation is essential for medical mission discernment.
As Dr. Providence emphasizes, “You are not asking for a big house, a nice car. You are asking God, how can I be in your will?” This is a prayer God delights to answer, especially regarding how to use your medical gifts in Christian service.
Build Christian community around your medical mission discernment. Surround yourself with fellow Christian healthcare professionals who can pray with you about medical missions and provide biblical counsel about your calling to medical mission work. Avoid “yes people” who simply affirm everything you say about medical missions. You need trusted Christian advisors who will challenge you and help confirm God’s leading toward medical mission service.
Connect with experienced medical missionaries. Nothing replaces learning from other Christian healthcare professionals who have walked the medical mission path. Most medical missionaries are eager to share their experiences with medical mission organizations and help others discern their calling to medical missions.
Medical mission work isn’t just about taking time off from healthcare—it’s about using your God-given medical gifts and clinical training to serve others while fulfilling your professional calling as a Christian healthcare worker. The medical skills you gain, the cross-cultural perspectives you develop, and the relationships you build on medical mission fields often enhance your effectiveness in your home medical practice.
Remember that God has placed you in your current healthcare workplace for a purpose.
Remember that God has placed you in your current healthcare workplace for a purpose. You may be paving the way for future medical colleagues who share your heart for medical missions. Your conversations about medical service and your demonstration of a heart for healthcare missions can influence your medical workplace culture in profound ways.
The intersection of professional healthcare and medical missions calling doesn’t have to be a source of tension. With prayer, planning, and the right conversations about medical mission work, it can become a source of tremendous fulfillment and impact. Your medical skills are desperately needed around the world through Christian medical missions, and there are more pathways to medical mission service than you might realize.
