Medical Missions As A Physician’s Assistant

Called Into Missions

When I was 15 years old, I was called to the mission field.

I remember my mother telling me that there were two professions desperately needed on the mission field: nurses to meet medical needs and teachers to meet educational needs. Both professions open doors to the spreading of the Gospel.

There was no doubt in my mind about the path before me. I knew medicine was my vehicle to countries and communities that might otherwise have no access to the Gospel. After graduating from high school, I obeyed God’s call. I attended a one-year program at a Bible college and then obtained my degree as a Physician Assistant.

I have been working in primary care/urgent care since.

How Can Medical Missions Fit Into a Physician Assistant Career Path?

On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.

– Matthew 9:12, NIV

Medical care can open many doors for reaching the unreached and disenfranchised.

I feel God has called me to be a part of missions in three different ways:

Going to the unreached
Giving to support missions locally and globally
Praying for each community we serve and our mission partners who continue the work long after we leave.

Medical teams can more readily gain access to closed countries when we bring the gift of healthcare. We can access hearts through love and meeting the physical needs of people.

Meeting the physical need and concern of an individual acknowledges their inherent value and worth to God. It communicates that they are important, they are loved, and they matter to Jesus. This is why medical care and missions pair so well together, and why my role as a Physician Assistant, makes me uniquely qualified to go and serve those who are unreached with the Gospel. Meeting someone’s physical needs can help to soften their hearts to choose to follow Jesus.

My medical experience coincides with my Christian service as the pathway through which I obeyed the calling to go and share the gospel. He commanded us to go into all the world and make disciples of every nation. Jesus ministered to those society had condemned or forgotten. Jesus went for the one. He has called us to spread the Gospel and His love. Serving these communities by meeting the physical need, softens the heart to be able to hear and receive the Gospel.

Getting Started With Mission Partners For Christ

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
-Matthew 25:37-40, NIV

I discovered Mission Partners For Christ through a google search.

At the time, I was looking for a way to obey God’s calling on my life, and I was hoping to find short-term, Christian-based medical mission opportunities. I reviewed several and then came across Mission Partners For Christ.

I immediately knew that this was the group for me! This would be a God-centered ministry through which I could fulfill my calling in missions. We could go to the unreached and underserved, give of our time and expertise to meet physical needs for medical care, and pray with them that they might receive Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

Follow God's Call On Your Life In Medical Missions!

Finding the right opportunity to serve the Lord with your medical expertise can be challenging. Mission Partners for Christ organizes short-term missions to Africa so that medical professionals can provide life-saving medical education and care while sharing the gospel.

My first trip with MPFC was during the summer of 2023. We were going to be serving in Burundi, which is the second poorest country in the world.

On our last clinic day, the people were becoming very restless and rowdy. There were great needs and many wanted to be seen by the providers. We had to end the clinic early due to the increased restlessness of the people. The team was disappointed, but as we started to pack up a beautiful thing happened.

The crowd gathered around our leader, Sheri, and some local missionary partners. Sheri was sitting at a child’s school desk outside the clinic area. Sheri was joking around with one of the missionaries who had come to serve with us that day. The surrounding crowds were giggling along with them, interested in what they were doing. Noticing that the crowd’s attention was captured, that missionary began to preach the Gospel.

The large crowd listened intently to the Gospel of Christ and the salvation message. An estimated crowd of 100-150 people raised their hands to accept Jesus. The medical team then went through the crowd, laid hands on the people, and prayed over them. It was a precious sight!

That was an “aha!” moment for me. That was the moment that it became clear why God called us there.

We were not here to solely give packs of vitamins or Tylenol. We were there to proclaim the good news of Jesus and deliver healing to their hearts.

If our clinics can be the tool to gather people in one place to hear the Gospel and have the opportunity to decide whether they want salvation in Jesus, then I will go and serve in all communities and treat all needs so that they have the chance to hear.

As Romans 10:14-15 reminds us,

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!
-Romans 10:14-15, NIV

Interested In Getting Involved in Medical Missions As A Physician Assistant?

Medical professionals are especially needed in the mission field!

This work is important because it means that the Gospel can be shared with unreached populations. Medical missions provide an access point for people to hear the Gospel and experience the love of God.

Many who have come for basic healthcare may have never heard the Gospel and may never have another chance. Some people may be afraid to meet with Christians in public due to persecution and can therefore hear the Gospel in a discreet manner from medical professionals.

Every person needs the opportunity to hear about Jesus, and medical missions offer a wonderful way to meet this need to an underserved population desperate for the love of Jesus.

If you are a Physician Assistant, like myself, please know that there is a place for you in the mission field.

Here are a few helpful tips to help you prepare to join a medical mission trip:

People can spiritually prepare themselves for missions through prayer. We are called to share the Gospel. Prayers and Scripture reading grows us spiritually and helps us to know if we are to go and serve abroad. Walking in obedience to go where Jesus says go and do what he says do is imperative. For some people the calling to missions is to go, some to pray, some to give. All three are so important!

One can prepare emotionally for each trip through asking God to speak to their hearts. Each experience is different, and you will be faced with many situations that will elicit different emotional responses. We have to trust the Holy Spirit to prepare us, guide us, and speak to us through those situations. Journaling thoughts, fears, and other feelings can also be helpful in processing fears, doubts, and experiences.

I highly encourage people to have a debriefing partner when they return home, especially after your visit trip. Finding someone who will sit, listen, and is genuinely interested in you and the trip is very helpful. The trips can foster beautiful friendships and having those teammates to reminisce with after the trip is encouraging emotionally. No one else except that specific group of people truly understand all that happened during the trip.

I would advise anyone interested in missions to start by praying about when and where to go. Ask and talk with friends who have served in medical missions. Fill out an application and talk with someone from Mission Partners For Christ.

Taking the first steps can be a little scary but it is so worth it. Mission Partners For Christ is such a wonderful group to go with whether it is your first trip or your hundredth!