When Medical Workers Go to the Ends of the Earth [December Prayer Focus]

TEAM – The Evangelical Alliance Mission • Dec 01, 2017

There’s an old saying that “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.” If anyone understands that, it’s Jesus. During His ministry on Earth, He often healed people’s physical ailments before tending to their spiritual needs.

Being the hands and feet of Christ means that we are called to bring hope and healing. For this reason, medicfal missionaries go into the most remote, and often most diseased, parts of the globe.

This December, will you pray with us for medicine and healthcare ministries around the world?

Click here to get a printable version of these requests, and sign up here to get the new prayer focus in your inbox each month.

1. Pray for sick people in isolated areas.

Millions of people live in rural areas with very little access to healthcare. For many, a trip to the hospital is a long, expensive journey.

One TEAM missionary to South Asia says, “In general, people in this remote area of the mountains have to walk two or three days to get to a hospital. The clinic [where I serve] provides compassionate care that opens doors to share the Gospel.”

This December, ask God to meet people in remote areas in unique and miraculous ways. Pray that they will come to faith as they witness God’s provision.

2. Pray for medical workers who face foreign epidemics.

Proper hand washing routines is a crucial lesson Eric Kroner shares with the residents of Chad. This simple practice can be life-saving. Photo by TEAM

Low-quality drinking water, unhygienic living conditions and lack of medical resources create breeding grounds for rare infections and viruses in developing countries.

In Chad , TEAM missionaries Eric and Mollie Kroner are fighting an endemic disease called Schistosomiasis, which causes digestive problems and the urination of blood.

Since discovering the existence of the disease in Chad about two years ago, the Kroners have treated over 5,000 children in 25 villages.

Please pray that medical missionaries will have the knowledge to diagnose these illnesses and the tools to defeat them. Pray for healing and an end to widespread epidemics everywhere.

3. Pray for opportunities to share Christ amid busy days.

Medical professionals often work long, demanding hours. For medical missionaries, this can make sharing the Gospel difficult, which makes their days even more taxing.

Take TEAM missionary Amie Bockstahler, for example. She works full time in two Guatemalan clinics. She and her ministry team typically see between 30 and 60 patients every day, which means opportunities for sharing Christ are often sliced out of hectic schedules.

Pray for renewal as medical missionaries around the world are challenged with the demands of their profession. Pray for ample time to share Christ with their patients and colleagues.

4. Pray for friendships between medical missionaries and local colleagues.

Because so many staff members are needed to run a successful hospital or clinic, medical missionaries often get to work alongside local physicians and doctors. While this helps missionaries with language and navigational skills, cultural barriers sometimes complicate budding friendships.

Pray for fruitful and enjoyable friendships with local coworkers. Pray that medical missionaries will be able to work smoothly and easily alongside their colleagues.

5. Pray for protection of workers’ health.

Medical missionaries are always at risk of contracting the very illnesses they treat. Pray for their safety and protection. Photo by TEAM

Even though God uses them to perform modern-day miracles, medical missionaries are still human beings with susceptible bodies. Treating the life-threatening illnesses of others often puts medical professionals in danger of contraction, no matter how careful they are.

Ask God to protect workers in the medical field. Pray for wisdom as they follow safety protocols, and pray for rest. Pray they will remain healthy enough to continue caring for the broken and sharing Christ’s love.

6. Pray for unhealthy cultural traditions to be overturned.

Oppression of various people groups has created toxic beliefs and practices in many cultures.

For example, many of the Chadian women Eric and Mollie Kroner work with are too afraid to eat in front of men due to cultural stigmas. The Kroners first realized this when they gave some female patients a handful of peanuts to eat in order to curb the ugly side effects of certain medications.

“The women feel so ashamed to eat in front of men that they will not even eat the peanuts,” said Eric.

Ask God to use medical missionaries to reverse unhealthy mindsets. Pray that cultures everywhere will embrace His message of freedom.

7. Pray for effective education strategies.

Many medical issues stem from a lack of public awareness. Missionaries like Scott Downing are committed to educating communities on collective health and safety. Photo by TEAM

Public health requires public education. Many healthcare missionaries have launched public awareness campaigns and educate communities about healthy lifestyle practices. In fact, Chadian village elders asked TEAM missionary Scott Downing to consider building a center for the sole purpose of public health education.

Even though Scott and his team are still praying and planning, Scott says, “We envision teaching some of their people in basic community health to be the go-to people for health needs — treating what can be treated locally and referring to the government’s clinics/hospitals ailments that need to be referred.”

Pray that education strategies like the one Scott is considering will be successful. Pray for innovation and creativity for missionaries in public healthcare fields.

Thank you for partnering with us in prayer! Click the image below to get a printable version of these requests to remember how to pray all month long.

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Loving Like Jesus Cross-Culturally (Part 1)

By Megan Lunsford • 23 Apr, 2024

When seeking to serve cross-culturally with an authentic love for others, there’s no better example for us than Jesus. If we sat around a table and threw out the question, “How do we love like Jesus?” I think we would have several commonalities as we respond. For example, Jesus loved all people right where they were. He loved those who were deemed the least, those hardest to love, or those who were His enemies. These are all beautiful realities of the heart of Jesus. When we step into relationships, it can be easier to take on the warmer, more gracious gestures of Jesus’ love, especially in cross-cultural relationships. Think about it––when doing life with those who look and act differently than us, we are already out of our comfort zones and would rather keep things as simple and familiar as possible. But there are other facets of Jesus’ heart we often overlook that can transform us and others even more into His likeness. Jesus is love because God is love. Everything Jesus did was out of love; it’s the mere definition of who He is. As followers of Jesus, He calls us to the same: “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John:7-12) Every display of love we offer to others is an opportunity for them to encounter the ultimate love of the Father. That’s a pretty big deal! In this article, we’ll look at three expressions of Jesus’ love that we tend to overlook when engaging others cross-culturally. (Next month, we’ll look at three more.) 1. Jesus loved sacrificially. Everywhere Jesus went, crowds followed Him. We even see times in Scripture where Jesus had plans to step away for time alone but those who were hurting found Him and He had compassion on them and stayed with them. Can you imagine rarely having any time to yourself but, instead, constantly being surrounded by crowds of people wanting help from you? Jesus loved sacrificially. He welcomed all who came to Him with love and compassion, never turning anyone away. “When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Matthew 9:36) In the same way, we can make room in our lives for Jesus to bring sacrificial interruptions which, in His eyes, are orchestrated encounters to transfer His love to others. It can be tempting to be so “on mission” that we are full steam ahead and find ourselves frustrated when the Holy Spirit sends an interruption into our path that we feel we don’t have time for. Or, perhaps, we have scheduled a meet-up but it’s the norm in another culture to be 30 minutes or an hour late. We anxiously think through how it will affect whatever we have planned next. While it’s normal to feel a little stressed, what if the very "interruption” standing in front of you was really a divine appointment sent by God? Or what if that person running late experiences how peaceful and gracious you are in adapting to their culture and therefore, they can encounter a beautiful display of Jesus’ love? To truly represent Christ, we should remain ready and willing for each assignment the Lord sends into our path, no matter the cost or how much we will have to re-route our day. He is always a hundred steps ahead and will work all things for His glory and our good. 2. Jesus loved by discerning each situation well. Think about how many situations Jesus had to respond to on a daily basis. We read in Scripture that there were lines of people waiting to be healed by Him, talk to Him, hear His teachings, or simply touch the hem of His robe. Jesus was fully dependent on His Father to discern each situation before addressing it. “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” (John 5:19) Another temptation we can have when in a relationship with those God has sent us to is to think we already know the solution or what God wants to do before we’ve even asked Him. We believe we are full of knowledge, so we just pull from the bank we have stored within and go with it. However, when we access what is familiar to us as our default, we risk missing out on a God-given solution that might truly be the key to unlocking whatever challenge is in front of us. What does this look like when interacting with others? We can simply ask, “God, what is on Your heart for the person standing in front of me?” Then we listen and respond as He speaks. When we make it a daily habit to pause and hear God’s heart for each situation before responding, we are guaranteed to be effective in loving those around us. He knows the heart of every person that will cross our paths. Imagine how impactful we can be if we first lean on His wisdom and discernment before moving forward. 3. Jesus loved by speaking truth. Most of us are familiar with the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. If we are honest, this conversation makes us a bit nervous as none of us would be comfortable with Jesus calling out intimate details of our lives that we would prefer to hide. But Jesus went further than just airing her dirty laundry. He offered her the hope of the Gospel and a relationship with Him - a divine fulfillment that could never be found in an earthly relationship. Jesus modeled a powerful example of loving others well cross-culturally. He took the low place and spoke truth, truly out of love––speaking to her heart from His. Like Jesus, our goal in sharing the truths about Him and His Word is to bring hope and satisfaction through Him alone. When we speak truth from Scripture, we are calling others higher into all God has for them. The tricky part here is we should avoid speaking truth if it isn’t first fueled by compassion. If it merely comes from a place of judgment, condemnation, or self-righteousness, it will fall flat 100% of the time. But if it truly comes from love, you are likely to not only win a heart back to the Father but, like the story of the Samaritan woman, even an entire village! If you see someone living outside of God’s best for their lives, ask God to show you your heart before engaging theirs. Once your heart is properly postured, you can speak truth out of an overflow of God’s love and trust Him for a transformation in their lives.

Hospitality, Help, and the Hope of the Gospel

By Suzanne Pearson • 16 Apr, 2024

TEAM Canada provides warm welcome and trusted friendships for diaspora populations living far from their native countries. As TEAM Canada workers Peter and Ruth (names changed) drive from their home to a nearby community center, they pass numerous apartment buildings and townhouses. Most of the families who live there are immigrants. They’ve left their countries of origin due to political unrest, trauma, and other difficulties. They’ve left family, friends, homes, jobs, and personal wealth behind. They search for peace, justice for the oppressed, and rest from fear and weariness. And as they adjust to a new country and a new language, they are often very isolated from others around them. “The sad reality is most immigrants are never even invited inside a Canadian home,” says Ruth. Peter and Ruth and their team try to change that reality. For the last nine years, the team, which includes workers from partner organizations as well as volunteers, has held English classes at the community center. Three days a week, over 60 students from more than 20 countries come together to learn English as well as to fellowship together and receive practical help in assimilating to a new normal. Meeting Needs and Building Trust That practical help may come in the form of procuring furniture, clothes, or dishes for newcomers, assistance with creating a resume and finding a job, or teaching people how to navigate Canadian laws and the medical system. As these tangible needs are met, relationships are built. “We invite them into our homes for meals and games,” Ruth shares. “We take them on hiking trips, picnics, outings, and out for coffee.” This is particularly important in this type of ministry because most immigrants come to Canada from cultures that value hospitality. Conversely, Canadians do not typically prioritize hospitality and consequently many newcomers feel lonely and isolated. Inviting folks to various gatherings and outings allows the team to spend extended time hearing people’s stories, struggles, hopes, and dreams. When she speaks about building friendships, Ruth’s heart for the people she serves is evident. “Hearing their stories, it’s easy to love them, and many have become close friends,” Ruth says. “We recognize the value of steady one-on-one relationships.”