How many medical conferences have you ever heard of that offer these classes all at the same course?:
- Tooth extraction for the non-dentist
- Setting up an ICU in resource-limited settings
- Flap coverage of lower-extremity wounds
- Cardiac echo crash course
That is one random collection of medical topics. But when you gather medical missionaries from all over Africa and Asia, these are the kinds of things they need to know! For these eight days, in Eritrea, Greece, our physicians and staff are joining over 700 other missionaries from close to 100 countries. We are worshipping together morning and evening, and during the day, we are enjoying lectures and workshops from experts in their respective fields. Here are 5 things we love about the bi-annual CMDA conference:
1. When we come together with missionary docs, nurses, and dentists from all over the world, we get to hear the amazing stories of how God is using medical care to bring people into a saving relationship with Him from all the people groups of the world.
2. We get exposed to continuing education that is really relevant to what we are doing, and where we are serving. What is the latest in malaria treatment? How do you operate on a brain bleed if you’re not a neurosurgeon and have no CT scanner? How do you set up an ICU in a place where you don’t always have electricity? This is the kind of CME that we need! (And we get credit for it too.)
3. This year, there is a kids’ and spouses’ program. So we got to bring our families. Our kids are having fun playing at the pool and games with the other MK’s, and our spouses are enjoying some relaxation as well while the kids are being watched.
4. The quality of the lecturers and the spiritual program. CMDA has gone to great lengths to provide speakers like Dr. George Murray, the Chancellor of Trinity International University, who is speaking to us every morning on the “Deity of Christ”.
5. The fellowship of the believers who are pouring out their lives in countries all over this world to bring the Gospel and physical healing. As we talk together, learn together, pray together, and worship together, we realize that we are all in this together. It is so refreshing to be with these fellow laborers and share our struggles and triumphs. To God be the glory!
