2024 M3 Conference

A Shepherd, A Builder and A Healer: From Layers of Poverty to Dimensions of Global Health

Speaker: Anne Alaniz, DO

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description:

Dr. Alaniz will share her incredible journey of how God has used her personal experiences and struggles growing up in a small village in Malawi  to now lead survivor driven change in the community where she grew up.

Addressing both spiritual and physical  challenges of unstacking the layers of poverty. Her story embodies the power of community, service, grace, humility, and hope.

Whole-istic Care: Integrating Body, Soul and Spirit

Speaker: Robert (Bob) Paeglow, MD

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description:

We at Koinonia believe that God has created us as integrated beings and as Primary Care providers we have a responsibility to care for the whole person. The topic involves our journey as to how to implement this type of care which has developed over many years. I share the triumphs and failures that we have experienced implementing this kind of care in a small, less than 5 providers, practice setting.

Using Your Clinical Skills to Serve the “Least of These” Through DART

Speaker: Sasha Thew, BSN, MPH

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description:

A look at how to practically use your clinical skills (physician and nurses) in disaster response and DART responses in challenging and often forgotten places, specifically disasters that may not make the mainstream news circuit.

Discerning God’s Will – Take Home Lessons

Speaker: Stephen J. Foster, MD FRCS(C)

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description:

In this session, Dr. Stephen Foster will share invaluable insights from his 45-year journey as a missionary surgeon in Angola. Join us as he imparts lessons on understanding God’s heart, discerning His call, and taking meaningful steps towards becoming the person God intended you to be. We invite you to reflect on your own journey and discover how to align yourself with God’s purpose for your life.

Making an Impact in a Rural Ugandan Village Through Community Health

Speaker: Todd Price, MD

Room:  Trailblazers, 2nd floor

Description: 

Approximately 1.5 billion people are infected with soil-transmitted helminths worldwide, making this the most common infection in the world and contribute to an unbroken cycle of malnutrition and poverty.  Yet the standard methods of waste management worldwide include open defecation and unhygienic pit latrines, which are the main routes of disease transmission.   

In a rural Ugandan village, we introduced an alternative waste management system that drastically reduced fecal contamination in the environment and thereby contact with fecal-transmitted organisms.  It uniquely fits the rural, agricultural lifestyle of many people without access to other forms of waste management and it is sustainable since there is no need for the importation of materials, technology, or equipment.  We believe that if applied in similar communities worldwide, there will be markedly less infections, malnutrition will decrease, and the cycle of poverty broken.

Become a Missionary, It’s Easier Than You Think: “What to expect on your first medical mission trip”

Speaker: Larry J. Miller, MD

Room: Chapel, 3rd floor

Description: 

Most Christian medical professionals want to make a difference in the world. You may have thought about serving as a short-term missionary, but feel you may not have the necessary skills, or don’t know how to get started. 

Over the years, I have led 25 medical mission teams (with more than 100 first-time missionaries) to serve in some of the poorest places on earth, where these volunteers have contributed greatly to global health and the Kingdom of Christ. I encourage you to break through your comfort zone and join one of the many mission teams available. I will give you practical tips on how to do it, and what to expect on your first mission trip. 

Fruit of Martyrdom

Speaker: Mary E. Hermiz, RN, MSN, EdD

Room: Warehouse, 4th floor

Description: 

My mission journey of 35 years begins with the martyrdom of my grandmother in 1915 in Turkey and over 30 others from our family. My father’s last view of his mother at the age of four was lying in a pool of blood after having the flesh of her neck slashed open. Through many miraculous events my father came to the USA at the age of 10 to be reunited with his family who immigrated. After many rebellious years he became a Christian and later a minister. An ancient Christian writer, Tertullian, states “The blood of the martyr’s is the fruit of the church.” 

From the sacrifice of those who have gone before, we now have four generations in the Hermiz family in Christian service. Believing that just like in 1915, the world still needs those who are steadfast in their faith.

Health Through the Eyes of Culture 

Speaker: Nicholas Comninellis, MD, MPH, DIMPH

Room:  Loft, 4th floor

Description: 

1 – Cite health interventions that are ineffective due to cultural irrelevancy. 2 – Explain four principles of cultural competence. 3 – Describe a process of observing, understanding, and adjusting to local cultures.

Serving the “Least of These” on your Mission Trip

Speaker: Danny Joseph, MD

Room:  Mission Control, 3rd floor

Description: 

In the session, we will discuss what the Lord expects of us as His followers and how we can practically go about this through international missions.  Dr. Joseph will share ideas of how we can effectively care for the “Least of These” on the mission field using examples from his family’s personal experience during their missionary service in India, Africa, and Nepal.

Wholistic Care for Refugees 

Speaker: Cindy M. Wu

Room:   3022 – 3023, 3rd floor

Description: 

The global refugee crisis is both an unprecedented migration phenomenon and major humanitarian issue. This workshop will provide insights from Scripture on why caring for refugees is a special mandate for followers of Jesus. We’ll conduct an asset-based assessment of refugees in our communities and discuss practical ways to get involved, all the while honoring refugees as whole persons: spirit, body, mind, and soul.

Thinking Bigger about Global Health

Speaker: Emily Smith, PhD

Room:  Trailblazers, 2nd floor

Description:

This talk will encourage the audience to think bigger about global health. Often, the families I work with in Africa say they have to make a choice between paying for healthcare for one child or feeding the rest of the family. Doing both results in poverty for the family. That decision should not even be in our vocabulary as Believers – because we believe in the abundance of God, not a scarcity. As researchers or global health practitioners (missionaries, etc), sometimes we can get caught in that scarcity model of having to make a choice of only providing healthcare or only giving food, for example. This talk will focus on the ‘And, Also’ of global health through the lens of Jesus – Providing healthcare and also protecting the family from poverty. I will tell these stories through data of my own work as a global health epidemiologist who has seen the transformative power of talking about healthcare and poverty together, even at the United Nations.

Developing an Effective Communication Plan for Supporters

Speaker: Allan Sawyer, MD

Room:  Chapel, 3rd floor

Description:

This would not be the typical “how to raise financial support” but rather sharing my own experience with raising support and discussing exceptional communication skills in order to develop a support team.

What it takes to Send An Emergency Field Hospital: A Behind the Scenes Look

Speaker: Sasha Thew, BSN, MPH

Room: Warehouse, 4th floor

Description:

A look into the behind-the-scenes preparedness required to deploy an Emergency Field Hospital when a disaster strikes and the various elements to successfully establish an EFH, including initial and long-term management.

Raising Prayer and Financial Support

Speaker: Herschel Rothchild

Room: Loft, 4th floor

Description:

God has led you God will provide for you. Why we should trust God and His word. There is joy in adventure/excitement in support raising. It really all depends how we look at it. With where people are now our focus should be on trusting God and watching what He does and how He does it. We will also discuss a few books to read and why they should go to a training on support raising. The journey is a sweet one and is faith building as well as humbling.

Research as Mission: the next (final?) step in cross-cultural healthcare missions 

Speaker: Carlan Wendler, MD, FACEP

Room:  Mission Control, 3rd floor

Description:

From the earliest days of healthcare missions, direct clinical care and training of national providers have featured prominently. A renewed surge in healthcare education missions in the post-WWII era has changed the need for expatriate workers to fill to gaps of care provision and now increasingly in teaching others. The logical next step is to come alongside these professors and practitioners to generate the data that will guide best practice in their local contexts. Missions and missionaries are not yet equipped to pivot towards research as missions though it offers many advantages for Gospel discipleship and improved community health.

Propelling Your Career as a Christian Professional

Speaker: James M. Tour, PhD

Room: 3022 – 3023, 3rd floor

Description:

Key list of advice to advance a career as a Christian professional.

Ready, Set, GO

Speaker: Julie Rosá, MD, MIH

Room:  Trailblazers, 2nd floor

Description:

From the farmland of Kansas to the winding Appalachian Trail to the sand dunes of the UAE …  God’s adventure is always trustworthy!  Join Dr. Julie in an expanded discussion regarding God’s creative lessons in seasons of equipping, sending and GOing!  Session is especially focused on preparation for GOing to our current location in the Middle East.

Jesus Touched the Leper

Speaker: Robert (Bob) Paeglow, MD

Room: Chapel, 3rd floor

Description:

Chronic pain patients in many ways may evoke memories of the biblical lepers, that is, no one wants to touch them. At Koinonia Primary Care our target population is one of the poorest, most addicted, most violent in our city. Chronic pain, and its treatment, can become incredibly difficult and risky, in this milieu. We have developed a program to allow us to treat many of these patients with efficacy and dignity while mitigating the risk.

The Next Small Step of Obedience

Speaker: Erin Grim, BSN

Room: Warehouse, 4th floor

Description:

From entering into medical missions to helping open the first pediatric center in Guinea, West Africa. Sometimes we are called to the “big thing” from the start, but often God just asks for the next small step. I hope to encourage people in all levels of interest and experience in medical missions. Coming to a conference as a new person can feel overwhelming – how do I even start? And coming to a conference as an experienced medical missionary – where is God leading me? What is He doing? In sharing God’s faithfulness in each step for me and Sacre Coeur, I pray in this session we could all feel encouraged that God will show us the way we should go and give us the strength and courage to walk in it.

Finding Your Place in World Missions

Speaker: Joël Malm

Room: Loft, 4th floor

Description: 

We all have a part to play in the call to reach the world — and you have been uniquely equipped for that mission. This talk will give you practical tips to explore what God has for you on the global mission field. 

Confronting Human Trafficking on the Mission Field

Speaker: Leigh Kohler

Room:  Mission Control, 3rd floor

Description:

Human trafficking is a growing global crisis. As followers of Jesus Christ we are part of God’s unfolding story to renew and restore a broken world. We have the opportunity to step into the brokenness and proclaim hope. As missionaries, you often serve the most vulnerable and will undoubtedly encounter victims of human trafficking. In this session we will take a deeper look into the complexities of human trafficking and ways you can be ready and equipped to confront this evil in Jesus’ name.

Understanding the One Purpose in Medical Missions: Where are you needed?

Speaker: Greg Seager, RN, MSN

Room:  3022 – 3023, 3rd floor

Description:

Overview of mission hospitals in need of short-term volunteers and long-term medical missionaries. Have you felt called to serve in medical missions but don’t know where to start? It has been said that the one purpose of short-term missions is to support long-term mission work. But what does this look like in medical missions? This session will overview how to plug into medical work God is already doing in locations around the world. It will look at mission hospitals and their medical volunteer needs in low- and middle- income countries around the world.

The Mission You’re Already Prepared For

Speaker: Joël Malm

Room: Sanctuary

Description: 

What if everything that has happened to you has prepared you for a unique mission? This talk will help you connect the dots of what God has been doing to prepare you for your calling to reach the world with his love. 

The Faith in the Margins

Speaker: Emily Smith, PhD

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description:

What does it mean to love our neighbor? Taking lessons from the Biblical parable of the Good Samaritan and through my lens as an epidemiologist, the talk focuses on the three “C’s” of loving our neighbor: Centering correctly, Cost, and Courage. When we ‘center’ correctly on our neighbors like Jesus showed us, our hearts and actions align correctly to love in word and deed. Often this comes with a ‘cost’ that is worth it since our eyes are on the Author and Perfector of our faith. That gives us ‘courage’ to live boldly for our neighbors, including our global neighbors. This courage needs wisdom too and I will conclude with the powerful example of Nehemiah reminding us to do ‘our good work and not come down’. Throughout the talk, I will scatter in data from my own work in Somaliland, Burundi, and Tanzania for children with cancer or surgical needs.

The Conductor and the Virtuoso

Speaker: Carlan Wendler, MD, FACEP

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description:

How a networked world has changed the game for healthcare missions qualifications – Scudder, Livingstone, Schweitzer, Hume, Mackenzie, Steury, and many healthcare missionaries of the past two centuries were renaissance men, carpenters and architects, mechanics and engineers, physicians and administrators. For those of us who did not grow up on a ranch or a farm or in a world without running water, electric lights, or the Internet, their stories can sometimes feel remote or near-legendary. However, the most effective healthcare missionaries of the 21st Century probably need a new and different set of competencies, one they might be closer to already possessing than they know.

The Future of Medical Missions

Speaker: Stephen J. Foster, MD FRCS(C)

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description: 

To unravel the future of medical missions, it is essential to delve into their roots and current landscape. What insights did God impart to Moses regarding health and prevention? How did Jesus exemplify compassion towards the sick? As modern-day Christians, how can we demonstrate our own compassion? Let us keep our hearts and eyes fixed upon the radiant face of Christ, for in doing so, we will remain actively engaged until His return, faithfully expressing His compassion for the world.

My Journeys of YES, 2.0 

Speaker: Julie Rosá, MD, MIH

Room:  Main Sanctuary

Description: 

Prepping/equipping/Going in the context of Intentional international medicine in the Middle Eastern context.