2023 M3 Conference

The Trail Less Traveled
Willy Bustinza, DO
Missionary General Surgeon

Jessee Bustinza, DO
Missionary Pediatrician

-Main Sanctuary
Step out of your comfort zone and follow the Great Physician, no matter what trail He leads you on.

Beyond Traditional Medical Missions – Rethinking Incarnational Evangelism and Discipleship in Healthcare
Lani Ackerman, MD, FAAFP

Co-founder, and Director of Health Environmental Learning Program (H.E.L.P.), currently leading the new TCU Burnett School of Medicine as Professor of Family Medicine and Medical Education, and Director of Clinical Skills.

-Main Sanctuary
With the closure and government take-over of a larger percentage of mission hospitals around the world, the original need for and mission of the traditional “mission hospital” is changing. In addition, expansion of health care and medical education (nursing, medical schools, etc.) in middle and low-income countries is shifting the demand and desire for “foreign” health-care professionals who may be seen as competition. In many parts of the world where the gospel is most needed, faith- based clinics and hospitals are not permitted. In contrast, opportunities within the country itself – government facilities, health-care education, community based-organizations, NGOs, INGOs have opportunities that allow the Christ-follower to serve as part of the local community and usually provide a salary so that no funds for living expenses (support-raising) is needed.

DART – Disaster Assistance Response Team
Sasha Thew, BSN, MPH
Emergency Medical Response Specialist, Samaritans Purse

-Main Sanctuary
Responding around the world to victims of War, Poverty, Famine and Natural Disasters.  God uses each individual uniquely through their specific skillset and circumstances to save lives.

Sacrifice & Service
Alex Philip, MD
Director of the New India Evangelistic Association

-Main Sanctuary
The importance of building around Christ’s humbling of Himself.  Understanding that service commences with the giving up of what could be ours.  There is immense assistance medical service can be among the economically backward, displaces and marginalized.

How to Move from Vision to Connection to Opportunity
Jeff Coon
Director of Development at Fellowship of Associates of Medical Evangelism

-Trailblazer, 2nd Floor
How to identify if a vision is a calling, and how to move forward through partnerships.

Sustainable Christian Community Development in Nepal: Evangelism and Discipleship by Addressing the Whole Person
Lani Ackerman, MD, FAAFP
Co-founder, and Director of Health Environmental Learning Program (H.E.L.P.), currently leading the new TCU Burnett School of Medicine as Professor of Family Medicine and Medical Education, and Director of Clinical Skills.

-The Chapel, 3rd Floor
Training Christian leaders to love their neighbors through community health evangelism, literacy, organic farming, income generation, animal husbandry, and outreach to at-risk children, is a successful and sustainable grass-roots method to evangelize, disciple, and plant churches where proselytization is illegal, transforming communities with the gospel. This session discusses how a family physician, and her husband started the movement, transitioned it fully to local believers, and the miracles God is accomplishing over the last 25 years.

Following the Call
Mary E. Hermiz, RN, MSN, EdD
Missionary Emeritus, World Gospel Mission

-The Warehouse, 4th Floor
At 4 years of age, I was sitting on the front pew of my father’s church when a missionary nurse came to tell her story; and that was the spark that led the rest of my career. There were twists and turns on my journey to become a missionary nurse, but I knew God had His plans for me. From an informal “hands on” nurse and trainer of nationals in Papua New Guinea to formal education at Tenwek Hospital starting their School of Nursing, God has been my guide.

Building Collaborations Between Academic and Faith-Based Organizations to Strengthen Health Systems in an Era of Pandemics.
Matthew Dacso, MD, MSc, FACP
Department of Global Health and Emerging Diseases

-The Loft, 4th Floor
The past several decades have seen profound shifts in the global burden of disease, which has strained health systems and highlighted the need for investment in greater global collaboration. The recent global experience with COVID-19 has demonstrated the fundamental interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health, and the need for an adaptive and responsive healthcare workforce. As we continue through an “era of pandemics”, academic and faith-based organizations have great potential to improve health for all by collaborating and enveloping deeper partnerships.

Take The Land – a Strategic Discussion and Prayer on Faith, the Great Commission, and the Houston Medical District.
Martin Nkundeki, MBChB, MBA
Medical Director / CEO

-Mission Control, 3rd Floor
Exploring the state of the gospel and saints in the Houston Medical District providing insights into God’s mission already at work there and how we could plug in or prepare to ably represent Christ there.

The Ministry of Your Presence on the Mission Field
Anna Swanson, JD
International Justice Mission

-Room 3022, 3rd Floor
The impact on those fighting human trafficking in Kenya and how my saying yes to God and just going and being in the trenches with police and prosecutors on the front lines in Kenya encouraged and impacted their work.

Beyond Hunger: Merging Ministry and Medicine in the Treatment of Pediatric Severe Acute Malnutrition
Jessee Bustinza, DO
Missionary Pediatrician

-Trailblazer, 2nd Floor
As you are packing up to leave the village medical clinic a mother arrives with her severely malnourished 2-year-old daughter who is too weak to cry. What do you do next? In this session Dr. Jessee Bustinza will share her experiences launching an inpatient pediatric malnutrition program in rural Mexico. Dr. Bustinza will review the World Health Organization guidelines for treatment of severe acute malnutrition and provide practical management tips to help you make a difference as you share the hope of Christ.

Maturing Through Missions
Kristi Tebo, MD
Pediatrician

-The Chapel, 3rd Floor
In this session, Dr. Tebo will share her first-hand experiences practicing medical missions immediately after residency. Through her stories, she will highlight many ways that missions can lead to personal growth and professional development.

Reflecting the Empathy and Compassion of Christ
Nancy Eckard, MS, RN
Author of the Agape Nursing Model

-The Warehouse, 4th Floor
In today’s age of social media social unrest and ever-changing IT now more than ever we must reflect the empathy of Christ at every opportunity. What is empathy? Where does empathy end and compassion begin? How might your profession as a kingdom servant set you apart by reflecting these magnetic character traits of Christ? This breakout session will provide helpful tools and examples that allow you to reflect the empathetic compassionate love of Christ.

Tropical Fever Evaluation
Nicholas Comninellis, MD, MPH, DIMPH
President and Professor at INMED

-The Loft, 4th Floor
Evaluation of fever in a tropical setting is a daunting clinical challenge due to unfamiliar causes, limited diagnostics, and cultural divides. Begin with knowledge of local epidemiology to assess probabilities. Next, glean clues from the history, such as freshwater exposure (schistosomiasis) and physical exam such as conjunctival injection (leptospirosis). The proliferation of rapid point-of-care diagnostic tests holds promise. Most importantly, malaria test and neutrophil count can suggest probable causes of tropical fever. This presentation includes case studies and interactive role-play.

Lessons of Service – from the Core of the 10/40 Window
Alexander Philip, MD
Executive Director, NIEA India

-Mission Control, 3rd Floor
Life lessons from being on the mission field for 20 years. How the transformation of the people is a Holistic mission and leaving behind communities of transformed people who take the mission of Christ forward.

The Road Less Traveled
Minal Patel Davis, JD, MBA
Director, Houston Mayor’s Office of Human Trafficking and Domestic Violence

-Room 3022, 3rd Floor
When Jesus met the Samaritan Woman, He was on the road less travelled as he walked through this long-avoided area. Once He quenched her thirst, she evangelized her town by her simple testimony; ‘come and meet a man who has told me everything I have done’. Her passion and conviction were enough to override her reputation and societal stigmas. Many came and met Jesus and were saved. She was strategically placed in her mission field among the Samaritans and was activated after this encounter with Jesus. I’ll share my circuitous and pioneering journey to my mission field, building out the first Mayor’s Office Anti-Human Trafficking Division in the US for the 4th largest city and overseeing national and global replication efforts of our comprehensive municipal model.

Upside-Down Kingdom: Power in Partnership Between Health Services Community and Church
Kris Prenger, MD, MPH, MAICS
Midwest Area Coordinator for InterserveUSA

-Trailblazers, 2nd Floor
From experience in a rural Muslim-majority community health and development project workshop participants will review how community health complements clinical work and gives unique opportunities for spiritual questions to emerge. With training and coaching local believers patiently bring hope and God’s story into the messy-ness of their neighbors’ daily lives trusting the Holy Spirit to bring transformation of souls to seek and become like Christ. Social determinants of health such as the value of women and imbalances of power will be considered.

Serving as Medical Professionals in a Muslim Majority Context
Paul Eckhoff, MD
Cristina Eckhoff, MD, MPH
Missionaries to Haiti and Afghanistan

-The Chapel, 3rd Floor
There are many opportunities for serving as medical professionals to bring the good News to unreached Muslim people groups. This session will look at some important steps to prepare for service in these contexts. Factors to help workers thrive in all dimensions for ministry effectiveness over the long haul will also be considered. Practical tips for ministering in a Muslim context will also be shared.

Using Your Clinical Skills for Emergency Medical Relief
Sasha Thew, BSN, MPH
Emergency Medical Response Specialist, Samaritan’s Purse

-The Warehouse, 4th Floor
Feeling called to extreme and challenging circumstances is a heavy burden. We will discuss ways to tangibly use your clinical skills to meet Emergency Medical Response needs around the world for Kingdom Purposes.

One Surgeon Two Worlds: Navigating Life and Death Disparities in Women’s Healthcare Between Malawi and the United States
Anne Alaniz, DO
Co-Founder, Pothawira (Safe Haven) Christian Mission Organization, Malawi

-The Loft, 4th Floor
How can one doctor make sense of and move forward effectively between two worlds that are vastly different in their ability to deliver healthcare to women? How can we be creative with available resources, mobilize our individual capacities fully, and face these devastating discrepancies with grit, grace, optimism, and perseverance? Dr Alaniz will share stories of devastation and hope as she navigates the healthcare disparities between her two worlds.

Pursuing Excellence
A.B., MD

-Mission Control, 3rd Floor
Some people think they have to choose excelling in their medical career or serving God in disciple-making. I propose that God calls us to do them BOTH! In the current global healthcare age, we live in, we can MORE effectively reach the unreached by excelling in our specialties and subspecialties in order to make disciples of the most unreached.

Family, Dancing in the Kitchen
Mark and Marcela Garrison
Architect Missionary

-Room 3022
Following the Lord’s calling, the Garrison family moved to Zambia to oversee the design and construction of a new surgical project at Mukinge Mission Hospital located in the northwest province of Zambia. They will share stories from what was a 12-month commitment that turned into a 2 year journey and how God provided, protected and saw them through each step of the way.

One Surgeon Two Worlds: Navigating life and death disparities in women’s healthcare between Malawi and the United States
Anne Alaniz, DO
Co-Founder, Pothawira (Safe Haven) Christian Mission Organization, Malawi

-Main Sanctuary
How can one doctor make sense of and move forward effectively between two worlds that are vastly different in their ability to deliver healthcare to women? How can we be creative with available resources, mobilizing our individual capacities fully, and face these devastating discrepancies with grit, grace, optimism, and perseverance? Dr. Alaniz will share stories of devastation and hope as she navigates the healthcare disparities between her two worlds.

It Is About Relationships, Not Production; Loving Those You Serve
Mark Garrison
Architect Missionary

-Main Sanctuary
How God’s changed our focus from building project to the building up of people.

Healing Relationships
Stephen J. Spann, MD, MBA
Founding Dean, University of Houston College of Medicine

-Main Sanctuary
We’ll review the scientific evidence on the power of compassionate relationships between healthcare professionals (healers) and their patients, in terms of better clinical outcomes, better patient satisfaction, lower costs of care, and lower healer burnout and greater joy. Jesus healed through relationships. We are instruments of His healing through our relationships with others; this is the cornerstone of medical missions.

Whose Am I? Identity In Crisis
Jeremiah Herbert, PhD
Houston Christian Medical & Dental Association

-Main Sanctuary
Before being called to ministry with the Christian Medical & Dental Association (CMDA) in Houston, Jeremiah earned his PhD at UT Southwest in Genetics Development and Disease. Jeremiah will share the story of how one of the most difficult seasons of his life led to the realization of a higher calling and identity in Christ.

He Makes Things Beautiful in Their Time: Journey Back To The Medical Front Line
Martin Nkundeki, MBChB, M.B.A.
Medical Director, Wentz Medical Center, an outreach to Africa Renewal Ministries, Uganda.

-Main Sanctuary
My journey back to the medical front line.

Not an Act: Real Medicine, Real Mission, Real Life
A.B., MD

-Main Sanctuary
Many describe medicine as a platform for doing ministry among the unreached. In the sense that this gives one access and visibility among the people, this is accurate. However, we are not acting. I will share my story and my vision for how doing real medicine is a tool for pursuing a real mission while living out real life among the unreached.