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This session is intended to help non-therapists or medical professionals provide therapeutic intervention for children with common motor disabilities. Mobility and play are important aspects in the development of young children. Autism, Down syndrome and Cerebral Palsy are common pediatric developmental disabilities that can have an negative impact on movement. In this practical session we will learn common motor and developmental impairments in children with these diagnoses and how to provide and teach parents low tech exercises and activities to address these impairments.

When we show Christ’s love in honor-shame cultures, often people first see merit making, proselytization and apostasy however pure our motivation may be. We will look at a worldview that is based on honor-shame, come to understand how they may interpret what we do and from there understand the risks and look at what practices may help us to show and share God’s love appropriately. The workshop will use observations from tsunami relief and urban poor work in SE Asia to illustrate these principles.

Dr. and Mrs. McDonald have served in international ministry with over 30 years of experience. Offered an international career with the UN and World Bank, they took the path less traveled, and it has made all the difference…for eternity! With work experience in over 50 countries, together they have helped set up or empower scores of development projects that continue today. These include hospitals, clinics, medical training, orphanages, community centers, schools from preschool to graduate level, businesses, farms, plantations, factories, safe houses, all providing products and services for the local community and export. Trial and error have revealed ten important principles foundational to success in social enterprise. One of them of particular interest in ministry is the issue of multiple “bottom lines.” Profit, the usual bottom line, cannot stand alone. Their core value is that any effort must produce spiritual results, at least in opening doors. Results are God ordained, not man driven. For what profits a man to gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Other principles flow from this core foundational premise. How do you determine the most strategic set of needs when there are so many? And how do you prioritize? How do you find a competitive advantage? How do you diversify to minimize risk? How do you write a business plan to know viability? How do you find the “Champion” if you are not on the ground yourself? How do you avoid colonialism while creating accountability? How do you measure results? How do you avoid corruption? Be encouraged that there is nothing greater than empowering a people group sold out to Christ to become independent to leverage the gospel in their own community! The story of McDonald’s journey is there’s no greater joy than seeing men, women and children come to know the True and Living God while standing free and reaching their own through economic, social and spiritual empowerment! Phil holds a Ph.D. from Michigan State in international development and is the CEO of L.E.A.D. Inc. Rebecca is the Founder and CEO of Women At Risk, Int’l, addressing multiple risk issues in 56 countries and licensed in all 50 states to train medical professionals in anti-trafficking. As a family, they raised four children in the developing world and know the unique challenges of marriage, family, career, ministry, business, and social entrepreneurship in a cross-cultural environment. They never expected to be serial entrepreneurs. Last year Phil authored an Amazon bestselling book entitled, “unreal: Adventures of a Family’s Global Life.” Written in memoir form, the book recounts 90 stories that highlight 60 principles learned from more than 30 years of experience.

Some mission experts estimate that up to 90% of young people who consider missions cease to pursue it because of various fears and obstacles, including the fear of fundraising. This session will help participants: 1. Identify various obstacles and fears relating to fundraising 2. Consider ways that God can help us overcome these barriers 3. Become aware of best resources and training materials used to help missionaries build and maintain a full and engaged prayer and financial support team 4. Know what questions to ask about support raising with possible mission agencies when evaluating where and how God will have you serve

This session focuses on women in mission and will highlight the role of women in missions, challenges faced, and some practical ways to overcome those challenges.

When I arrived in Nigeria I thought my main role would be taking care of my 6-month-old daughter. When people asked before we left, “What are you going to do?” I almost apologetically said I would be a “homemaker.” Shortly after arriving I struggled to know my role as “an accompanying spouse.” I was not prepared for this undefined role and sometimes felt like a “second class missionary” because I was not in a specific ministry. It did not take long before the Lord opened up for me amazing opportunities for ministry, some in our home and others in our community. During this workshop I will share my journey, the many wonderful doors of significant opportunity God opened for me to serve using my past experiences, education and gifts to eventually serve many unreached women and children in our community and in Nigeria. We will also explore ways in which male “accompanying spouses” also got involved and had an impact in their own unique ways and the significance of culture on these decisions.

Fear, in its various manifestations, is one of the Enemy's most effective means of limiting our obedience. The Bible offers practical strategies for overcoming fear with faith--many of which are demonstrated in an Old Testament story of sex trafficking, racial hatred, and genocide.

As a health care professional on the mission field, the task of language learning is both essential and complicated. We say that language learning is a high value and priority for ourselves as missionaries, and yet it often is the first thing to take a back seat in life and ministry. Why is that? How can we do better? With over 15 years of experience in educating, training, and coaching missionaries in language and culture learning, Dr. Mullen will cast a vision for what it takes to truly become “fluent” in your target host language. She will offer biblical, theoretical, and practical advice for missionaries and missions leaders alike on how to prepare, execute, and continually improve communicative competence in a second language and cross-cultural setting.

Sending organizations spend tens of millions of dollars each year sending clinicians and support staff overseas. They invest very little in comparison on the leaders who are essential to preventing their burnout. Competent and compassionate administrative leaders are not only essential for developing and sustaining resilient healthcare and ministry teams; they also shepherd the systems that optimize human, technological and financial resources and prevent waste of resources and harm to patients. Despite its necessity, health care leadership and management training often scarce in many of the world’s most marginalized places. In this presentation, Anderson makes a case for the necessity of building leadership capacity and introduces practical tools that help address this training gap while building vibrant, sustainable mission teams.

When we think of God's global mission, we cannot overlook the U.S. as a mission field. It is a nation in spiritual decline, and widening gaps between the church and groups that are becoming increasingly unreached. What works in international missions, works here. This session will focus on the medical missions movement here in the United States, how it relates to overseas medical work, and how the two go hand in hand. We will look at several case studies, and address challenges and bottlenecks in this growing movement.

This session will explore the value of healthcare education as a form of mission experience, both in the short and long term, as well as to inspire and equip participants to explore healthcare education opportunities as an answer to God’s call to missions.

This is not our grandparents' world, with clear First, Second, and Third World nations. Accelerating worldwide social, cultural, and political changes call for reflection and alteration of our missionary strategies.

We’ve seen the church thrive around the world through missionary efforts. How do we leverage the impact of the global church to the nations where there is no church sharing all the things God has uniquely given us?

We have all witnessed how quickly the world has shifted and put our lives on pause. Short-term and long term sending has been halted in almost every major region of the world. In that, we have people God is calling to take the gospel to those places who are forced to wait. In this waiting, how do we walk alongside and guide our participants, donors, and teams through this unexpected season? Today we are going to walk through how to keep people engaged when we are not sending and some practical tips to help you care for and guide your team, participants, and donors in to missional living in the absence of sending. Resources Links: https://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org https://calendly.com/drewmiller/consult https://www.servicereef.com https://www.missionsmadesimple.com

In a world characterized by pandemic, poverty, war, and terrorism how do we assess risk and serve with confidence? Expand on the theology of God’s gracious and guiding divine intervention for those called to faithful service in a fallen world.

Are you a woman health professional, for whom God has opened doors for education and training leading to a career in healthcare? Is God calling you to be involved in missions? Do you also dream about having a family? Do you wonder how on earth you would ever be able to combine those roles? Relating from my personal story and experience, we will explore lessons learned from 16 years as a medical missionary in Kenya and discuss how to incorporate a family, missions ministry and a medical career.

Dental disease is the most prevalent disease world wide. When the call to make disciples is combined with the dental vocation, opportunities to care for people in new ways emerge. Join this strategic session to learn how organizations, teams and individuals can have kingdom impact through dental care.

For those in training and just finished (i.e., recent grads, residents, med students, pre-med, PA/NP, RN, PT/OT/ST, dental), we will learn how to maximize your current season. We’ll tackle topics like falling in love with Jesus, original motivation, how to suffer well, pearls and pitfalls of living in community, debt, vision for one’s next step to the nations, and helping the vulnerable now tensioned with investing in education to help others later. With leaders live from the different fields and stages, we’ll answer the individualized questions you have, brainstorming how God might sustain you now and lead you in the upcoming season.

The average medical school debt at graduation is $232,000. The average salary of a medical missionary is $48,000. You need help! Come and learn how to bridge this gap through reducing your initial loan burden, apply for grants from organizations like MedSend, and qualify for Income Based Repayment and the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Act.

Theology is thinking and talking about God and his work in his world. This is God's world and it is filled with poverty. How Christians think about, engage, and talk about poverty is fundamental to who we should be as followers of Christ. We, of all people, need a theology of poverty.