Where are we going?

We've gotten a request to post some pictures of where we're going. Here are a few. They're from the hospital blog.

This the front of the hospital. Mbingo Baptist Hospital is a teaching hospital in northwest Cameroon. It has Christian training residencies for both general surgery and internal medicine/pediatrics. Gregg will be serving as teaching faculty for the surgery residency, called PAACS (Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons). Check out the following link for an incredible article about PAACS.

Here's a view of the hospital complex. Mbingo is in a fairly rural setting and serves a very large area of people. We'll be living in a home on campus here.

This is a picture of Mbingo at it's beginning. Mbingo started in the 1950's as a leprosy settlement and has expanded rapidly since the 1990's into the hospital it is today.

Finally, for those of you who are trying to picture what we'll be doing, this is a great 5 minute video from World Medical Mission about missionary medicine. We're partnering with WMM through a program they have called the Post Residency Program for the next 2 years.

On being sent

Tonight, Kelly and I had the opportunity to share about heading to Cameroon at our local church. I have to just say that it's an incredible blessing to be sent out by a local group of people fully committed to supporting us with the encouragement, blessings, prayer, finances, and wisdom.

Through this process, God is teaching me the purpose of the Church. He actually commands us to encourage each other. He even goes so far as to command us to rebuke each other when something is amiss, and we're off track with God. I also realize how dependent we are on each other. Serving on the mission field will present many challenges, no doubt, but we are not in this alone. We have so many faithful people helping us. So thank you, James Island Christian! The wisdom and encouragement that you pass on to us will be brought to the mission field and used to further His kingdom and help bless others. In addition, a special thanks to World Medical Mission for their prayers and support in so much of the practical side of getting us to Cameroon.

Bottom line: we are so blessed to be supported by our church, family, and friends and could never do this alone!

Why go?

My son was born with a very serious, life-threatening condition that required major surgery when he was 6 weeks old. I often wonder if I was from a third-world country without access to medical care. If someone showed up from afar, provided a life-saving surgery for my son, and told me "I'm doing this because of God's love for me", how thankful would I be? Many are familiar with the Good Samaritan, who came from a foreign land and helped a man in desperate need. What would it be like to be on the receiving end of a modern-day Good Samaritan?

There are 1.8 billion people living in the world currently who’ve never heard about Jesus. 7.6 million children under 5 years old die each year from preventable disease. As motivating as these numbers seem, our true motivation comes from Christ’s words, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and love your neighbor as yourself” Luke 10:27. However, when I contemplate these statistics, I cannot help but realize that since God loves me, I must go and seek these people out to tell them God cares about them.  How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? Romans 10:14-15.

Why has God so graciously blessed us with much? It is not enough to simply be thankful for God’s blessings without a response of obedience. If anyone has their basic needs met already and sees someone else in need, but does not care about him, how can God’s love be in them? God tells us to love not merely with words, but with action. 1 John 3:17-18

The good news is that God has given you everything you need to serve the lost and the hurting! You don’t necessarily have to move to Africa, but you must lose your life for His sake, for that’s the only way to ever save your life. God uses our weaknesses to show His strength. God used people like Moses (who had a problem with public speaking) and David (a small boy who killed a huge warrior). We hope that God’s Word speaks to you. Prayerfully consider: “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field,” Luke 10:2-3.