Transform Cover Story

Bringing the Ministry of CMDA to Life[ A collaborative article by CMDA members ]

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INTER ACTIVE

12 Today’s ChrisTian doCTor spring 15

c o v e r s t o r y

Fully Equipped to Serve, Fully Dependent on Christ

BY ANDY KOON, MD

The first seven years of my clinical practice as an attending physician was with the Veterans’ Administration health system, serving Ameri-

ca’s heroes and training the students and residents. I was constantly struggling to balance work duties and home life. In 2008, I determined that it was time to make a change in my career path. In the process of doing this, I discovered that I wanted to be in a prac-tice environment that was conducive to life balance in my field of hospital medicine and would also be supportive of my spiritual life. After we relocated to Indiana in 2009, Jenny quickly found a supportive network of friends through the Side By Side ministry of CMDA, as I continued to look for opportunities to integrate my faith into clinical practice and mentor others. I began seeking out others in the community who were engaged in ministry with CMDA, and I was part of establishing our local Central Indiana chapter.

Jenny and I had become involved with healthcare missions while we were dating, and we had a pas-sion to pursue this type of ministry when we were first married, but work and family responsibilities quickly consumed our time and resources. After we moved to Indiana, we decided to make a fresh start and give a short-term healthcare missions trip a try. Our first trip was to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where we witnessed how healthcare can be a powerful bridge to sharing the gospel message.

“Every person we saw in the clinic heard the gospel be-

fore we ministered to them physically. It was exciting to

see medicine draw people in and connect them with the

local church. This was a great model of evangelism that

allowed us to have a lasting impact after we left.”

—A PHYSICAL THERAPIST ON A

GHO TRIP TO HONDURAS

Transformation. Transforming. Transformed. Transform.

It’s a word we use frequently at Christian Medical & Dental Associations. Chances are you’ve seen it count-less times throughout our website, our emails, our let-ters and more. We talk about transformation when we send members on a mission trip to Nicaragua. Health-care students share about it when we host a Bible study on a local medical school campus. It’s even in our vi-sion statement…twice. “Transformed Doctors, Trans-forming the World.”

So why is transformation so important? Simply put, because transformation is the reason we do what we do. It’s why you support CMDA through your member-ship. It’s why our 40+ ministries and outreaches train, equip, support and encourage you through a variety of avenues. It’s why hundreds of volunteers around the world serve sacrificially to support our ministry.

But most importantly, it’s how YOU make a difference in your practice, on your campus, in your community and in our world. Through God’s grace, together we are inspiring transformation around the world, far more than any one of us could do alone.

We can easily provide you with a list of facts and fig-ures showing how much of an impact CMDA is hav-ing worldwide. For example, there are now 280 CMDA campus chapters, our short-term mission teams treated more than 63,000 patients last year and our public policy commentaries were distributed to more than 4.7 million readers worldwide.

But a list of numbers doesn’t even begin to cover the impact and the breadth of CMDA’s ministry. It doesn’t tell you about the discouraged missionary whose pas-sion for healthcare missions was restored at a Con-tinuing Medical and Dental Education conference. Or about the resident who led one of her fellow residents to Christ. Or about the hospital administrator in a closed country who came to Christ through one of our mission teams and is now boldly sharing Christ in his hospital. Or about the physician who prayed with a patient for the very first time, altering the way she now practices healthcare on a daily basis.

These are the stories that display just how vital the ministry of CMDA is in our culture today. And we hear stories like this each and every day from our members around the world. We want to share these stories with you, so the following testimonies are from members just like you who are embracing the vision of CMDA and actively working to show God’s love and compas-sion to the world.

Christian MediCal & dental assoCiations www.cmda.org 13

that this was the next step I needed to take in my walk with the Lord.

Having a GHO trip scheduled for March 2014 occurred at just the right time. I had now developed the skill set needed to lead the team and was spiritually equipped as well. Our team’s motto for the trip was, “Just share the gospel.” Each of us was to practice giving our testimony with the gos-pel to our roommates and during the clin-ics with patients. By the end of the week, we had all learned to do this with confi-dence and even encouraged some of our translators to do this as well. In addition to providing excellent healthcare to more than 1,000 patients, our team was able to celebrate 98 new professions of faith and

15 lives rededicated to Christ! As I reflected on the trip, a new vision emerged. What if we were more in-tentional about sharing the gospel as part of a lifestyle of evangelism? What if our local CMDA chapter mul-tiplied disciples and served as a resource for medical outreach to the churches in each of the four quadrants of our city? Although this seems impossible to me, I know the Lord is still in the business of moving moun-tains and am excited to see what comes next.

About The Author

ANDY KOON, MD, practices as a hospitalist at St. Vincent Car-mel Hospital in Carmel, Indiana. Andy went on his first short-term mission trip three years ago to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. He credits a mentor from the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine, where he trained in internal medicine, for en-couraging his involvement with missions and CMDA’s ministry. On the mission field, he has seen a growing desire among medical students and residents to provide medical care to the un-derserved internationally. Trips that occur during the months of Spring Break provide an opportu-nity for students and residents to get involved with missions and have become the highlight of his year. Andy and his wife Jenny live in Carmel, Indiana and have two young children, Anna and Nathan. They enjoy being involved in local CMDA ministry and hope to encourage the de-velopment of the next generation of healthcare professionals in missions work.

Our local council found that there was significant interest from Indiana University students to go on a faith-based short-term healthcare missions trip dur-ing their Spring Break. I wasn’t quite ready to be a team leader, so Global Health Outreach paired me with a mentor, Bob Coulter, who led our team to the Dominican Republic. Bob demonstrated the Christ-like qualities I wanted to have as a team leader. He emphasized the importance of team unity and helped our team focus on the God sightings we experienced during our days in the clinic.

Our desire to see souls won to Christ only increased with each trip we took. We saw the Lord at work in the lives of those we served and realized that we were also being changed. Despite a busy schedule, I was able to attend a GHO Team Leaders Conference held in Bristol, Tennessee. This was providential as Dr. Mi-chael Farmer, a radiation oncologist from Memphis, Tennessee, gave a presentation on disciple-making and reaching the nations with the gospel. He em-phasized the need to model and practice sharing our faith in our daily routines, as well as striving to pass this training on to others. He offered to mentor me in how to best implement a discipling ministry as part of our focus in Indianapolis. I was thrilled and sensed

“I was becoming comfortable in my walk with Christ. When

that happens, we have a tendency to not grow, and can

actually become dead in our Christian faith. The trip chal-

lenged me to get uncomfortable and start being obedient

to the Holy Spirit.”

—A PHYSICIAN ON A

GHO TRIP TO NIGERIA


Not for the Sun, But for the Light

BY JULIE GREENWALT, MD

It was a sunny, beautiful day in Florida, almost 80 degrees. I was on my way to the airport and wondering what the weather was going

to be like when I arrived in Wisconsin. Being the Florida girl I am, I knew even 60 degrees was freez-ing. I stepped off the plane to find the temperature at 38 degrees in April. “Unbelievable,” I thought. I quickly threw on all the layers I had in my suitcase, as my ride prepared to take to me to the conference center where I was staying.

I was on my way to the 2014 CMDA National Con-vention where I was hoping to meet up with phy-sicians who shared my common passion in global health. I arrived at the conference center around midnight due to a delayed flight. Just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, my driver dropped me off in a house in the woods. It was now pouring and I was pretty sure snowflakes were going to be next. I carried my luggage up the stairs to find the quiet little room where I’d be staying. The windows were open and the rain was pouring in. Now it was a wet cold room and I was alone and afraid.

I began muttering under my breath, “God, why am I here? I have boards to study for, a sweet husband back home and a research paper due in two weeks. I have cancer patients to take care of on Monday and I cannot afford to get sick.” I went to sleep that night covered in about five blankets. I was not happy to say the least. It was not my proudest moment.

The next morning, I traveled down to the confer-ence center with my five layers of clothing and my heavy jacket. My attitude needed a change, but my quiet time had not provided it. “I do ministry well in Florida,” I thought to myself. “Why do I need to be in Wisconsin? I just got back from a mission trip in Nicaragua, I don’t need to be here. Why can’t I do ministry back at home?”

With God’s sense of humor, my day unfolded. During my very first session of the conference I met a woman phy-sician who just happened to be sitting next to me. “Where are you from?” I asked her. She replied, “Sierra Leone.” She could tell I was confused as to why she had come from so far. She then explained how she and her husband spend six months of the year as voluntary missionar-ies in Sierra Leone. They work the other six months of the year as part-time healthcare professionals in the U.S. to pay for their work. I listened to her adventures as goose bumps ran down my arms. She had traveled halfway across the world to be here. She was here for encouragement and yet she was here for me.

My afternoon was filled with getting to meet health-care professionals who are missionaries in remote places in the world, all from different specialties and all with different gifts. These people were all so kind and humble. I felt overwhelmed. It wasn’t long

“The most memorable encounter from a spiritual stand-

point was the meeting with the hospital residents the

last day. This gave the team an opportunity to share

how our faith affected our care of patients and to hear

how working in a Christian hospital allowed the resi-

dents to help the spiritual concerns of their patients.”

—A PHYSICIAN ON A MEI TRIP TO ECUADOR

“I was able to speak boldly about Jesus and proclaim

what I believe. I have NEVER been able to do this in a

work setting—so praise God!”

—CMDA RESIDENT


rologist who travels around the world using his specialty training to meet phy-sicians in other countries. This was his platform to build relationships and share the gospel in places where the Bible is not even allowed. I met a neonatologist who practices in a hospital where women rou-tinely choose to have abortions. This doc-tor actively saves babies by encouraging women to keep the God-given life and child inside of them.

I found myself unable to sleep that night because my heart was so full. These CMDA members are living out the call I feel on my life: to use healthcare to fur-

ther the kingdom of Christ.

And before I knew it, I didn’t want to leave. On the plane on my way home, I began to realize why I was so sad to be leaving rainy Wisconsin. It wasn’t the sunshine that brought me there, it was the light. What I found when I arrived was the light of Christ. It was the smiles on the faces of people who have Jesus flowing out of their hearts and their lives. I thought I was alone in a cold, dark house. In reality, I had found the sunniest of all places. I had never felt the love of Christ from so many people in one solitary place. It was light that I came for and light that I left with. It was Jesus.

About The Author

JULIE GREENWALT, MD, serves as the current resident representa-tive to CMDA's House of Repre-sentatives. She joined CMDA at the University of Florida as a first year medical student and has been involved in their chapter for many years. She helps organize the UF CMDA chapter as they attend the annual Nicaragua GHO mis-sion trip. She went to UF for medical school and then matched into UF’s Radiation Oncology Pro-gram for residency. She loves oncology patients and walking with them through their journey. She is currently a PGY-4 resident and is married to Brandon, a dentist. She loves CMDA and could not imagine life in residency without such a won-derful organization. Her vision is to see more resi-dents get involved in CMDA to help equip more physicians to share their faith.

before the Wilkerson’s, some of my personal men-tors, arrived and challenged me to get involved. They introduced me to every single physician and dentist they knew. They begged people to share their expe-riences and encourage me. I was starting to forget about the cold drizzle surrounding the conference center outside.

The next day I was inspired by a physician who is dean of a major medical school and now an ac-tive member of CMDA, using his esteemed position to reach people for Christ. I had lunch with a sweet Bible teacher who has written more than 10 books. I explained how I felt the Lord calling me to write, especially as I journey through life as an oncolo-gist. She was kind, compassionate, en-couraging and in-spirational. She had only known me for five minutes and yet she believed in me. That evening, I heard from a neph-

“We experienced repeated opportunities to have conver-

sations about our faith and biblical truths; opportunities to

share our testimonies of coming to faith in Christ; oppor-

tunities to bring the Good News to three Muslim villages;

and many other opportunities to stand out with the light

and salt of the gospel.”

— A TEAM LEADER ON A MEI TRIP TO MACEDONIA


These stories and testimonies are only a small sam-pling of the transformation taking place around the world, but they show just how vital and imperative the ministry of CMDA is in our culture and our profession today. And only in eternity do we have hope of fully understanding the influence CMDA has on lives.

The question becomes, what are you transform-ing? Are you making a difference in the lives of your patients? Are you sharing the gospel with your col-leagues? Are you serving the lost, the last and the least? If you aren’t, now is the time. Join us April 30 – May 3, 2015 in Ridgecrest, North Carolina at TRANSFORM: CMDA’s National Convention. This convention is the perfect opportunity for you to get involved in the trans-forming ministry of CMDA as you fellowship with other Christian healthcare professionals, learn about current health and social issues, network with exhibiting or-ganizations and renew your faith. To register and learn more, visit www.cmda.org/nationalconvention.

Transformation starts with you. And it starts now. Are you ready?

“Ten years ago there were about 10 Christians among

students and doctors. Now they estimate that there

are close to 100!”

—REPORT FROM CLOSED COUNTRY WHERE CMDA

TEAMS HAVE BEEN SERVING

“A few classmates have rededicated their lives to

Christ after some prodigal months coming to medical

school. This is a testament to God using our ministry to

draw others closer to Himself.”

—CMDA STUDENT LEADER

“We are praying that this coming year might present

more opportunities for Christian students to grow, and

for unbelievers to hear about Jesus.”

—CMDA STUDENT LEADER

“One of our third year medical students accepted

Christ on last year’s missions trip, and is a positive

influence for Christ in her class. She said that CMDA

has had the single biggest impact on her med school

journey!”

— CMDA STUDENT LEADER

CMDA’S NATIONAL CONVENTIONAPRIL 30 - MAY 3, 2015 | LIFEWAY RIDGECREST CONFERENCE CENTER | RIDGECREST, NORTH CAROLINA

This convention provides great opportunities for you to “Change Your World” as you fellowship with Christian healthcare professionals, learn about current health and social issues, renew your faith through worship and network with exhibiting organizations. You don’t want to miss this event! Register today at www.cmda.org/nationalconvention.

BISHOP CLAUDE ALEXANDER, JR.He is the Senior Pastor of The Park Church in Char-lotte, North Carolina. A leader among both Christian and civic leaders, Bishop Alexander has worked with government and community officials to address the community’s most critical issues.

HONORABLE KAY COLE JAMESJames is the founder and President of the Gloucester Institute, a non-profit organization which trains and nurtures African American leaders. Throughout her extensive career, James has worked in government,

business, academia and non-profit organizations.

REVEREND STAN KEYHaving served for 10 years as a missionary in France and 18 years as senior pastor of Loudonville Com-munity Church in Albany, New York, Stan now serves the broader church through preaching, teaching and

writing. He often travels both in the U.S. and abroad speaking in churches, retreats, conferences and camps.

DAVID STEVENS, MD, MA (ETHICS)Dr. Stevens serves as CEO for CMDA. He previously served as a missionary doctor in Kenya helping to transform Tenwek Hospital into a premier mission healthcare facility. As a leading spokesman for

Christian healthcare professionals in America, he has conducted hundreds of television, radio and print media interviews.

AL WEIR, III, MDDr. Weir is board certified in internal medicine, with certifications in hematology and oncology. He cur-rently practices in Memphis, Tennessee. In addition to his specialties, Dr. Weir’s major area of interest is

the practical aspect of living out the Christian life as a healthcare professional.

WORSHIP LEADER BRIAN ARNERBrian has emerged as one of the finest voices in inspirational Christian music. Since beginning his full-time ministry 22 years ago, Brian has complet-ed seven solo recordings which have been played across the country on numerous radio stations.

PLENARY SPEAKERS


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Transform Cover Story