Students join for medical missions

The Global Missions Health Conference was held at California Baptist University April 10 and 11 and allowed students to participate in sessions to learn more information about healthcare missions.

The College of Allied Health and the School of Nursing hosted the event, which featured speakers from professionals in the field of healthcare or have served on mission trips.

According to the Global Missions Health Conference website, the national conference is the world’s largest gathering of medical professionals, students and organizations dedicated to healthcare missions. The Global Missions Health Conference was established in Kentucky and remained on the East Coast for 20 years until it moved this year to Riverside.

The conference allowed for students and participants to learn more about exploring a their options through medical missions. Whether the experience is domestic or international, short-term or long-term, the conference offered insight about missions in the healthcare field.

The two-day conference featured breakout sessions, speakers and multiple exhibitors for the students and others to engage in to learn more about the mission field.

Some of the exhibitors among the event included the Association of Baptist for World Evangelism, Baptist Global Response and CBU.

Kristen White, director of global mobilization in the Office of Spiritual Life, represented CBU as she spoke about short-term healthcare service opportunities during a session of the conference.

She said she has a heart for the nations and has been a part of service projects for over 15 years while traveling to 44 countries. White was invited to be a part of the conference because of her passion and experiences in the mission field.

“I love for students to live their passion for whatever it is, whether its business, English, nursing or kinesiology, whatever,” White said. “It is for them to see how God can use that.”

Asiele David, junior healthcare administration major and volunteer at the conference, said short-term missions are one of her desires for her future.

“I got a lot of clarity of what I want to do for my next step in engaging in (healthcare) missions,” David said.

Charles Fielding, author and plenary speaker at the conference, shared his story during a session titled “A Way Of Life”.

Fielding spoke about his experiences in the mission field in the last 17 years. Although he said the life of a missionary is not always easy, a large part of his life had a heavy emphasis on the mission field.

“We got to show up and they are all impossible places to get to,” Fielding said. With his healthcare background, Fielding said he was able to get into closed countries or restricted parts of closed countries, communities and homes.

“I’m a family doctor; nobody ever looks at me and thinks missionary,” Charles said.

Other plenary speakers at the Global Missions Health Conference featured Gil Odendaal, vice president of Integral Mission at World Relief, and Claude Hickman, speaker and author of “Live Life On Purpose.”