[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
You're listening to faith in healthcare, the cmda matters podcast. Here's your host, Dr. Mike chubb.
[00:00:20] Speaker B: Welcome, friends, to Faith in Healthcare. You know, healthcare should be about more than diagnosing illness and providing treatment. At its best, it's about caring for the whole person.
But in the reality of busy clinics and the pressures of modern practice, that's not always how it works.
And for many Christian healthcare professionals, addressing a patient's spiritual needs, well, it can feel quite intimidating, impractical, or even a burden.
In this episode, I'm joined by my colleague Dr. Bill Griffin, along with Dr. Alwyn Rapose, who who's an infectious disease physician, and his wife, Dr. Marjorie Rapose, who's a general dentist. The Raposes, a husband and wife team, began their healthcare careers in India before building their practices here in the United States in the state of Massachusetts. For Alwan, the calling to care for patients spiritual needs was born at the bedside during some of the darkest days of the COVID pandemic.
For Marjorie, on the other hand, it grew from wondering whether her patients would even be receptive to spiritual issues. The saline process witness training gave them both the structure and the practical tools to answer that calling with confidence, friends. And it renewed their joy in practice all along the way. We're going to explore today what it looks like to take a spiritual history to begin meaningful conversations all about faith, and to pray with patience in a way that's compassionate as well as respectful. I think you'd find their stories both encouraging and inspiring. So let's dive in.
Well, today on faith and Healthcare, I have invited my good friend Dr. Bill Griffin, who's our senior vice president, CMDA and also head over Dental Ministries now for several years. So welcome, Griff.
[00:02:23] Speaker C: It's always a privilege.
[00:02:24] Speaker B: The reason I invited you today to Faith in Healthcare is because the passion of your life, the thing that gets you most excited, and I can see you all abuzz, is when you have the opportunity to talk to others about sharing their faith in the context of their healthcare practice, their profession, and being an ambassador for Christ.
So talk to us a little bit about who you've helped me invite to the program today.
[00:02:52] Speaker C: I am so glad to have a couple of friends that I'm growing closer to. Marjorie and Alwyn Repose. They represent the medical and the dental in cmda and it's such a privilege to have them on this podcast with us.
[00:03:05] Speaker B: Well, it sure is. Marjorie obtained her Bachelor of Dental Surgery from Goa University in India and migrated to the US in 2008, where she found and married her husband, Alwin. Now, Alwyn also trained in India in several very interesting specialties, but came migrated to the US and immigrated and is now a practicing infectious disease specialist. So since you're a medical dental couple, you well represent both the M, the medical and the D dentistry within cmda, much like Griff and I do.
Tell us how you first met and came together and decided, let's do this together.
[00:03:48] Speaker D: You know, with regard to how we met, we were. I was actually visiting India for a conference to, to speak at a conference. I was staying with an aunt and my aunt set me up on this blind date. So I met this, this young lady at a Bombay train station.
And I was not thinking of getting married, not thinking of getting hooked up.
So I had the meeting, made my aunt happy, and proceeded my merry way to for my conference.
But we met again a couple of times and then I felt God saying, hey, you were always asking for these things in your life. Somebody beautiful, somebody educated, somebody classy, and somebody a practicing Christian. What are you waiting for?
[00:04:32] Speaker B: You're making all kinds of points today with archery, I can see.
[00:04:36] Speaker D: So it surprised me. Within couple of meetings, I asked Marjorie, will you marry me?
[00:04:40] Speaker E: Wow.
[00:04:41] Speaker B: Wow. Is that all accurate, Marjorie?
[00:04:45] Speaker E: Yes. And actually, I think one of the things that, the way Alvin proposed to me actually really was one of the things that I really liked. So he said to me, he said, you're not like an angel fallen from heaven, but I like you.
And I was like, wow, this is a well grounded man.
So, yeah. And you know, at that time I was actually looking after my mom who had lymphoma, my dad had passed. I had three brothers who were away.
And I just remember this time that I was asking the Lord, I was like, lord, I asked you for a Christian man and here he is. But I also said, I don't want to leave India.
And I remember that evening when I was, you know, the next day, I had told Alvin I was going to give him my answer. And I was praying in this dimly lit chapel and telling the Lord, like, lord, you know, I don't want to go to the US But I really like this Christian man. And he said to me, he said, you know what if I tell you like I told Abraham, you know, go, would you do what I tell you to?
And yes. And we met in March of 2008. We married in December of 2008. And it's been 18 years. And I think we definitely are a stronger team for Jesus than we would have been individually.
[00:06:13] Speaker B: Oh, praise God. Well, Margie, why don't you start?
And then, Alwyn, tell us just briefly about your practice situations there in Boston.
[00:06:22] Speaker E: So just going back. So I was a dentist in India. I came back to the US God was great. I applied to just One dental school, BU Boston University.
Went and graduated.
I finished in 2013. And since then I've been a practicing general dentist. I actually work out of two different practices.
My practices are both focused very much on aesthetics and cosmetic dentistry.
[00:06:51] Speaker D: I practice at a. In Massachusetts. It's in Worcester.
I've been. I actually trained in Massachusetts and in general medicine, was made chief resident here for a year and then went down to Galveston in Texas, where I did my training in infectious disease. And when my teachers from Massachusetts called me to join their practice, I thought that that was a real privilege. So instead of staying in the nice, warm, hot country, I thought I would learn under my seniors. So I returned to Massachusetts in 2008 and have been here since then. I practice the whole scale of infectious disease, HIV care, hepatitis.
My interests are in skin and soft tissue infection. I love to see patients in the icu. I take care of travelers. And one of the most common side effects of overuse of antibiotics is C. Diff. So I do a lot of patients with these infections have published a few papers on my work and quite proud of that.
[00:07:48] Speaker C: Now, last November, you two flew from Boston to Louisville, Kentucky to attend a sailing process witness training event.
Tell us a little bit about how your experience there has affected your care for patients.
[00:08:03] Speaker D: I've always felt that, you know, we need to pray for our patients because I feel inadequate as a physician and we need God's help for healing.
It was during COVID time when I was really struck. In many ways, it was a very scary time. I tell you that some of my colleagues thought that we were all going to die. And it was a very rough time.
You know, my whole group of my whole list of patients in that first round of COVID all passed away. And this was really tough for me to go through.
And then during COVID I saw all these patients are in isolation. They're far away from everybody else. Even the priests and the pastors were praying for them from outside their rooms.
So I said, you know, if this is going to be the. Their deathbed, somebody needs to talk to them. So, you know, I used to be all gowned up and going into the patient's room. And then I felt God telling me, you might be the last voice that the patients may hear. So I started very tremulously Very scared. I was whispering into the ears, telling them about Jesus. And then that grew into more and more confidence. I used to initially wait for the nurse to leave the room, and then I would pray. And then I started saying, no, no, no, if the nurse is not leaving and the patient is still need to pray. So it just progressed since then. I started praying to patients after they were extubated. When they left the hospital, we were praying with patients in my office. So I think it progressed since then.
I also attended an ethics seminar around the same time as we were coming out of COVID And really they told us how the spiritual aspect of patient care is forgotten. And we need to get back to that. That just reconfirmed what I had felt during COVID time.
And then we attended the salient process where things were laid more in a foundational way. It was more structured. We were given references of literature reviews about the benefits of addressing spirituality. And it has just kept progressing since then. So really, I think God was leading us along this path of using our talents, using our position to pray with patients and address spiritual needs which have not been addressed for a long time.
[00:10:09] Speaker C: Now, Alwyn, your experience has shown that when patients have life threatening situations, that can be a wonderful opportunity for the gospel. But Margery, you have shown that a patient doesn't have to have a life threatening situation in order for you to address spiritual needs.
[00:10:24] Speaker E: Yeah, I think my interest in going for the saline process was, you know, Alvin talked about, like, he used to tell me about how he prayed for patients. But I thought to myself, you know, I see healthy patients. How receptive are they going to be? 1 one of the things that really attracted me about the saline process, Dr. Griffin, was that you were on the team. I was like, okay, there's the dentist on the team. So, you know, because I just didn't know whether a patient would be receptive. But I can say after going to the saline training process, I came back and I began talking to, you know, all my patients. And the first thing was incorporating it in my spiritual history.
Like asking every new patient about, you know, do you have any faith community? And then documenting it in my notes. That has really kind of helped me. And I've been doing it with kind of all my patients.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: So that training, Alan and Marjorie, must have had an incredible impact on you in that November there in Louisville, because it wasn't very long when you, the dynamic duo, got to thinking the combination of an outpatient dentist and an inpatient dentist, really sick people, infectious disease doctor, combining what you've learned and the passion you developed. Then you went to Loveland, Colorado, where our national convention was, and you gave a wonderful testimony on stage with Dr. Griffin, but to get trained so that you might reproduce yourselves. And we often talk about the dark Northeast, and you're in a place that maybe has fewer Christians than in many of the countries in sub Saharan Africa, you know, where I ministered. So talk to us about that desire to become a trainer and how you see yourselves using that training down the road.
[00:12:17] Speaker E: You know, I think when I came back, like, my practice became so joyful. I became more joyful talking about Jesus to my patients.
Also, like, there would be many times Alwin and I would get back home and we would just, you know, reach home, and we are standing around our kitchen island and we are, like, talking, you know, what happened today? I talk to this patient about Jesus, and then we'd share stories. And, you know, life in the dental and medical practice, I think, became so much more joyful. I felt that even my patients saw me as a more joyful person. I remember just an incident. You know, it was this year's winter was so hard. It was just bitter winter outside.
And one of my patients in the hygiene room was asking me, like, hey, doctor, how are you today? And I was like, I'm talking 10 on 10. And he looked at me and he said, what? Like, what's so great? Like, there's ice outside, it's dark, it's below freezing point. But, you know, like, there's joy in talking to patients about Jesus.
And I think it also had different effects in my practice, like, because as I said, you know, I used to document in my notes, taking spiritual history.
I once had a hygienist asked me why I was doing it. And then I mentioned to her that spiritual history is really important. And after a few weeks, she came and she asked me, do you have a spare Bible? And I said to her, yeah, I can give you one. And she said, I was a Christian, but I want to get back reading the Bible. And that was so beautiful and so many examples.
I had a new patient, and he was a professor in a very esteemed college in Massachusetts.
And so, you know, I. When I was asking him spiritual history, I said, he said, oh, you know, I pray sometimes and I've stopped going to church. And I was like, no, no, I'm going to call him Johnny. I was like, johnny, you need to pray a little more and you need to go to church. Jesus is so important. We having this conversation and then everything else and Then at the end of the appointment, he said, you know, Doctor, being a professor, I used to always end my lecture by asking my students, like, what are the three most important things you took today? And they would tell me, so let me sum up my visit with you. What are the three most important things I took from you? So I said, yeah, go ahead. And he says, first, I need to buy an electric toothbrush.
Second, I need to floss my teeth at least every night. And third, I need to pray more and go to church. And I was like, wait, wait, wait, wait. You got the order wrong. And he was like, okay, okay, I need to pray more and go to church. And, you know, so there's been a lot of joy in practice. I've been happy. My patients are so receptive. And I think I initially bought the lie that you can't talk about Jesus at work. And I was so scared to do that. You know, now I don't anymore. And the reason I went to training is because I want to share this with as many of my dental colleagues as possible.
You know, I thought that, no, nobody's going to listen to me, but that's not the truth.
So many patients are receptive. I can share so many stories.
And, yeah, I want to tell everybody else that.
[00:15:58] Speaker B: She's hired Griff. She's hired.
[00:16:00] Speaker C: Agreed.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: Alwand, how about you?
[00:16:04] Speaker D: I really feel in the medical system right now, there's a lot of problems.
Marjorie tells me stories of how patients come to the dentist because they cannot get time with their primary care physician. They cannot get a specialist. I see examples all the time when patients come to me and say, I couldn't get hold of my pcp, you know, so there is a lot of problem in the medical system. There's a lot of problem in politics. There's a lot of problem in church. The answer is Jesus. You know, the answer is people need the Lord. So medical, you know, in the medical system, we continuously meet colleagues who are cribbing about their job, their employers, their supervisors. And I'm feeling actually extremely comfortable in spite of really massive changes in my job situation, in my company, etc. So I really feel that part of it is because I'm actually talking about Jesus to my patients. And that gives me satisfaction, that gives me healing. And so, you know, my colleagues were undergoing the same stresses, the medical system that is undergoing the same stresses. They too, can learn how to be not just doctors, but also reach out to the spiritual aspects of patients. That will not only help the patients, but it will help them and so when the opportunity came to share how to share about.
About the saline process to your colleagues, we jumped at that process and we hope to organize something to help to get Dr. Griffin and his team to Massachusetts in November. I think it's really important, not only for patients, but for the physicians, for the clinicians themselves. Because we were made for the Lord, the patients were made for the Lord. We can make a lot of money. We will still not be happy, but if we are preaching the gospel, we will be happy. And that's what I've experienced, and I would like to help share that with others.
[00:17:52] Speaker C: Alwyn, I could not agree more. And it's an often unrecognized benefit, but when you're seeking to be comprehensive in your care for patients, including their spiritual needs, I think that's an example of Psalm 90, where the Lord confirms the work of our hands and helps us to realize this is how patients are to be treated. I'd love to get a little bit deeper into some of the things that you heard in the saline process witness training. For example, what are some of the key biblical principles that you most appreciated from that sailing process? Witness training.
[00:18:26] Speaker D: I think one of the points that we really were impressed. Again, we've heard this in our church, etc. But now it came down to the bolts, nuts and bolts of daily practice, where Matthew 5, 13 and 14 was repeated as part of our training. We are to be salt and light.
We are not just here to solve patients problems, to make money. We need to be the flavor. We need to open up areas that are in the dark. So Matthew 5, who are we? We are supposed to be the salt. To be salt. We need to be tasty. So I. I guess we need to be good physicians. We need to make the area receptive to healing, an area receptive to Jesus. That was my takeaway. Again, we think that church is where we get Jesus, but actually we need to be the church to many patients who do not go to church. So we need to be the salt and the light to our patients. I think that was one of the things I took away from my training there.
[00:19:24] Speaker C: Beautiful. When I put my headlight on to see patients, I try to remember Matthew 5:14, Let your light shine. That's our goal.
[00:19:31] Speaker E: Yeah, that's beautiful. I think for me, I liked. I remembered Acts 1:8, which says, you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and the dental office and the medical practice and to the end of the earth, which sometimes we forget.
[00:19:51] Speaker C: Yes. And I love the fact that in that verse, Acts 1:8, it says, you shall be my witnesses. Witness is a noun. So we are Christ's witnesses. Whatever we're doing, it's not just a verb that we do occasionally. It's a noun that describes who we are all of the time, our identity in Christ.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Before we continue with this week's episode, here's a special announcement for you.
If today's conversation has you thinking about how to more intentionally integrate your faith into patient care, consider attending a Saline Process Witness Training.
This course equips healthcare professionals to confidently and respectfully address the spiritual needs of their patients through practical tools like taking a spiritual history, recognizing opportunities for faith conversations, and praying with patients when appropriate.
Used by more than 50,000 healthcare professionals in over 120 countries, the Saline process combines biblical principles with hands on learning you can apply in your practice right away.
Join us October 30th and 31st in Birmingham, Alabama, or November 20th and 21st in Boston, Massachusetts.
To learn more or register, visit CMDA.orgSaline if you're looking for encouragement in your work as a dental professional, consider joining us for the 2026 Great Commission Dental Conference September 11th and 12th in the Dallas Fort Worth area.
Hosted by CMDA Dental Ministries and the Christian Dental Society, this event brings together dentists, hygienists, students and dental teams to explore what it looks like to faithfully serve Christ through dentistry.
You'll hear inspiring stories, connect with colleagues from across the country and earn up to nine hours of continuing education credit.
Learn more and
[email protected] events let's jump right back into this week's episode.
[00:22:10] Speaker C: Now you've learned through the Saline Process Witness training that it's not a one size fits all approach to addressing spiritual needs. You need to know where each patient is in order to know which of the spiritual tools might be most effective for them. What are some of the ways you go about determining where a patient might be spiritually so you can devise an appropriate spiritual plan as you would a clinical treatment plan?
[00:22:36] Speaker D: I think we definitely need to evaluate patients or, you know, speaking medically. Is this a first visit or is it a follow up visit? Is it a subsequent visit?
I think as you mentioned, every patient is unique, so I don't think we can have the exact same plan for every patient, you know, and the uniqueness comes out only after we see the patient. However, you see the diagnosis on your screen before you get ready to see the patient. So I think really one of the things that I took back home from the saline process training was please pray, please pray. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. So start by praying for your list of patients. You know, you have your whole list before the start of the day. Pray for your patients before you go in. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit because, you know, we could sometimes come across too abrasive because we know the answer and we want to give it to you.
So we need to be very humble. We need to pray to the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom. And then we need to start. We have to start by asking questions. So look for, look for things that you could start to make the conversation. As Majdi mentioned, somebody said, it's so cold outside, it's so bad outside. So those are clues. You know, I sometimes get clues from patients. Family history. I had a patient who's taking care of his. His mom and dad. He's a gay male. He's not in a faithful relationship, you know, but I stood up from there. I said, that's a good. Oh, you know, it's one of the blessings that God promises. If you take care of your parents, God promises blessings. So that could be a starting point for their. To take their spiritual history. So, you know, each patient is unique. Look for clues.
You know, you could see that they having a certain necklace, something on their necklace that, that could be a starting point. You could start the conversation, hey, what is that necklace you're wearing? One patient told me, oh, that stands for atheism. Oh, okay, so now you know where they stand. So some tattoos could tell you something. Just talking about tattoos, I'll tell you a stunning story. There was a patient in the icu, he was a drug addict. He was in the hospital, ventilated, and I was to pray in his ears. And then one day the nurse told me, Dr. Raphos, today he's going to be extubated. We have seen you going and talking to him very close to his ears. Be careful now, because now he's extubated and he's violent, he has got a bad history, etc. So I said, okay, now that's good. Thank you for the warning. And I went in to say. And then he was extubated and he was awake. I said, hi, I'm Dr. Rapos. He says, I know. So I said, oh, you know, you've been incubated. No, no, no, no, no. I've been hearing you speak Jesus in my ear every day.
My gosh.
And then he told me more stories. I don't want to tell what the tattoos look like. And the stories he told me but these are beautiful examples that we meet people where they are, we think we know where they are.
Oh my God. God, just leave everything in God's hands. Be a faithful minister. Be the salt, you don't need to be the curry, you don't need to be the rice, you don't need to be the harvest. A little bit of salt.
Just do your job. I think these are some of my examples and some of my experiences.
[00:25:49] Speaker B: Well, I'm glad you keep talking about praying with patients and certainly I'm guessing many of our listeners, it could be that many, if not most of our members at some point in time in their practices, pray with patients. And Dr. Griffin gave me the opportunity to do module seven of the faith Prescriptions series on praying for and with your patients. And I would say it was without question, it was the number one spiritual intervention I ever did over the course of 20 years and general surgery and just found so many wonderful opportunities. But I'd like you to tell our listeners what you've learned, what are the principles, the things that we should know and you've learned about how to open the door and pray with patients.
[00:26:33] Speaker D: Again, I would say, you know, very important to pray before you go in, before you think of praying with the patient. Pray for the patient. From your list of patients. Be sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Look for clues. Do it in love, you know, we need to do it in love. It's not a job.
It's not, you know, we have to tick off. Yesterday I prayed for five patients. We have to do it in love. We need to ask permission. You know, a patient might not want to talk about prayer. So we need to be gentle. And the fact that you ask for permission, the next time on the follow up visit, he might ask for prayers. And I have seen that, you know, I've had a patient who was very nasty at the first visit and then I didn't bring up enough, oh, you need to be bothered again.
And then at the second visit he apologized, you know, and then he starts crying. He asked me to pray. He's, he's not a Christian, he's Muslim. And then he says, brother, I need you to pray to Jesus for me. This is amazing. So we have to be sensitive, we need to be loving, we need to ask permission.
[00:27:35] Speaker E: I think, you know, sometimes as physicians and dentists, we are very result oriented and we measure success from the results we see. But I think that our job is only to give our loaves and fish to the Lord and the multiplication is his.
So I think that every Day I just wake up when I before I come to work, I tell the Lord that, you know, here I am, I want to give you all I have and the Lord really can use us in big ways to do what he wants in us.
So just not focusing on the results, but just giving everything to God in that module.
[00:28:20] Speaker B: 7. Griff, I share just an acrostic that I like which goes in line very nicely with Alwyn, what you were sharing about pray in advance and be thinking about. But basically it's the acrostic. Pray, prepare, respectfully, ask, and then finally yield. Yield to the response. Because this must be patient driven, patient respected. So prepare, respectfully, ask and yield and yield. I think most of the docs that I've ever talked to over the years and asked them about has anyone ever refused or rejected your offer in a respectful way. And I can count on one hand for GRIF1ME1. So of all the people I've asked, maybe on one hand the number of patients among numerous healthcare providers, professionals, the rejections if done properly.
[00:29:10] Speaker C: And I think one of the reasons why praying for patients is so powerful is because by and large, patients look up to us for what we have accomplished and for the care we seek to provide. And when they know we are looking up to the Lord that magnifies the one that we seek to serve.
So I have a question for you that I bet is in the minds of a lot of our listeners.
What would you say to a Christian healthcare professional who believed that he was perhaps too busy to address spiritual care, that they're so busy seeing patients that how can they add one more thing onto their busy schedule? How would you respond to someone with that thought?
[00:29:52] Speaker E: You know, I think all of us are busy. Like sometimes I will have one patient I'm doing a procedure for, I have a patient site booked, and then two hygienists in my face waiting for me to see them? You know, I want to scream and shout at that point, but I think it's very important to take a moment and go into ourselves and kind of make a prayer like, come, Lord Jesus.
And the Spirit always leads. You know, the Spirit leads us and the spirit always gives us opportunities to do stuff or to bring some conversation out. And I think when you're doing work for the Lord, the evil one will always try to say, oh my gosh. Like sometimes I'm at the beginning of the day, I have my schedule. And the evil one kind of tries to say, oh, today's gonna be busy and crazy. Don't even Try to think of doing anything extra. And then I sometimes feel like you need to talk to him. And I say to him, yeah, I, yeah, true, like Marjorie cannot do this, but with Jesus everything is possible.
So you know, we need to abandon ourselves to the Lord sometimes. And things can be crazy, but I just take a moment and say, you know, Jesus, help me or come Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit sometimes will take over and you'll be surprised.
And then just doing it more and more, it becomes a part of your routine.
[00:31:25] Speaker D: If the person who's listening to this conversation, you are not called to be a pastor. You are not called to, you know, ask the person to kneel down, lay your hands over them, ask the Holy Spirit to come. That might happen. But you know, you are supposed to be available for what Jesus wants to be doing. You must plant the seed and then Jesus will produce the harvest. And then again, like, you know, surgeons and medical folks here, practice, practice, practice. You wouldn't do your first surgery if you did not start that first surgery. Start making an effort to pray with patients and just talking about surgery. The same surgery, you finish much faster as you do more surgeries. So just practice, put it into God's hands. Sometimes you know it will be a quick word. But you never know that quick word is the seed that God wants to plant.
[00:32:12] Speaker C: Well, what you're speaking about, when you talk about quick words, I think about faith flags and faith stories that are a part of this course, the sailing process course. And, and I think it's a beautiful thing that when we seek to meet patients spiritual needs, it's within the context of what we're already doing. It's not as much of an add on as it's a different, a better, a more comprehensive way to do what we're already doing.
[00:32:38] Speaker B: Well, Alwyn, you're also a writer, I understand you wrote an article who I am in Medicine and Beyond. In, in that article you quoted the famous mathematician Blaise Pascal, who wrote or who believed that while scientific knowledge is valuable, it's insufficient to provide the meaning and guidance needed for living a fulfilling life. How would you apply that to those of us who work in medicine and in dentistry as professionals?
[00:33:10] Speaker D: You know, I think I'll go back to the time at Covid.
We provided as much and as best and as up to date scientific driven care to our patients. And I had these young patients whom I was so confident, oh, they're going to make it. They passed away and I had 90 years old patients who made it. And I remember that every morning I would encourage them to talk to their families, listen to grandchildren, and they would have their videos up there and they grandchildren, grandma, when are you coming home? So there is a lot more than what the book writes about healing and medicine. And when you start seeing this, if your eyes are open, you will see this and put it into practice. It will be really open your eyes to why sometimes your surgeries don't go well, why sometimes, you know, patients don't get better. And why those times you, you thought patients are not going to make it, they get better. So there's a lot more that we cannot see with our natural eyes.
[00:34:09] Speaker B: Well, I do want to encourage you maybe down the road, after you've had some opportunities to do some training of others maybe to write us an article for our CMDA Today magazine on your experiences and what you experience in training others and what they experience and how that blesses your life. Anything else that either one of you would like to add in terms of your anticipation of training or putting other things into practice? Faith flags. Any other unusual stories or applications of the sailing process, witness training that you haven't shared with us thus far?
[00:34:40] Speaker E: I think one thing that comes to mind is I was on a northeast dental. No, it was a northeast retreat that Dr. Burton Lee was conducting. And he said something really important. He said, you know, if you're being a witness for Christ in medicine or dentistry, you cannot be a shady dentist or doctor. And so you have to be practicing on the cutting edge. So it's also really important that, you know, we practice, we take care to be practicing really good medicine and dentistry. Like, I take a lot of trouble to attend the latest courses, you know, keep up with the latest advances in dentistry, the latest scanners or whatever there is. Because if you are being a witness for Christ, you cannot just practice anything. And I think Alwyn does it as well with, you know, literature review, teaching residents.
So we have to keep on top of our professions when we are trying to be witnesses as well.
[00:35:45] Speaker D: I would add here is that, you know, the principle of the more you give, the more you receive. I have personally experienced that, you know, with the, all the things that are going on in health care and, and the instability of different practices and financial issues, I think God has given me a lot of peace. You know, we think that we are praying for the patients, but the stories that you experience lift up my spirits, lift up my spirituality, lift up my personality. Makes me a happy person. I go home a happier person. So the more you give, the more you receive. That's the promise of Jesus.
[00:36:23] Speaker B: You know, Griff, we're running out of time. Why don't you tell our listeners who've been hearing these wonderful testimonies from these two dear saints about the program and ways that they might be able to themselves get engaged.
[00:36:34] Speaker C: Yes. So as Marjorie Alwyn may have mentioned, there will be a saline process witness training in the Boston area. That will be November 20th and 21st, I believe it is. And I'm sure that will be a wonderful event. And these two will be two of the three trainers there if that particular location and date doesn't work out.
We have a large number of courses that will be offered across the country at various times. So I'd encourage our listeners to check out the website cmda.org Saline S A L I N E to get an updated list of where they can attend the saline process witness training.
[00:37:13] Speaker B: And there are a number of courses. You were excited. We were talking earlier today about the number of courses that are popping up now across the country and more trainers. And we've it's been a blessed thing, hasn't it, for us to coordinate with international partners around the globe. And this is how many countries we've talked about this before. How many countries this year?
[00:37:32] Speaker C: Over 130 countries. And I'll be offering part of this training in Nigeria this fall.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: And I think you're going to suffer for Jesus sometime in Hawaii even.
[00:37:40] Speaker C: Yeah, it's a dirty job.
[00:37:44] Speaker B: Well, Marjorie and Alwyn, thank you so much for joining us today and sharing with us your experiences, your joy, which is overflowing. And early on, when you were sharing that testimony about your experience Awan during the pandemic, I also thought of Psalm 90, Griff, that you brought up earlier.
Teach us to realize the brevity of life so that we can grow in wisdom. And it's amazing to me that even before the training that you received, it was like, I've got to share these people are facing death. And that brevity of life taught you wisdom and the fear of the Lord and to share that with your patients. So very powerful lesson. So God bless you both and I pray that there will be many that you'll pack the place out in November in Boston. And when I run across people in Northeast, I'm going to challenge them to come join you.
[00:38:40] Speaker E: Thank you.
[00:38:41] Speaker D: Thank you very much for, for all you do.
[00:38:52] Speaker B: What if one simple conversation could change a patient's entire life?
What if learning a simple process could change the way that you experience practicing medicine or dentistry or any of the other disciplines within healthcare, bringing you friend, great joy and fulfillment in that process.
Well, as followers of Christ, we are called to care for the whole person, addressing not only physical needs, but spiritual ones as well.
We may never know how God will use a simple conversation, a perioperative prayer offered with permission, or a quiet act of faithfulness.
But friends, we can trust God to work through our willingness to serve Him. If today's conversation has encouraged you, or at least put a pebble in your gospel of peace shoes, I hope you'll consider learning more about the sailing process. Witness Training as you've heard from Doctors Alwyn and Marjorie Repose, this practical, biblically grounded approach can equip you to care for your patient's spiritual needs with confidence as well as compassion. You can find upcoming training opportunities and additional resources by going to cmda.orgsaline and if you found this conversation encouraging, I want to encourage you. Please share it with a fellow healthcare professional who needs to hear it right now and subscribe on YouTube so you won't miss future episodes.
Hey, next week I'll be joined by Dr. Tiffany Schatz, who's a surgeon serving in Israel, to discuss her decision to return to Israel during a time of regional conflict, the realities of practicing medicine amid a ton of uncertainty, and the lessons she's learned about courage and trusting God's calling on her life.
I do want to thank you for listening to Faith in Healthcare, where our promise to you as a listener or better yet, a subscriber to this podcast, whether you're a healthcare professional or a patient who loves Jesus Christ, is this.
We will do everything that we can, week by week to help you keep your faith and healthcare connected.
We'll see you next time, Lord willing.
[00:41:22] Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Faith in Healthcare, the CMDA Matters podcast. If you would like to suggest a future guest or share a comment with us, please email cmdamatterscmda.org and if you like the podcast, be sure to give us a five star rating and share it on your favorite social media platform.
This podcast has been a production of Christian Medical and Dental assistance.
The opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are not necessarily endorsed by Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
CMDA is a non partisan organization that does not endorse political parties or candidates for public office.
The views expressed on this podcast reflect judgments regarding principles and values held by CMDA and its members and are not intended to to imply endorsement of any political party or candidate.
