Episode Transcript
[00:00:08] Speaker A: You're listening to faith in healthcare, the cmda matters podcast. Here's your host, Dr. Mike chubb.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Well, thank you, Jamie. And welcome, friends, to Faith in Healthcare.
What does it look like to follow Christ in healthcare not just as a member of a local church, as critical as that is, or on a mission trip to serve the needy, as fulfilling as that is, but in the everyday realities of the classroom or your clinic or your hospital.
In this episode, I'm joined by three of CMDA's area directors from across the country. John Bayon from Michigan, Mitzi Roberts from San Antonio, Texas, and Corey Whitaker from the Triangle area of North Carolina.
We discuss the unique role that CMDA plays in helping students and healthcare professionals find genuine Christian community right where they live and work and integrate their faith with the work God has called them to do, even when navigating hard questions, whether they're about ethics or conscience or otherwise.
We're also going to hear how relationships between students and the practicing professionals and retirees who mentor them and disciple them are shaping the next generation to serve Jesus Christ wherever medicine takes them. So let's dive in.
[00:01:45] Speaker C: So today I want to welcome three very special guests to Faith in Healthcare. And we're in a different kind of studio, a much larger studio than the normal here in our assembly hall at cmda. And I'd like my three panelists, my three guests to introduce themselves. Starting with you, John. Just tell us yourself a little bit about your family and where you do ministry for CMDA and for how long.
[00:02:06] Speaker D: Sure. Whenever anyone asks me how long I've been with cmda, I always say it's kind of complicated. I started partnering with CMD in 1999, somewhat out of sheer boredom, and I was looking for another ministry opportunity and that blossomed into a full time position with CMDA in 2013.
And I work in Detroit, Michigan with our area student and community ministries there. I'm remarried. I've been remarried for four years and a blended family of eight children.
So we are very busy and full.
[00:02:40] Speaker C: Okay. And John Bayon.
[00:02:43] Speaker D: John Bayon.
[00:02:44] Speaker C: John Bayon.
[00:02:44] Speaker D: Yes.
[00:02:44] Speaker C: Okay. Sorry, Mitzi.
[00:02:47] Speaker E: Good morning. I'm Mitzi Roberts and I'm the area director in San Antonio, Texas.
I'm married to my husband Mike, and we just celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary last week.
[00:02:59] Speaker B: Sweet.
[00:03:00] Speaker C: Very nice. Praise God.
[00:03:02] Speaker E: And he's an orthodontist. So my time in CMDA has been an especial blessing because it is the first time in our life together that we're serving the Lord, where our worlds truly intersect.
So he is real big part of the dental ministries that we have going on in San Antonio.
[00:03:23] Speaker C: And when I asked you yesterday, how important is he, your eyes got real big and lit up. Wow. Is he important?
[00:03:29] Speaker E: He's very important to that part of the mission. And I've been with CMDA for eight years.
[00:03:34] Speaker C: Okay, thank you, Mitzi. Corey?
[00:03:36] Speaker F: Yeah. So my name is Cory Whitaker, and I'm the area director in the Triangle area of North Carolina, which is kind of the Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, middle of the state.
And I've been working with CMDA for about eight years now. In fact, I think it just hit eight years.
Been married for 31 years, so I haven't caught up to you yet. But I have a couple kids who are married, couple of grandbabies that are awesome.
And I've really enjoyed working with cmda. It was a whole new world for me. I did youth ministry for a long time. So I like to say CMDA Student Ministry is like youth ministry, but they clean up after themselves.
So it's kind of just an easy transition for me, ministry wise.
[00:04:14] Speaker C: All right, well, Corey, let's start with you. But I do want any of the three of you to chime in as I ask these questions to you.
So what distinguishes or differentiates CMDA ministry as you practice it and do it every single week in your areas from maybe other ministries? I know you've all been involved in other ministries. John and I talked quite a bit last night about his involvement with InterVarsity, but in the past. So just what distinguishes it makes it different other than the cleaning up after themselves.
[00:04:44] Speaker F: So, I mean, I think part of it is just our demographic. We have a very specific demographic we're trying to reach, as opposed to even groups like intervarsity graduate and faculty. You know, they're kind of hitting everybody at the graduate and faculty level or college campus ministries from local churches. You know, they're just kind of targeting their folks. And so I think we're a little more distinct that way in who we're trying to reach. I also think, at least in our area, and I know this isn't true everywhere because it's just kind of where our campuses are laid out. We have a lot of interaction between the campuses. So a lot of our Duke and UNC students do stuff together across different disciplines as well as, you know, from campus to campus. We try to get the Campbell folks in. They're a little further away, so it's a little more difficult. But that's something that's a little more unique in our structure as well.
[00:05:31] Speaker C: And that's probably true for all three of you in some respects. Would you say, Mitzi, is that true?
[00:05:36] Speaker E: Yeah, I would definitely agree with that.
One of the things that I think makes CMDA community and local campus ministry unique is how this ministry specifically shapes their worldview moving forward throughout their career.
And one of the benefits that I see is that we have multiple generations working side by side in the process of that shaping. We have retirees and professionals at, at different stages in their career who come alongside students as mentors and they learn from each other. But that shaping of their practice philosophy while they're developing it, I think is a major difference between a CMDA ministry and any other ministry.
And the other thing I think that makes a CMDA ministry unique is the service opportunities.
There are a hundred ways that you can serve the Lord in your church, in your local church, but finding that place where to prioritize doing first those things that only you can do.
Physicians and dentists and nurses and allied health have a unique skill set.
And to use those in serving the Lord and is something that the other people sitting on the pews at your church can't.
They can do all kinds of other missions, but this is a unique way and to help students and professionals alike see how they can use those skills and abilities to bring the gospel into unique places. I think makes CMDA a real blessing.
[00:07:28] Speaker C: And it wasn't that many years ago when the service by in particular the student groups actually protected them from attacks. Attacks because the administration, and I'm thinking Cincinnati, a couple of Ohio schools that came under attack and the administration spanked those who, the plaintiffs, if you will, because of the amazing work that the group was doing to serve the community. It's like, leave these people alone. They're helping us. They're shining the brand of the university.
So that's. Thank you for bringing up the service that they do. So, John?
[00:08:02] Speaker D: Yeah. A couple quick thoughts. One is with my time with InterVarsity, we were always working with students for a very brief window from four to six years that they're in grad school, whatever. But once they graduated, they were gone. And so I think the unique thing about CMDA is we're saying now we're going to start walking with you as a medical student, dental student, healthcare student, and we're going to keep walking with you.
And really that's played out. I mean, when I started doing AD work, I had a couple professionals that I was meeting with and doing work with. Now I probably every month I'm meeting 15 to 20 of them individually, one on one, pastoring them, shepherding them, because they come through our student groups and I love them. They love me for the most part. And yeah, it's a wonderful, caring Koinonia fellowship relationship. So that'd be one thing. The second thing is that I think CMDA has an opportunity to influence the institutions where we're at. So in Detroit, we tend to be a pretty entrepreneurial start new things, auto industry, very engineering, very practical oriented. And people don't pay attention to institutions, especially Christians where I live. But I would say our CMDA ministry has a lot of people who are really called to care for the hospitals that they're in. We have one of our council members is the lead medical director at a major hospital in Detroit. Another council member is the dean of students at our biggest med school.
So they're really being called to care for those institutions. And I think that's what makes us unique as well. We're trying to invest and say the Lord cares about these places and we should care about them as well.
[00:09:56] Speaker C: So for any of the three of you, the white hot why let's start with students. If you were to ask, talk to the students. Granted, they all have a different story, maybe a little different reason. It goes beyond the pizza for lunch.
Like what's the white hot why? As to why they are involved in your ministry.
[00:10:16] Speaker E: Relationship, relationship, relationship.
There is no substitute for community and students. Largely the vast majority of students come to their institution from another city or another state. Even so, they are showing up with no community whatsoever.
So CMDA on campus makes community immediately accessible.
They find their tribe and then to be able to take that and just envelop it in Christian community is that much sweeter.
So my students would say they come looking for community and they find it in the unique body of Christ that CMDA is.
And honestly, what keeps them coming is that it's kind of a lighthouse or an oasis away from the pressures of their daily, the rigors of their daily study and life.
So CMDA in our community, in our context, serves as kind of that safe space where they don't have to have their guards up, but they can let their guard down, that they can be refreshed, that they can be replenished in order to face another day.
And fun. They come to have fun and it's
[00:11:53] Speaker C: a good and it probably surprises most of them because they would have expected of graduate school.
I just saw some testimonies recently that they didn't have that kind of relationships in undergrad and then they come to think it's going to be worse. And they discovered cmda. Like, I never thought I would grow in community in graduate school. And I found cmda.
[00:12:14] Speaker E: I had a seminary professor who said, if making Bible study boring is a sin, and that's really true, it should be. The best part of anyone's week is to spend time in community studying the word of God.
[00:12:32] Speaker C: Amen, gentlemen.
[00:12:34] Speaker D: Yeah, I totally agree.
I would say Genesis 2. So Genesis 2 begins with the Sabbath rest. And I think our fellowships provide a rest and respite from the rigors, the constant call of study.
I never got into more trouble with a student group than when I quoted Dr. John Patrick, good friend of ours, patriarch. I was like, I'm on safe ground.
And John had told me one time that if someone can't rest in medical school, and he equated that to spending time regularly in God's Word with God's people and going to worship once a week, you don't belong in medicine. I repeated that sentence and there was an uproar, total, like cacophony, because people were skipping those things.
But I think we provide that for them. And when they get that, they realize they need that.
So Genesis 2 begins with that. And then in the middle, of course, the Lord says his commentary on humanity and Adam is, it's not good for him to be alone. And I think that we provide a community of God's people together to encourage and walk with them. I've been working with med students and dental students for 26 years, and I can genuinely say that those relationships endure for that.
[00:13:57] Speaker C: And throughout those 26 years, would you say that there's less of a cacophony response from the younger people now, maybe because of boundaries?
[00:14:05] Speaker D: Well, I don't say that line anymore. So I've gotten smarter.
So, yeah, I mean, I think they realize it, but yeah, I'm a little shrewder now.
Just avoid the quoting John Patrick. John's very good, but not to be quoted.
[00:14:25] Speaker C: Yeah, in doses.
[00:14:26] Speaker F: Corey, you took pizza away. So that was my number one answer. And obviously community is huge for us now. We're in a smaller city area, so we have a lot of really good churches.
So I find that that's not actually the primary thing for our students because they get plugged in very quickly.
And a lot of the churches around the campuses are intentional with young adult ministry. I think for us, because of the particular worldviews and cultures at the universities, it's having that safe place to talk about difficult issues. We Just went through one of our campuses, just went through their reproductive health segment and they were just overwhelmed with how dark it felt and really needing to flesh that out because they come in a lot of students.
I'm not convinced churches are preparing students well for the world in talking about these issues and really knowing why they believe what they believe.
And so we've had to do a lot of what I would almost consider remedial work in helping students really understand biblical truths.
But a lot of it then around these hot topic issues and being able to connect them with, with physicians and others who can speak into that and say, hey, I've been there.
When do I speak up in class? When do I stay silent? How do I reach my classmates around these issues? So I think we've become a place in some of our programs, at least where those conversations can be had.
I think the other main reason that a lot of students stay connected with cmda. You know, everyone checks stuff out at the beginning of the year is because we do bring in faculty and others and there's that intergenerational connection that someone had mentioned earlier. And I think that's unique for us.
And so there's a lot of kind of informal mentoring that goes on. We've tried to formalize mentoring. I know CMDA has too. It's like, I don't know, herding guinea pigs or something.
[00:16:26] Speaker C: Seems to be more organic.
[00:16:27] Speaker F: Yeah, yeah. And that seems to be happening more and more. And I think that's what's keeping our students involved, is their connecting with these Christian practitioners in their field and exploring what it looks like to live out their faith in medicine and dealing with some of these right of conscience issues and other things.
[00:16:45] Speaker C: So that is a nice segue. Now let's talk about those we call grad members or those who are practicing within their professions and all three of you. Most of our established ministries have area directors for a long time or have medical schools or dental schools, all the schools involved, but keep it. I mean, I also want you to address potentially what outside of student ministry. What also might be an answer to this question is what is the white hot why for grad members to be part of a community and don't exclude students, because that obviously is a significant part of the picture.
[00:17:19] Speaker D: I think one of the things that's really connected with our student work is they see CMDA as an opportunity to give back, to mentor, to invest, to realize that if they don't have a next generation of doctors who are following Jesus and serving him, that we're going to be in trouble in their profession and for the Christian community. So a lot of it is around our student ministry, but I think also there's a genuine desire for them to connect with one another, to get continuing training. So we do a lot of ethical talks for our providers, and they really. They love it.
We've brought in folks from CMDA's national office and around the country. So I would say for those reasons, I mean, to give back, but also to connect with others in their field who will help them grow. We also have found a lot of success in doing some ministry at Christian clinics around the city. So we've built some partnerships there. And they've invited me in to gather their teams together once a month at their individual clinics to do Bible study and prayer. And that's been a total delight. And I think they've found CMDA as a bit of a glue for them in their work there.
[00:18:38] Speaker F: I have no idea.
We really struggle with getting practitioners to gather again. A lot of them are in really good churches, and they're elders in their church, and they're leading a Bible study in their church. And so the folks that are involved, it's primarily about the student ministry. They want to be giving back, they want to be mentoring, they want to, you know, do missions with the students, things like that.
So we honestly, we have a difficult time on any regular basis, so we'll do banquets and home events and stuff like that, and we'll get a different group every time. So I think there's some fellowship involved. A lot of times when new folks move to town, they use CMDA to find other believers, but then they kind of do their thing with them, which is fine with me. I'm about networking people, and so I don't need to micromanage everything they're doing.
But that's a lot of. Is that networking? So someone will come to town and say, hey, I just moved here from St. Louis. What do you got going on? Who do you know at Duke? You know, and I can give them 10 names and introduce them and build relationships that way.
But I've just found in our context that people are so busy that a lot of people don't have the bandwidth to add another regular event.
So we try different things.
[00:19:55] Speaker C: So when you think of it in terms of an event, obviously people say, I have lots of events already in my life, especially my church.
[00:20:02] Speaker E: I would echo a lot of what has already been said.
But I think a lot of the professionals, the grads that I have in San Antonio, appreciate a Space to be known because they live in a world that a lot of churches don't understand.
So to have like minded healthcare professionals who are pro life, who are all those things, it's a place to be known and to not be alone in their faith in that space.
Furthermore, I'm not a health care professional, but it seems as though medicine is continuing to become more and more fragmented and there are more and more obstacles or barriers between physician and patient.
The EMR has had a big role in, in that where physicians find themselves having a conversation with the computer rather than a conversation with the patient.
So I've had professionals tell me every time I'm with cmda, I am reminded of the humanity that is what compelled me or attracted me to medicine in the first place.
That subspecialties have narrowed patient care down so that one patient has five or six specialists working on one thing. But that to attend the national conference or to attend a local Bible study in San Antonio with other believers is a place to be reminded of that every patient is created in the image of God and has that you have stewardship over their health and over their life.
[00:22:05] Speaker C: Okay, so here's the surprise question. And it deals with our new brand promise. Because of what? Something you shared? Corey made me think of this, that they've got plenty of events, they've got their Bible studies, they've got their church. And we spent a lot of time investing in this brand promise and it resonated with the House of Representatives. The board got very excited. Many of our staff are excited, a couple we're still bringing along.
So the brand promise is this your faith in healthcare connected. And if you're at the national convention, I presented it and talked about it just a little bit.
When I moved from Kenya to the US what was so apparent to me, which is a disorder which I now call Christian doctors dissociative disorder or the disturbing disconnect more briefly, which is, yeah, I've got all this down, Mike. I've got this, I got my church, I got my Bible studies and all that. But then they take this personal identity accessory, they walk into the hospital or their offices and faith is out. I mean, you know, they got Jekyll and Hyde, not Jekyll and Hyde, but just different people.
So I want to hear from you, like how is that going to play with your constituents and your various ministries?
[00:23:16] Speaker F: I mean, I love it. Our board president called me after that board of representatives. I heard that meeting. Yeah. And he was like, this is great, we gotta do this. We're Buying in. We gotta, you know, we gotta do everything, you know, follow this, and this will very well communicate our message. So he was super excited about it. I mean, I think it's a great approach because it's simple, connecting your faith and healthcare. I do think that's a constant message that we have to put out there because the institutions put the opposite out there, that your faith has no place at your job. And so I think it's something that needs to be a repeated encouragement.
Being outside of medicine, I feel bad sometimes encouraging physicians to speak up in their institutions where horribly ungodly things are going on right down the hallway in their department and there's no voice there.
[00:24:13] Speaker C: Let me dig.
What makes you feel bad? You say, I feel bad.
[00:24:16] Speaker F: Oh, because it's not my job that I'm risking.
It's not my promotion, it's not my status. I'm encouraging someone in another, you know, another department, another.
[00:24:27] Speaker C: A risk that you don't have to take.
[00:24:29] Speaker F: Yeah, it's a risk I don't have to take. I'm free to now. I could get kicked off campus very easily for saying some of the stuff I say about some of these issues. But it's burdensome to really call on. You know, the dean of the med school, one of our schools, is a believer, and we're going to have a discussion soon about some of these issues because some of the students are concerned about it. It's going to be a tough discussion. And I'm putting this person in a very difficult place if they do what we're asking them to do, speaking out on these issues, even to the risk of their job. So that's a big calling. But because we believe in what we're talking about with life issues and things like that, beginning and end of life, that it's a real issue. It's not just a social issue, political issue, it's a life and death issue. And so that's the challenge, I think, is, yeah, when you walk in there, Christ walks in there with you. He's already there. You're just catching up. And, you know, we want to encourage you to be bold in your faith in a way that CMDA is in the public eye, but we want that to permeate into the institutions to, again, as someone else said earlier, to really change the institutions, have an impact on the institutions, not just on our folks, not just on our people.
[00:25:41] Speaker C: And I heard you get into some public policy issues, but clearly there's a much bigger Kingdom of God issue, the Lord Jesus my Savior issue, often we do say, oh, but we're going to talk about beginning of life, end of life. But the reality is something much bigger.
It's a spiritual reality. And I see that disappear.
Probably Brick and I had this conversation that probably 80 or 90% of the Christians he knows in Eugene, Oregon, there is no spiritual ministry. It doesn't come to their minds that me being a Christian means I'm going to do spiritual ministry in my practice. And I have to say that from my experience, sometimes in practicing Michigan, it's the same thing. But you guys, I want to hear your answers about the brand promise. Mitzi and John, thoughts?
[00:26:26] Speaker D: I would say it's fantastic. Absolutely.
We're calling people to be integrated Christians, not disintegrated Christians. And so really we.
That's been hard in my heart, what we do, what we talk about.
I would nuance what Corey said about sacrifice and calling people to sacrifice. I think it's by nature in our discipleship under Christ is it's a call to sacrifice our lives. And everyone is involved with that. No one gets excluded. So I have an engineering degree. I could have made a lot more money. I have guys I roomed with in college who are now retired.
I'm 55 and I'm a little older than that, but they retired five years ago.
It was a sacrifice to come and work with a parachurch ministry organization, gladly done in the name of Christ. So when I look at, you know, it's when I look at a doctor and I'm encouraging them, you know, be more bold. Learn how to pray with your patients. Don't be afraid to say something. When someone is advocating for a position in the hospital that's going to be deteriorious for practice of medicine. And you know it in your heart of hearts and you know, as a good doctor, that would be the case.
Take a step, pray, take a step. Lean on the Lord. Be shrewd, you know, learn the gift. Learn that great parable of shrewdness in the Bible that the shrewd manager, where he learned how to leverage things. And Jesus says, you need to learn how to leverage things for the kingdom of God.
It's worth the while. So I think it's fantastic. Let's go forth.
[00:28:13] Speaker C: Okay. Mitzi? Anything, Dan?
[00:28:15] Speaker E: I would just briefly add that missions is a place where faith and health care truly connect, intersect.
But building that bridge when they come back home to their practice is the next step that we need to really be emphasizing. How do we bring that home? I had a physician after our most recent mission trip Say to me, this is medicine in its purest form.
I can take as long with my patient as I want to and pray with them and really treat the whole person. But in my practice, where I have seven to nine minutes with a patient, I don't know how to do that.
I'm excited about the new brand promise and how we help our members become better at the integrated faith that John just mentioned and how to help them see whatever their context is as their mission field.
[00:29:21] Speaker C: All right, well, just with a few minutes that we have left, we do have a website that Bill and Ardees have developed, which is cmdacommunity.org for those who want to start a new community wherever they are, with or without staff? Generally, it's without staff in the early years.
But if someone listening in into this program wanted to start a community chapter, what would you recommend? What are the first steps? How do you get this off the starting line?
[00:29:55] Speaker F: Call Grant Hewitt.
[00:29:58] Speaker C: Grant Hewitt, our regional director for the South.
[00:30:01] Speaker F: He'll tell you what to do.
I always just advise people to just find a couple, gather a couple of people first, have a couple people committed to the vision of building something.
And this has happened around our state. There's just a new undergrad chapter that Grant was very helpful with. He did more of the work on it than I did getting them going because they're building a new medical school. So there's an undergrad chapter starting there.
We did that down in Charlotte, but it really took.
And we tried it in Asheville and it didn't work. But it really takes just finding a couple of practitioners that will be there over time and saying, will you guys. We all commit to this.
And if they say yes, then it's kind of fleshing out what that looks like. But for me, that's the starting point.
[00:30:45] Speaker C: Some critical leaders.
[00:30:46] Speaker F: Yeah. And I'll, you know, I'll contact Pam and say, hey, can you give me, you know, the CMDA members within 30 miles of Wilmington or Charlotte or whatever, so that we can kind of see who we know and who we can reach out to and say, hey, someone's got some interest.
Would you be willing to jump in on this? And kind of.
[00:31:04] Speaker C: And I know from hearing from some of those in Charlotte that you've been involved. You travel there, sit down with a core group to support them on that launch?
[00:31:12] Speaker F: Yeah, we did that. And so we have students that go there. And so now when we have students that go on rotations, I can say, look up Jonathan Salo and plug in with him.
[00:31:20] Speaker C: Stayed in his home.
Other thoughts?
[00:31:22] Speaker E: You know the old adage, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. I think that's true for how do you build a community ministry? You build it one bite, one bite at a time. You build it one person at a time.
I feel like part of my responsibility as an area director is to invest deeply in those who want to be invested in.
Jesus did that. I don't invest in everyone equally. Jesus fed the 5,000, but he invested in the 12, and he invested even more in the three.
And that's kind of the philosophy I go by. I figured if. If Jesus did it, it's a good model to use.
But by investing deeply in some, then when they leave our campus and go to their next place, one of the things they ask me is, is there a CMDA there?
And if there's not, how do I make that happen?
You know very well. Madison Chapman. Yes.
[00:32:24] Speaker C: Now in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
[00:32:25] Speaker E: Now in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And he's become a galvanizer there, and he's taken the experience he had in San Antonio, coupled with the experience he had serving on the National Board of Trustees, and he's now building a strong resident ministry there and community ministry. And so I think that there's.
It starts with one, and there's no substitute for inviting people into your home. That home hospitality, it lends itself to creating authentic community.
So I would say to the person who wants to start one, start one, start with one or two invitees and build a relationship there, and others will want to be a part of that.
[00:33:13] Speaker C: So, John, I know you were going to share something, but one of the common threads I'm hearing, number one, that all you approach your ministry is pastoral ministry. Clearly. And, John, we were talking last night about some of your past grads from years ago who are now missionaries in the Middle east and just how proud you are of them. So like a proud papa in this ministry. And so the idea of launching. You were just talking about Madison and launching Madison to Grand Rapids and sending out these medical missionaries, domestic medical missionaries, who go to other communities and our leaders. Is that something that you are intentionally doing or that just happens along the way, that you get a Madison? Because that's the thing about medicine. I mean, we move, I mean, during our careers and our lifetime membership motto is a lifeline for a lifetime. But frankly, that's true for everyone. I mean, medical school to residency fellowship, we move. And so those who are students now are going to end up somewhere. So is there some intentionality that you, as area Directors have in thinking about we're going to plant a ministry over there.
[00:34:17] Speaker D: Well, I would say, particularly with people like Madison, who I met at the national staff conference. I was sitting there, he looked at my name tag, he said, hey, I'm supposed to meet you because you're in Detroit and we're trying to replicate some things in Grand Rapids and had a fantastic conversation with him. And so I would say when we have people like Madison in our midst, it's a good stewardship step for us to say brother or sister. You're going to San Diego, you're going to, you know, I don't know, I'm thinking of California. But you're going another place in the country. Why don't you invest there? Here's Wes's number. Here's Grant's email.
[00:34:59] Speaker C: We've got time for one more question.
So for each of you, what is the most rewarding aspect of this ministry? You probably have hinted at the things that are passionate about, you talk about. But what to you is the most rewarding aspect as an area director of CMDA in your ministry?
[00:35:15] Speaker D: You alluded to it already.
26 years of working with CMDA, folks. I think we have like 10 or 12 full time medical missionaries around the world and mostly in closed countries in Northern Africa and the Middle east, in the Stans, Mozambique, not a closed country. But I mean it's just like I, my goal as a Christian is invest and see the kingdom of God grow by God's grace and for his glory. And I'm going to be an anonymous player. I know a lot of guys who've retired after or before me.
Two years after they retired, no one remembers their name. And I'm going to try to be one of those guys. But by God's grace, these brothers and sisters are carrying on that work that we invested in them and called them to serve the gospel, grow the church, serve through healthcare, ministry the least of our neighbors.
[00:36:09] Speaker C: And you get to share, I think in heaven. And some of the fruit of that.
[00:36:13] Speaker D: Absolutely. Fruit in that treasure.
[00:36:14] Speaker F: Absolutely.
[00:36:14] Speaker D: I cannot wait to meet them. Really?
[00:36:16] Speaker F: Yeah.
[00:36:16] Speaker C: Great, Mitzi.
[00:36:18] Speaker E: I would echo that, John. To me, the greatest satisfaction comes from watching what our students, especially our student leaders that I invest in, watch them become what God created them to be. To grow in the skills and to grow in the confidence to continue to carry that forward as missionaries wherever they go. And Madison's an example of that. You knew Kaylee, she was a trustee, student trustee. And she just finished up a fellowship, year of global health. And I've Been so proud of the woman that she's become. And so that is my greatest joy, is watching these students that I get to invest in make Kingdom Impact.
[00:37:11] Speaker C: We were joking the other day with somebody that we need to be quiet about this San Antonio pipeline to the board because we end up with a lot of trustees who come from San Antonio.
[00:37:20] Speaker B: Finally.
[00:37:20] Speaker C: Cory, go ahead.
[00:37:21] Speaker F: Last but not least, I think for me it's more the immediate satisfaction of being in a meeting with students or practitioners and you get to the end of it and you just know that God is working in people's hearts and minds. Either little comments people make or, you know, we had a discussion, discussion a couple weeks ago about Sabbath with one of our groups and students were saying, I'm going to start having a Sabbath this week.
Like, I've never taken a Sabbath. I'm going to take a Sabbath this week and I'm going to start doing it every week. And he's going to hold me accountable, you know. And so for me, it's more just being in the immediate presence of God's people as they're enjoying each other, as they're learning from, you know, I don't do a lot of speaking. Most of our speaking is from, you know, practitioners or student leaders sharing things.
So it's not, it's not about what I'm saying. It's about being in that environment where you're sitting in a medical school or a pharmacy school and it's church, it's God's people. Some of our groups have started doing worship in the schools, which is just beautiful because students are walking by and what's going on in there.
And to me, that's just very cool. So I love the long term stuff. Honestly, we lose track of people because they go all over the place. So I do love hearing back. Or I'll connect it on social media and they'll pop up and they're now doing this or that and that's always cool, or they'll call because they're coming back to town or whatever. But for me, it's that immediate presence of God's people in these secular places.
And there's just a sense of like, we're redeeming this space.
[00:39:00] Speaker C: Wow. Like King Agrippa said, almost thou persuadest me to become an area director.
[00:39:06] Speaker F: Almost thou in the King James.
Yeah, he did speak King James.
[00:39:14] Speaker C: So I thank you to each one of you for sharing with us today. We have run out of time, but I would like especially our national staff to thank not just these three area directors. But for all of our area field staff for the work they do. Because you guys really are. I mean yeah, people get emails and hear the voices and stuff from us, but the presence, your presence, you are the face and shine, the brand of CN and more importantly, ambassadors for Christ. So let's thank them for their work. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
[00:39:56] Speaker B: What an incredible glimpse into the ways that God is working through CMDA's local ministries.
As you heard from John and Mitzi and Corey, Christian Community offers students and professionals more than just another event to attend. It provides a place to be known and strengthened in the faith and supported through the pressures of study and practice and reminded that every arena of healthcare it can be a place where you focus on building God's kingdom.
I was especially encouraged by the stories that John and Mitzi and Corey told of the long term impact resulting from these very intimate relationships.
If you're looking for a CMDA community or you would like help to start one in your area, please visit cmdacommunity1word.org to learn more. And if today's conversation has encouraged you, please share it with a fellow healthcare professional or a resident or student and subscribe on YouTube so that you don't miss any future episodes of Faith and healthcare.
Next week, Dr. Matthew Loftus. He joins us to discuss his new book Resisting Therapy Culture and how Christian healthcare professionals we can recognize the limits of pop psychology while still affirming the value of good mental health care.
Thank you for listening to Faith in Healthcare. Where our promise to you as a listener, or better yet, as a regular subscriber to this podcast is we will do everything that we can to keep your faith and your healthcare connected.
We'll see you next time, Lord willing.
[00:41:50] 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 cmdamattersmda.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 Associations.
The opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are not necessarily endorsed by Christian Medical and Dental Associations.
CMDA is a nonpartisan 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 imply endorsement of any political party or candidate.
