OSC Away Day

Members of the CMF Overseas Service Committee met with others with a vision for medical mission for a brainstorming 'away day' at Partnership House on 9 June. Under the chairmanship of Tim Goodacre, Oxford plastic surgeon, those attending heard an exciting series of reports of what God is doing through different organisations involved in healthcare mission and spent time in prayer seeking the Holy Spirit's guidance for future direction. Reports presented on the day covered the work of the Residential Refresher Course, telemedicine, the Christian charities ICTHES, THET, PRIME, ICMDA and MMA HealthServe along with a brainstorm on courses and resources available. The day will prove invaluable in helping CMF define the best ways of assisting members involved in medical mission and in mobilising and resourcing more doctors to serve abroad.

Healthcare Mission Forum - 27 November

The dawn of the 21st century has seen a big shift in factors affecting the health needs of the poor: foreign debt, war, displaced communities, the new epidemics of HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB, and the growing problem of drug abuse. In order to look strategically at how the UK missionary movement can address these issues more effectively, CMF and MMA HealthServe are launching a new Healthcare Mission Forum under the auspices of Global Connections. The first meeting is at Partnership House, 157 Waterloo Rd, London on Tuesday 27 November from 10am-4pm. Cost is £10 including a buffet lunch.

Overseas Update Course

31 doctors, nurses and midwives attended this year's Overseas Update Residential Refresher Course at Oak Hill College on 18- 29 June. A full report appears in the October edition of Triple Helix, which you should receive with this mailing. Dates for 2002 are 8-19 July. More information is available from Peter Armon at the CMF Office.

CMF Summer Teams

When Alex Pavlovic visited the Swanwick Student Conference a few years ago the idea was sparked of running an evangelistic camp for medical students in his home country of Serbia. The war in Kosovo put things on hold temporarily but this July after much prayer and planning a team of junior doctors and students from Cardiff went to Serbia with West UK staffworker Ruth Selwood. 80 students and doctors came to the camp, including 50 non-Christians, two of them professors. In conjunction with the Serbian student leaders the Cardiff team got alongside people and helped run English and medical teaching and fun activities. The main gospel talks by Ben Hope-Gill were very well received, and there was great interest and openness. Five people made professions of faith at the camp and many others have started attending church since. The Cardiff team remains in touch by email and the Serbian leaders are following up with evangelistic Bible studies.

The Serbian Camp was just one of six CMF doctor/student summer teams this year. A group of junior doctors and students from Oxford along with Bernard Palmer helped lead a camp in Albania in August attended by 30 local students, half non-Christian, with several again making professions of faith. Similar results were seen in Chilyabinsk in the Ural mountains of Russia the same month where Mark Stirling led a doctor/student team from Edinburgh and Glasgow. Over 50 Russian students attended. Mike Reynolds led a similar team of four to Samara in South Russia, where around 60 medical students from as far away as Belarus (three days by train!) came for Bible and medical teaching. The inaugural student conference in Kyrgyzstan was a success, whilst in Kazakhstan UK CMF members participated, with an international team including US medics, in a camp attended by over 100 medical students.

Further summer teams are planned for next year. Please pray for all these ventures; that God's Spirit would continue to move, that new Christians would be built up in Christ, that more doctors and students would be willing to go and that more international friendships will grow in the future.

PRIME Healthcare: making an impact

The British primary care system, despite its failings, has much to recommend it and there is nothing similar in most of Eastern Europe and the former USSR, where doctors specialise very early. PRIME, which runs the Burrswood Doctors' Dilemmas Course, held a course on primary care based on Christian values in Albania last Spring, which was very well-received. This summer they are running similar conferences in Romania and Russia. Further invitations are coming in rapidly and God seems to be opening a wide door into many countries for the Christian gospel and evidence-based medicine. PRIME would be interested in hearing from GPs who have experience in post-graduate education (VTS or PGEA) and from specialists with a keen interest in GP education who might be prepared to commit one or two weeks a year to this unpaid but highly rewarding activity. Please contact Dr John Geater, 25 St Helen's Down, Hastings TN34 2BG. j.geater@which.net

ICTHES

The International Community Trust for Health and Educational Services (ICTHES) was founded in 1999 to provide a resource of medical teaching material. All Trustees are Christians. ICTHES publishes journals based on ten years of experience producing the Journal of Community Eye Health, which has a circulation of 16,000 in 171 countries. Repair and Reconstruction is now in its second edition and the first editions of two new journals on Mental Health and ENT are due out shortly. For more information and a complimentary copy of any of the journals contact Dr Murray McGavin. Tel 0131 442 5339. mcgavinclan@xalt.co.uk