Global Health Outreach Blog

“Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me-put it into practice…” (Philippians 4:9, NIV 2011).

How can parents say to their teenager, “Let me take the speck out of your eye; when they don’t even see the log in their own eye?” (Matthew 7:4, NASV-Non-Authorized Stan’s Version).

“‘…Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty…” (Malachi 3:10, NIV 2011). I was writing clinical notes at my computer when I overheard my administrative assistant talking to someone, probably a family member.

It was raining and we could not see the mountains, but we could feel their glory in the freshness of the air. I was sitting in a Christian medical retreat in the mountains of central Asia. A young doctor-in-training was speaking about his life within a radical environment that does not allow the gospel to be preached.

Early in his presidency, the infamous Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was invited to England by Queen Elizabeth. After a state dinner at Buckingham Palace, he reportedly said, “Thank you, Mr. Queen. I have eaten and I’m fed up. If you come to Uganda, I will revenge.”

I’m not sure I deserved the credit Bonner gave me. “I want to thank you for saving my life, Doc. “But more important than the credit was the way he finished his statement. “I’m going to put this second chance to good use. I’m not going to squander it.”

When one’s eyes are opened to the overwhelming needs around us and then you realize that the Lord Jesus is calling us to help change the world, it can feel overwhelming, even paralyzing. What can I do? Where should I begin? Should I volunteer for the food pantry?

“Don’t go to Africa,” they said to us. “You’ll never see your husband. He’ll be consumed by constant medical needs.” “Your children will be at risk of getting malaria.” “Why go to Africa when problems are all around us here in the U.S.A.?”

Nik Ripken (pseudonym) is a Christian aid worker who has served in the most dangerous regions of the world. In his book The Insanity of God, he tells the story of his time in Somalia during the “Black Hawk Down” days. Christianity was extremely dangerous to promote and deadly for Somalians to accept as truth.

Huh? Elvis gave hound dogs everywhere a bad name forever. And yet, if we can get beyond Elvis’ body contortions and those mindless lyrics, we may be able to grasp the reality that God is, in fact, a lot like a hound dog. Think about it. Bloodhounds are noted for their ability to follow a scent for long distances. Once on the trail they are famous for their tenacity.

I’ve got a new chief at the office. And he doesn’t know how great I am. He doesn’t know I work harder and longer than most; that I care for my patients more than most. He mainly complains about the petty stuff. I was dwelling heavily on this on the way home this evening: This is not fair; how am I going to prove to him that I am worthy of his appreciation?

How big is your God? Isaiah’s God was enormous! When he writes about his vision of the Holy One, the thing that seems to impress him the most is that the hem of his robe took up all the space in the temple. Jut the hem! Think about it.

Like the withdrawing alcoholic who cusses out and swings at staff. The missionary physician who belittles less experienced team members. The surly dental patient who repeatedly demands the one o’clock appointment yet never expresses thanks.

Jesus spent 18 years as a carpenter. He spent three years as a preacher. In other words, the Savior of the world invested six times more of His life sawing lumber, hammering nails, planning boards, making cabinets and sweeping sawdust than He spent preaching, teaching and healing.

I received a text from Janice today. “They did not have approval for my medicine.” Janice requires long-term immune globulin for an immunodeficiency and my office had forgotten to update her insurance approval. I apologized for the mistake and her wasted time.

R.I.P. “Rest in peace” is usually reserved as a benediction for the dead. But it is the living who need restful sleep, and for one in 10 Americans, this is only an elusive dream. As sleep evades, the mind becomes a strategic battleground and the pillow a daunting beachhead.

It was October 1997 and I was spending a semester studying abroad in Australia. I was at a church service, where a group who had just returned from a trip to Namibia was speaking. I listened to their presentation and was struck by how “meaningful” it all seemed, and how, by contrast, what I was doing (studying civil engineering) was not.

A nasty rumor is going around, and it is my goal to squelch it! It seems many in the church today have been led to believe that one can be a follower of Jesus Christ without being fully devoted. Do you buy into this rumor? Can you make only a partial surrender to Christ and simultaneously sing “It Is Well With My Soul?”

We were seated in a large circle, each with our spouse, sharing family war stories so that we might hold them up to the Lord-physicians, dentists, physician assistant, medical student, resident in obstetrics. Linda shared her story and then concluded before we prayed, “We have our struggles-but we are struggling well.”

If I were Satan and my mission to capture souls for hell, I think my first theater of operations would be the dictionary. I could greatly enhance my diabolical plan for world dominion if I could subtly change the meaning of words so that verbal accuracy was lost and truth became foggy.

Deep within every human soul resides a kingdom where self is sovereign. In this little fiefdom of autonomy the unholy trinity of me, myself and I reigns supreme. Here, I sit on the throne of my life enacting decrees, making judgments, forming decisions and controlling my destiny.

Author and psychologist Mary Pipher encourages parents to expose their children to beauty and goodness. Thus it was, before home school each morning in Kenya, we walked past hedges and the hospital to stand and stare at majestic Mt. Elgon.

I had a great chat with Louis Carter at the Global Missions Healthcare Conference. If you don’t know Louis, he spent time as a missionary in Nigeria, and for last 20 years or so has spent a month or two, three or four times a year at mission hospitals teaching plastic and hand surgery techniques. He is now completing a book on those techniques for the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons.

It’s been 30 years, but I can still recall his look of disappointment. James was a medical student who had looked up to me when I had surrendered my life to God’s call for international healthcare missions. It hadn’t worked out. We hadn’t lasted. Back after two years in Nigeria, seeking a career like other doctors who had never heard the call, I had let him down.

I was checking my email in the family room with the Wimbledon Tennis Championships on TV in the background when a phrase the announcer used grabbed my attention. He said Nick Kyrigos, an Australian tennis player, was a “spot server.”

We were seeing him in the hospital because his blood counts had dropped, probably nothing serious. As we talked, I learned he was a Korean War veteran and asked him if he was at the Chosin Reservoir, in that “Coldest Winter” where more than 100,000 Chinese poured over the Korean border and drove U.S. soldiers south though cross-fire and frostbite.

Blessed are those who have their act together and are spiritually with it, for they illustrate what God’s reign in this world really looks like. Blessed are those who are healthy, wealthy and happy, for they’ve found the true meaning of life.

Sugar cane-sweet, juicy. Anyone familiar with the taste will salivate at the mention of the word. During our years in Kenya, a fresh stalk of sugar cane trumped all other treats as far as our children were concerned. Eagerly they watched us cut away the tough outer layer with a sharp knife.