CBU hosts global medical missions conference

Dr. Rick Donlon, founder of Resurrection Health, speaks on the importance of Christian service as part of the Remedy West 2019 conference held at California Baptist University on Oct. 5–6.

Riverside, Calif. (Oct. 7, 2019) – Hundreds of health care professionals and students gathered at California Baptist University to attend Remedy West 2019 on Oct. 5–6 as part of a Christian Medical & Dental Associations (CMDA) conference. The College of Health Science and the School of Nursing at CBU helped organize and host the event.

Wayne Fletcher, associate provost for academic services at CBU, said the two-day conference brought together Christian health care professionals and students to inspire and give them advice on how to better serve Christ in the mission field.

“CMDA’s reach and focus in both the academic and professional communities created an opportunity to collaborate in the development and hosting of an event that attracted close to 300 health professionals and students from California and our neighboring states,” Fletcher said. “Health professionals with experience in the medical mission field shared their insights and learnings with future health workers and current health workers interested in utilizing their knowledge and skills to help further the church’s mission.”

Dr. Rick Donlon, founder of Resurrection Health a faith-based, evangelical health service organization, served as one of the conference’s keynote speakers. Donlon told how he created a primary-care center for the underserved populations in Memphis, Tennessee.  

“We made a pact that we would work together as Christian physicians when we finished training,” said Donlon of his peers from medical school.  “And we did, we opened a little 10-room clinic and it grew a great deal. And I worked there for 19 years.”

Donlon said that each person has unique gifts that can be used to help others.

“We all have superpowers, some have different kinds of gifts but the same Spirit distributes them. They're different kinds of service but with the same Lord; they're different kinds of workings but in all of them the same God is at work,” Donlon said. “You have gifts. Do you know what they are? Have you moved forward in using them?”

Evan Chan, a CBU undeclared freshman, said that the keynote speakers gave him perspective on how he can serve God through his career.  

“This is right up my alley and what I want to learn,” Chan said. “I'm undeclared, and my whole family is in the field of biology and medicine and I wanted to understand how to serve in that capacity. I took away [from the conference] that working in missions is not easy work. However, if you feel called into doing that, you're going to work hard.”