Abstract
Whereas some medical missionaries may already have moved away from “traditional” models of medical mission, in the experience of the authors from the Asia-Pacific region, many potential medical missionaries in the region still imagine a stereotypical generalist medical missionary who runs a mission hospital. The authors argue that with the economic and socio-political development of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in recent decades, the landscape for medical missions has changed. Hence, contemporary medical missionaries should be well-advised to have specialist qualifications and be more likely to teach, mentor, and do research rather than only doing hands-on clinical work. Professionalism and quality, rather than “make-do,” should be the norm. There are more opportunities to partner with and strengthen existing local institutions rather than setting up a Christian health service. Furthermore, mission opportunities may be available in academia, government, or secular organisations, including places where Christianity has a hostile reception. Multi-disciplinary expertise and collaboration within health services are increasingly important and provide another opportunity for missions. Medical missionaries may also come from other LMICs, or from within the same country. Job-sharing, self-funding, or fly-in-fly-out, may be a viable and legitimate means of sending more medical missionaries. These non-traditional models of medical mission that incorporate a diversity of approaches, but without sacrificing the “traditional” missional values and practices, should allow even more people to serve in medical missions. The purpose of this paper is to survey this topic in hope of stimulating discussions on non-traditional medical mission opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
Highlights
When we suggest that it is possible to be a missionary in the form of an academic researcher, a government employee, an allied health professional, or a specialist in a particular field of health, we are often asked “how is that possible?” Those roles may not fit with the traditional missionary stereotype in the minds of many
A certain number of medical missionaries may still be called to work in effective traditional mission settings, but if we insist that is the only way to do “real” medical missions, the effectiveness of missions will decrease, and opportunities will be missed
We have met young Christian health professionals in the Asia-Pacific region who are very interested in missions, yet they feel that because of their professional interests, their standard training pathways, or their lack of particular training, they cannot be missionaries
Summary
Thinking about obstetrics fills me with dread, but how can I learn to do Caesareans because I want to be a missionary doctor?. The term “medical missionaries” may still conjure a mental image of white men as “jungle doctors” who joined mission agencies, were self-taught generalists, went to remote “third world” settings, made-do with whatever they had, single-handedly ran a missionhospital, worked all day and all night, learnt how to perform different surgeries (sometimes even from a textbook in the operating theatre), preached the gospel in all spare moments, rarely returned to their home countries, and had a supportive wife who home-schooled their children and quietly taught the Bible to local women This may sound antiquated to many readers in the North American context, which continues to send by far the largest numbers of missionaries.[1]. We could give many more examples of people who are involved in non-traditional missions, but for security reasons, we have minimised personal anecdotes
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