Abstract
The article situates medical missions within the broader context of the healing ministry of the Christian Church. In its first part it sketches the biblical tradition of this healing ministry and its meaning in the life of Jesus and his disciples. The second section provides a survey of Christian healing initiatives and care for the sick from the Early Church until the emergence of medical missions in the nineteenth century. The third part focuses on the development of the concept medical missions and its changes up to the present, while the final part briefly reflects on the lasting legacy of medical missions which is seen in that, if Christians ignore and neglect corporeality, they disgrace God the Creator and God's incarnation in Jesus Christ. The article therefore concludes that medical missions remind the Church that at the root of too spiritual a concept of mission and too materialistic a concept of health lies a misconceived, non-biblical anthropology which profoundly distorts the Christian witness to God incarnate in Christ.
Highlights
Christian medical missions are a particular expression of the healing ministry of the Church
Especially in the ministry of Jesus and his charge to the disciples to cast out demons and to heal, medical missions emerged as a unique phenomenon in the nineteenth century within the context of the global expansion of Christianity and alongside developments marked by spectacular discoveries in medicine
Medical missions represent a special calling for people working in the healthcare professions to share their knowledge and skill with the deserving wherever their plight is heard as an expression of and witness to God’s unconditional love to all people and all of creation
Summary
Christian medical missions are a particular expression of the healing ministry of the Church. Especially in the ministry of Jesus and his charge to the disciples to cast out demons and to heal, medical missions emerged as a unique phenomenon in the nineteenth century within the context of the global expansion of Christianity and alongside developments marked by spectacular discoveries in medicine. To arrive at a meaningful understanding of this most interesting topic, I will discuss the biblical tradition of the concern for healing and its meaning and sketch in a history of Christian concern for the care of the sick and history of medical missions. Reflections on the vital and important legacy of medical missions for the Christian witness, in general, conclude my contribution
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