Christian Health Service Corps (CHSC) missionaries are facing a very real threat!
Long term medical missions are one of the most traumatic of all missions’ assignments. Deep cyclical trauma caused by repeatedly experiencing death, especially of children, can become almost a daily experience. Can you imagine that one of our doctors stated that he had seen more death in his first month on the mission field than he had during his entire residency. In a recent call, when asked how things were going, another with a quiet, depressed sounding voice said, “We lost a bunch of kids this week.” Each death takes a toll on one’s heart. (Families often travel many miles on foot to receive care and sometimes arrive too late to save their child.)
Other dangers include burnout, caused by endless hours of meeting seemingly never-ending emergency medical needs. Then there is the moral injury which happens when you are placed in situations where no matter what you do you are forced to violate your own conscience. These are normal occurrences for these saints. One expert recently stated, “Cross cultural medicine is a moral injury factory. It is inevitable. It is like walking through a mine field. It will get you!”
“One child died, it was traumatic, but I had 60 more in the waiting room, so I just emotionally stuffed the pain, and moved on.”
The resulting trauma, grief, and depression, used by the enemy in a never-ending attack, can cause massive emotional damage to even the most committed believer, as well as to their families.
We are absolutely committed to the long-term well-being of the missionaries you partner with us to support. Our member care staff works tirelessly with each of these servants to provide support, prayer and encouragement. We spend countless hours preparing them, and their family, for what they will face. But truly, how can you prepare someone ahead of time to see a child, or a pregnant mother and her baby, die right before their eyes?
The reality is you cannot realistically prepare every individual to face these situations. So, we commit ourselves to assisting them every step of the way, to be available to them 24/7 as they serve on the mission field. CHSC provides ongoing support by:
- Providing a pastoral care team and a team of licensed counselors who specialize in caring for cross-cultural Christian healthcare workers and their families.
- Leading them through monthly self-assessment, which helps guide our response to their needs.
- Helping set work/life boundaries and holding them accountable to their self-care plan.
- Providing monthly virtual spiritual prayer retreats for them, and their children, as well as mentorship on the field for the whole family.
- Regularly enabling them to unload their burdens and assessing if other care is needed
However, even with all these aids, there will be times when some will need to leave their field to find a “safe place” with focused time and peace to process their experiences. So, we have established our Shalom healing/recuperation center. Shalom is a place where missionaries and their families find a safe, honoring environment to seek the Lord for guidance, unload their “baggage,” and engage in a debriefing process with licensed counselors at no cost for their stay. Yes, they stay as long as they need. We even provide vehicles available at no cost for their use as long they need it.
“Member Care helped me profoundly. It helped me to start sleeping through the night again.
It was deeply impactful in our lives.”
We have seen some who, after years on the mission field, suffered severe burnout and emotional trauma. However, after a time at Shalom, through prayer, Godly counseling, lots of listening and above all the Lord’s intervention, they return to the mission field and are thriving years later. One physician stated, “We were at a point where we couldn’t even consider ministry. But now we feel able to get back into ministry again.” We praise God for the lives, the families He has restored through this process.
However, as you can imagine, this all takes finances. With inflation raging in the U.S. and around the world, expenses are increasing dramatically. The cost of providing this loving compassionate care to 91 missionaries, and their families, continues to escalate.
We need to raise an additional $200,000 yearly, to continue making this level of care available. This holiday season, would you please consider a gift to help care for CHSC missionary health professionals?
You can help make our health professionals and their families thrive so they can go on to meet the desperate needs of people in poor communities around the world. Last year we touched over 654,00 lives with compassionate healthcare and the Gospel. A gift of any size will be deeply appreciated and will enable us to continue the loving care to our missionaries and the people we serve.
