Community medicine 

Peg Cumberland helps the Diocese of Niassa with the health needs of a remote and neglected area of Mozambique, believing that God wants his people to reach out to others, not only with the message of salvation but also in the service of their physical needs. They train local midwives, open community-run health posts and teach health education. “But to improve health one must change attitudes and values, and providing opportunities for local people and health staff to study the Bible and discover Jesus Christ will help towards this.” 

Back in the UK, about 25% of London’s population are foreign-born, half of whom are recent immigrants. One Christian worker among them writes: “We will be providing antenatal care, homebirths and postnatal care to unsupported teenagers, women with mental health issues, victims of domestic violence, refugees /asylum seekers, drug users, women with learning disabilities and families with complicated child protection issues. I see it as a God-given opportunity to be involved in those families’ lives.” 

Research 

As a paediatrician, Alison Talbert is very aware of unnecessary deaths in children through malnutrition, malaria and diarrhoea. At Mvumi Hospital, Tanzania she managed the insecticide treated net project. She also co-ordinated the Tanzania tick-borne relapsing fever research network. For six months she worked on a study of treatment for severely malnourished children, attached to the Kenyan Medical Research Institute/Wellcome Trust research unit based on the children’s ward at Kilifi District Hospital. As she returns to clinical medicine in Tanzania, her research will have helped her own practice as well as contributing to wider understanding. 

Hospital medicine 

Crosslinks medical workers can make a difference, whether at long-established medical centres like Berega, (Noj and Mary Northway and Giles and Annie Roberts) or at new centres like St Luke’s Health Centre in Mpwapwa in Tanzania (Rachel and Godfrey Tarling). Both centres are under the Anglican Church of Tanzania with a Christian ethos and staff, but serve those of all faiths and backgrounds, aiming to provide excellent medical service accessible to even the poorest. Teams also go out to surrounding villages to provide maternal and child health services. 

HIV counselling and testing 

Phyll Chesworth at St Paul’s United Theological Seminary in Kenya, and Rachel Tarling at St Luke’s in Tanzania have opened Voluntary Counselling and Testing Centres and work with others who are involved in teaching the community. 

Training 

San Mar is studying at Mandalay University Medical School, Myanmar for seven years as the first medical student from the Sittwe Diocese. After finishing training in 2009 he will continue to be involved in his church and serve his needy community in the medical field. 

Being involved in physical healing is vital work but brings only partial healing. Complete healing comes only with healing of the spirit. While the immediate concern of Christian medical workers is relieving suffering, the ultimate concern is to share the Gospel as part of the process of bringing about the greatest healing. 

  Crosslinks magazine October 2006 index