Conference on Medical Missions being held in June.

USA (MNN) — At their headquarters in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, the Association of Baptists for World Evangelism is hosting its annual Medical Missions Interface the weekend of June 16-18, 2006.

The goal of the conference is twofold: to refresh current missionaries working in healthcare ministries on the field and to recruit those considering medical missions. By connecting current and potential missionaries, ABWE’s Ruth Ann Raiche hopes to see the passion for medical missions spread and people’s appetites whetted for that kind of service.

She says the schedule is set up in order to, “Introduce people to international healthcare ministries with ABWE, whether it be hospital ministries, clinic ministries, community health evangelism, mobile clinics–using healthcare as a tool for evangelism, discipleship, church planting and fostering missions movements.”

Healthcare is an open door for ministry in many difficult fields, Raiche says, “We see closed access nations and also nations where just the physical needs are so overwhelming, that people are much more open to the Gospel when you’re reaching out to meet their physical needs. You’re reaching out to them in a very touchable manner so that they realize that, ‘hey, these people love me.’ It’s putting hands on God’s love; it is reaching out to them with God’s love meeting their physical needs. And in the process of doing so, you’re developing a relationship with them so that you’re able to share the Gospel.”

This conference is for medical professionals in a wide variety of services, including: Physicians, Nurses, Physician Assistants, Dentists, Podiatrists, Physical Therapists, Medical Technical Specialists, Pharmacists, Hospital Administrators, and Students in all of these professions.

ABWE is also providing continuing education for medical professionals who are serving on the field. They encourage students in medical school to attend the conference, with incentive of scholarships available to help students attend the conference.

For conference information, contact ABWE by calling 1.877.636.5478 or emailing Lauren Metzler at [email protected].