Today very few, new mission hospitals are built. The job opportunities are still vast for Christian, medical professionals who want to serve God through their work.
Once upon a time mission agencies built hospitals and helped people in poorer nations to get access to much needed medical care. The same hospitals provided jobs for Christian, medical professionals. Many young Jesus-followers took a medical education in order to use their skills for God and serve where the need in the world was the greatest.
Today doctors, nurses, physiotherapist and others in the medical field may struggle to find jobs through the more traditional mission channels. Due to changes in the development and aid policies, building hospitals that “forever” will be dependent on support from abroad is no longer seen as a viable strategy. Thus the need for medically trained missionaries has declined. Several young and not so young medical professionals have come back disappointed after trying to find a mission job abroad.
Here is the good news for all of them:
The international job opportunities for medical personnel are greater today than anytime earlier in history. Medical personnel can even get well-paid jobs in areas of the world where there are few Christians and the spiritual need is great. Several of the Middle Eastern countries, including Saudi Arabia, are among those constantly searching the international job market in order to staff their hospitals and clinics. The salary is often good, and the opportunities for sharing the Gospel are many.
– Christian health workers can show the love of Christ in a very concrete way, concludes a North African doctor TMBriefs has talked to. For security reasons his name and location cannot be mentioned. Several years ago he started an organization that recruits and sends medical workers to needy places in his own region. He got the vision for the new work when he took part at a Christian conference in a neighboring nation. When people got to know that there was a medical doctor at the conference, they started bringing sick and injured family members and friends to him. The rumors about his presence spread. Before the conference was over, he got to treat people who had walked on foot for days in order to meet with him.
– We experience many miracles from the Lord in our region right now. In a time like this it is very important that people who are filled with God’s love can come and join us. Christian medical workers can serve as key personnel in living out the Gospel here, says the doctor.