“MBF’s #1 priority for funding”
You can be involved in medical mission every day! Ongoing support, or even a one-time gift, provides the resources for these mission workers to continue day-by-day with the international health and development work for which they have been called by God and commissioned by Presbyterian Church (USA). While some enjoy a broad base of support from individuals and churches, others need additional support to complete their funding requirements. Your financial support and prayers will encourage and strengthen them to continue their work in God’s healing mission.
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Les and Cindy Morgan
Bangladesh
MBF goal for 2010 - $16,000
Les and Cindy, both medical doctors, have served as missionaries in Bangladesh since 1989. After 13½ years at Christian Mission Hospital (CMH) in Rajshahi, they relocated to the capital city of Dhaka, where they serve as advisors for the Church of Bangladesh’s health ministries. The Morgans continue to serve at Christian Mission Hospital, traveling back and forth to Rajshahi once or twice a month. At CMH, they serve primarily as advisors to the new director, Dr. Andrew Roy. They continue to help shape and support the hospital’s primary health care program that reaches out to serve the marginalized tribal people in the rural areas of the district. In Dhaka, Les and Cindy run clinics in several of the Church of Bangladesh’s Christian Ministry to Youth and Children (CMCY) program areas, and are helping to further develop community health outreach in other Church of Bangladesh programs.
Michael and Nancy Haninger
DR Congo
MBF goal for 2010 - $12,000
Mike and Nancy serve at Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai (IMCK) and the Good Shepherd Hospital in Tshikaji. Mike is an OB/GYN physician and director of education at IMCK. Mike's primary role is educating nursing and medical students, and family practice medical residents, with emphasis on reducing maternal and newborn injury and death, including the prevention and repair of obstetric fistulas. Nancy is a nurse-midwife, providing patient care as well as community based primary healthcare education. She supervises a regional nutrition rehabilitation center for severely malnourished children and is involved with several community-based integrated health and development projects, such as the Moringa Tree project and literacy and development training for women. The Haningers are currently on family leave in the states. MBF continues to raise funds for their expected return to the field.
Larry and Inge Sthreshley
DR Congo
MBF goal for 2010 - $26,000
Larry and Inge have been under appointment as mission co-workers since 1987. Larry is director of Project AXxes, a large rural health organization that builds and maintains a health infrastructure for rural Congo. Larry heads a team of 50 who impact the health of eight million people—fighting malaria, TB, malnutrition, and childhood illnesses such as diarrhea and respiratory infection. Inge assists women’s groups in the areas of agriculture and development. She has written a number of brochures and published a book on agriculture and health educational materials.
John and Gwenda Fletcher
DR Congo
MBF goal for 2010 - $1,000
In 2009 John and Gwenda Fletcher returned to the DR Congo, a country where they previously served. John is a general surgeon working with the Presbyterian Church of Congo (CPC) as a surgical consultant, providing direct patient care as well as training residents, medical students and nursing students. John also works with the Christian Medical Institute of the Kasai (IMCK) and the CPC to upgrade the surgical capacities of the CPC's rural community hospitals, with IMCK as the supporting institution. Gwenda is an education consultant to the CPC and Presbyterian Church of Kinshasa. She also works with the two education departments to build capacity in infrastructure, teaching skills, administration and community involvement.
Gwen and John Haspels
Ethiopia
MBF goal for 2010 - $1,000
Gwen and John have been serving as mission co-workers since 1974, first in Ethiopia, then in Sudan, and now again in Ethiopia. They work on a multi-phase project at the invitation of the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Phase I of the project is devoted to construction of roads and the development of a good water system for Tum. Phase II of the project is a comprehensive program that includes evangelism, education, medical care, and development work.
Nathaniel Veltman
Ethiopia
MBF goal for 2010 - $10,000
Nathaniel Veltman is a development consultant with the Ethiopian Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus (EECMY) - meaning “home of Jesus”, the long-time partner church of PC(USA) in Ethiopia. Nathaniel serves the five Bethel Synods of the EECMY, located in west and southwest Ethiopia, in a position focused on capacity building of the synods for development initiatives. His work includes consulting on program design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation; grant writing; and connecting the Bethel Synods with partners abroad as well as within Ethiopia. It is being expanded to include serving as advisor for Diakonia Ministry for the Bethel Synods, including both evangelism and development, and teaching theology and development at the Synod Bible Schools. His work spans a wide area geographically, as well as "thematically" in that he provides project management input into projects related to education, health, water, agriculture, etc.
Nathaniel holds a master’s degree in international development from the University of Pittsburgh. While pursuing his bachelor’s degree at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Nathaniel participated in a 3½ month cross-cultural immersion program in Ghana and a four month internship with a Christian Reformed World Relief Committee’s partner organization in Malawi, “Save Orphans Ministries.” His experiences in graduate school and Africa (including a two week mission trip to Malawi in 2007) made him aware of the concrete and often impersonal program that NGOs offer in contrast to the relational format of mission. Recognizing that the church has an important role to play in establishing and building relationships as the foundation for community development, he was challenged to shift his focus toward mission work.
“Than,” as he is known to friends and family, feels that his hearing loss has produced insights and skills that he may have not developed otherwise. “As an outsider in an audio-normative society,” he writes, “I have been forced to communicate cross-culturally. I see the restoration of my hearing [he has two cochlear implants] as a glimpse of what God is doing in the world: God is at work restoring it and making it whole, healing broken relationships and broken bodies. I have come to understand that my experiences growing up with hearing loss were the ‘refining fire’ that has made me who I am today, equipping me with the skills I need to serve Him in the area of international development and ministry.”
Than is a member of Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pix Mahler
Haiti
MBF goal for 2010 - $40,000
Pix serves as US based mission co-worker as Haiti Partnership Facilitator for the PC(USA). Pix serves God’s mission by nurturing relationships between Presbyterians in the United States and various ministries of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti. She sees her work as being a channel of communication between the PC(USA) and the Diocese in Haiti. Pix says, “I help people in the United States discover what gifts they may have that are applicable to ministry with our partners.”
Salvador and Irma de la Torre
Kenya
MBF goal for 2010 - $58,000
Salvador and Irma are a doctor-nurse team who have extensive teaching and clinical experience at hospitals and universities in Mexico, Haiti, Kenya and Zambia. Salvador is a consultant to the Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHOK), the overarching agency for all Christian hospitals, including three hospitals of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). He helps medical institutions improve their management systems. Salvador is also the project manager for the U.S. government-sponsored assistance program for people with HIV/AIDS. In this role, Salvador makes sure that patients with HIV get the drugs and the equipment necessary for anti-retroviral therapy for HIV. Irma helps the PCEA set up primary schools and builds community leadership.
Frank and Nancy Dimmock
Lesotho
MBF goal for 2010 - $1,000
Frank and Nancy have served in Africa for over 20 years. Frank serves as the Africa Health Liaison for PC(USA) and commutes throughout the continent, working with our partner churches on issues of HIV/AIDS, caring for orphaned and vulnerable children, responding to the “diseases of poverty,” and helping with administrative issues.
Dan and Elizabeth Turk
Madagascar
MBF goal for 2010 - $4,000
Dan and Elizabeth serve through the development branch of the Church of Jesus Christ in Madagascar (FJKM), within which are departments of health, environment, agriculture, and safe drinking water. Dan is especially involved in reforestation efforts, promoting the planting of fruit and native trees. Elizabeth helps the staff of the FJKM Health Department design and implement a community health program. The program works with rural communities to prevent and treat malaria, measles, diarrhea, and pneumonia. Elizabeth also advises the family planning program and serves on the national AIDS Committee. The concern for AIDS awareness and education is a major focus of FJKM.
Paul and Darlene Heller
Malawi
MBF goal for 2010 - $1,000
Paul and Darlene Heller serve as joint directors of the Crisis Nursery in Mzuzu, Malawi. They work under the auspices of the Synod of Livingstonia of the Church of Central Africa Presbyterian (CCAP) developing the orphan care ministry for the Ministry of Hope. Paul, a pastor, is the director, dealing with administrative and fund-raising duties. Darlene, a public health nurse, is the nursery’s matron, working with staff supervising the care for orphaned, abandoned or neglected infants.
Jim and Jodi McGill
Malawi
MBF goal for 2010 - $10,000
Jim and Jodi are longtime mission workers. Jim coordinates the clean water and sanitation work of the Synod of Livingstonia’s three hospitals (Embangweni, Ekwendeni and David Gordon Memorial), the clean water section of the Synod’s Development Department, and the shallow wells work of the Marion Medical Mission. The focus of his work is to ensure sustainability at the community level and to ensure the church is a strong presence in the rural development of Malawi and an effective advocate for its people. As coordinator of primary health care, Jodi works with the hospitals, the congregation-based malaria prevention program, HIV/AIDS prevention and care, support programs in communities and hospitals, and other public health programs. She is also a part-time clinical instructor at Ekwendeni Hospital’s nursing school.
Barbara Nagy
Malawi
MBF goal for 2010 - $48,000
A specialist in internal medicine and pediatrics, Barbara has been a physician at Nkhoma Hospital in central Malawi since 2004. Nkhoma Hospital has been working to improve its maternal and neonatal health for the past few years, trying to combat a maternal death rate hundreds of times more than it is in the developed world.
Martha Sommers
Malawi
MBF goal for 2010 - $1,000
Martha is a medical officer under appointment to minister with the Synod of Livingstonia. Martha recently moved back to Ekwendeni Hospital, where she had served prior to the last 6 years at Embangweni Hospital. Ekwendeni has a long history of serving the rural population in northern Malawi and border regions of Tanzania and Zambia. Martha continues to make periodic trips to Embangweni to perform upper endoscopy on patients who could benefit from the procedure and cannot travel to Ekwendeni.
Janet Guyer
South Africa
MBF goal for 2010 - $30,000
Janet, an ordained minister, is a PC(USA) regional AIDS consultant for southern Africa. She works with partner churches in several countries, including Malawi, Zambia, and South Africa, to broaden and deepen their response to the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Nancy McGaughey
Sudan
MBF goal for 2010 - $40,000
Nancy serves as health coordinator with the Association of Christian Resource Organizations Serving Sudan (ACROSS). She provides advice and support in policy development and compliance, and seeks to build the capacity of ACROSS field staff working with the Health, HIV/AIDS and Household Food Security (HHH) programs. Nancy works to ensure the quality of the programs and foster the development of relationships between church and community leaders, government departments and other NGO’s.
Mission Workers in Areas of Security Concern
MBF goal for 2010 - $90,000
MBF supports 3 mission personnel working in countries where security concerns limit our ability to publicize their names or locations in website materials. Their names have been removed from this document to protect their safety, the continuation of their work and the well-being of national Christians in their countries of service. Information on these mission workers is available by contacting MBF, but cannot be posted on any website. These mission co-workers need our financial and prayer support as they relate to people of other faiths in “full humility, openness, honesty, and respect.”
Future Mission Workers
As new opportunities and positions are presented, funding is needed to cover the term of service before these mission workers before they begin their mission service in the field. PC(USA) is currently seeking new mission workers to fill health-related positions in DR Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi and Sudan. More information on these positions is available at www.onedoor.pcusa.org.
Where Most Needed
Selecting one mission worker to support can be a daunting task. It is equally difficult to predict where the support will be most needed. Support for missionaries “where most needed” provides the flexibility to apply funds to the mission workers with the greatest salary support need.
“What Does It Cost to Keep A Missionary in the Field?”
Mission workers are appointed to three year terms. Adequate funding needs to be in place before they are placed in the field to ensure completion of their full term.
Full 3 year term costs vary by location, but average around $200,000 for a single and as much as $400,000 for a family. You can help insure continued service by committing toward the support of a full three-year term for one of these mission workers.
Any excess funds received for the current year are applied to subsequent years or future terms. Should the mission worker end service, remaining funds will be redirected with your permission.
Contact MBF for more information on how to support these health-related mission personnel.
