Praying for our healers

SIM has been blessed with untold numbers of medical missionaries serving on three continents over the past 118 years. Yet our medical personnel worldwide often serve in some of the most overwhelming and strained conditions. Here are some examples of challenges:

• Shortages of medicines, x-rays, lab supplies, and other basic necessities.
• Power cuts, lack of generators or generator fuel.
• Superstitions engrained in local cultures which make patients resistant to saving health care.
• Working in volatile societies where there may be political or inter-community unrest at any moment.
• Particularly hot or uncomfortable climates.
• Working in contexts where corruption is overlooked or even acceptable.
• Inter-personal relationships in a multi-cultural setting where the potential for misunderstanding is high.
• Understaffed ministries or at times high turnover of staff.
• Having to balance multiple roles besides the core activity of medicine—roles such as administration, fund raising, participating in other ministries, etc.
• Balancing personal and family life with ministry.
• Daily exposure to great suffering, disease, pain, and death.

As you might imagine, those who have devoted their lives to this service are keen to have our regular prayers and encouragement! Please take a moment to pray today for:

• perseverance and stamina amid trying circumstances.
• perspective about the bigger story that God is accomplishing in their country and community of service—kingdom perspective.
• that each would spend quality time daily in prayer and with the Word.
• that each would be open to perceive and receive encouragement from the Holy Spirit.
• for divine protection from spiritual attack and discouragement.
• for physical and emotional protection for those serving in volatile contexts.
• for healthy interpersonal relationships to surround and encourage our medical workers.
• that the Holy Spirit would invade our medical ministries with the GOSPEL of JESUS' LOVE, bringing fruit from the labour of our medical workers.

THANK YOU for your prayer support of hundreds of medical workers today. We could not do this work without prayer! We also thank God for excellent church and ministry partners on the ground. We are enriched by the gifts and talents of local medical personnel in every place that we work. They often teach and model godly perseverence.

Above all, we thank God for each and every patient that we have the opportunity to help. Each one is priceless, and each opportunity to restore a human person to health and dignity is a great gift.