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We need your feedback to Please take a brief moment admin@cmdf.org.sg
Calling all doctors and other If you think you are able to
Congratulation to
HIV-positive Ugandan
http://www.ekklesia.co.uk
Equipping Leaders
Calling All Christians in
HealthCare: Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics
HEALTHCARE
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP with
Light penetrates darkness and
DATES:
FEES:
For Enquiry,
please contact
The National Council of Churches of Singapore and the YMCA of Singapore invite you to: A Public Lecture on The Ethics of Organ Trading by Dr. Roland Chia Saturday 2 May 2009 2.30 p.m. – 4.30 p.m.
Auditorium
(Level 1), Free Admission (A freewill offering will be taken)
All
pastors, medical personnel, leaders, students and other members of
the Christian public
Dr.
Roland Chia,
Enquiries:
FES 50th Anniversary Celebrations Theme: Recalling History, Proclaiming His Story
Since 1959, FES has
To commemorate
that,
* FES
Anniversary Lectures
*
FES Anniversary Dinner
Dinner fees:
We will also
republish the
Dr. Stephen Liang
Rev. Dr. Chris Gnanakan
Dr. Harvey A Elder,
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Editorial Team (VOL. #14/2009):
Goh Wei Leong, Soh Ling Ling,
Bernice Lee, Michelle Wong
Dear brothers and sisters, The highlight of the first quarter of the CMDF calendar must certainly be the revisiting of the Saline Solution Course with Dr. Bob Snyder and team as they showed us how to share our faith in a powerful and yet sensitive manner. The challenge is how we, as “Salt and Light” of the world, can engage in issues of justice and mercy in these turbulent times and not merely strive toward slicker worship services and higher-tech medicine. At about the time of the Saline Solution course, I had received news that Dr. James H Taylor III, a man of God, doctor, friend and brother had been called home. He has been an inspiration to many of us, leading a life worthy of the Lord and truly “salt and light” in our hurting world. We thank God for the many heroes of faith who express their faith in no uncertain terms and in so many creative ways. Do check out the blog initiated by of one of our brothers in the field at http://journeytosmile.wordpress.com. He asks, “Are humane relationships possible in the depth of conflict and global self-interest? Is civility possible? Can we smile?” We look forward to seeing you at our Annual Fellowship meeting in June when Dr. Chris Gnanakan will explore “Money and Medical Missions”, an aspect of the Christian life and ministry that has to be honestly and prayerfully wrestled with in today’s economic climate.
Shalom, |
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Please mark the date down in your calendar for the Annual Fellowship Meeting. Our speaker, Rev. Dr Chris Gnanakan, who has a double doctorate degree, is no stranger to CMDF. He is Professor and Head of Pastoral Theology and Counseling and "Dean of Chapel" at South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies in Bangalore, South India. He is a regular Leadership Training speaker at The Haggai Institute here. His messages are always fresh and thought-provoking, and the topic on Money and Medical Missions is most relevant given the current economic climate. Don't miss this meeting! Please kindly RSVP admin@cmdf.org.sg or call 82989595 (Michelle).
Basic Disaster Relief Training Course 2009
Course Objectives:
You should attend this course if:
Date: 24th & 25th April 2009 Venue: St John's-St Margaret's Church Chapel Closing date for registration is 20th April 2009
For any enquires, please contact Joy Seng at 68441238 or crspore@crisisrelief.org Website: www.crisisrelief.org
Co-Organizers: Crisis Relief Singapore, SJSM Health Touch,
Christian Medical & Dental Fellowship
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CMDF Re-Dedication Service 09
On 22 January 2009 , 63 CMDF members gathered at the Wesley Methodist Church for the Annual Rededication Service. It was an opportune time for thanksgiving for blessings received, to renew our faith, and a time of and prayer for direction in the new year during this period of uncertainty. The worship session was led by Drs. Tan Siew Pin, Darryl Chew and Michael Kim. Medical students, Ann and Wai Jia read the Scriptures. Dr. Sathyadevan from the Institute of Mental Health testified of the events that led to his personal revival. Our mission doctors, Drs. J Lum, R Hui, Tan LY, Loh C, and Ng LW were present to be prayed over by our chaplain, Rev. Dr. Tan Soo Inn. Dr. Lim Poh Lian, the speaker, reminded us that the busyness and stresses in our professional work, the challenges that come from within and without, should not deter us from focusing on our Lord. The Service ended with Holy Communion administered by Rev. Phillip Lim.
Dinner & Discussion,
12th February 2009
The CMDF Committee and some guests had the privilege of attending a D&D (dinner and discussion) at Dr.Goh Wei Leong’s residence with Rev. Dr. Chris Gnanakan who heads the Department of Pastoral Theology & Counseling at the South Asia Institute for Advanced Christian Studies, Bangalore, South India. Having been involved in various healthcare-related conferences, Rev. Dr. Chris Gnanakan spoke very insightfully on the positive paradigm shifts he has noticed in the worldwide development of healthcare. These included perceiving the patient as a guest rather than a customer, and therefore extending the Judeo-Christian concept of “kindness to strangers” to him or her. Increasingly, there has been a shift from “curing” (the sickness) to “healing” (the whole person), and from the patient as passive sufferer to active participant in the healing process. The discussion served as a challenge for us as some of these shifts were either non-existent or, at best, a very early work in progress here in Singapore.
Missionaries & Students Gathering @ NUS,
We were inspired by Dr. Kevin Chen’s sharing of his experiences on the mission field. He taught us the importance of paying attention to the heart, i.e. the hidden faults and residual sins in our lives that need dealing with before we embark on mission work. After his sharing, we split up into our contact groups for a time of personal interaction with the missionaries who were present. Indeed, that day we were left with much to think about - the foremost questions in our minds being “How can we stand in the gap in our campus?” and “How can we prepare ourselves for work in the mission field?”.
International Saline Conference & Training
The International Saline Conference and Training held in Singapore on March 27-28 and March 30 was very well received by those who attended. They engaged with the material and found clear, practical direction for being witnesses in their workplaces. Many commented on the value of having a case study (role play) to illustrate spiritual care of patients and to understand the faith journey as a process. In Singapore, this person was called by the name “Ah Beng”. In addition to the role play, participants also commented frequently on their appreciation of real-life examples, their desire for follow-up in the form of e-mail communication and the usefulness of the tools, especially faith flags and faith stories. Their dissatisfaction with the training was mostly related to feeling time pressure or wanting more activities and opportunity to ask questions. When it came to training of trainers (TOT), they were most satisfied with the group interaction, with a trainer assigned to each group. For the TOT, many comments had to do with the need for “more” – interaction, information, examples, hands-on experience. As the TOT module is in development, their desire for more is in keeping with our intentions to fill it out.
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E2S Orientation,
17th January 2009
The E2S training programme was well attended by fourth-year medical students who will be heading to India, Africa, Cambodia and China for their electives. Dr. Amos Loh started the ball rolling by introducing the E2S programme and its objectives. He also shared certain encounters he had experienced during his own medical student elective to Nepal. This was followed by a session on cross-cultural communications by Mr. Lawrence Ko who gave us insights on how to approach our electives in terms of understanding the cultural context of the place we were going to. After this, some of our seniors who are doctors shared about the lessons God taught them during their electives and gave us valuable advice regarding our preparation and expectation for the trip. The afternoon concluded with Dr. Tan Lai Yong sharing about the need to realize that rapid changes are taking place in the cultural context of the mission field.
Christian Medical Education "CME" @ NUS,
3rd
March 2009
For this instalment of CME talks by Christian doctors organized by Varsity Christian Fellowship - Medicine, we had Rev. Dr. Tan Soo Inn, chaplain of CMDF, who spoke on the topic “Where am I going? - Having a Christian mind on our career path”. Basing his talk on biblical principles, he outlined for us some basic pointers on how to discover our vocation and the spiritual disciplines needed. Following that, we listened with rapt attention to exciting testimonies by Dr. Kenny Tan, Dr. Claire Ang and Dr. Darryl Chew on how they sought God’s will for their vocations and the paths God led them through. It was truly enlightening for us students who had a chance to listen, ask and learn from our predecessors who have walked the path before us. We were encouraged and inspired by them to want to embark on this lifelong adventure and journey of discovery that God has in store for each of us.
Students Gathering,
27th
February 2009 On the 27th February, a group of 15 fourth year Christian medical students gathered at the home of Dr. Wong Lee Yuen for a time of worship, fun and fellowship with seniors from CMDF, Drs. Darryl Chew, Michael Kim and Linus Chua. This gathering was cherished time of reunion for the believers in this batch after a long period of not being able to meet together in such a large group. Dr. Wong Lee Yuen shared with us about God’s faithfulness and guidance to her with regards to medical career and Dr. Michael Kim shared about the struggles God brought him through as a trainee in Korea and exhorted the students to meet up as a family of Christ regularly to support one another. Dr. Darryl Chew shared how God led him into hand surgery and Dr. Linus Chua shared with us perspectives and preparing oneself spiritually for house-officer life. We were very touched and blest by how honestly the seniors shared their lives with us and brought home many lessons with us. We thank God for this gathering and how He has used it to speak to the hearts of us students. | |
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The Euthanasia
Forum saw a room packed with participants from various Christian
circles who had come to hear the views of Dr. Alastair Campbell,
Director of the Centre for Biomedical Ethics, National University
Singapore; Dr. Alex Tang, Director of the Spiritual Formation
Institute, Malaysia, and a paediatrician at the Johor Specialist
Hospital; and Rev. Dr. Tan Soo Inn, Chairman and Training Consultant
of Graceworks Pte Ltd, and Chaplain of the Christian Medical and
Dental Fellowship (CMDF).
Dr. Alex Tang felt that in the
midst of extensive debate, euthanasia had lost its original meaning
of a “good death”. Coming against conventional understandings of
euthanasia as refusing treatment, or an opportunity to get rid of
old folks, or the Advanced Medical Directive, or doctors as killers,
he added that doctors have a license only to save, and redefined
euthanasia in the light
of what Scripture approves. Drawing from examples in the Bible, he
concluded that “euthanasia for Christians is to live well and to die
well at the appointed time”.
Hands Across the
World
I greatly appreciated the opportunity to visit HealthServe Limited. I saw what you are doing, by God's grace. I saw how the individual migrants are being blessed. You accept each one as a precious child of God. The first evening, you were celebrating a birthday, complete with birthday cake, and all got a piece. They greatly appreciated being remembered as part of your family. The clinic, though small, is very efficient and is doing a wonderful work. You provide the only care in the area that sees the value of each migrant. You help them get the medical care they need. In this, you show the character and love of God through your countless acts of mercy. This is a wonderful work. The work with the migrants has the potential of traveling back to the interior of China, Malaysia and India as the migrants take the love of God and their passion for His Kingdom with them. My prayers are with you and your work. May your numbers increase. |
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Zimbabwe Update
PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT The Asia ICMDA conference, hosted by the Taiwan Christian Medical Association, will be held from August 7 to 9. The venue is likely to be the new Mackay Medical College which enrolled its first intake in the fall of 2008. This would be particularly meaningful as Dr. George Leslie Mackay was a medical missionary that brought the Gospel to northern Taiwan 144 years ago. We have great hopes of making the meeting an Asia-wide one. For 40 years now, this meeting series has been rotating among Japan, Korea and Taiwan. This year, Thailand will join us, with 15 participants. Christian migrant workers in Taiwan from Vietnam, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia will also be present. We propose to raise funding to cover the local expenses of all students coming from other countries so that they will only need to take care of the cost of their flight tickets. We are also planning some pre-conference field trips to such places as the free clinic of endemic Black-Foot Disease, the museum, the church of leprosy victims and the Christian hospitals that are active in outreach to migrant workers.
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