The Ohio Independent Baptist, June 1966

Medical mi ion has long been an integral part of the rni ionary enter– prise among fundamental Baptist churche . It i a part of the three– fold Great Commission which J esu gave to Hi own di ciples in Mat– thew 9:35-36 to go into all the world teaching, preaching, and heal– ing. Among independent Bapti t mis- ion agencie which are approved by the Association of Regular Bapti t hurche , medical mis ions ha play– ed an irnportant role. And the charge of the liberals that we are more con– cerned about "pie in the sky , than we are the here and now" is refuted. Baptist Mid-Missions appointed nurs– e to French Equatorial Africa in the 1920's. They worked with meager upplies, some of which were obtained locally, such as the mixture of palm oil with red peppers to provide a liniment. A our field grew, opportunitie increa ed. and re pon ibilitie with them. Carefully designed to avoid the institutionalism of liberal mission boards, sound Baptist missions were low to initiate major medical en– deavors. All this seemed in God's per– fect timing: during the past 15 year we have seen several doctors go to the field and a number of ho pital and leprosy colonies e tablished. urses also served on other field s where. although there were no au– thorized d1spensarie , they found a great opportunity to u e their training in conjunction with evangelism and 13ib1e teaching. Establish Hospitals Bapti t Mid-Mi ssions e tablt hed a hospital in entral Africa Republic in 1952 and in the Republic of had in 1956 he e have become irnport– ant :surgical center. and points of training for African n1edical-evangel– i ts. At ahout the sa1ne tir11e, the 111c:dical Vt'Ork in As. a 111. I ndirt grew • • t, e1111>ndou ly with a great 111crcase 111 the n edical c111pha i Vt 1 hat v.ri tl1 the gt:neral }10 pital, tul,crct1lo i l1ospi taJ , and a larg lepr )' col O)' · ABWI~ had a clinic in the 1>t1ili1,1,int: witl1 one ,ni ionar , doctor a i ted l>)' a J)a1 t- t i n e 11 i p 1 ,1 d ,ctor. A11 of 1 t1 c: in 1al! at1 n " re crying f r JJ r on11cl and larg I u11d r t, J f d, tc:n .. ,,t~ 11 d t r at a }1 1,i1al . A ,, 1111 n I I .,.., · ~ 11 c: i. 111e I I a I > , 1 n I as t I d 11 r tJ I ,,11 ~, ill( 11 BAP IS By Dr. Jon H. Rouch One ma), al o reflect upon the good number of medical tudent which have come from Regular Baptist Churche during the ame 15 year . Some of these had indicated to their pa tor or to Bapti ·t mis ion board that they were intere ted. Away from home, many of them were ubject to interdenominational influences. on1e of them who were already con1mitted to mi ion ~ elected to go with an in– terdenomi national board partly be– cau e of the ucce of these boards in making their projects known to medical student and intern through attractive literature and field repre- entatives. It wa not that the e Bap– ti t fellow would not have gone out with a Bapti t board. We imply lo t them by default ince we were not there to pre ent the needs of our Bap– ti t mis ion ho pital at a time when they were ready to make a deci ion . B.M.F. Is Born The Bapti t Medical Fellow hip wa conceived to shore up this deficiency. About two years ago a letter on the editorial page of the Baptist Bulletin lead some pa tors to ubmit name of doctor in their churche . The e phy icians were contacted by a new letter , although there was a yet no real organization. In 1964 at Winona Lake GARB conference, Dr . Ken– oyer, Rhode and Rouch of Bapti t Mid-Mi ions met with Dr. George He and Dr. George Trout from l11i– noi , and a few pa tor~ to accept the challenge of a prayer fell ow hip. We did not want ju t another organiza– tion whose only function wa to elect officer and collect due\ . We \\ anted Ot . Jor H. ou h prayer to be the cohesive factor a · Bapti t doctor realized together their re ponsibility in the struggle for the oul of men to whom they minister. Mo t phy ician and medical tu– dents from our Bapti t churches are already member of the Chri tian Med– ical ociety. However, thi ociety i · not a n1i ionary- ending organization, even though they do encourage mi ·- ion . And on1e of u felt " hort- tern1 111edical n1i ion " wa over- ernpha ized. Thu we felt there wa a place for a Bapti t Medical Fellow- hip. We learned that there wa a Free Methodi t Medical Fellow hip. A Mennonite Medical Fellow hip and a Lutheran Medical A ociation. o, why not BMF? Desire of B.M.F. We hope that doctor in our Bap– ti t churche can learn of the variou medical project t1ndertaken by Evan– gelical Bapti t Mi ion , and their launch di pen ary on the iger River ~ or of ABWE' promi ing work in Ea t Paki tan ~or Bapti t Mid-Mi ion ' ho - pital in Africa or India. D ctor n1a y go on a hort term ba i t pend t\VO or three month . uch a a denti t did in the ummer of 1965. at our leper colony in Liberia. We al o hope that nc\v recruit, for n1i i n can b gained thr ugh ti h a channel by n1aking opp rtunitie~ kn ,vn to Bapti t n1edical tt1dent · through liter, turc or per nal cont,1ct. lt i not ct1lt1c tt1 de ·irt: that t)t11 111ean conft)rn1 t ttr goJ.I. . nd i" not ot1r t1lt1111at a1111 the e tJ.bli hn1cnt of ew tar11cnt B,tpt1~t ( httr he, '! 0111 Bapti t Lio t r~ appointed h\ non-d non1inctt1L1n,1l ho,lrd l,1ter finti ottt they \,\ er c reall} 111ore Baptist than th or1g1 nail, h ild th tight' In f,lCt. one ll:,l~t)Jl ll)I p,.1rt1'1l "'ll)\tng l)f R1r11111er Hl)\1111,11 at H ( ' J B 1n {)tlllt) '"'"" th,tt 1t ''"s 1\L)t clcdrl, r~– latell t<) the I )Cal · ht11 cl1. S1r1Lc l ,1111 a full-t1111l" ~taff-111c111l)cr L)f 13c111t ist lill- I i ,HJ11, I h,1,c -...~11l tit an L)C ,tsiL 11al 11c,, ~It~t tl!r a11 t f)l ' - 1,art: I lit >1 1tt1r )11 111 Ull., l 111issi 11s. "l l1i is a11 • i. tr.t" hLl> l J1ll the 11 altl1 dJ'e >I ttl 111issi(\Jl ' lf J1tl l)llllel ,t l ur 111~lli • I ffi l1c:rc; i11 l , l 11 I. llt1t ,, ,,a11t a l~a1tist 11 ll ·11 f II\\ - l1i1, t 1) , I' i11 trt1111e11t t, pr( - llll t l f 1 ,, rk , n t 1111n's 1 g, niz.l- t I n , 111 s ,, 11 1 I, :l n 11 l> 11 t. , I '1 l I t1 \ S l ' l d 11 111l l l i) ~ ll I )I CI\I • JUN l 66 PA I •