Lutherans Share in Work
of Medical Missionaries
December 26, 2010

     "We are busy. There is much to do," Scott Lien will tell you. As Director of Operations for Global Health Ministries, he laid it out when he visited Silverhill's Zion Lutheran Church on the Sunday following Christmas. He reported on the current status of Lutheran medical missions in the world and the impact of a mission operation like Global Health Ministries which serves as an instrument through which Lutheran love and compassion are channeled for the health and hope of God's children around the world. The ministry is a response to the Good News of Jesus, the "Great Physician." It seeks to share the desire of churches to impact the lives of disadvantaged children and adults in other parts of the world. It functions as a mechanism to allow direct involvement by individuals and congregations in Christ's healing ministry. The goal is to continue the healing ministry of Jesus Christ by enhancing health care programs of Lutheran churches in other countries.

     Scott Lien from Global Health Ministries took a moment to pose with daughter Olivia on the Sunday after Christmas. He had just set up a display for the international Lutheran health care ministry headquartered in north Minneapolis, MN, USA.

     The impact of Global Health Ministries is important and is achieved by the funding of approved health care projects - things like scholarships, support for charity patients, capital improvements, development of appropriate technology, and more. The ministry gathers and ships useful donated health care equipment and supplies as requested by Lutheran health care programs. It communicates with groups and congregations, explaining the opportunities and needs of Lutherans involved in overseas health care programs. It encourages pray for the church's health care missionaries and those they serve. It actively recruits nurses, dentists, doctors, surgeons, and allied workers for overseas service in training and consultation missions. And it advises synods and other groups directly on health care mission issues, drawing on its rich reservoir of knowledge and experience of GHM supporters.

     Scott Lien brought greetings on behalf of the Global Health Ministries team. The Lutheran ministry provides medical supplies to Lutheran medical missions throughout the world.

     Contributions help cover the cost of facilities for patient care, mosquito netting to protect families from malaria, subsidies for remote clinics, drilling of village wells, underwriting training costs for nurses, technicians, and other health care personnel, combating the spread of HIV/AIDS and supporting those already affected, and by sending sea containers of donated medical supplies to hospitals and clinics.

     Margaret Stephens, Martha and Charlie Canning, Pete Midgarden, Shirley Stephens, Olivia Lien, Cindi Johnson, and Scott Lien (l to r) discussed the impact of Global Health Ministries on Lutheran medical mission around the world with the Adult Sunday School class at Zion Lutheran Church in Silverhill, Alabama. Scott oversees procurement and shipping of medical goods to Lutheran clinics and mission hospitals throughout the world. Global Health Ministries is a pan-Lutheran medical ministry headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

     There are mission opportunities for all of us. Additional information about Global Health Ministries is available by phone (763-586-9590) or e-mail (ghmoffice@cs.com) or website http://www.ghm.org.