Many people ask if there’s a place for them on FAME Short-Term Medical Mission trips.

Some are asking if their medical area of expertise will fit in. Others have no medical background and wonder if they would be any help at all! The answer is, “YES!”

Let me tell you about Triage. Triage officially is, “the preliminary assessment of patients in order to determine the urgency of their need for treatment and the nature of treatment required.”

Triage, at our Medical camps, is the first step of care before seeing any medical providers. On a recent trip to Colombia we had Nurses, Doctors, Medical students, general care, dental care, an eye clinic, and non-medical people all ready to meet the community member’s needs. Team member Sandy oversaw triage. Other team members reported to me that she did a phenomenal job with everyone.

Triage requires someone willing to ask questions and listen! Using an interpreter when there is a language barrier increases the time and patience it takes- but it is so rewarding.

Rewarding because God seems to have the right team member at the right place at the right time.

One day a lady came to see the medical providers because she was struggling with several things. But because Sandy was willing to patiently ask questions, she learned that the Colombian mother was especially dealing with grief from her son passing away seven years earlier. Here’s where God steps into the triage area: Sandy had also lost a son seven years ago. It was reported to me, how beautiful it was that they prayed together, for each other, and that it was such a healing moment BEFORE THE MOTHER EVEN began to see the medical providers there that day!

Don’t get me wrong, Sandy brings many skills, experiences, and professional expertise to our teams when she and her husband travel with FAME. But that day, LISTENING and EMPATHY became the tools of healing. The next station to which the mother would have gone is where local pastors share the gospel and pray with each patient. God opened her heart in triage, to be prepared to hear the good news of hope that comes in Jesus Christ.

Should you go on a trip with FAME?

Can you ask questions and listen?

Yes.

Your background, skills, experiences, and heart for the Lord- will put you in the right place at the right time.

Thank you for your partnership.

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your continued partnership with FAME through prayer. We are humbled by your faithfulness to the ministry and to those we serve as you pray alongside us each month.

Last week, we had the opportunity to step outside and appreciate the beauty of nature and God’s creation. As fall begins, God truly puts on a marvelous show! Shades of red, orange, and yellow are visible in all variations during the day, while the stars and moon shine brightly on clear, crisp nights. How blessed we are to experience such beauty here in the Midwest this time of year. I pray that even if you don’t live in a part of the U.S. or world where you experience the changing of the seasons, you too can see God’s beauty all around you.

This month, please keep in prayer our Board of Directors as they meet in the middle of the month to discuss, plan, and make decisions on behalf of the ministry. Leading up to the meeting, we ask for your partnership in praying for each of the FAME board members that God gives them wisdom and discernment in preparation for and during the meeting.

We also ask that you pray for another short-term team we have going to Colombia to serve with the mission La Costa Colombia. This team, in partnership with Chapel Rock Christian Church, will be hosting multiple medical outreaches in local cities and towns in and around Barranquilla. Pray that the love of Jesus will be shown through the medical care that they provide.

Pray also for some upcoming church visits Executive Director, Bill Warren will be making and also for some wonderful volunteer groups that will be serving here at FAME to aid us in bringing help and hope to those around the world through medical evangelism.

Lastly, pray for some of the FAME staff who are passionate about the ministry of FAME and the people who are served.

Blessings in the coming month.

Click here for the October Prayer Calendar

The partnerships we have with FAME global partners allow your impact to have many layers.

• There is the church in Colombia that is rapidly growing, and the pastor, Rogelio who follows up on those who hear the gospel.
• There is your FAME team that works with local medical professionals and medical students
• It is on return trips that unique medical situations can be checked on and taken to the next level

That follow-up is an exciting story of partnership. As you know, FAME receives hundreds of thousands of medical pieces of equipment and supplies every year. These have to be sorted, valued, inventoried, repurposed, and then prepared for shipment to FAME global partners.

On a trip 2 weeks ago to Colombia, your FAME medical mission team cared for and shared the gospel with over 600 people! This is not our first trip to these barrios in Barranquilla, Colombia.

One young man this ministry in Colombia has been treating and caring for, is Robert. He is 14, has a medical situation, and has needed a back brace to be stable and active, but the availability and cost of a back brace made this impossible.

BUT BECAUSE OF PARTNERSHIP, our FAME team was able to take a back brace that was precisely what he needed to increase his mobility, stability, and healthy growth!

What joy was on his face as he tried this on, was treated and prepared for how to use it. He then left the medical camp with a new hope. It reminds me of the lame man in the book of Acts who “went walking and leaping and praising God.

Thank you for your partnership, which allows partnership to bring hope to young men like Robert!

When we say, access to healthcare is by WALKING more than 3 hours for millions of the people of the world…we’re not exaggerating!

Earlier this week, I was with a partner in Malawi and this was me on the path from the village to the Hospital that opens soon!

I was reminded as we walked, since there were limited roads just how IMPORTANT YOUR PARTNERSHIP is to millions of the world’s most vulnerable. As I met children and people who will be served by this hospital, I saw deep in their eyes their love for life, and joy in Jesus that they have found because of this ministry partner! More people need this same hope!

Since this is such a remote location in Malawi, the Hospital is nearly ready to fill with equipment and supplies, but the next step is quality staff; and quality staff is hard when housing is unavailable. Because of YOUR partnership, I was able to participate in the groundbreaking of new staff housing to keep this new hospital sustainable!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for your partnership, which allows access to the gospel to move closer to more people because of access to healthcare!

People in Malawi will hear the gospel because of YOU!

Bill Warren
Executive Director

Eliu is 9 years old, in the third grade, likes school, does his homework, and helps around the house.  Eliu lives with his Abuela (his Grandma) in a little village near a FAME global shipping partner. About a month ago, Eliu and some cousins were playing, and Eliu jumped down from a fence onto a pile of broken concrete blocks. Somehow the block he landed on turned and pinned his foot as he continued his none-too-controlled landing. His Grandma took him to the Public Health Clinic where they did nothing to help him for the next 3 days. They then sent him to the Public Hospital in a larger city where he was put under some anesthesia and the deep soft tissue injury just below his ankle was sewn up. The medical staff then put on a tight dressing and splint.  Surprisingly, less than two hours later, he was discharged and sent back to the Public Clinic. The partner suspects that this was a crucial point of further injury to his foot due to post-op swelling inside the constrictive bandage because the boy remembers waking up along the way back to the clinic with excruciating and unrelenting pain in his foot.  At the clinic, they again did nothing for a day to help him (not even loosening or changing the dressing). They then sent him back to the Public Hospital where they too did nothing to help his pain. Finally, they sent him to the largest public health hospital in the country.  At this large facility they too did very little for 11 days, and finally told Abuela that the plan was to amputate his leg.

Somewhere along the way, Abuela heard of FAME partner, Hospital Loma de Luz, and was able to have him moved out of the national hospital and into Loma de Luz 17 days after the original injury. There, after receiving loving and quality care at this FAME partner facility, he has a viable foot and the ankle fractures are finally healing. He will run and play again!

We like to be cautious when we speak about the public clinics and hospitals in the developing world, but for a substantial variety of reasons, the care, funding, staffing, and quality of the public healthcare systems are less than adequate.  This is especially true for those who cannot afford available healthcare.

That is why FAME is working globally to bring access to healthcare, attached to the love of Jesus, closer and closer to more of the world’s most vulnerable.  Unfortunately, stories like Eliu’s repeat day after day around the world.

At this moment, 13 Sustainable projects are in preparation or under construction because people need access to healthcare.  Equipment and supplies are being sent by shipping containers and smaller loads every day!

When you say “Yes!” to FAME, YOU make this possible!

“I just kept thinking there had to be more to life. I felt that God was drawing me to Him.” said a partner of FAME whose story is below.

FAME is blessed to partner with some of the most amazing people!
•    With Global partners
•    With partners who GO to support the global partners
•    With partners like you, who partner financially

Each is an integral part of the impact of FAME! But this is a story of defining a new season of life.

In a large Midwestern city, there is a couple who both loved the Lord, their children and grandchildren, their church, and missions.  As they approached retirement about 6 years ago, she said the above opening quote!  So, they began to pray. As they prayed, they were drawn to 2 countries one in Central America, and one in Africa.  And since 2017 they have led dozens of medical and water treatment trips to share the gospel in these 2 countries.

As they looked at the next season of life, they allowed God to direct their steps.  One country they serve is Uganda.  Uganda’s healthcare system has caring providers, using limited resources.  One hospital they serve has such limited resources, that if you have a family member as a patient, you are responsible for their clean water to drink and meals!

But here is why FAME MUST send medical and dental supplies with this couple – Uganda has a population where 47% of the population is under the age of 15 years old!  (USA is 17%). What an opportunity to impact the future of a nation!  Half of the population are teens and children!  These children are at risk for atrocities but also have just no direction.

Because of partners, “Global”, “Going”, and “Giving”, YOU are making an impact on future generations!

Paul saw partnership the same way when he was writing the Romans. “How can they hear without someone to tell them, how can someone go tell them without those who send?”

You are an important piece of the next season of FAME! Maybe you are entering a new season of life…some of you could be called to go. Some of you are being called to send!

Those who go, and those who send are equal partners in changing the world!  If you’d like to consider greater ways you can partner in sending, in a new season of life using non-cash gifts, IRA or stock distributions, or other estate planning, message Jeff Coon and he will send you a Planning Guide for your consideration.

Thank you for your partnership.

Many times FAME partners go to the underserved and neglected where there is no access by road! 

FAME has learned:
Where there is limited access to healthcare, there is limited access to the gospel.
Where there is limited access to the gospel, there is limited access to healthcare.

In the busy suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, at one of the nation’s best hospitals, is an ER Doctor who is one of the best!  Year-round he treats terrible situations in the ER and the Level II Trauma Center. But his favorite “shifts” are places with no roads in Central and South America.  He and his wife have been traveling to Panama, the Amazon region of Brazil, Bolivia, and Guatemala since 2005.  FAME has been sending medicines, sutures, surgical equipment, and supplies for many years!

He reported from a trip this summer, “We saw 2115 patients, fitted 731 pairs of glasses, screened and treated all of the adults for hypertension and diabetes, gave nearly 1000 vitamin injections, hundreds of steroid joint injections, dozens of surgeries.., gave away hundreds of toys, and trained local missionaries/pastors how to use their new autorefractor to continue to test and fit the 4000 pairs of glasses we left them. Most importantly, we shared the Gospel message with everyone!”

Thank you for your partnership that sends the gospel to unlikely, and difficult-to-reach regions.  God has been sending people to deserted areas since the church began.  In Acts, we are told that an angel of the Lord told Philip to go South of Jerusalem to a desert path and he found an Ethiopian who was ready to hear the gospel.

YOU are being used by God to send messengers to areas with and without roads so the gospel can be shared! 

Thank you for your partnership.

Bill Warren
Executive Director

Dear Prayer Partner,

Thank you for your continued support of the ministry of FAME through prayer. Whether your prayers be for our numerous mission partners around the world, FAME international scholarship students, our numerous and faithful volunteers, participants and team leaders on our medical mission trips, our devoted Board Members, or our passionate staff, your prayers ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

This month we ask for prayers for two short-term mission teams that will be going to Colombia. These teams will be serving alongside the mission, La Costa Colombia providing medical care through medical outreaches in the coastal cities of Barranquilla, Santa Marta, and Buena Ventura to develop and support indigenous Christian ministries, as well as providing health education seminars for women in the area. Medical outreaches and education open doors for our Colombian hosts to engage in personal relationships with those who come to receive treatment from our team.  Through those relationships, the good news of Jesus can be shared, and ultimately lives will be transformed. Please pray for the individuals that will be going to serve and those they will be helping and teaching.

Other items of prayer this month include:

• Wonderful volunteer groups
• A shipping container we are loading with medical supplies for Ghana Christian Mission.
• Other shipments of medical equipment and supplies being prepared to be sent to global mission partners in Liberia, El Salvador, DR Congo, and Haiti
• Some FAME staff members. Happy Birthday to Director of Mission Resources, Barry Reed on Sept. 20th.
• The Spire Conference in Nashville, TN where ministry leaders who inspire a movement of healthy growing churches go to be encouraged and equipped.

Thank you so much for your continued partnership with FAME through prayer.

Blessings in the coming month.

Click here for the September Prayer Calendar

Me-lika, an eight-year-old boy faced unimaginable loss when both of his parents passed away within a year of each other. One succumbed to AIDS, and the other fell victim to malaria. Me-lika is now a resident of an orphanage where he receives compassionate care. However, life took a frightening turn when he fell seriously ill one night. A house parent monitored him and realizing the severity of his condition, swiftly placed him in a car and started on a three-hour journey to the nearest clinic. Their hopes were dashed upon arrival though as the clinic was closed. They then continued on to the hospital, another hour away, where Me-lika was admitted, treated, and eventually discharged after a few days of recovery.  All he needed was an antibiotic in a timely manner. This scary situation is too vulnerable for orphan children and their families!

FAME has a new partnership with an organization called Remember the Children. They have been working for many years in Romania and recently expanded their work to Tanzania. Remember the Children is a ministry that is focused on providing housing and families for orphans. There are 3.1 Million Orphan children in Tanzania because of Aids and Malaria.

They have already built ten homes in the village of Malolo. Each home can house twelve children and their parents, and they are filled to capacity. Homes 11 and 12 are currently under construction. A church has been started to meet the spiritual needs of the children and the community. They baptized 20 people in July! A school has been started to provide for their education. It has a capacity of 600 children and is currently at 270.

There is very limited access to healthcare in Tanzania particularly in this area. So, Remember the Children is building a Healthcare Clinic to meet the medical needs of orphans, school children, and the people in their local community. The clinic will be built next door to the church because they want to connect the physical ministry of the clinic with the spiritual ministry of the church!

 

Your partnership with FAME touches the lives of orphans, like Me-lika, part of those we call “the world’s most vulnerable” whom FAME reaches with medical evangelism!

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Going through a phase…”

Just an idiom?

So many of your FAME global partners have EXTENSIVE dreams and visions to MEET THE HEALTH NEEDS of the community they serve in order to SHOW THE LOVE OF JESUS, and then TELL THE GOOD NEWS OF JESUS.  “Phases” to the Medical Evangelism process!

But those visions have humble beginnings.  A Burden, prayers, connections, open doors, sketches on napkins, conversations with leaders, building permits, funding partnerships, church connections, government approvals, obstacles, persecution, community emergency health crisis’, ground-breaking, and on and on to the moment when a person is treated in the name of Jesus by a healthcare provider and a family hears the gospel.  “Going through Phases”

Over the last year, FAME received updated photos of a hospital project of a specific room in the hospital.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Phases” that lead to people making eternal, permanent decisions for their lives!

Next time someone says, “…going through a phase….”  Think of FAME global partners who YOUR PARTNERSHIP WITH THEM takes them through hundreds of phases, fulfilling visions to bring the gospel to thousands!

Thank you for your partnership!