Smiles in the Jungle

Nestled deep in the jungles of Panama, a simple open-air building became a sanctuary of healing. For the first time ever, dental tools shipped from FAME arrived in a remote village, unlocking a new level of medical care—and gospel hope.

Thanks to FAME’s generous donors and partnerships, portable dental cleaning and extraction equipment was delivered and assembled, allowing a temporary clinic to open where none had ever existed before. That day, 30 patients received treatment—many for the first time in their lives.

Among them was Lucía, a quiet, bright-eyed 12-year-old girl who had been silently enduring a deep, throbbing pain in her jaw for weeks.

Her mother had tried herbal rinses and warm compresses, but Lucía’s infection had only worsened. When she finally arrived at the clinic, trembling but hopeful, the local Panamanian dentist—partnering with volunteers equipped by FAME—quickly diagnosed an abscessed molar, likely caused by untreated decay and impacted food. Without care, the infection could have spread to her bloodstream.

As Lucía sat nervously in the makeshift dental chair—really a folding table and stool—two visiting dental missionaries worked gently and patiently, guided by the Panamanian dentist who knew her language, her fear, and her faith background. The team used FAME-supplied lights, sterilized tools, and extraction kits to safely remove the decayed tooth, clean the infection, and provide antibiotics.

For Lucía, it was not only the end of pain but the beginning of trust.

After her treatment, she sat with the team and shared a tamarind drink while one of the dental assistants, Lorena, opened her Bible and read aloud in Spanish from John 14:27: “Mi paz les dejo; mi paz les doy. Yo no se la doy a ustedes como la da el mundo.” (“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.”)

Lorena explained that just as Jesus cared for hurting people, He cared for Lucía—not just her smile, but her soul.

Lucía’s mother cried.

In that simple clinic, with plastic chairs and red trash bins and tools laid out on fold-up tables, the love of Jesus shone. And it all began with the equipment that FAME sent—equipment that allowed healing to happen and conversations about eternal hope to unfold.

Today, Lucía is pain-free. But more importantly, her family is exploring a new faith and a new community of believers in the village. The local dentist, now trained to use more advanced tools, continues to serve regularly—and plans to expand care deeper into the region.

This is the mission of FAME—sending help, healing, and hope in the name of Jesus. One smile at a time.

August Prayer Calendar

Thank you for your faithful prayers for the ministry of FAME. Your support reaches our partners, staff, board members, volunteers, trip participants, scholarship students, and special projects. Each day, lives around the world are being transformed through your commitment to prayer.

Reading a devotion by Lysa TerKeurst recently was a great reminder that in addition to prayer reading the Word is also paramount. Lysa tells us that, The Israelites’ dependence on God for physical sustenance and satisfaction served as a continual reminder of their need to depend on Him spiritually as well. They didn’t just need the rain for immediate nourishment for their plants. It served a dual purpose, enabling the crops to flourish that year as well as to produce the seeds necessary for the following year. The water provided not only sustenance for the present but assurance for the future. How like the Word of God. 

Scripture, like rain, brings us immediate nourishment and refreshment for our present circumstances (Psalm 19:7-10), and it also waters seeds to sustain us in the future (Isaiah 55:10). God already sees everything coming our way, and that means He knows exactly how to prepare us.  – What an encouragement!

This month, items of prayer include a short-term mission trip to the Dominican Republic to serve with GO Ministries in Santiago. The medical team will spend three days helping lead mobile medical clinics alongside GO’s local medical staff. This team will intentionally serve in GO Church Planting communities so the clinics can be an effective outreach tool for local pastors.

Please also pray for our FAME Board members who serve the ministry. Pray for wisdom and discernment as they continue to guide the ministry.

Other items of prayer include FAME Executive Director Bill Warren, as he speaks to partner churches and then travels to Kenya at the end of the month to visit FAME partners. Pray also for Director of Mission Resources Barry Reed, who will be traveling to the Dominican Republic to visit partners there and help determine their needs for upcoming medical equipment shipments.

Lastly, please partner with us in praying for our volunteer groups and individual volunteers listed on the calendar this month. FAME could not do all we do without them, as they generously share their time and talents in service to the ministry.

Thank you for your partnership and blessings in the coming month

August Prayer Calendar

3 “Why” Questions

Recently, when I heard the news from a global partner of a baptism that took place after a man visited one of their medical clinics, it reminded me of the 3 “Why” questions that I am answering in varying forms when I am asked about FAME.

1. Why Missions?

Jesus Himself commissioned us: “All authority… has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations… teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:18‑20) In Acts 1:8 He reiterates this: our mission is to bear witness, enabled by the Holy Spirit, from our own communities to the ends of the earth. Throughout His ministry, Jesus did more than preach — He healed, restored, and demonstrated the Kingdom in action. We are called not just to tell the Good News, but to live it out through compassion, restoration, and presence.

2. Why FAME?

FAME (Fellowship of Associates of Medical Evangelism) integrates medical ministry with discipling — opening doors through healthcare, sharing the gospel, and planting churches. Your FAME players — medical and non-medical volunteers — bring prayer, supplies, and training directly into countries where the gospel is limited or unreached. FAME strategically aligns with the model Jesus set: addressing physical needs as a pathway to evangelism, creating lasting, indigenous faith communities.

3. Why Now?

The world continues to grow and change, but often not for the better for the world’s most vulnerable —so the mission remains urgent. New places and unreached populations await the gospel. FAME is actively sending medical supplies, medical teams, partnering with local believers, and mobilizing prayer right now. With global instability and gaps in care, these opportunities can’t wait. God is moving through FAME today, bringing transformation in body and soul exactly where it’s most needed.

Your partnering — with prayer, gifts, or hands-on involvement allows more communities to experience both healing and hope. I’m asking one thing of you today: Next Friday, August 1st take notice of the monthly prayer calendar if that hasn’t been something you have been opening. We believe in the power of God’s response to His people’s prayers!

Thank you for your partnership,

Layers and Layers of Partnership

Recently a collaborative organization has launched on the Southside of Indianapolis which may interest you. Their goal is to partner with like-minded churches and individuals to find volunteer opportunities more easily in parachurch ministries. They held a Ministry Fair at a City owned Fieldhouse and FAME was honored to be included in their outreach. The model of Kingdom Missions Collective will be one to watch and duplicate as a partnership network for a city.

But the layers of partnership became obvious when Lee, the missions pastor of the Stones Crossing Church approached Jeff Coon of FAME. Lee had been at the Ministry Fair and learned about the global impact of FAME.

Prior to 2019 the Stones Crossing Church had started an outstanding ministry of having a clinic in a building on their campus. Partnership was needed for that to be accomplished. Medical professionals and providers acquired the necessary equipment and supplies to set up a 4 exam room clinic, lab, and waiting area. Partnership allowed them to establish medical providers to volunteer their time and the clinic had a great start. Then 2020 hit. After a number of attempts to make plans to reopen and use the clinic as an outreach and ministry, it became obvious that it was not the season for the church to have this ministry again. Now what should they do with all of the partnership acquired equipment and supplies?

After a quick visit by Jeff, it became obvious that a new layer of partnership was opening up! The partnership that it took to set up the clinic was NOT in vain. FAME staff, Barry Reed, and volunteers came to the Stones Crossing Church campus and were able to acquire all of the highly requested, and highly valuable exam room equipment and medical supplies last month!

Now new layers of partnership are at work. FAME is part of the Technical Exchange for Christian Healthcare (TECH) along with the network of hundreds of current FAME global partners where there are needs expressed monthly for exactly the type of supplies that the Stones Crossing Church donated to FAME. Three (3) of the exam tables will probably be going to the Dominican Republic, and there are multiple shipping container loads being planned for the remainder of this year- the rest will most assuredly be part of those global shipments!

What does FAME see advancing the gospel?

Partnership.

Thank you for yours!

Where Darkness once ruled…a thank you!

As a Partner of FAME, YOU, just received this email:

We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to FAME for helping us reach the sick and dying souls in remote villages — places where proper medical facilities are nearly non-existent. Your partnership enables us to serve not only physical needs but also eternal ones.

Recently, we conducted a Diabetes Awareness and Screening Camp among a tribal community. At first, the response was unexpected — as we began to check blood sugar levels, villagers began to scatter in fear. The sight of injections and blood caused panic, and many ran away, unsure of what was happening.

Amid the confusion, a courageous voice rose. The village leader, Mr. Kamalokkamon, stepped forward. He calmly approached our team, volunteered to be tested first, and set an example of trust and courage for the rest of the village. His bold action restored calm and confidence. Slowly, the villagers returned, one after another, to be screened and receive medical attention.

But before any testing began, we took time to share the Word of God. We spoke of Jesus’ love for the sick, the poor, and the forgotten. We shared how Christ came to heal not just bodies but broken hearts and dying souls. The atmosphere turned from fear to faith, and through the camp, we had the privilege of sharing the Gospel with over 300 people.

This camp was not just a medical outreach, God opened doors, softened hearts, and brought light into a place where darkness once ruled.

We once again thank FAME for standing with us in this ministry. Your support helps us bring both healing and hope to those in desperate need. Together, we are making an eternal impact.

Need I say anymore? May God Bless you for your partnership with global partners like these!!!

Thank you!

Bill Warren
Executive Director

July 4, 2025, Freedom Means More Than Fireworks

As we celebrate liberty at home, you’re helping bring it to those in crisis around the world.

As we gather this week to celebrate the gift of freedom in America, we’re reminded that true freedom takes many forms. It’s more than fireworks and flags — it’s the freedom to live without pain, to work and provide for your family, and to have hope for the future.

In places like Mozambique, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Central America, countless men, women, and children face medical crises that trap them in cycles of poverty and despair. Lack of access to basic healthcare means preventable diseases go untreated, infections become life-threatening, and children suffer without hope of healing.

But your support of FAME is changing that.

“I never imagined I’d walk again. But now, not only can I walk — I can work, I can live, and I know Jesus healed me.”
— A patient from rural Kenya whose infection had made him immobile.

Because of you, medical supplies, mobile clinics, and trained partners are reaching communities long overlooked. In Honduras, a young mother receives treatment and walks home with dignity restored. In The Democratic Republic of Congo, a small clinic becomes a place where villagers find both healing and the message of eternal hope in Christ. In Kenya, a simple surgery means a child can return to school and dream again.

This is what freedom looks like.

This Independence Day 2025, while we thank God for our liberty here in the U.S., we also thank Him for the freedom you’re making possible around the world — the freedom that comes with health, dignity, and the message of Christ’s love.

Would you prayerfully consider a special gift this July 4th of some combination of 2025 to continue bringing freedom to those in desperate need? Maybe you could give $20.25; or $20, or $25. Maybe some of you could give $2025.00. No matter the amount, or ability – you would be celebrating Freedom here in the USA, your partnership with FAME and your FAME global partners who bring the message of true Freedom in Christ to over 2 million people in 2025!

Blessings and Happy Fourth!

Faithfulness: The Rest of the Story

Earlier this month, a FAME partner church, Venture Christian Church in Carmel, Indiana, announced and decided (independent of FAME) a generous commitment to a global partner FAME loves too: they are financially directly supporting a doctor from Honduras as he pursues advanced medical education. He plans to attend medical school in Cuba to become certified in ophthalmology. This training will help advance the vision of developing a Surgery Center at the Honduran clinic in the future. What great news they announced!

This act alone is powerful…But here’s the rest of the story…

Dr. Darwin Pineda first came to know the Lord as a young boy through the church/clinic soccer ministry in Honduras. In 1999, FAME received a letter recommending him for the FAME Scholarship Program. His application listed his expected graduation date as December 20, 2008. He faithfully worked through school, became a Doctor and then began serving at the ministry, His Eyes, which recommended him!

Now, 26 years later, after completing his training and faithfully managing the clinic for over a decade, God is calling Darwin to the next level—both in medical expertise and in evangelism.

  • God is faithful through the years
  • You are faithful- your generosity makes this possible
  • Darwin is faithful- following his call to serve

Isn’t it incredible how God calls some to go and others to send—so that people everywhere can come to know Him?

Thank you for being part of this journey. Through your support, God’s love continues to be shared across generations and around the world.

Thank you for your partnership!

Bible Translation, Burns, and College Students

Question: What Do They Have in Common?
Answer: A Partnership with FAME!

Ahamadou is like most one-year-olds who just learned to walk—curious and unaware of the dangers around him. In the region where he lives, most households cook over open flames at ground level, and children often play nearby.

One day, while playing near the cook fire and just a few steps from his mother, Ahamadou stepped into a pot of boiling water. He was seriously scalded and burned.

In his community, a young couple serves with a global Bible translation team. Over the decades, FAME has learned a powerful truth: Christian leaders often become the “go-to” resource when help is needed. The love of Jesus flows into communities, and no matter the original mission—translation, pastoring, church planting, orphan care, or teaching—people turn to them in moments of crisis.

Because the “love of Christ compels us,” these Christian leaders are approached with needs related to health, hunger, and deep personal hardship.

Ahamadou’s mother brought him to this Bible translation couple. Though their resources were limited, they kept basic burn supplies—like gauze and wound care essentials—on hand. Last year, two college girls were serving alongside the couple and became deeply connected with this young boy and his story.

This summer, those same girls contacted FAME. They’re returning to the region for several reasons, but one of them is to bring burn dressings, antibiotic creams, and basic wound care materials—essentials that are scarce in this community. Many families seek help from Christian leaders because of the high cost, distance, or total inaccessibility of healthcare.

Partnership.

When you partner with FAME, you partner with Christian leaders who are touching the world in so many ways. I love FAME because it supports not only medical professionals, but also church planters, Bible translators, clean water teams, orphan caregivers, and leadership trainers. Through your support, you help serve orphans, widows, the injured, the trafficked, and those living with mobility challenges.

Partnership.

This is why FAME says that when you partner with us, you’re serving “the world’s most vulnerable.”

Thank you for your partnership!

You Touched Those Things!

Without the faithful people who serve at the FAME warehouse, your impact—and that of our global partners—would be greatly diminished. But because of dedicated volunteers like you, the reach and influence of FAME around the world is truly staggering!

One such faithful group drives about an hour and a half each month to serve at the warehouse. Many of our volunteer teams do the same—and have become vital to the mission! These teams often include a core group of regulars, along with others who rotate in and out. Because they’ve become so familiar with the tasks, the FAME staff can simply get them started and they immediately begin identifying, sorting, counting, labeling, assembling, and preparing medical supplies and equipment for global distribution.

Recently, when one of these groups gathered with our staff in the morning, the conversation turned to the recent FAME Night of Hope Banquet. Many had attended and were still reflecting on the powerful stories shared by our global partners. One woman remarked, “As I listened to the stories about the supplies—how some of them arrived just in time to save lives or start a new clinic—I just kept thinking, ‘We touched those things!’” And she was right—they had!

It may have seemed like a small task—counting IV supplies at a table in Indianapolis—but when a medical provider in another part of the world used those very supplies to start an IV for a dehydrated, fevered child, it became a moment that was life-changing—and life-saving.

The apostle Paul asked, “How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without someone to preach? And how will they preach unless they are sent?” Then he writes, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring (and send) good news of good things!”

Sometimes the supplies we send are as large as an X-ray machine or an exam table. Other times it’s a box of bandages or a first aid kit assembled at a church gathering.

Every time, you can say: We touched those things.

Whether you sort, go, or send—you are part of life-saving ministry. Your partnership is so valuable to me. Whether you support FAME financially, serve in person at the warehouse, or do both—you are sending healing in Jesus’ name!

If you’re interested in assembling first aid kits at your church, or would like to volunteer at the FAME warehouse (once or regularly), email Tyler at tylerl@fameworld.org and he’ll help you get started.

Interested in going on a short-term trip? Email Mallory at mfehl@fameworld.org or visit our website to see upcoming trips and apply.

No matter how you partner with FAME, you can say with confidence:

We touched those things!

With gratitude,

Bill Warren

Even Elephants help Medical Evangelism

On March 28, 2025, a devastating 7.7-magnitude earthquake struck Myanmar, killing over 4,000 people, injuring more than 20,000, and destroying 70% of buildings.

Amid the chaos in Sagaing, your FAME partner stepped in to provide emergency medical care—prioritizing the critically injured, arranging urgent referrals, and performing lifesaving operations. Both children and adults received compassionate care, regardless of background, as the team reflected God’s love in action.

Because of your faithfulness, FAME was able to send emergency funds immediately—but more support is urgently needed.

The medical team responded in Buddhist monasteries and Muslim rehab camps. Meanwhile, FAME friends at Samaritan’s Purse deployed emergency medical teams to Nay Pyi Daw Football Stadium, quickly transforming it into a trauma care and surgery center. Their swift, compassionate response reflected the heart of Christ—proving that love knows no boundaries. Dr. Aung, one of your FAME partners, shared the story of Nay Lin:

When the earthquake struck Sagaing, Nay Lin stood helpless as his home collapsed. Inside, his world crumbled—the ceiling fell, taking the life of his young son and severely injuring his wife. As rescuers pulled her from the wreckage, he faced every parent’s worst nightmare.

We arranged emergency surgery for his wife at a mobile hospital. Holding the relief kit, he told us, ‘Your team was the first light in my darkness.’ Though his son could not be brought back, your compassion helped him take the first step toward healing.”

At FAME, I always say we are partners in Medical Evangelism. Your generosity allows us to work with major global ministries, local indigenous teams, and even neighbors just up the highway in Indy (like IDES)—all to meet the needs of the world’s most vulnerable, in the name of Jesus.

I don’t yet know how much FAME will send in response to this healthcare crisis—but your response will help determine that.

Thank you for your partnership. Your FAME global partners overcome unimaginable challenges—some so extreme that elephants had to help pull the cars of supplies through muddy, impassable roads!

Together, we can keep moving forward—bringing healing and hope to those who need it most.