This is some material from my dissertation,  STRATEGIC USE OF MEDICAL MISSION EVENTS IN LONG-TERM LOCAL CHURCH OUTREACH: A CONSULTANT-STYLE FRAMEWORK FOR MEDICAL MISSION PRACTITIONERS IN THE ILOCOS REGION, PHILIPPINES. I will give a bit of a top-level look in this post, and some propositional work in Part IV.

The characteristics of “REAL” Medical Missions:

    Right Motives

    Effective Partnering (Outsiders)

    Active Community Participation (Insiders)

    Long-term Strategy and Planning

On the other hand, some Medical Missions “WILT”. They have these qualities:

          Wrong Motives

          Ineffective Partnering (Outsiders)

          Lack of Community Participation (Insiders)

          Temporary (short-term) Strategy and Planning

According to the interviewees the following are three major or common right motives:

1. The example of Christ to love others and to express that love in tangible ways.
2. Concern for the varied needs of the community
3. The desire to empower the church to impact its community

Additionally, the were three major or common areas described as wrong motives:

1. Focus on anything other than God/Christ’s Example/Love.

2. Prioritization on strategy or ministry (rather than the community)

3. Accumulation of power (rather than empowering others)

   Go to Part 4

   Relevant Book: Healthy Christian Medical Missions

Related articles

• Medical Mission Events in the Philippines, Part I (missionmusings.wordpress.com)
• Medical Mission Events in the Philippines, Part II (missionmusings.wordpress.com)