OVERVIEW
ABOUT WHOLENESS MISSIONS
Wholeness Missions is the mission arm of the Christian Medical and Dental Association of Nigeria (CMDA Nigeria) through which members, partners, and collaborators provide health, healing, and support to individuals, households, and communities within and outside Nigeria. This is achieved through the mission’s outreaches, missions awareness, resources, and in-reaches to members, in line with CMDA Nigeria’s vision of caring for the whole man: spirit, soul, and body.
HISTORY
Missions in CMDA Nigeria is as old as the organization. From its inception under the leadership of the Late Sir, Dr. Eze Akanu Ibiam, the First National President of CMDA Nigeria, members were constantly mobilized for outreaches (rural outreaches, hospital evangelism, etc.). Hospitals owned by members became platforms for evangelism. Christian health workers from within and outside Nigeria organized scheduled outreaches across the nation, serving as a source of compassion and healing for a nation recovering from the civil war.
With the increased desire to expand the gospel mandate, and raise Christian medical and dental students, doctors, and dentists, missions in CMDA Nigeria expanded, and effective coordination structures developed over time. These include the establishment of the missions department of the student’s arm in 1993, a missions department of the Doctors’ arm in 2000, and the adoption of the term ‘Wholeness Missions’ for all mission activities of CMDA Nigeria in 2018.
Following these changes, a directorate of wholeness missions within the management team was established at the National Office of CMDA Nigeria to ensure effective implementation of the Wholeness Missions Strategic thrusts and activities.
Powered by generations of students and doctors, the history of missions in CMDA Nigeria is littered with sacrifices of men, tales in the sweltering heat and pounding rain, several trips across the nation; into the hinterlands, hospitals, and everywhere help is needed; with several publications chronicling the years gone by and exploits under God’s leadership, fulfilling this call of God.
The story has been one of grace, God’s provision, exploits, and testimonies as millions of people have been blessed through this platform.
DOCTORS ARM
As the scope and demand of activities increased, it became necessary to have a dedicated National Missions Secretary who was first elected in May 2000 in the person of Dr. Josiah Gana. The first national missions outreach after the election, was in July 2001, to Ogoniland, Rivers State.
Since then, pre-conference outreaches have taken place all around the nation with different chapters hosting these outreaches. A few chapter-level missions were organized and used in conjunction with the students and collaborations with various organizations and churches at various levels were undertaken.
STUDENTS ARM
The Missions Department of CMDA Nigeria-Students’ arm was borne out of the vision to care for the whole man spirit soul and body. The need to encourage the spread of the gospel as Christian students, the creation and sustenance of missions’ awareness, and increasing participation among student members were among the many reasons for the birthing of the department. On the 31st of March 1993, the National Missions Department of CMDA Nigeria-Students’ arm was officially inaugurated. This day is commemorated yearly in association with prayer and fasting for the lands conquered, yet unconquered and in gratitude for the continued grace to be counted worthy of partnering with heaven in the business of soul winning.
WHAT WE DO
SCOPE OF WHOLENESS MISSIONS ACTIVITIES – “THE FAMOUS TEN”
The Wholeness Missions’ famous ten forms the bedrock of our activities. They include:
Hospital Evangelism.
Rural medical missions
Urban missions.
Health campaigns.
Pediatric missions.
Special missions.
Missions resources:
Missions exploit magazines, tracts, and literature.
Missions support, correspondence, and links.
Missions awareness, seminars, and workshops.
OUTREACHES
Hospital Evangelism
Each chapter should have a consistently structured hospital evangelism program. Everyone is encouraged to go in love, with God’s Word and prayers of faith for the healing of the patients. Gifts, cards, and tracts are necessary for hospital evangelism.
For the students, both the clinical and preclinical arms should be involved and should be grouped to have at least one clinical student in each team. Visits to other hospitals other than the chapter’s hospital are encouraged.
Brethren should be encouraged to see clerking as an opportunity to share the message about Jesus with their patients aside from the set times for formal hospital evangelism. This later strategy can be very effective if everyone does so.
Follow-up is very important and should be structured where possible, preferably by the specific persons who carried out the witnessing.
Rural Medical Missions
Each Chapter is free to have rural outreaches as many times as feasibly and financially possible. Collaborations with other organizations (circular and/or religious Churches, School fellowships) are encouraged as long as there are no conflicts of interest and risk of undermining our core values. Such organizations must believe in the Bible as the final authority for the believer and have no personal aggrandizement or gains attached.
An in-house retreat should be organized with a good prayer chain before embarking on any rural outreach. Community visit is first carried out, with courtesy visits to village/ clan heads and intentions for the outreach stated.
Note that this process is highly integrated and cannot be skipped. Village surveys and community diagnosis are carried out subsequently to determine areas where help is urgently needed, availability of villagers on said day/ days of outreach, state of primary health care facilities, and any other peculiarity as would arise.
The village heads are urged to help publicize the outreach via the most efficient means possible. Further publicity is done via the local churches which are visited as well and our intentions are made known to them. Note that CMDA does not charge a fee for any of the services rendered during her outreaches, except where referrals are expedient and such out-of-pocket payments are made at the referred facility.
Services rendered are as below.
- Free Consultations
- Free surgeries (preferably day-case surgeries. Where more extensive surgeries are to be carried out, it must be done in a registered health facility with all measures for safety put into consideration by the surgical team)
- Mobile Eye clinics
- Free Drugs Dispensing
- Laboratory investigations
- Welfare material disbursement
- Child / adolescent evangelism
- Skill and Acquisition for the Youths
- Health education / talks
To reduce religious bias as much as possible, CMDA Chapters are advised to lodge in neutral places during outreaches such as Village Government Schools, etc. Each chapter works in partnership with other health care workers in practice and training.
Pre-conference outreaches are usually embarked on before major Conferences, similar in protocol to chapter rural outreaches.
Urban Missions
School Outreaches:
A particularly interesting component in the range of outreaches we embark on. This aspect can be divided into secondary schools and campus evangelism. As with every outreach undertaken by a chapter or at the national level, permission is sought from the school authorities.
Kindly note that chapters may have to work with the dates target schools are comfortable with, considering mid-term breaks, school continuous assessment, and examination weeks.
Activities carried out include (but not are limited to) witnessing, health campaigns, mission awareness, academic\career talks, talk on social vices, short drama/video to tackle specific issues, etc.
Specific needs of the children in this category are also factored into chapter budgets. Child evangelism materials are procured to aid in teaching during the outreaches.
Prison and Correctional Centre Outreach:
Individual chapters are free to plan these outreaches to prisons within the state they are domiciled in. Note that a process of permission seeking through letters to the prison’s authority is undergone.
Fund generation is a crucial aspect of all the different outreaches organized at all levels (class, chapter, and national). Most chapters plan the visits to prisons for the weekends due to the flexibility it provides for the chapter members and the prison schedule.
Materials are donated to the Prison authority such as toiletries, soaps, materials for skill acquisition, etc. Prayers and words of exhortation are offered to the prisoners, encouraging them to trust in God. The new converts are handed over to the leaders of the Prisons’ Chapel.
It’s usually an emotional experience as the Prisoners share their testimonies, some with great regret of their past, while some explain with tears in their eyes how they were wrongfully accused of things they didn’t do.
Health Campaigns
This entails health education which is well structured and comprehensive on any health issue. Health education is a strategy for missions. Chapters research prevalent diseases of public health concern, and their management and organize presentations in form of public awareness.
The necessary materials should be provided to enhance the knowledge and application of certain health practices. The creation/use of educative kits or playlets to teach may be employed.
Chapters are encouraged to maximize the use of social media was deemed helpful. Activities include health rallies, media health talks, health symposia, etc. Overall, health campaigns should be incorporated to varying extents in all outreaches / in-reaches.
Paediatric Missions
Outreaches to nursery and primary schools should be carried out. It involves telling Bible stories using pictures and videos, playing Christian games and giving prizes. Brief seminars and health checks for the teachers should be organized during such outreaches. Where available, the outreach should be carried out in partnership with a children’s evangelism ministry.
Special Missions
Visits to Leprosarium, Cheshire homes, Orphanages and motherless babies’ homes, Beggars, and Old people’s homes, are grouped under this category. The decision of which of these homes or places to visit is left to the chapters, and should be made on the bases of perceived needs and available resources.
Some of these special missions are quite sensitive and strict health measures are put into place to avoid health hazards among chapter participants. Prayers and exhortations are made. The message of salvation, hope, and love are shared with them, and relief materials are given to the leaders of the institution.
MISSIONS AWARENESS AND RESOURCES
Mission Resources
Wholeness articles and materials such as tracts, get-well-soon cards, magazines, and other publications are produced periodically by the mission’s department /directorate, to enhance evangelism.
A yearly production of the Missions Exploits Magazine popularly dubbed MEM chronicles the testimonies and activities carried out in all the student chapters in the said year.
It also contains educative topics spanning from mission activities within and across the nation, book reviews, etc. This is spearheaded by the Students’ National Missions Board per service year. This can be read or purchased at cmdanigeria.org.
Missions support, correspondence, and links
In conjunction with Mission bodies like CAPRO, chapters adopt mission fields for support and prayer purposes. Relationship with the missionary in charge of the given field is advised for ease of communication. Visits to the given fields as well as periodic financial support are encouraged.
Missions awareness, seminars, and workshops
Each chapter is encouraged to organize training where missionaries are invited to share their experiences, teach evangelism and help participants prepare for the missions field. Collaboration with mission bodies and churches is encouraged. The goal of such training is to communicate the burden of missions and teach about missions; the field peculiarities and expectations. Participants are encouraged to pray, give and go for missions.
In-reaches
Operation Convert your coursemate/colleague
In-reaches include checking on the physical and spiritual welfare of members of CMDA in every chapter. The modalities of this are organized by the mission secretary.
- Reaching out to fellow medical and dental students/doctors (Operation Convert your coursemate/colleague, popularly dubbed operation CYC)
- Reaching out to other workplace colleagues
Our Partners
In order to better achieve organizational and corporate objectives, Wholeness missions involve partners and collaborators that share related interests with CMDA Nigeria.
The essence of working with partners in Wholeness Missions’ activities is to ensure the optimization of professional competencies and strategically strengthen the much-desired unity in the health sector.
Our current partners are:
- Christian Pharmacists’ Fellowship in Nigeria (CPFN)
- Fellowship of Christian Medical Laboratory Professionals in Nigeria (FCMLPN)
- Fellowship of Christian Nurses (FCN)
- Healthcare Christian Fellowship in Nigeria (HCFN)
Our Collaborators include individuals, churches, non-governmental organizations, and other mission organizations that have shared interests.
GET INVOLVED
ADOPT A FIELD
JOIN THE TEAM
We appreciate you for your continuous prayers and support to the team and we invite you to join our Team.
COLLABORATE WITH US
CMDA Nigeria embarks on diverse mission activities (in-reaches, mission awareness and resources, and outreaches). Collaboration is a vital aspect of CMDA Nigeria’s wholeness missions strategy.
We are continuously seeking collaborations with individuals, institutions, organizations, and churches to strengthen our desire for community transformation.
We would like to hear from you. Contact us with the contact details below.
