Someone wise noted that our purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. Christians can do this today is by making disciples of Jesus Christ from all nations – by helping sinful people to be reconciled to God through Jesus’ work on the cross, and to become like Jesus in our attitude and way of life. This is a mission that the whole body of Christ is busy with, as we each use the skills, interests and resources God has given us. From the beginning, the mission of Jesus has been about ministering to the whole person – mind, body and soul. In his life on earth, Jesus gave people a vision and understanding of God’s character and purposes, and demonstrated his power and compassion by meeting people’s physical needs. In doing this he enabled his followers to recognise their need for new life and to turn to him for salvation.

The same is true today: the truth of the Gospel is most vividly demonstrated by how those, who have received God’s grace, treat other people. Our care for one another’s physical needs shows our love, without which our proclamation of the Gospel can sound like a noisy gong; and the demonstration of practical grace in helping someone physically, is a small picture of the grace God has shown us at the cross. When we see grace and love in action, we are best enabled to understand the Gospel, and this paves the way for someone to explain it to us. Whenever a person accepts the Gospel, God is glorified.

Medical mission is an opportunity for the body of Christ to show grace and love to people in need, so that God is glorified and people have the chance to hear the Gospel. Vision for China’s projects, like Well of Love and Warriors House, give children with special needs fulfilment and hope. These children, whom God has made and delights in, might otherwise face rejection and neglect, but instead are being given the opportunity to praise and glorify God in this life, as well as into eternity. Similar work is being carried out by the Special Children’s Trust in Uganda, whose initiatives help children with disabilities reach their full potential.

God is glorified when the body of Christ is not divided – for we are all one in Christ- and the Aurora Christian Association’s work in Romania is breaking down hostility between gypsies and other residents of Vulcan, by offering the chance for children from different communities to learn together, as well as through the health care they offer to those who would not otherwise be able to afford it.

When disaster strikes, such as the flooding in Malawi, this is a further opportunity for the body of Christ to show grace to those in need, and so glorify God. Here, as Janet Stafford reports, God’s people have been able to provide food, blankets and clothes to the thousands living in camps for flood victims, as well as to provide Bible teaching and fellowship to those marginalised due to blindness or albinism. Our God comforts his people, and we praise him that this practical provision is one way that he does so.

The work featured in this edition can feel like a long way away. However we all have the opportunity to be involved, and one role of MMN is to help you to be involved. So what can you do?

1. You can pray. As you read this magazine, browse the MMN website or if you have signed up for regular email updates, you can pray for the missionaries, the people they serve and for God to be glorified as the body of Christ works and grows. Our prayers are never wasted, because they are incense offered up before the throne of God in heaven, and when we pray, we enjoy his presence and he is glorified.
2. You can tell others. Do your friends know about the amazing work being done all over the world which MMN reports on? Why not tell them about it? The examples in this magazine will help you to share, with people who don’t know Christ, what God is doing in the world today. When we talk about God’s work, he is glorified, and we enjoy him.
3. You can give. Many of the medical missionaries we are in touch with are looking to expand their work – to build or improve facilities or reach out to more people through special projects. Most also need supplies like medicines. MMN has the privilege of being able to channel funds to where they are needed most, and we are continually grateful to God for the huge generosity of so many MMN supporters over the years who have been moved to share what God has put at their disposal, so that Christ can be glorified through medical mission. When we enjoy God more than we enjoy the things he has let us have, God is glorified.

At MMN we want to focus on encouraging God’s people to pray for medical mission. We also want to get more Christians praying for medical mission: this year we spent some time at the Keswick Convention, with a stall where some potential young supporters could try their hand at “Operation” and others could find out more about our work. Here is Grev answering some difficult questions about our container shipments. One reason we went was to raise awareness of our work among a whole new generation of Christians.

The theme at this year’s Keswick was “Longing” – that this world is not all there is, and as we go through life, we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and the treasure we have in him, so that we can better do the work he has given us to do now. Medical missionary work reminds us that we live in a world which is longing for Christ’s return, when he will make all things new, and sickness and death will be no more. It also reminds us of the mission we have to be the hands of Christ as we seek to make disciples of him, as he adds to the number of people being saved.