The Medical Missionary by D. H. K.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Apr 6, 1911

The Medical Missionary

By D. H. K.

There are men who have lavishly bestowed wealth upon certain institutions and enterprises. These gifts are recorded in history, and the names of the donors are heralded far and wide. But there are gifts of greater value to this world than money. If money had been the great thing needed, Jesus could have brought millions with him. The Great Giver came to this world penniless. Of himself he said, “The Son of man hath not where to lay his head.” He gave himself to humanity; he came to minister, to serve, to bless. What joy and gladness he brought into the lives of men! The poor and needy heard and received him gladly.

Peter said to the impotent man at the gate of the temple, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I unto thee.” He gave to the poor cripple something which was infinitely better and more welcome than money.

There is nothing this world needs so much to-day as men and women who will give themselves to the betterment of mankind. Of Jesus it is said that he “went about doing good,” and “healing all manner of sickness and all manner of diseases among the people.”

To his disciples he said, in sending them forth, “Heal the sick.” This work has been sadly neglected by the church of Christ, yet there never was a time when there was a greater need for it than the present. There has never been a time of more sickness and suffering. Three million persons are at this very moment disabled on account of sickness in the United States. Most of this sickness is preventable. The people perish for lack of knowledge.

There is something that is needed more than money. The world needs Christlike sympathy. It needs a helping hand. “Give me relief from my bodily and mental distress, and from every affliction,” is the unexpressed cry of the masses. The one who can bring relief to body and mind will be welcomed everywhere. The gospel is the great and the only remedy for man’s ills. It carries good will to all. It has promise of the life that now is, and of the life that is to come. We have not yet given this work of ministering to man’s needs the place it demands in our work.

We are told that “medical missionary work is yet in its infancy,” and that “the meaning of genuine medical missionary work is known by but few, because the Saviour’s plan of work has not been followed.” To our ministers the words are spoken: “Let our ministers who have gained an experience in preaching the Word learn how to give simple treatments, and then labor intelligently as medical missionary evangelists.”

Not only should ministers do this, but “we have come to a time when every member of the church should take hold of medical missionary work.” “Christ is no longer in this world in person, to go through our cities and towns and villages, healing the sick. He has commissioned us to carry forward the medical missionary work that he began.”

An Appeal to Gospel Workers

“Every gospel worker should feel that the giving of instruction in the principles of healthful living is a part of his appointed work. Of this there is great need, and the world is open for it.”

“There is sickness everywhere, and most of it might be prevented by attention to laws of health. The people need to see the bearing of health principles upon their well-being both for this life and for the life to come.”

Is There a Welcome for Such Workers?

“Thousands need and would gladly receive instruction concerning the simple methods of treating the sick,—methods that are taking the place of the use of poisonous drugs. There is a great need of instruction on dietetic reform. Wrong habits of eating and the use of unhealthful food are in no small degree responsible for the intemperance and crime that curse the world.”

Some who have lost confidence in Christianity, in witnessing its results, may be reached in this way. “In almost every community there are large numbers who do not listen to the preaching of God’s Word or attend any religious service. If they are reached by the gospel, it must be carried to their homes. Often the relief of their physical needs is the only avenue by which they can be approached. Missionary nurses who can care for the sick and relieve the distress of the poor will find many opportunities to pray with them, to read to them from God’s Word, and to speak of the Saviour.”

This work can not be done by voting. It can not be delegated to organizations. It is an individual work, in which all should have a part.

“Everywhere there is a tendency to substitute the work of organization for individual effort. Human wisdom tends to consolidation, to centralization, to building up great churches and institutions. Multitudes leave to the institutions and organizations the work of benevolence; they excuse themselves from contact with the world, and their hearts grow cold. They become self-absorbed and unimpressionable. Love for God and man dies out of the soul.”

“The Lord in his great goodness and matchless love has been urging it upon his human instrumentalities that the education of missionaries is not really complete unless they have a knowledge of how to treat the sick.”

“In God’s work teaching and healing are never to be separated.”

D. H. K.