| Short Term Mission Testimonies |
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 Some of those who have been on Short Term Mission with Dignity have shared their stories with us. If you're interested in Mission work and want to know what it's really like have a read below...Dr Adam and Helen Firth – Zambia, 6 Months
As part of a career break from our roles in the NHS we spent six months as medical missionaries (August 2007 to January 2008) volunteering our healthcare skills to Mibila Rural Health Post. During this time our main responsibilities were to assist in the recruitment, retention and training of staff alongside ascertaining a workable clinic budget. This experience proved to be invaluable in developing the long term sustainability of the clinic alongside increasing our understanding of the challenges the support of delivering primary healthcare in rural Africa brings.
 Adam & Helen
Alan Scantlebury – Sierra Leone, 1 Week
A team of 6 visited Freetown for a week to deliver a Global Alpha Training Conference. The aim was to encourage church leaders to consider using Alpha as a tool to grow the church in Sierra Leone. About 80 people attended from all over the country and from many different church streams. I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed every single minute of the experience - even being trapped in a crowded bus for over an hour on a ferry when every fibre in your body was crying out for sleep! Highlights of the trip are:- the cross-cultural musical worship times, dancing and singing to local Kreo songs; the great sense of togetherness in the team; the gracious and generous hospitality of the local Alpha team; the passionate love for God in the people who have suffered so much in recent history; the lads on Lumley beach who welcomed us every morning and evening, and formed a small group led by a Freetown pastor on the training course. By the end of the training we saw people begin to grasp how the idea of allowing questions and discussions might just be a better way to reach peoples' hearts than preaching at them at high volume. We made some lasting friendships, brought home lasting memories, and I believe we encouraged many to step out in new ways to reach different communities in order to bring lasting change.
 Alan
Jo Hardy (currently out in Kenya and soon going to Zambia)
Being a part of the Life! team was both exciting and challenging. On a day to day basis we spent time in villages around Chingola, meeting with local people and learning about them, their culture and their walk with God. We sought to discover ways in which we could help them do the work theybelieved God was calling them to do, not to force our ideas upon them.
Each day was different – some days we would sit under the trees meeting with one or two pastors and a group of people from their village studying the Bible together, other days we would be fighting our way through a market place sorting out the food for a conference we were putting on.
Overall, the time was one of great encouragement – there was a real sense of God stirring things up in the rural villages.
 Jo
(you can read Jo's blog at www.jobomohoho.blogspot.com)
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 01 October 2009 10:26 |