This is our 15th year of ministry, helping churches and groups find strategic partnerships in the developing world. We do this believing that compassion and justice are close to the heart of God, and that one of the most powerful ways to experience spiritual reciprocity, the exchange of spiritual blessing, is to get out of our comfort zone and see what God is doing in other places around the world.

For the last 15 years, we have endeavored to facilitate cross-cultural compassion ministry with long-term relationships between people from different continents, and at the same time also point those that are not spiritually committed towards a tangible Christian faith that displays the heart of God for the marginalized.

Isaiah 58:10 says, “If you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will shine like the noonday sun.” I have to believe that Jesus had that verse in mind when he said, “Let your light shine before men, so that they see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven” in Matthew 5.

Our mission is ‘to glorify God by cultivating spiritual and physical flourishing through cross-cultural ministry’. What we do as an organization is first and foremost for the glory of God, to spread his fame among the nations. Revelation 15:4 says in part, “…for you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.” We want to see more people flourishing and giving God the glory from among the nations, and it’s when indigenous local people of a nation see the righteous acts of God’s people, when they experience his goodness and mercy and the truth of His word, that they exalt His name.

As an organization, we are always looking for ways to spread that truth in developing countries, whether through our church partners or special initiatives. The fact that people from North America would spend their time and money to foster relationships with under-resourced people in developing countries sends a loud message to those communities. That message is: you matter to God, and you matter to us, and we want to see you thrive.

Please pray for our partner in Nicaragua Pastor Carlos Baez and his staff in the ministry A Heart To Love. They care for hundreds of families with children who have severe disabilities. My wife, Joani, and I just returned from a visit there, and plan to promote opportunities for churches and teams to spend time on their ministry farm, Finco De Monte Carlo and do compassion ministry in various communities. You can visit our friends at His Hands Ministries at www.hishandssupportministries.org/nicaragua to read more about Carlos and the wonderful work being done for the marginalized in Nicaragua, in the name of Jesus.

Have you ever cut yourself and needed a band-aid? When you put that band-aid on, were you healed? Of course not. A band-aid’s job is to stop the problem from getting worse and protecting the cut or injury from dirt and bacteria. For many of us, that is what a lot of our medications do for us. They stop the symptoms or stop the problem from getting worse, and we just wait until we need more band-aids to keep our bodies “healthy”. If the medical system was honest, we could all use a little more help finding the root of the problem, and fixing it, instead of just throwing band-aids at the problem. Many things affect one’s health, including access to healthy food, clean water, proper cooking equipment, home environment, relationships, and so much more.

We found this to be true in our medical outreach in Guatemala. A lot of our patients are struggling with type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and stomach issues- all with fixable root causes. That is why we developed our socioeconomic survey. We ask each and every patient questions about their home life, relationships with family, employment, access to food and clean water, and so much more. This gives us a better picture of their lives outside of our clinic walls, and we often find a correlation between things happening at home and their health.

Our team loves this survey so much! Not only does it give us an opportunity to get to know our patients on a deeper level, but it also sheds light on other things that our team can provide for them to improve their health. Our survey helps us decide who has high priority needs, and how we can assist them – through food bags, water filters, home repairs, stoves, or counseling. We are able to tackle some of the root causes to their health problems and start healing with purpose!

“Our morning discussion theme was unity, how the Spirit brings unity among believers from different backgrounds and nations, and how this draws people to Jesus. Pastor Shane reminded us of the value of praying aloud with others, not being afraid to ask, “Can I pray with you?” When we arrived at the church, the older women from the church greeted us with warm hugs, as they had done the last four days. I decided to take on Shane’s challenge and pulled aside Blanca, an older woman whose education is only first grade, but who always has a warm smile and welcome. Using Google translate I was able to ask her if we could pray together. She eagerly agreed, and then we both started praying, each in our own language. Rather than it feeling awkward, it felt real and open. Though we couldn’t understand each other, we both were crying, holding hands, and earnestly praying for God to move in each other’s lives and the community around us. We both finished around the same time, saying Amen together, and then hugging. It felt mysterious, encouraging, unifying, and like a work of the Spirit.”

(Adapted from Janel’s blog post from MVF’s trip in October 2024. Click here to read more from this team)

This year’s banquet and fundraiser was a wonderful success! We enjoyed an evening of celebrating what God has done and hearing from the Mompremier’s from UCI in Haiti. Thank you to the many who attended, donated, and celebrated with us!

Between the banquet and additional fundraising efforts, we’ve raised over $75,000 towards our operating budget! These funds will be used to fund the normal operations of Healing Nations as well as help provide for the first year of operation for the Medical Ministry Center in Guatemala.

Would you consider giving a year-end gift to invest in the work of Healing Nations? Our ministry relies on the generous support of our many donors committed to continuing the work of Healing Nations.

To give directly toward the Medical Ministry Center, click the button below.

To give directly toward the general operations of Healing Nations, click the button below.