When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36) Jesus responded to the needs of the people around Him. He healed all manner of diseases, He fed the hungry, and He announced the good news of the Kingdom of God. [...]
I see three opportunities to live out our confidence in the promises of God. What if God would give us: Leadership that is united by our common Vision, accountable to Him and to one another. Stewardship of His people and His task for increasing momentum to advance the gospel through healthcare teams. Improved [...]
Two things permeate the life of every EMAS Canada team which define us: our Vision and our Mission; and then there are five Core Values that we treasure. With 70 years to look back on, we see that our vision has become even more unifying, our mission remains constant, and our core values continue [...]
Jesus never used His healing miracles as bait for preaching the gospel or for gaining publicity, nor were they a public relations tool. He did not exploit healthcare for the purpose of marketing His spiritual program, or as a magnet to draw people to some hidden agenda. He did good for their bodies because He [...]
Mark1 described an incident when Jesus and His disciples made an extremely short “medical mission” trip to the east, by crossing a stormy Sea of Galilee. During the perilous trip a storm threatened to capsize their boat. It was, however, clear that Jesus wanted to make this trip. Jesus treated just one patient: a [...]
Teamwork is at the core of how EMAS operates. Christ-centered healthcare teams are the fundamental functional units that carry out the charitable purposes of the organization. All teams are guided by a Strategic Plan that is revised by the team leaders, board, and staff. Once a potential leader has been recommended to the board [...]
EMAS Canada teams are composed of followers of Jesus Christ who aspire to become like Him. They serve in teams that are built over long periods of planning, praying and discerning God’s leading in response to overseas opportunities. An invitation to serve will often be followed by two or more exploratory visits, during which the [...]
Empowering Local Leaders The inaugural Université Lumière Interprofessional Student Elective initiative kicked off in February 2018 during the fourteenth EMAS Canada (Hand in Hand with Haiti) trip to Haiti. Planning had been underway for a year before the team arrived in Port-au-Prince to offer six medical students and six nursing students from Université Lumière [...]
Each year about 350 Canadian volunteers, led by volunteer team leaders, travel to and serve in seven different countries. EMAS runs with two full-time staff and one contract staff person. Our Board members serve voluntarily. They minimize the cost of running EMAS by donating their time and use of their own personal resources to [...]
Christ-Centred Healthcare About two years ago, Ana had been bed ridden for a month due to a fracture of her mid femur. She’d also had a hip replacement on the same limb with the prosthesis very close to the fracture. Local surgeons were unable to help her. Operation Esperanza, an EMAS team from Edmonton [...]
Imagine your life story as part of a letter from Christ. Your story: written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. God gives us opportunities to speak through the lives we live among family and friends, and through the occupations He gives us. [...]
A SMALL BUSINESS INITIATIVE to help raise two recently orphaned children Before leaving Canada for Haiti, in February 2018, a Christian lady approached my wife, Appoline and asked her to take a gift of $100 with her to Gambade. Her only instruction was that this amount be given to a family to facilitate a [...]
During twenty-five years of medical practice in Kenya, I worked in Christian mission hospitals, private practice and in a national teaching hospital. I observed how wasteful some short-term medical missions could be: Some came with the donations of inappropriate and even outdated medical equipment. In one incident a group arrived with a large supply [...]
An investment made 50 years ago in the Democratic Republic of Congo continues to yield powerful results today. Christian medical missionaries have persevered within the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is a nation that has suffered through decades of intermittent political turmoil sometimes widespread and sometimes localised to hotspots, the resulting disruption of social order [...]
Jesus spent much of His time teaching in synagogues, on the streets, on the lakeshore, on a hillside, and in people’s homes, it seems He taught everywhere and everyone. He had a message, and He communicated it well using parables, similes, stories, allegories and poignant illustrations to impart knowledge. His audience was amazed at [...]
The concluding verses of chapter 9 of Matthew’s gospel are about the compassion of God, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” (Vs 36) Jesus was deeply immersed in meeting the physical needs of the people around Him. He healed all [...]
Early this year, the Lord renewed our mission: “Go show mercy and proclaim Christ’s Jubilee among the lost, the least, and the last in the dark.” He has shown us great opportunities to bring the people of Myanmar into His Kingdom of Light. Our first base, Yuzana Medical Center, is located near Yangon (formerly Rangoon). [...]
We have the pleasure of welcoming our new EMAS Board members. Three New EMAS Board Members: Dr. Slysz has practiced family and hospitalist medicine for 28 years. During that time, he taught medicine undergraduates and family medicine residents as well as led medical missions to Haiti and Jamaica. In 2016, he was awarded a [...]
One example of how EMAS applies good relationships with well defined roles to foster development finds expression in the aptly named Hand in Hand with Haiti project. The EMAS project, Hand in Hand with Haiti grew out of the friendship of a Haitian Baptist minister and his then Canadian medical student friend. Pastor Saint-Hilaire [...]
There is a special kind of joy that wells up when believers gather to celebrate God’s faithfulness. In April, 2018 EMAS Canada Board, Team Leaders, friends, family and supporters gathered in Toronto to do just that.