Donn-LaTour

Donn LaTour, MD

Dr. Donn LaTour received his medical degree from Loma Linda University of Medicine and his PhD in Biochemistry/ Molecular Biology. He completed his dermatology residency, as well as a one-year advanced Mohs Skin Cancer Surgery Fellowship at the Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.

Dr. LaTour’s Mohs Skin Cancer Surgery Fellowship provided him with in depth expertise in the management of skin cancer. Dr. LaTour returned to his home state of Michigan, to begin his practice in 1997. Since that time, he has expanded his practice with offices in Jackson, Kalamazoo, Battle Creek, Sturgis and Angola. Dr. Donn LaTour is certified by the American Board of Dermatology and is a member of the American College of Mohs Surgery.

Dr. LaTour has a passion for medical ministry and has been involved with AMEN since its inception. He and his wife, Dr. Esther LaTour, have 2 children.

Home Bible Fellowship

in Fall 2021   |
Published on 09/01/2021   |
4 min | <<|>>

The first year of medical school training is notoriously challenging, leaving students with little time or thought for anything besides preparing for the next test.

But for Donn LaTour, who began medical school in 2019, spending time in group Bible study was a priority not to be pushed aside because of his studies or his other interests, which include hiking, surfing, and playing the violin.

During his pre-med years at Andrews University, Donn was part of a small group Bible study that really impacted him positively. Once in Loma Linda, he attended several different study groups. “But none of them really seemed to fit the need I saw for reaching our first year classmates,” recalls Donn, who was elected to be pastor of his class that year.

Donn and a fellow classmate, Vance Gentry, invited several friends and classmates for the initial gathering at their house, and the study group was launched. Young people, including several classmates, seemed eager to meet each week and discuss Bible topics. That year the group chose Lessons on Faith, a compilation of short articles by E. J. Waggoner and A. T. Jones, as their study guide. The group grew, as people started inviting new people. Attendance went from 10-15 a week to 20 or more.

Then COVID hit. “We temporarily shut down and took the opportunity to rethink what we could do to meet and be safe,” Donn says.

After awhile, the group resumed with the addition of food. Over the summer months 30 or more people were attending, while during the school term a smaller core group attended. After Lessons on Faith, the group selected several books of the Bible to read and study such as Ruth and Acts.

“Whatever we are reading, we are always looking for the gospel in every story,” Donn explains. “I want righteousness by faith to be the main focus of every study.”

Another medical student named Giorgia Maghelli has stepped in to contribute and help lead out.

Donn says they continue to look at new ways of reaching people. One change is to invite a guest speaker to come and share their personal testimony once a month. A full dinner is also provided, and those gatherings are very well attended. Guests have included Dr. Mark Carter, a pathologist at LLU, and a two part series by Dr. John Shin, the new AMEN president.

“Changing up the format has created more interest and people really appreciate that,” Donn says.

As they enter their clinical training years, they discuss how to can share these truths with their patients.

Donn says one of the things he really appreciates is that “the study group enables us to connect with others on a meaningful level. It’s a blessing for those who come, and it is for me, too.”

One of the students who comes on Friday nights was raised as a Seventh-day Adventist but no longer attends church. She says the study has become her main way of connecting with God.

The home Bible study fellowship with Donn and his classmates is part of a continuum of medical missionary work that begins with ministry to classmates and peers and expands to include patients and an ever widening circle of acquaintances.

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