Conference Report

An island getaway is the perfect way to celebrate a ten year anniversary – wouldn’t you agree? That’s exactly what hundreds of AMEN members and friends did the last weekend of October for AMEN’s tenth annual conference. The event was hosted on the beautiful island of Coronado, right across the bay from San Diego.

This island getaway however, was far from a leisurely vacation. It was an action-packed event filled with presentations, workshops, worship, networking, and contagious enthusiasm for health evangelism. With a conference theme of Joined Together, attendees set out to gain a better understanding of the divine blueprint to combine medical work with gospel ministry.

Attendees were blessed with inspirational plenary messages from a variety of presenters, including Neil Nedley, Mark Finley, Eric and Rachel Nelson, Phil Mills, George Guthrie, Anil Kanda, and Todd Guthrie. Topics ranged from “Systems-Based Whole Person Care”, to “Building Faith in Patients and Families,” to “Healing Patients for Eternity.” Conference attendees woke up early each morning for a special devotional and prayer time hosted by Drs. Brian and Lyndi Schwartz.

Breakout sessions provided valuable information on a host of health and spiritual topics, including praying with patients, structuring the family for financial success and service, sharing Christ in the dental office, choosing a specialty and residency, understanding epigenetics, addressing post-abortion trauma, building brain and body health, and witnessing in a secular work environment.

Round-table discussions gave practical instruction on a variety of topics, including using media in heath ministry, providing free clinics in urban settings, organizing overseas mission trips, and reaching medical students.

On Sabbath morning, more than 650 attendees gathered as Pastor Mark Finley passionately preached a message entitled “Wholeness in a Broken World,” encouraging attendees to share Christ’s healing power within their spheres of influence.

Sabbath afternoon featured a student-led report entitled “Reclaiming the Vision: Mission in the Loma Linda University School of Medicine.” Students shared inspiring messages of God’s work on the LLU campus. AMEN was thrilled to sponsor over 135 medical and dental students to attend the conference.

Sabbath evening, Dr. Randy Bivens shared a progress report for Life and Health Network, AMEN’s media branch. This ministry creates media resources for healthcare professionals and laypeople to share with their patients and contacts. Learn more at lifeandhealth.org.

The conference also highlighted AMEN’s mission efforts in the past year, including two trips to the Philippines, and multiple free medical and dental clinics in the United States.

AMEN’s 10th anniversary conference was a tremendous blessing. Attendees left with renewed inspiration to share Jesus with their patients and colleagues. We are thankful for God’s blessing on this event and can’t wait to see how He will continue to use AMEN in the coming year. Save the date for this year’s conference which will be held October 29-November 1, 2015 in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

The presentations are available to watch &/or listen to both on the AMEN and AudioVerse’s websites.

If you signed up for CME credit you will need to complete an evaluation to obtain credit. The event number is 12110. You will be able to print your certificate upon completion of the evaluation.