Note: Last week we introduced Jill Townsend, PT, CHT, the Director of Voices of The Healer, the latest project of TCI. Today she introduces the project.

In 1988 BC (Before Children), I wrote Dr. Paul Brand concerning short term missions for hand therapists. This gentle giant, a renowned hand surgeon who served many with leprosy, wrote me back.  Within his letter he said, “I’m beginning to think it takes perhaps more Christian commitment and courage to maintain a Christian lifestyle and a Christian witness in today’s United States than in what used to be called Darkest Africa or Asia.”

Working as a physical therapist in a developed country has given me cause to think of Dr. Brand’s words about commitment and courage.  Practicing in what is now a highly competitive market, I found myself trying to save my job. It is easy to get frustrated when I see the field I love so much turning into a business.  I attempted to put up my defenses. Have you ever had God use frustration to push you in a different direction, His direction? My husband wisely told me, “It is not about saving your job. It is about the need!” The plans I had made to save my job took a new path.

I think a lot, especially in the early morning hours. Perhaps this is the time that thought becomes prayer. The first thing that dawned on me is that wellness (a holistic pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to wellbeing) has a place in the church, where spirit can meet mind/soul and body. The first objective of the project, Voices of The Healer, was established: Faith-based wellness presentations and articles with a target audience of the public globally.  The medical presenters could easily speak about how their faith in the Lord impacts their work. These videos and articles would be posted on a website.

As I looked further at the educational system, my husband’s words came back to me: “It’s about the need!”.  The second objective of the project was identified: Faith-based clinical education presentations on various rehabilitation topics with the target audience being rehabilitation professionals in developing countries.  These videos would be posted on a website for easy and free access to all. 

Having been an advocate for telehealth over a year prior to the pandemic, I realized technology could provide a new avenue to offer patients hand therapy services at my work. Then one early morning when in thought/prayer again, I seemed to hear God speaking to me about medical missions. A history of migraines, consisting of headaches, nausea, and vertigo, had limited my thoughts of being a medical missionary, other than volunteering at a nearby community clinic. Why couldn’t telehealth be used for medical missions even in the field of rehabilitation? The third objective of Voices of The Healer was born: Christian physical and occupational therapists in developed countries providing consultation services to already established medical missions (“boots on the ground”) through remote means. 

Dr. Brand closed his letter with these words, “I pray that God would open your eyes to opportunities in your work and around your home (perhaps in your home) that you have not fully realized before and in which your life can have a profound effect on others.” These prophetic words have been carried out to date from my den by consulting with a medical missionary physical therapist in Guatemala about a gentleman with a machete injury.

 In summary, Voices of The Healer is a rally cry for Christian health professionals to “not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:9-10). It is a gift of time and talents for the Lord, who in return is giving it to all.