BJU nursing student Lauren Cathers processes information during a research project in Ghana last summer.
Last summer, the Center for Community and Global Health at BJU took a team of 16 health professionals and students to begin a five-year nutrition research project in western Ghana.
One BJU nursing student who went on the trip, Lauren Cathers, along with another student, health sciences major Belle Bryan, this summer have internships lined up with Atlanta-based Medical Missions Outreach in which they will travel to Zambia and Honduras.
Cathers and Bryan, both seniors, will not only be traveling on medical missions trips but will learn about the logistics of medical missions operations. They will learn clinical skills on the field, learn about the business side of running an organization, and help operate the medical supplies warehouse.
As a freshman, Cathers attended a campus event “to see what was available and there was a trip going to Kenya.” She ended up going to Kenya and has traveled with the group every summer.
Medical Missions Outreach works in underdeveloped countries to set up short-term medical, dental and optical clinics. As its focus is missions, Medical Missions Outreach partners with missionaries to translate and share the gospel.
“It gives the church a chance to meet a lot of people,” said Cathers, of Rochester, Mich. “It’s connecting people in the community with (a) church to help build discipleship.”
Anyone can go on a medical mission trip. “Even if you’re not medical, you get to see and experience so much, and a huge part of that experience is seeing the global church and being able to see what God is doing in different ways,” Cathers said.
Through the Center for Community and Global Health, the Center for Global Opportunities and the Community Service Council, BJU students can participate in a variety of service and outreach ministries on campus, in the Greenville community and around the world. Learn more about BJU outreach.
