Reports from missionary physicians and AMEN chapters from around the world.

AMEN 2022: Life More Abundant

<p>Reports from missionary physicians and AMEN chapters from around the world.</p>

<p>Free sharing permitted under the Creative Commons <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/">BY-NC-ND 3.0 (US)</a> license.</p>

Adventist Medical Evangelism Network (AMEN)

Plenary Sessions

Brian Schwartz

He Will Hold Us Fast

Well once again good evening it feels like when we start meetings like this it feels like Friday night but it's Thursday and it's amazing to see so many people together on a Thursday night and so I'm just glad you guys have all come out to support Amen as we are back on the East Coast.

Let's tell you a story that actually just happened to me.

Didn't actually happen to me, it happened to my partner, but about 2 weeks ago, Wendy and I and Andy and Bob had been at a wedding in Portugal and I came back, so it was within the last 2 weeks.

On Tuesdays I usually do TAVR procedures, which is replacement of the aortic valve through a catheter and so I had done my first case and my second case but I the team said okay we're going to grab some lunch but we'll be back right at such-and-such a time and we'll be ready to go.

So right at that time I walked in and my patient was in the room, they were on the gurney, but there was nobody else in the room.

There was the nurse anesthetist, and there was the nurse anesthetist, and there was also 1 nurse.

And usually for a TAVR procedure, there are at least a dozen to 15 people in the room.

And they said, oh, we're holding, there's a problem down in room 1.

Well, a problem is, you never know what that means.

But, so I walked down to room 1 in our cath lab, and that's like 4 rooms down, walked in to find my colleague, and about 15 people, including most of my team, trying to desperately to resuscitate and stabilize a patient on the table.

The surgeon that was working with me was there talking to my partner.

The OR team was standing around wondering if they should start getting out the instruments and what we're gonna do next.

The anesthesiologist that was working on my case was at the head of the bed and he had just intubated the patient.

There were 3 of our fellows in there doing various tasks.

The echo tech that was supposed to support my team was also in there doing an echo.

And so what I could piece together as I walked in is that here was a 32 year old young lady on the cath lab table.

She had come into the hospital after experiencing pressure like pain in her chest for the last 3 days.

And so yeah her EKG showed ST elevations but it also showed Q waves.

Her troponin was going up over 50, 000 already and so probably most of the damage was already done.

And you're at this quandary, do we just ride it out?

Or do we try to salvage any muscle that we can?

A year or 2 ago, her ejection fraction was noted to be around 40% and when they had gotten her in here it was around 20% before they did the case.

And now when she in the middle of all this it was even less.

They thought they'd do what they could and because she was so young they decided to complete it.

They placed 2 stents, they opened up her LAD, they restored the blood flow in her coronary artery and just as they were getting ready to transfer her off the cath lab table to the gurney, her blood pressure started going down rather quickly and then all of a sudden she coded.

They got her back over to where they were, they started CPR, The anesthesiologist came over from my room and they intubated her.

The surgeon was in there debating whether or not we should go on the heart-lung machine, the pump that we call ECMO, but what they decided to do is go ahead and put an Impella in, which is a left ventricular assist device.

And they did everything practically that they could.

The echo tech came in real quick and did an echo, and it looked like there was blood around the heart in the pericardium.

And so they quickly put in a pericardial drain, and they started aspirating blood, and then giving it back.

And as they did that, they got a rhythm back, they got a blood pressure back, it seemed to be working.

And so now they had to decide what to do.

Everybody was already in the room, and there wasn't really much for me to do, so I said, you know what, I'll go talk to the family.

And so I went out to the waiting room to find that the only family that she had was a 78-year-old grandmother, who was in a wheelchair, who had her own health problems.

It turns out the grandmother was actually already at the hospital visiting the patient in our cath lab's older brother who was admitted with a drug overdose.

And in fact she lost 2 other brothers to overdoses already.

The patient that was on the table had actually been trying hard to overcome drugs and she'd been in a methadone maintenance program and for the last 2 years as far as the grandmother knew she'd been clean.

She had a six-month-old son named Jackson And the family did not know who the father was, and there was no other family.

When I came back to the lab, they had placed a TEE probe down and got a better look at the heart.

And it showed not just that there was a perforation causing the blood to fill up around the pericardium, but there was actually a rupture of the myocardium.

And now the question is, is there anything that we can do?

The surgical team, the Surgeon said, we can open this up, but if we even just try to sew, it's just gonna rip, it's gonna tear, there's nothing to sew to.

I do structural heart procedures, so they said, can you put a plug in there, can you do anything to seal this?

And I'm like, no, it's just gonna Rip out.

So the problem is, is that when you open up an artery into an area that has recently infarcted more than a few hours, but within the last few days, and now you restore the blood flow to that area, it just turns to mush.

We didn't think that she could be a candidate for a heart transplant or an LBAD because she'd gotten CPR for over 30 minutes.

We weren't sure what that condition was gonna be.

She wasn't gonna be a heart transplant program with her drug history.

And it just became obvious there wasn't much to do.

Now her heart was squeezing less than 10%.

Been a couple of rounds of CPR, and so things didn't look too good.

So I started observing my colleague in the text at the cath lab table.

My colleague's not a Christian, but he sat there as long as he could.

He asked all of us anything else that we can do.

He talked to the surgeon and it just became painfully obvious that there was no hope.

They could aspirate the blood and they could give it back, but it wasn't going to fix the problem.

And so 1 by 1, people started slipping out the back door.

The anesthesiologist ducked out the back.

Pretty soon, it was back down to the original team.

And with tears in their eyes as they'd given up and realized there's nothing more that was going to make a difference, they stopped aspirating the blood.

They dialed down the left ventricular assist device.

It was clear that the situation was hopeless And they felt horrible.

But there was absolutely nothing they could do.

As I sat here and watched this scenario unfold, I couldn't help but think in many ways this is the same situation that God finds himself in.

It seems that a knowledge of God is slipping away, and many souls are already hopelessly lost.

Many are following close behind, but God will not give up while there is any hope.

And so 2 Peter 3, 9 states that the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness, but he is long-suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

God's response to his people is like he said in the Old Testament, how can I give you up, Ephraim?

My heart churns within me, my sympathy is stirred.

After all, these are the people that he died for, the people that he loves, and the people that he wants to completely restore.

And God has promised to have a remnant in the very last days of this earth's history who will respond to his drawing power, to his selfless love.

And so far, God's people seem distracted, unconcerned, preoccupied with lesser things.

Johnny Ahn

Abundant Abiding: From Fruitless Anxiety to Fruitful Peace in Residency

I have to start by praising our God this morning because I'm like the Israelites of old.

I have the spiritual memory of a goldfish, but if I have to be a forgetful goldfish, I want to be this celestial eye goldfish, which got its name because its eyes are naturally turned upward.

And it perfectly illustrates Philippians 3 where Paul says, brethren, 1 thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Who else wants to be a celestial-like goldfish?

Father in heaven, I praise you because in your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Lord I praise you and thank you for being the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

I chose this title because for over 10 years, I wholeheartedly pursued the goal of becoming a doctor until it became my identity.

Once I matched into residency, I thought I would finally experience fulfillment and life more abundant.

But as I near the end of my residency, I understand what Solomon means when he says, all is vanity.

Because in eternity, heaven won't need healthcare professionals.

I don't know if I should say this, it won't even need amen.

What it will need is for me and for you to abide in Christ, so that he can use our training to reach those that we meet every day and to show them the way to eternal life.

When I abide in Christ, every day becomes an adventure.

Every trip outside the home becomes an exciting mission trip.

And this experience has changed me from a sadventist to a gladventist.

Number 1, first I structured this message after the ACTS prayer model.

ACTS standing for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.

And I'll be starting each section with a prayer.

How many of you know this man, Eliud Kipchoge?

So in 2019, he became the first human to run a marathon distance in under 2 hours.

And as a lifelong Adventist, I've heard many, many testimonies that are the spiritual equivalent of Kipchoge running this world record.

Miraculous stories of terminally ill patients being healed through prayer and staunch atheist patients being baptized through Daniel and Revelation studies.

And these testimonies inspire me in the same way Kipchoge's achievement inspires me as a runner.

My testimony is a bit more like this boy getting carried across the finish line of a 5K walk.

So since I'm already confessing to you, I'd love for us to come corporately before God in a spirit of confession and repentance.

Let's follow King David in saying, search me, O God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my anxieties, and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

And with that I am going to pray 1 more time.

Father I praise you for your promise in 1st John 1 9 where you tell us if we confess our sins you are faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I ask, believe, and claim your promise now.

On the next slide is my confession and The slide after that has 2 words I'd like you all to read in response.

And I stand here to praise God for giving me victory over addictions and a righteousness by works lifestyle.

This will all make sense once you hear my testimony.

So first I'll tell you my Instagram testimony.

I was born a third-generation Adventist, attended Adventist schools from pre-kindergarten through college, was baptized during high school at Georgia Cumberland Academy, was blessed to receive a scholarship to attend Andrews University, served as a student missionary in Chad for 6 months, was blessed to receive a scholarship to attend the State Medical School for Georgia, matched into residency, and then completed my intern year near Loma Linda, where my faith grew exponentially as I attended Advent Hope, served in ministry, joined in weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings, and paid tithe faithfully.

I was on my way to becoming a bona fide medical missionary.

And on the outside, my life looked perfect.

Now everything I've just told you is 100% true, but it's only part of the story, like the tip of an iceberg.

Let's illustrate this with a game where you tell me if a plant is real or fake.

For these lemon trees, both of them have fruits.

How would you know which 1 is fake and which 1 is real?

You could pick the fruit, but a really good fake tree might have lemons that look and feel real, in which case, you'd have to taste the fruit.

So the tree on the right is fake, and I was like this fake lemon tree for much of my life.

I knew the fruits of the spirit, and I made it appear on the outside that I had them, but all I had were artificial fruits that looked real from a distance.

And only those closest to me knew that they were fake.

So that leads me to my real testimony of freedom from addictions and a righteousness by works lifestyle.

So today you won't be learning about the real Johnny Cash, but the real Johnny On.

So before I say more, I want to make it clear, my goal is to testify like the Samaritan woman at the well and the 2 demoniacs that Jesus healed.

If you think about it, what kind of testimonies did they have?

The Samaritan woman at the well told everyone, Come, see a man who told me all things that I ever did.

She had been divorced 5 times and was living with a man who was not her husband.

Not the most glamorous testimony, but she brought her town to Christ.

The 2 demoniacs knew very little about Jesus, except that he healed them of demon possession.

But they were completely different men because they encountered him.

And when he returned to that region later, thousands from all over came to hear him because of those 2 men.

So just as God wielded the unglamorous testimony of the Samaritan woman and the living testimonies of the 2 demoniacs.

To explain my real testimony I have to start with another question.

So in John 12 Jesus says, and I if I am lifted up from the earth will draw all peoples to myself.

For Jesus to draw all peoples to himself it must mean he's universally attractive.

And he's most attractive when we see him lifted up on the cross of Calvary, because there we see that he truly loved us while we were still yet his enemies.

Now, have you ever met someone with a beautiful character and felt drawn to them?

And when you felt that attraction, what did you naturally want to do?

Well, of course, you wanted to get to know that person.

And now that I've defined attraction, I can share my real testimony, which is that For almost 30 years, I had no real attraction to Christ.

Even when I tried to spend time in prayer and the word, it felt as dry as the Sahara.

And looking back, I realized it was because I was so addicted.

Addicted to social media and entertainment, especially those random YouTube documentaries, sports, fashion, online shopping, and most of all, food.

I was a glutton to the point of self-induced food comas, especially at Sabbath potlucks.

So in short, I had idols that blocked my view of Christ, lifted up on the cross, and that prevented me from beholding the beauty of His character.

Carissa Vitorovic

When I Can’t Heal

Today we are going to be discussing the subject when I can't heal.

The question is why were many physicians enthusiastic leaders of the eugenics movement at the turn of the 20th century?

How does the underlying fear that they held still influence medicine and perhaps even spiritual care today?

In this seminar, we will be addressing both what spiritual care is as well as what it is not.

And through this process, Lord willing, we will be empowered to provide Christ-centered spiritual care more confidently, even in the direst of circumstances.

Please bow your heads with me once more as we begin.

Heavenly Father God to you and you alone be all the glory.

Lord thank you for bringing us all here safely.

Thank you for this opportunity to learn from you.

And Lord, our patients are your children.

And so Father, teach us how you would have us to care for them.

Shortly after the turn of the century, as concerns about poverty and crime and mass immigration began to rise, many physicians and leading politicians, as well as businessmen, all joined hands together in efforts for the betterment of society.

This, as 2 prominent American neurologists at the time, Foster Kennedy of Cornell and William G.

Lennox of Harvard described it, it necessitated a reduction of the hopelessly unfit in America.

Defective, so-called, and the feeble-minded were sterilized or even euthanized by those who had taken an oath to do no harm.

If you can't fix them, discard them early, became the new modus operandi.

And of course, listening to this today, it is and should be quite startling to us all.

Eugenics was not a new concept, It was not a new ideology.

You can look back through many ancient customs such as the Spartans of ancient Greece When a child was born The infant would be immediately assessed And if this newborn precious child had any glimpse of deformity, the child would immediately be killed.

Startling as it is, Certainly I am grateful, and I'm sure you are as well, that eugenics is no longer a political movement.

It is no longer something that is being endorsed.

However, I do fear that some of the remnants remain.

And some of those roots have come a little closer to Adventism than we may desire to know.

In fact, a man you may be familiar with by the name of John Harvey Kellogg, a physician, a nutritionist, a health reformer, but his emphasis on a clean diet and exercise was superseded that of the gospel story.

In 1915, the Panama Pacific Expo attracted thousands of attendees and global media attention.

1 of the most popular exhibits was 1 run by John Harvey Kellogg, known as the Race Betterment Conference.

Kellogg congratulated Charles Davenport, a leading eugenicist at the time, on the success of the efforts there.

While we see that this occurred not too long ago in medicine, it's also impacted providers today.

In our efforts in caring for patients, potentially in how we relate to them, and certainly also in spiritual care endeavors.

When we see the patient has as many chronic illnesses as they have complaints, and we scramble for ways to shorten the visit and hopefully refer them out to some other specialist.

Or when we avoid the mother in the hallway who is sobbing over her son's poor prognosis, knowing that nothing we can say could fix it, and we find ourselves going the other way.

Or perhaps when we find ourselves less invested in the care of a homeless patient, an elderly client, or an individual with mental health concerns.

Inwardly, we may be questioning whether their lack of understanding and compliance is truly worth my time.

Have you felt these thoughts, especially during COVID and post the COVID era, when your patient load has only increased?

When you too are likely feeling the pressures of exhaustion?

These feelings, these questions, are they worth it?

As a medical provider, you were always taught to have the answer.

How can we ensure we never slip in the path of Kellogg, but rather maintain a Christ-centered ministry for the most vulnerable among us today.

Following World War II and the clear trauma that occurred there, a plethora of studies were conducted.

1 of these studies compared the experience of children living in London during the Blitz with those who were sent away from their parents to live in the relative safety of the countryside.

Interestingly, the study revealed that those who were sent away to the countryside for protection against German bombing raids fared much worse than the children who remained with their parents and endured nights in bomb shelters and frightening images of destroyed buildings and dead people.

Children who were separated from their parents after a traumatic event are likely to suffer serious negative long-term effects.

When I first read this study it was surprising to me.

Naturally you would think the safest option certainly for their mental health is to send the children away where they will have no fears, they live in the countryside, they're not going to see the destruction of their home, they're not going to see the loss of their loved ones.

And yet the opposite was found to be true.

What those children needed was mom and dad.

What those children needed was that relationship.

Even if the bombs are exploding around me, what I need is to know that I am loved, that I am secure in your arms.

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Series

Plenary Sessions

AMEN 2022 Mission Program

Transcript

Description

Parent Series

Parent Conference

Sponsor

Recorded

Parts

He Will Hold Us Fast

1h 44m

Abundant Abiding: From Fruitless Anxiety to Fruitful Peace in Residency

54m

When I Can’t Heal

1h 2m

Full Circle: Gratitude in Surrender

1h 18m

Sabbath School Lesson Study: Life More Abundant

1h 32m

Bringing Them to Life

1h 38m

AMEN 2022 Mission Program

50m

Life More Abundant

1h 40m

Sound Doctrine