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Why Go?

This might sound a daft question – especially if you’re already convinced that this is what you want to do, but it is worth taking a few moments just to think through some of the many different reasons why an overseas elective is worth the hassle planning it. Your reasons for going will form the foundations for your Aims and Objectives whilst you are out there, and if you don’t get these right then you are likely to have had an expensive waste of time.

To Experience Another Culture
Even though many UK city’s are extremely cosmopolitan, and the world quite literally on our doorstep these days, visiting the homelands of some of our neighbours will help us to understand them and their culture better. We’ll have greater insight into the kinds of difficulties they have adjusting to our culture; we’ll give them pleasure being able to talk from experience about the part of the world that they are from; we’ll have a greater awareness of those aspects of our own unconscious daily routine that are also specifically cultural; and we’ll have a much bigger vision of God as we start to experience for ourselves the enormity and diversity of the world that he has created and controls.

To Develop a Wider view of Healthcare
Concepts of healthcare, the health needs of the individual and communities, and the provision of care for the sick and needy vary hugely across the world. Not every culture subscribes to biomedicine, giving you an opportunity to appreciate both its value and its weaknesses; nursing is perceived quite differently even in many western countries and the prevailing illnesses and trigger factors are similarly unique from continent to continent.

To Grow in Faith
Relating to God in an unfamiliar environment inevitably leads to a greater reliance on him and eyes to see him at work in ways you never have before. There is also the opportunity to share Jesus with people in cultures that are more spiritually aware than our own, or to learn from Christians in other cultures. Always there is the opportunity to serve. Even if you are unable to pass on some ground breaking new approaches to healthcare, just being there and showing people you care, sharing you life with them as they share theirs with you is part of the giving and receiving of the love of Christ.

To Test Out Plans for the Future
Although for many this will be the primary motive for planning an overseas elective, in practice it should be the background and not the foreground against which we lay our plans. Keep it in mind, but don’t let your hopes for the future dominate your experience of the present – the danger is that your plans become your focus and you lose sight of the great things God is doing and teaching you here and now.

N.B. Mission is lifelong, worldwide. If you don’t get the opportunity to go overseas as a student don’t despair. You can go as soon as your training is finished, you can go when you have some experience under your belt; and you can go with your kids at any age (growing up overseas in a second culture can be an extremely exciting and educational experience for children at any age). You can get involved with international students in the UK, support your churches missionary activities, support mission organisations financially and in prayer and even have your neighbours round to supper a few times in an attempt to share your life and love of Christ with them!

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© First Edition with appendices – August 2004 Christian Medical Fellowship, London. Christian Student Nurses & Midwives, Leicester Credits: This booklet was originally written by Sally Foster, CSNM’s former Staff Worker, and has been updated and expanded by Steven Fouch, CMF’s Allied Professions Secretary. Any corrections, suggestions or comments please forward to healthserve@cmf.org.uk All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of CMF. Christian Medical Fellowship 6 Marshalsea Road London SE1 1HL United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0)20 7234 9660 Fax: +44 (0)20 7234 9661 E-mail 1: healthserve@cmf.org.uk (HealthServe Office) Email 2: steve.fouch@cmf.org.uk (Steven Fouch, Allied Professions Secretary) Website: www.healthserve.org Christian Medical Fellowship is a registered charity No. 1039823 DISCLAIMER CMF cannot be held responsible for the information contained in this booklet. Students will have to confirm the information with the individual institutions and missions agencies including the conditions for undertaking electives and the precautions advised to reduce health and transport risks.