Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom and healing every disease and affliction.  When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:35-36)

We train physicians committed to providing high-quality primary care among the needy.  Delivering excellent medical care is a powerful means of affecting and transforming struggling communities and nations. The physicians at Christ Community acknowledge that our best medical skills are only a shadow of those possessed by the Great Physician who has the power to heal medically, mentally, and spiritually.  At Christ Community we prepare and equip the next generation of doctors who will will represent Jesus Christ with their medical skills, by boldly proclaiming the Gospel and compassionately caring for the needy both domestically and internationally.  

We do it through Christ’s enabling power for the glory of Him whom we hold as the great King.  

God's story through my life begins in Wichita, KS where I was born as the youngest child with the best older siblings you could ask for. Though born in Kansas, Colorado Springs, CO is where I call home. A perfect weekend would include skiing, soccer, ultimate frisbee, hiking, rock climbing and camping in the mountains beside a ginormous campfire. God called me to medical missions when I was an undergrad at the Univ. of Colorado. However, it honestly was not until my 4th year of med school at the Univ. of Kansas that I realized I was pursuing medical missions more for humanitarian reasons rather than confessing that it is merely a tool to proclaim the life transforming Gospel of Jesus Christ. I like medicine, I love people, but, by God's grace, my passion will forever be pointing people to the true Healer. I came to Memphis because people are already doing this here. Our medical mission field is wherever we are, whether it be in the inner-city or the 10/40 window. I am grateful, humbled, scared but excited to spend these next three years learning how to 1.) bring glory to God through medical care for the poor 2.) be a Gospel sharing missionary and 3.) love God with my heart, soul, mind and strength...and medical skills

I was born and raised in McPherson, KS as the youngest of three boys.  After completing my undergraduate work at Greenville College in Greenville, IL, I returned to the University of Kansas for medical school.  While in medical school, I decided to extend medical school a year longer to obtain an Masters in Public Health.  I guess 20 years of schooling wasn’t quite enough so I decided to make it a nice 21. Serving in long-term medical missions has always been the end goal of any endeavor I have pursued and has heavily influenced any decision I have made.   At an early age my family exposed me to the thrills of international travel.  Additionally, my church emphasized providing service to the poor and disenfranchised.  Naturally, pursuing medicine seemed like a fine direction to take to merge these two passions.  I chose to obtain my MPH degree because I saw the importance of community health in a broader context.  I chose to pursue family medicine because it merges that aspect of public health with the comprehensive care of the individual.  Honestly, I chose Christ Community because I believe that God has called me here.  Objectively, I chose it because it combines both the community and individual components with the spiritual.  I know this place will challenge me spiritually, medically, socially, and emotionally.  I am so excited to learn what it means to love and serve the poor for the glory of God for the next 3 years.

I'm Chris, from Colorado, and I love Jesus.  Before Memphis I studied medicine in Loma Linda, California.  God called me to move to Memphis because He wants to teach me about community, and - my friend - I have found community!  I'm already best friends with the other residents, and its only been a few weeks.  I had also been praying that God would place me in a neighborhood where I could be a positive influence for kids without fathers - and I found God placed children all around me. Today I took an eight-year-old boy, (whose first father was killed and second father is in jail) to church with me and now he thinks Jesus is cool because I do.  Afterwards we spent the afternoon playing in the sprinklers, laughing, screaming, and soaking each other. I've never had so much fun in my life.  But with the fun also comes the flipside of pain. The other night I came home to find the police at my neighbor’s house. Sam, a 16-year-old, was told by his mom to go off and play with his little brothers; when he came back, she had ran off and abandoned them.  God has called me to a full life – full of joy, pain, laughter, suffering, intense adventure, and also simply waiting patiently on Him in the stillness.  I've realized this life has nothing for me, nothing compared to the love relationship I've found in Jesus. 

My husband Jay and I moved to Memphis from Phoenix, where I had completed my MD/MPH degree at the University of Arizona.  Prior to medical school, I studied bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, worked in Boston at an intellectual property consulting firm for medical device companies, and volunteered in Liberia as a biomedical technician for Mercy Ships.  I decided to pursue clinical medicine mid-way through my undergrad career,  when the Lord developed a strong desire in me to serve Him with my vocation.  Both my husband and I are committed to working in a low-resource setting, either among urban poor in the US or in an under-developed region of the world.  In our professional and personal lives, Jay (who is pursuing a Masters in Counseling) and I hope to be used by God to bring hope and healing to hurting people, in His name, and for His glory.  We were drawn to Christ Community because of the program's solid medical training, diverse and challenging patient population, inspiring and committed faculty and residents, and outstanding church community.  In my (oh so abundant) free time, I enjoy hiking, camping, photography, running, singing, self-serve frozen yogurt, and figuring out new ways to incorporate breakfast foods into all meals of the day.

well I guess I should start off by telling you that my name's Donald and I'm a Clemson Tiger, to me it doesn't get much better than a saturday afternoon football game or sittin' in my favorite deer stand.  Interesting enough until winter break of my sophomore year of college this would have been the way I chose to describe, even define myself.  Amazing what our God can do.  What is really worth sharing is telling what God can do in the lives of those who are unworthy.  In 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Paul explains that he once acted in ignorance and unbelief yet was shown mercy for he understood "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners - of whom I am the worst".  What God has given me is truly a testament to how He appoints His children to serve in different roles.  Right now that role for me looks something like this:  I'm a disciple of a living Savior who has been given a righteous fox for a wife, Sarah, and a fun loving yet strong willed toddler, Adelaide.  How the heck did we get here, well it's not because we're "hood" or "hard core", shoot we don't scratch that I don't have rhythm or soul (Sarah has a lil I guess) and yet here we sit living totally out of our comfort zone.  It's truly as simple as this, God has given our family a willingness to go.  In that, we feel we should go to places where others may not want to.  I present to you example #1: inner city Memphis.  What a better place to learn about serving our God in the ends of the Earth where most believers don't want to go?  Saying that doesn't mean living incarnationally isn't without challenges and struggles, but who better to learn from than the people who are living out day to day the ministry we hope to take to the nations.  During my one month rotation here 3 years ago God used wisdom from a few of his disciples to truly mold & transform the way I viewed ministry/missions/daily living.  This helped to change our trajectory from maybe doing part time missions to truly desiring a life in the 10/40 window.  Time will tell what the next 3 years will bring. "Now to the king eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.  Amen."