Health, Healing, and Shalom: Frontiers and Challenges for Christian Healthcare Missions - Paperback

by Bryant L. Myers (Editor), Erin Dufault-Hunter (Editor), Isaac B. Voss (Editor)

Frontiers and Challenges for Christian Healthcare Missions

Ever since Jesus's proclamation in word and deed as the Great Physician, his followers in mission have assumed that salvation and health are intertwined. Yet for every age, Christians need to examine how they can best announce the gospel message of God's healing in word and deed in their own context. In our era, we are often simultaneously grateful for modern medicine and frustrated by its inability to care for the whole person in effective, affordable ways.
In this edited volume, authors with an interest in health missions from a wide variety of experiences and disciplines examine health and healing through the theological lens of shalom. This word, often translated "peace," names a much more complex understanding of human well-being as right relationships with one another, with God, and with creation. Reading various aspects of healthcare missions through these glasses not only yields much-needed correctives to current practice but also exposes the Spirit's invitation to participate in God's ongoing work of tending, caring, and healing our broken world.

Author Biography

Bryant L. Myers, PhD, is professor of international development in the School of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. He worked for over thirty years with World Vision International. Myers's books include Walking with the Poor: Principles and Practices of Transformational Development (2011) and Working with the Poor: New Insights and Learnings from Development Practitioners (2008). His research interests include poverty and development in Christian perspective and the integration of evangelism and development.

Erin Dufault-Hunter, PhD, is assistant professor of Christian ethics in the School of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has written The Transformative Power of Faith: A Narrative Approach to Conversion (2012). Her research interests include bioethics, sociology of religion, diversity, and sexuality/gender.
Isaac B. Voss, MPH, is assistant professor of anthropology at Vanguard University. After receiving his master's degree in public health (Boston University), he served for nine years as the health ministry director for World Impact-Los Angeles, a Christian nonprofit organization. Isaac is presently a PhD candidate in urban community development at Fuller Theological Seminary. His research interests include church-based health programs, participatory evaluation methods, and the role of agency in poverty and development.