More than 300 healthcare professionals, students, church leaders, missionaries and volunteers gathered at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, Aug. 13–15 for MedAdvance 2026, a conference designed to help believers use their medical skills and professional expertise to advance the gospel around the world.
From plenary sessions led by International Mission Board leaders to practical workshops covering various topics of healthcare missions and cross-cultural ministries, the three-day event challenged attendees to see medicine not simply as a profession, but as a platform for Christian compassion while addressing global lostness.
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IMB President Paul Chitwood reminded attendees that they are part of a much larger effort. “Today we speak on behalf of more than 3,500 adults and 3,000 children in missionary families, scattered across continents, in over 80 countries,” he said. “Those families rely on us to keep the line of communication open, the prayer support strong and the financial backing steady.”
The conference’s missions focus resonated with attendees who spent much of their time building relationships with missionaries serving around the world. According to Tom Hicks, IMB director of global health strategies, those personal interactions remain MedAdvance’s greatest strength.
“We are getting amazing engagement between our personnel and the people who come,” Hicks said. “People linger over the meal because they’re talking so much.”
Compassion at the center
The word “compassion” was emphasized in Chitwood’s sermon from Acts 3, where Peter and John approached a lame man outside the temple. He described the apostles’ experience as a “divine interruption.”
Chitwood described MedAdvance as a potential turning point in the lives of those attending.
“My prayer is that this gathering will be more than a networking opportunity,” he said. “It will be a divine interruption, a place where God redirects our careers, our education, our vacations and our very dreams toward His Kingdom work.”
He challenged attendees to consider how they respond when confronted with need.
“Life is full of busy intersections,” he said. “We can either drive past the person in need, assuming someone else will stop, or we can pull over, look them in the eye and ask, ‘What do you need?’”
Physical suffering remains critical, but Chitwood reminded attendees of the deeper purpose behind their service.
“Physical needs — hunger, disease, disaster — are urgent, but the greatest problem is spiritual brokenness, the loss of relationship with the Creator. The greatest hope is the gospel, the message that Jesus paid the price for that brokenness.”
That message was echoed by Jacob Boss, IMB vice president of global engagement, who spoke on Matthew 9:35-37 in the Friday evening session and emphasized that medical care and gospel ministry are not competing priorities.
“Healthcare can actually be such a powerful expression of the compassion of Christ because it often takes us closer to people at moments when they know they cannot save themselves,” Boss said.
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EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chris Doyle and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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