posted on January 17, 2022

aXcess: Medical Doctor or Midwife for Christian Hospital—Quality Holistic Care and Discipleship in Senegal

This rural health center under local Christian leadership is crucial in the Christian witness among an unreached nomadic people group in Senegal. Ten years of relationship-building and aXcess ministry in close partnership with local believers have opened unprecedented opportunities to reach a 99.9% unreached population with the gospel. A prayer center is being developed for new believers/seekers as a result of the medical work. Medical workers are needed to serve the local medical staff in quality improvement, training in holistic care, and discipleship. The current medical focus is on emergency care, obstetrics, and community health care.

Position Type

  • International worker (IW)—aXcess—Vocational Track
  • Community development (rural), discipleship, educational, evangelism, medical
  • Partially funded
  • Single or couple

 Responsibilities:

Required Qualifications:

Preferred Qualifications:

Biblical Characteristics Desired:

Timeline for Deployment:

Summer/fall of 2024. Following appointment, and once fundraising goals and other qualifications are met, the appointee is required to attend a cross-cultural and language-acquisition program and pre-field orientation prior to deploying.

General Information:

The people group in the community where the clinic is located are the second largest people group in Senegal, and they spread across the Sahel region of Africa. Most of them are nomadic herdsmen, and almost all follow the majority religion. The clinic is located in a relatively remote area where the weather is generally hot. Adaptation to different food and clothing is required. The Alliance is currently moving towards IWs living in the ministry location, but most team members are in the capital city, about four hours away.

CIA World Factbook – Senegal
Joshua Project – Senegal

Language Expectations:

Language is an essential part of ministry. The successful applicant(s) will receive one year of intense language study followed by ongoing language and cultural acquisition. The goal will be to speak, read, and write the language at a functional level in order to mentor, teach, and train others.

Fluent French is required to communicate well with health care professionals and to teach. Learning the basics of the local language is highly recommended to be able to communicate with patients. A six- to 12-month period of language and culture orientation will be scheduled at arrival.

Health Considerations:

The ministry location has high temperature (80–115ºF) and occasional dust storms. The capital city has a milder climate than interior regions, though it does experience high temperatures and humidity from August–October. There are high levels of air pollution at times, which can affect those with respiratory issues. There are very few expats/IWs in the village. High quality health-care institutions are present in the capital.  

Expectations for Spouse:

The medical facility provides several opportunities (medical and non-medical) for a spouse’s involvement. This ministry is a part of a larger team with other work in urban church planting, reaching urban professionals through business and leadership training, medical ministry, and music and media ministry (production, training, and events). A spouse could also serve in any of these areas.

Children’s Educational Plan and Options:

There are no schooling possibilities at the ministry location. Home schooling or boarding school in the capital city should be considered. For team members living in the capital, some of their children attend private, bilingual French schools that use the French system. Most of the children’s classmates are the children of people from Africa and Europe, as well as local children. Other members’ children attend an international Christian international pre-K–12 school following the American system with all courses in English and taught mostly by Americans, as well as some foreign English speakers. The latter also offers boarding school and has a location about one hour outside of the capital.

Compensation Package

The successful applicant(s) will receive a full compensation package with the expectation that, once appointed, efforts will be made to raise a portion of support costs through the applicant’s network of friends, family, local church, or other resources. Information on support costs will be made available upon application. Training and/or coaching in fundraising is available.

Importance Clarification

Applicant(s) should be aware that serving in the international world often requires a higher degree of grace and flexibility. For example, overseas teams can be suddenly and unexpectedly impacted by illness, government decisions, financial realities, team changes, or other factors beyond the team’s control. The challenge for applicants is that these factors can sometimes necessitate the sudden redefining of a position, which may take place before, during, or after the application/interview process has begun or is completed.

Questions?

Please email the IPO office at [email protected].

Whole-Life Health

As part of an evangelical denomination, we are committed to biblical holism, which is modeled and reflected through our work. Due to this commitment, part of the required qualifications includes optimal emotional, spiritual, and physical health. These will be assessed during the application process.

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