“Would serving people in serious need help fulfill my life?” It’s a frequent, even if subconscious, question we ask ourselves. Gary Morsch observes, “People really do want to help one another and make the world better, but they often don’t know how to do it. People are looking for significance in their lives, but they don’t know how to find it. Often they’ve tried accumulating wealth, increasing excitement, exercising authority, but those attempts left them empty. The fortunate ones discover that the true source of power in our lives, the power to change the world, is available when we serve others.”
Dr Morsch, keynote speaker at the Exploring Medical Missions Conference on May 29-30, speaks from heartfelt experience. He organized the first ever medical airlift to Russia, carried out trash for Mother Teresa’s hospices in India, cared for injured Iraqis in Baghdad, and provided clothes to earthquake victims in China’s Sichuan Province. In 1992, his vision to serve took on exemplary proportions when he founded Heart to Heart International, a globally recognized relief organization that has provided some $300 million in humanitarian supplies to people in more than 100 countries. More significantly, Heart to Heart has linked thousands of volunteers who desire to serve others with people who most desperately need assistance.
“As a relief worker and a physician, in some of the worst conditions imaginable, I see people helping others who are in need,” continues Dr. Morsch. “Usually they are strangers to one another; often they are from different tribes, races, economic or social classes. What draws them together is that someone is in need and someone else is able to provide help. With that experience in mind, I have come to the following conclusions:
• Everyone has something to give
• Most people are willing to give when they see the need and have the opportunity
• Everyone can do something for someone right now”
“For me, I decided in medical school that I would devote time out of each year to practice medicine where people didn’t have adequate medical care. Each year I would pack duffel bags with medicine samples and head to a Third World country” (excerpts from The Power of Serving Others: You Can Start Where You Are by Gary Morsch and Dean Nelson, Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2007). Most healthcare professionals, like Gary Morsch, would like to somehow serve the world’s very vulnerable citizens. Take advantage of Dr. Morsch’s insights. With such a guide, you may discover not only how to save a life, but also how to satisfy a longing within your own heart.