Medical Ambassadors International

TRANSFORMING LIVES THROUGH EVANGELISM, DISCIPLESHIP, AND DISEASE PREVENTION.

AS IN THE PREVIOUS YEARS, IN MEDICAL AMBASSADORS INTERNATIONAL (MAI) WE CONTINUE TO STRIVE FOR IMPROVING QUALITY, EFFICIENCY, AND PROFESSIONALISM AT ALL LEVELS. WE CONTINUE TO PERSEVERE RELENTLESSLY WITH OUR ONGOING WORK AND IN OUR EFFORTS TO GROW AND EXPAND OUR CHE (COMMUNITY HEALTH EVANGELISM) PROGRAM. WE ADDED ANOTHER 61 NEW COMMUNITIES IN 2021 AND ARE NOW IN A TOTAL OF 2,674 COMMUNITIES ACROSS 75 COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD IMPACTING A TOTAL POPULATION OF 2.98 MILLION PEOPLE. OUR EFFORTS TO GROW THE SECOND LINE LEADERSHIP IN SOUTH AMERICA, THE CARIBBEAN, AND SOUTHEAST ASIA ARE PROGRESSING WELL. THROUGH THE CAPITAL CAMPAIGN THAT WE PLAN TO LAUNCH IN 2022, WE PLAN TO GROW WIDER AND STRONGER. THIS ENTAILS EXPANDING INTO NEW REGIONS AND GROWING IN EXISTING ONES. WE ALSO PLAN TO MAKE THE ORGANIZATION STRONGER BY BUILDING THE SECOND LINE OF LEADERSHIP AND IMPROVING CAPACITY FOR BETTER COMMUNICATIONS IN THE FIELD THROUGH UPGRADED TECHNOLOGY. THE TECHNICAL DIVISION IS DOING WELL, AND OUR FOUR NEW SPECIALIZED PROGRAMS AND ONGOING PROGRAMS ARE DOING WELL. THESE ARE: NEW SPECIAL PROGRAMS: COMMUNITY RELIEF RESPONSE, TRAFFICKING PREVENTION, THE MEDICAL AMBASSADORS INTERNATIONAL ACADEMY, AND VIRTUAL VISION TRIPS.ONGOING SPECIAL PROGRAMS: TELE-MEDICINE, COFFEE BUSINESS AS MISSION, AND FOCUS ON CHILDREN WITH DISABILITY.IN 2021 WE ALSO EXPLORED THE POSSIBILITY OF SOLAR POWERED AGRICULTURE IN TOGO AND SPECIAL MALARIA CONTROL EFFORTS IN WEST AFRICA. WE CONTINUE TO EXPLORE CORPORATE SECTOR PARTNERSHIPS TO WORK WITH MAI AS A MEANS OF DRAWING MARKETPLACE SKILLS INTO PLAY WITH OUR MINISTRY FOR FURTHER QUALITY AND EFFICIENCY EXPANSION.THE COVID CRISIS CONTINUED TO DELAY AND DISRUPT FIELD WORK AND FORCED US TO CHANGE AND MODIFY THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS. TRAINING PROGRAMS, FOR THE MOST PART, HAVE BECOME VIRTUAL OR HYBRID EFFORTS. THIS HAS OFTEN BEEN A BLESSING IN DISGUISE AS WE HAVE BEEN ABLE TO HAVE PEOPLE FROM ACROSS THE WORLD FACILITATE TRAINING AS WELL AS HAVE PARTICIPANTS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE.WE CONTINUE TO 'MAKE WHOLISTIC DISCIPLES, WHO MAKE WHOLISTIC DISCIPLES AND THUS FACILITATING WHAT WE PRAY FOR IN THE LORD'S PRAYER (MATTHEW 6:10) 'BRING HEAVEN TO EARTH, ONE COMMUNITY AT A TIME'. A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF 2021OUR ENGAGEMENT WITH THE BARNABAS GROUP (TBG) HAS CONTINUED AS WE HAVE WORKED CLOSELY WITH THEIR ADVISORY TEAMS TO IMPROVE OUR RESOURCE MOBILIZING STRATEGY. THIS HAS DONE WELL AS CAN BE SEEN FROM OUR FINANCIAL REPORT LATER IN THIS DOCUMENT. TBG HAS CONTINUED TO HELP US SHARPEN OUR MESSAGE AND IMPROVE OUR MARKETING STRATEGY.MAI'S TEAM OF FIELD CHE TRAINERS CONTINUE TO BE EFFECTIVE, EXPANDING THEIR FACILITATION SKILLS WITH COMMUNITY VISION CASTING. THEY TRAIN CHE COMMITTEES, CHE VOLUNTEERS, AND WHERE THE CONTEXT DETERMINES, SPECIALIZED CHE PROGRAMS FOCUSING ON WOMEN'S ISSUES, FAMILIES, MEN, CHILDREN, MICRO-ENTERPRISE AND THE DISABLED. OUR QUEST FOR NEW APPROACHES CONTINUES TO FOSTER NEW RELATIONSHIPS AND PARTNERSHIPS WITH OTHER AGENCIES TO TRAIN OUR LEAD TRAINERS. AFTER AN INITIAL SET BACK DURING THE EARLY STAGES OF THE COVID CRISIS, MODIFIED TRAINING APPROACHES WERE ADAPTED, AND WE WERE ABLE TO FACILITATE MORE TRAINING PROGRAMS THAN WE HAD DONE IN THE PAST.IN THE YEAR AHEAD, WE HAVE THE FOLLOWING AREAS THAT WE WILL FOCUS ON:WE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN THE NEW COMMUNITIES THAT WE HAVE RECENTLY ADDED TO OUR PROGRAM AND WORK TOWARDS STRENGTHENING THEIR CAPACITY THROUGH TRAINING AND REGULAR FOLLOW UP. THE YEAR AHEAD WILL ALSO BE ONE OF CONSOLIDATING SOME OF THE PARTNERSHIPS WE HAVE ESTABLISHED, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON WORKING TOGETHER AS EXAMPLES OF EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN PARTNERSHIPS AND COLLABORATION. WE SEEK THE LORD'S FACE AND ASK THAT HE CONTINUES TO OPEN OUR EYES TO SEE WHAT HE IS DOING SO WE CAN PARTNER WITH HIM IN THE EXPANSION OF HIS KINGDOM!THE NEW COLLABORATION INITIATED BY MAI IN 2008 NOW OPERATES UNDER SEPARATE NON-PROFIT REGISTRATION TO FORM A NETWORK OF THE MANY OTHER ORGANIZATIONS (GLOBAL CHE NETWORK). THIS NETWORK HAS BECOME A FORUM FOR SHARING IDEAS BUT IS NOT OWNED BY ANY OF THE COLLABORATING ORGANIZATIONS AND CONTINUES TO GROW BY LEAPS AND BOUNDS. MEMBERS REPRESENT 962 NGOS AND FBOS, AND 31,716 WORKERS IN 4,048 COMMUNITIES ACROSS 136 COUNTRIES WHO HAVE NOW AGREED TO HELP EACH OTHER IMPLEMENT CHE IN THEIR AREAS. MAI ALONG WITH THESE OTHER ORGANIZATIONS, HAVE ALL BEEN ABLE TO REACH FAR BEYOND OUR OWN ORGANIZATIONAL LIMITATIONS BECAUSE OF THIS HEALTHY PARTNERSHIP.THE EXTENSIVE CHE CURRICULUM HAS ALSO BEEN AUGMENTED WITH UPDATED LESSONS ON DISEASE DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT INCLUDING NEW DISEASES LIKE COVID AND MONKEY POX. LESSONS ON WATER COLLECTION AND PURIFICATION, AGRICULTURE, ANIMAL HUSBANDRY, MARKETING, MICRO-ENTERPRISE, SAVINGS GROUPS, SIMPLE REPRODUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY, ECOLOGY, LITERACY, MARRIAGE AND FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS, PARENTING SKILLS, AND LOCAL CHURCH LEADERSHIP TRAINING CONTINUE TO GROW AND BE USED EXTENSIVELY. THESE LESSONS ARE AVAILABLE TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE CHE NETWORK WHO HAVE PARTAKEN OF THE BASIC TOT TRAINING. AS A RESULT, AT THE LOCAL VILLAGE OR URBAN COMMUNITY LEVEL, WELL OVER 52,442 VOLUNTEER COMMUNITY HEALTH EVANGELISTS/EDUCATORS HAVE BEEN TRAINED BY MAI DIRECTLY AND THROUGH THE MANY PARTNERS THAT MAI HAS. REPORTS SUGGEST THAT MANY TIMES THIS NUMBER OF PEOPLE ARE ACTIVE IN BIBLE STUDY AND BIBLE STORYTELLING/DISCUSSION GROUPS. PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES IS TRANSFORMING THE DAILY LIVES OF THOUSANDS OF FAMILIES AND TRANSFORMING WHOLE COMMUNITIES AROUND THE WORLD.90% OF THE IMPACT OF MAI IS GENERATED THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF UNPAID VOLUNTEERS AROUND THE WORLD, TRAINED AND ENCOURAGED BY MAI PAID STAFF. THE CONTRIBUTION OF VOLUNTEERS GLOBALLY IS ENORMOUS, AND THIS HAS ONLY BEEN POSSIBLE DUE TO THE UNIQUE MODEL MAI HAS OF BEING ABLE TO MOBILIZE, MOTIVATE, AND TRAIN VOLUNTEERS, WHO IN TURN TRAIN GENERATIONS OF OTHER VOLUNTEERS, MAKING HOLISTIC DISCIPLES WHO MAKE HOLISTIC DISCIPLES.MANY ORGANIZATIONS PAY STAFF TO DELIVER SIMILAR SERVICES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. HOWEVER, MAI TEACHES PEOPLE TO MAKE IMPROVEMENTS IN THEIR OWN COMMUNITIES, AS VOLUNTEERS. IN ESSENCE, WE 'TEACH THEM TO FISH, RATHER THAN GIVE THEM A FISH'. AND THEN, WE GO BEYOND THAT, BY TRAINING THEM HOW TO MAINTAIN THEIR PONDS. THIS HELPS THEM TO HAVE SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS FOR SCORES OF FAMILIES, AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS. THE CHE APPROACH ALLOWS THEIR PROGRAMS TO BE SUSTAINABLE AFTER WE LEAVE AND CAN BE MORE EASILY COPIED BY OTHERS. THIS IS ANOTHER REASON THAT THE PROGRAM HAS REPLICATED EXTENSIVELY. IN TURN, IF MAI COULD INCLUDE THE VALUE OF THESE VOLUNTEER SERVICES IN ITS CALCULATION OF OVERHEAD VERSUS PROGRAM EXPENSES, ITS OVERHEAD PERCENTAGE WOULD DECREASE RADICALLY.