Shelley-Jennings–scaled-circle

Shelley Jennings

Youth Coordinator: Shelley Jennings holds a B.A. in Business Administration from Hope College and an M.A. in Elementary Education from Nazareth College. In 2019, she became part of the Alongside team, collaborating with her husband, Paul, to create a welcoming, understanding, and enjoyable space for TCK teens. Combined, they have dedicated more than 20 years to youth programming. Paul and Shelley, who have four adult children and two grandchildren, work closely together to support the younger generation. Paul and Shelley serve as the teen programming staff implementing similar language to what is taught in the adult seminars so that communication can take place within the family during the MedRefresh retreat. Allowing teens to express themselves helps them to share the hurt, losses, stresses, traumas, along with the exciting and amazing miracles that God does in, and within, the family and communities in which they are serving.

Flourishing by Design: Imagining Medical Missions for 2040

Our predecessors faithfully built institutions that have served for generations. Our challenge is different. We have inherited those institutions into a world they could scarcely have imagined. Population growth, urbanization, changing disease patterns, financial pressures, conflict, climate shocks, and technological change are reshaping healthcare across low- and middle-income countries.

Drawing on new data about the Christian health ecosystem, strategic consultations with global and African Christian health leaders, and field experience across Africa and Asia, this session explores what it will take for Christian health ministries to flourish by 2040.

Together we’ll imagine what it will take for Christian health ministries to flourish by 2040, strengthening resilient institutions, cultivating exceptional local leadership, and mobilizing a broader range of Christian expertise from medicine and nursing to governance, education, engineering, finance, data science, and technology.

How can Christian health ministries become indispensable partners in building resilient health systems that reflect the compassion and hope of Christ? The legacy of the next generation of medical missions will be measured not only by the number of missionaries sent, but by the resilience, flourishing, and Christ-centered witness of systems they strengthen.