by Brendan Rowland, Student Public Relations Writer
The nonprofit organization Samaritan’s Purse hopes to positively impact students through its upcoming Prescription for Renewal Medical Missions Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Samaritan’s Purse is investing in eight Cedarville University students majoring in nursing and four nursing faculty members by sending them, all expenses paid, to its medical missions conference. The conference will be held September 15-18. Cedarville is one of three universities Samaritan’s Purse is supporting at the conference.
The conference will offer more than 60 lectures on topics relating to missions and healthcare. Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will serve as one of the keynote speakers.
“We have worked with Cedarville University for many years and have been so impressed by the caliber of students the school produces,” Charity Moree, assistant director of campus relations for Samaritan’s Purse, wrote. “We have been especially impressed by the spiritual maturity and the Biblical foundation that Cedarville students graduate with." 
Lisa Smithers, assistant professor of nursing and coordinator of the cross-cultural nursing minor, extended the offer by Samaritan’s Purse to the eight junior and senior nursing majors who are currently enrolled in the cross-cultural minor
“Every student and faculty member that I asked to attend the conference accepted the generous offer,” said Smithers.
The conference provides training for the mission field, including demonstrating how to set up an emergency field hospital and offering hands-on ultrasound experience. There will be numerous seminars on disaster assistance response, including specific lecture topics such as responding to the Ukraine crisis.
The conference will also allow students to make connections for post graduation employment.
“I think that the conference will help attendees network and learn more about the medical ministries at Samaritan’s Purse,” Smithers noted. “They are recruiting qualified people who are interested in medical missions.”
One conference session, “Living Legends: A Life of Service,” will honor heroes of medical missions, including Dr. Bob Cropsey – the grandfather of Cedarville junior Molly Cropsey, who is one of the eight nursing students attending the conference.
Molly Cropsey looks forward to witnessing this tribute since she continues to be inspired by her grandfather’s stories about ministry in Togo that she heard growing up.
She credits the cross-cultural nursing minor with prompting her to seriously consider long-term missions. “The minor has deepened my desire to serve others in medically underserved places as well as the call to minister to others in a culture other than my own. My appreciation for communicating effective care across languages and cultural barriers has grown while the minor equips me with concepts that I will carry with me onto the mission field someday, Lord willing.”
“We are thankful to Samaritan’s Purse for assisting our nursing students in their personal, professional and spiritual development,” said Smithers. “Their offer, I believe, is because of what Samaritan’s Purse has seen in our graduates and because they know our focus is to develop students so that they can use the nursing profession as a ministry for Christ.”
Located in southwest Ohio, Cedarville University is an accredited, Christ-centered, Baptist institution with an enrollment of 5,082 undergraduate, graduate, and online students in more than 150 areas of study. Founded in 1887, Cedarville is one of the largest private universities in Ohio, recognized nationally for its authentic Christian community, rigorous academic programs, including its Bachelor of Science in Nursing, strong graduation and retention rates, accredited professional and health science offerings, and high student engagement ranking. For more information about the University, visit cedarville.edu.