Following God's Call Into Cross-Cultural Ministry | Legacy Interview with Dr. Duane Claassen

Duane Claassen has a fascinating story that’s woven throughout the early days of CCHF. He grew up on a Mennonite farm in Central California and followed God’s call to become a doctor. That eventually led him to New Hebron, Mississippi, where he worked with Voice of Calvary—alongside some of the very earliest organizers of CCHF, including H. Spees and others.

He presented a workshop at the very first CCHF conference in Washington, D.C., in 1982. There, he met, befriended, and eventually partnered with Dr. Bob Williams, moving to Denver to help launch Inner City Health in the early 1980s. I truly enjoyed my visit with Duane—I hope you will too.

I especially appreciated our discussion about what it means to be a Christian health center. It’s more than simply offering prayer or spiritual counsel to your patients. It’s hard to describe unless you’ve experienced it, but it has to do with Christ being the fabric—not just a component or an option, but the very foundation—of everything you do as an organization. That’s a challenging goal, and honestly, we don’t hit it every day. It doesn’t always feel great, but it requires humility, intentionality, and a genuine, thorough reliance on God.

And once you’ve experienced that, you understand that it’s worth the effort.

If you enjoyed this podcast, please like, subscribe, and share it with others. My prayer is that you will have the experience of knowing Christ as the fabric of your community and your work.

Check out the CCHF website at cchf.org to see a list of clinics that are striving to live out the gospel. And if you work at a Christian clinic, remember your first love.

God will restore and refresh.
Thanks for listening—I hope to see you soon.

~ Written by Steve Noblett

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CCHFTalk is a production of Christian Community Health Fellowship.

CCHF's Mission: The mission of Christian Community Health Fellowship is to encourage, engage and equip Christians to live out the gospel through healthcare among the poor and marginalized.

CCHF's Vision: We envision a movement of God's people who choose daily to promote healing in marginalized communities in the name of Jesus.

To learn more about Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF) and how you can get involved please visit our website at CCHF.org. If you see medicine as more than a career choice - as a calling to serve Christ – then these are your people. Yearly we host the CCHF Conference where hundreds of individuals and organizations join together to network, learn, and worship. Visit https://www.cchfconference.org/ for full schedule, details, & to register!

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