God’s Ambassadors of Healing

Source: The Health Connection Newsletter | 1St Quarter 2026

In a few days, Christians around the world will celebrate Easter – a religious holiday celebrating the resurrection of Christ and His victory over sin and death. Christ left the side of God in Heaven to live among us and show us the loving nature of God in the flesh. He preached, taught, and healed, bringing hope to people of all classes, backgrounds, and cultures. As Ellen White puts it, “Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His.” [HLv 15.1]. When He rose again, He confirmed that through His stripes we can be healed [Isaiah 53:5]. This is the best news to anyone in this broken world who accepts His love and chooses to surrender to Him, as Lord, Redeemer, and Friend!

Unfortunately, there are still billions of people living in unreached communities with little to no access to this good news. The vast majority of these least-reached people reside in the 10/40 Window, a region covering North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. God has called us to be His ambassadors as we collaborate with Him in His precious mission of reaching the entire world with this good news.

But how can we be His ambassadors if we do not know Him deeply or the message He wants us to share on His behalf? His message is made clear in Christ’s ministry and in His commission. We are to preach, teach and heal as He did, reflecting His character and methods. He said peoplewill know we are His ambassadors by how we love and serve one another. He left us the example of His method as the only one that can bring success (Ministry of Healing, 143);
therefore, we are called to use it and learn how to apply it.

The implementation of Christ’s methods across cultures is well summarized by Duane Elmer in the book Cross-cultural Servanthood. Elmer offers guidance for avoiding misunderstandings and for building relationships with people in cross-cultural settings using the
following principles and action steps:

Openness – Welcoming others into our presence as we seek to mingle.

Acceptance – Communicating respect for others as we mingle.

Trust – Building confidence in relationships as we seek to learn and meet their needs.

Learning – Seeking information that changes us as we learn from them.

Understanding – Applying Biblical principles as we seek to understand them and help them to understand new Biblical truth and health knowledge for change.

Serving – Serving others like Christ did by meeting their whole-person felt needs and showing sympathy and compassion.

May this season remind us of our calling to reach the unreached, as Christ did, meeting people’s needs in practical ways by showing His love and compassion!