About Plenary Speakers

Dr. Natalie Cupples Pickering is a licensed psychologist, board-certified coach, wife, mom, Ironman triathlon finisher, Enneagram 1 and lover of good coffee, mountains, deep conversation, and supporting transformation.

She is committed to speaking, coaching, training, consulting, and living with commitment to vulnerability, hard stuff, true stuff, and unwavering presence. Her approach is personable, real, and engaging.

She and her husband served in Nigeria, West Africa for 3 1/2 years with SIM providing member care support and teaching at Hillcrest School.

Dr. Pickering is the CEO of High Places Coaching and Consulting, Inc. and she is the Organization Development psychologist at a government healthcare system where she specializes in leadership and team development, burnout prevention and emotional intelligence. Dr. Pickering was an invited member of the national VHA REBOOT taskforce to address burnout across the enterprise and is a subject matter expert in stress management and resilience.

In her previous role as a PTSD psychologist, she developed specialization in moral injury. Dr. Pickering developed and ran an internal hospital EAP (Employee Assistance Program) and has supported healthcare professionals across specialties via mental health support and leadership development.

She has served as a speaker at CMDA’s Pre-Field Orientation for Healthcare Missionaries, receiving the highest reviews possible from attendees.

Her clinical experience includes schools, hospitals, community mental health centers, not-for-profits, and government agencies; she has coached and consulted emerging, midlevel, and executive leadership of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations across various industries.

Dr. Pickering is particularly passionate about supporting high-impact professionals in their discovery and recovery of flourishing and how this translates to their unique leader identity and influencing resilience for people, teams, organizations and communities.

Half or more of residents and medical students, physicians, nurses and physician assistants reported burnout prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Burnout continues to limit the well-being of healthcare trainees and professionals as well as the numbers of students pursuing careers in healthcare. It is also associated with negatively impacting patient care and safety. In contrast, flourishing continues to gain traction practically and empirically as an interdisciplinary "big picture" means of supporting holistic care for healthcare trainees and professionals and their care for patients. Flourishing is familiar and embraceable for Christian healthcare students, residents and professionals seeking to discover or recover their own foundation for living, working, and leading from abundant wellness. We will consider the flourishing framework of Christian psychology, unpack some lesser-known contributors to burnout and explore a key ingredient to a flourishing and un-burnout plan.

Rick Donlon grew up in New Orleans and graduated from Texas Christian University in 1986. He completed medical school at LSU-N.O., and a combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics residency at the University of Tennessee, Memphis. In 1995 he and three medical school classmates opened a primary-care health center in Memphis’ most medically underserved neighborhood. The work eventually grew to include eight health centers, three dental clinics, and a family medicine residency program—providing over 170,000patient visits annually.

Beginning in 2003, many of the medical and dental providers, including Dr. Donlon, moved into the underserved communities where they work. In those same low-income settings, they’ve planted over a dozen house churches. That house church network has subsequently sent dozens of long-term medical missionaries to North Africa, Central and South Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Horn of Africa.In September of 2020, Dr. Donlon became the Memphis Area Director for the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (while continuing to practice medicine half time).Physicians, dentists, and other healthcare workers who’ve trained with Dr. Donlon inMemphis have started or joined similar ministries in low-income communities across the US. Dr. Donlon, his wife Laurie, and their seven children live in the Binghampton neighborhood where he serves as an elder in the house church network.

Acts 1:8 is an outline for the remainder of the Book of Acts--and for the Holy Spirit-led transformation of the world. God's story-line is nearer than ever to completion, but there's still lots of action ahead. Participation in this greatest of all struggles will entail hardship and loss. Are we prepared to do our part?

Angela is an alumni from Liberty Universtiy School of Nursing. She is originally from Northern VA. She has 7 years of experience as a Registered Nurse in Emergency Nursing and various medical/teaching roles in international settings. She has been a member of Samaritan's Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) since 2020.

Mariah is a Registered Nurse from South Carolina with more than 20 years of experience in Emergency, Pediatrics, and various International Medical arenas. She has been serving with Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) since 2017.

Samaritan Purse’s Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) ministry responds to disasters and emergencies around the world, providing care and relief to hurting people and communities in Jesus’ name.

Nurse Bywater and Nurse Fite have faithfully served with DART, and will describe the ministry, along with how integral their faith in Jesus Christ is to their readiness to deploy where the needs are so great. Drawing on a wide range of medical emergency response experience with Samaritan’s Purse, the presenters will share what it practically looks like to reach out to and serve in the midst of crisis.

The power of testimony and story stir our hearts and can change our lives. This plenary will allow you to hear amazing stories of God’s faithfulness from faithful servants who have lived on mission, fully surrendered to Jesus and His purposes. Bring Kleenex, and prepare to be inspired and encouraged!

Dr. Emmanuel Clottey is a Professor of Public and Community Health in the Department of Public and Community Health. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry, three master;s degrees in divinity, Theology, and Public Health and a doctorate in Public Health. Dr. Clottey is a M. Alfred Haynes Research Training Institute for Social Equity Scholar from Meharry Medical College and a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES). He did a Chaplain residency and served as a Chaplain at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. He was the Senior Pastor of St. Peters Methodist Church and the Superintendent Minister of the Methodist Church in Kenya (Langata Circuit), overseeing ten congregations and community schools. He also served as the Supervisor of two Community-based projects for vulnerable children in Kenya; Tusaidie Watoto Nursery School and Wesley Empowerment Center jointly run by the Methodist Church in Kenya and the Karibuni Trust. Dr. Clottey is passionate about sharing the gospel and serving underserved populations. He has contributed to articles in peer-reviewed journals and to chapters in two books: Pathways into the Political Arena: The Perspectives of Global Women Leaders and The International Handbook of Psychopathic Disorders and the Law (2d Ed.). His research interests include Community health education, obesity, leadership, and the contribution of Faith-Based Organizations to Public Health. He is a member of the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Christian Connection for International Health (CCIH), and the Technical Exchange for Christian Healthcare (TECH).

Caroline Mrowiec Caroline received her Masters in Occupational Therapy from Midwestern University and completed a fellowship at Memorial Hermann to specialize in neurological conditions. Caroline has a special interest in medical missions and spent three years volunteering with a nonprofit organization in Vietnam to start a therapy center for children with special needs, and has published a book on her experiences there. Caroline also has a passion for therapeutic photography. She has run programs with children and developed a new program for adults. Recently, Caroline moved to Tennessee to help start a therapy farm with services based in animal and nature-assisted intervention.

Dr. Gayle is a medical missionary with ABWE at Hopital Baptiste Biblique (HBB) in Togo, West Africa. He is a Family Medicine physician by training and had a private practice in West Virginia for 20 years before the Lord moved him to career missions in 2001. He has been a member of the HBB team since 2004. He’s now on Home Assignment as Ambassador for the HBB Vision Project, raising funds and recruiting for the expansion of the facilities, with an eye towards instituting a Pan African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) surgical Residency.

Dr. Moore brings 25 years of family nurse practitioner experience to the classroom. She started her nursing career as a perioperative nurse and perioperative educator. After graduation from the nurse practitioner program at Old Dominion University, she began her second career as a family nurse practitioner in the OB/GYN setting. Professor Moore worked as an undergrad adjunct professor for LUSON Online for many years prior to joining the DNP-FNP team early on in the FNP program teaching Women’s Health. As a full-time faculty, Dr. Moore teaches a variety of the FNP courses.

Dr. Moore and her husband Phil are lifelong residents of the Lynchburg area. They have a grown son and daughter who are both married and live in the Lynchburg area. They have three grandchildren. Dr. Moore and her husband love to travel and share the world with their friends and family.

Dr. Moore was involved in a medical mission to Jamaica for 18 years and considers this one of her greatest loves.

During his fourth year of medical school, he volunteered for two months at Tenwek Hospital in Kenya where he met CEO Dr. Ernie Steury and Medical Director Dr. David Stevens. During his third year of surgical residency, God brought Mike’s high school sweetheart Pam back into his life, and they married in August 1991. A few months later, they traveled to Kenya and Tenwek Hospital in 1992 for two months where both enjoyed getting to know the Tenwek community while Mike was immersed in surgical care in a busy surgery referral center in rural Africa.

Mike completed a general surgery residency at Methodist Hospital in 1993 and then joined Southwestern Medical Clinic, a group in Southwest Michigan dedicated to global healthcare missions. Former CMDA and ICMDA president Dr. Bob Schindler and his wife Marian mentored Mike and Pam until their departure for Tenwek in 1996. Mike was board certified in general surgery in 1995 while working with Southwestern.

Mike was drawn to the orthopedic surgery service as Tenwek had no long-term bone surgeon. He was also named Medical Director in mid-1997. Tenwek grew remarkably during Mike’s tenure as surgeon and medical director to a clinical staff of over 80 physicians and clinical officers and more than 700 total staff. Training programs for interns, family medicine, general surgery and orthopedics were also developed and launched during those years.

Mike and Pam left for Kenya in August 1996 with two small children and added two more while at Tenwek Hospital: Steven, Melody, Kayla and Ashley.

In 2015, Dr. David Stevens invited Mike to consider returning to the U.S. to assume the role of CMDA Executive Vice President. After seven months of prayer and seeking counsel from mission leaders, mentors and close friends, Pam and Mike decided to leave their Kenya home and mission life of 20 years and moved to Bristol, Tennessee in July 2016. Mike has counted it an amazing privilege to serve alongside David Stevens and Gene Rudd and all the national CMDA staff for nearly four years. In September 2018, after an eight-month CEO search process, the Board of Trustees asked Mike to become the next CEO of CMDA and he began September 1, 2019, when Dr. Stevens stepped down. Mike’s life verses are from 2 Timothy 1:6-7: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you…for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (ESV). To God be the glory, great things He has done!

The path to becoming a licensed, practicing healthcare professional in any discipline is arduous, costly, and transformative. For Christ-followers, who seriously view the decision to pursue patient/client care as a ministry, not just as a job, it is easy to get side-tracked on the journey. Some abandon a calling to care in Christ's name for more worldly compensation (power, prestige, payment) .

Paul gave a very powerful message to the gifted Corinthian church in 2nd Corinthians 5 to stay on task as ambassadors of Christ with the message of reconciliation at the heart of the gospel. Whether God calls us to serve in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, or the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), the message and the motivation and the mandate will remain the same and requires vision of the lost from God's point of view.