McGill Group Update

September 2006

Our fall CMDS outreach and orientation was sparsely attended (about 10 total). Since then, the group has been up and down numerically - as big as 8 on a couple of occasions (not a bad size for the group at McGill, historically). Pray for student leader Matt, and for our discernment process as we adjust to changing conditions.

The fall edition of Dinner with Doctors has been re-scheduled for November 7. Pray that we'll get a few more practitioners out to join the med and dental students, who definitely seem interested in hearing more.


June 2006

Medical and dental students are unusually busy people, which makes it all the more amazing that they've been so active as a fellowship this year. Highlights in the past two months have included a surprisingly well-attended showing of the Passion of the Christ (after which one friend who's been an active seeker for some time gave her life to Jesus!) and a service project, feeding the homeless at a local mission.

The spring edition of Dinner with Doctors was a great time. 17 of us piled into Bre's apartment and enjoyed roasted chicken, new friendships, and a great testimony, by Dr. Jean-Philippe Frechette, of where faith fits in dental school life and professional practice. The students love hearing from medical and dental practitioners. Please pray that we'll have an adequate number of Christian dentists and doctors who are willing to come and relate to students.


April 2006

The CMDS students at McGill have been quite active. Like most of the Christian groups here in Montreal, they represent a small percentage of the general population of medical and dental students. But in addition to meeting weekly for prayer and some encouraging discussions, they've also planned some all-medical school events, including a showing of The Passion of the Christ (with discussion groups afterward), and a service project (to encourage other students to be involved in serving the community and give them the chance to build friendships and engage them in dialogue). We hosted our second 'Dinner with Doctors' in May - a chance for students to interact with and learn from Christian practitioners in dentistry and medicine. Pray for God to use these events to encourage, influence and stir up people. One other key prayer request for both ministries is for next year's leadership. We have one potential student leader in the international student ministry, and one who has committed for CMDS, but the leadership pool is relatively small, especially given that students in both ministries turn over very quickly; medical/dental students are usually able to stay involved for about 2 years before the 3rd year schedule makes it nearly impossible to continue, while many internationals are around 4-8 months. God would lead us as we look for ways to build and care for a team of student and volunteer leaders.



For more information, please contact:
Louise-Hélène Gagnon
louisehelenegagnon@hotmail.com

To support CMDS' student ministry at McGill U, and encourage medical and dental students to "Integrate Faith and Christian Ethics" into their professional practice, please click here to make a Staff Donation.