O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come: Be Thou our guard while life shall last, And our eternal home.

Hymn by Isaac Watts, based on Psalm 90

Decades of ministry have only given Medical Campus Outreach Philadelphia (MCO) and its Summer Medical Institute (SMI) innumerable opportunities to prove God’s faithfulness: over a thousand students discipled and mentored; many healthcare practitioners challenged and equipped to bring their faith to bear on both their daily work and the controversies in their professions; churches and ministries in under-served neighborhoods partnering in the gospel; budgets made and met with balance sheets overall in the black; major injury and covid illness avoided despite bold outreach activities; many prayers raised , and graciously and faithfully answered.

As we approach the coming seasons with MCO’s Summer Medical Institute on the horizon, remembering distinguished alumni from that program reveals the legacy God graciously bestowed. A few of our luminaries include:

• The Director of Personnel for a sending agency to creative access countries,
• The President and CEO of the Siloam Health network in Nashville, Tennessee,
• The new Chief Medical Officer of Esperanza Health Center,
• The Principal Investigator of the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study, one of the world’s largest and longest running studies of the long-term effects of cancer and its treatment,
• The Director of the Family Medicine Residency at Loma Linda University Medical Center, and
• The Director of Cardio-Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Perhaps the greatest honor of all is to have the children of SMI alumni from the 1990s participate in each of the past three years! It is exciting to see that the next generation is as committed to Jesus as their parents.

All these clinicians are your brothers and sisters in Christ. All of you at Tenth Presbyterian Church, through your prayers, volunteerism, and support of Summer Medical Institute as Project of the Month have helped in their spiritual and professional formation, and pointed them to Jesus.

God is the help of Medical Campus Outreach Philadelphia, and he is our eternal, heavenly home. MCO’s earthly home is changing, however.

Tenth Presbyterian Church has been a valued guide, protector, and servant to MCO and SMI for twenty-six years. But Tenth has found it increasingly challenging to support MCO and SMI, particularly in the area of liability insurance with regard to our outreach activities. Therefore, in the spring of 2020, the Session asked MCO to consider other partnerships that could better support our mission and ministry. After a long and prayerful search, we are thrilled to announce that Medical Campus Outreach Philadelphia will join Christian Community Health Fellowship (CCHF) effective March 31. CCHF is a networking and mentoring organization that encourages and equips clinics, medical professionals, and students to spread the gospel through healthcare among the underserved. Esperanza Health Center, MCO’s partner in the implementation of SMI, has been a CCHF member clinic for decades.

Since CCHF is based in Memphis, MCO will still have space and mailboxes at Tenth; you will still see our staff around campus several times per week. We look forward to continued work with Tenth in the unique and far-reaching ministries of MCO and SMI, and anticipate a long and fruitful relationship as a partner organization in the years ahead. God has supplied new governance for Medical Campus Outreach Philadelphia; may he receive the thanksgiving, praise, and glory for its ability to continue as a productive ministry.