My family and I attended the Baptist World Alliance in Stockholm, Sweden in July 1975. There were 84 countries represented, including some underdeveloped countries. This was my first encounter with people from the Third World. The glaring inequalities between the two worlds were visible to me for the first time in a personal way. During a small group Bible study one day, someone asked a lady from Africa, “How can we of the developed world be of help to you in the underdeveloped countries?” Quickly she responded, “What we need is for you to come and teach us your skills that we might do for ourselves.”
Pondering her remarks and what implications it had for me, I volunteered my services to the foreign mission board but nothing was available. This pointed out to me the need for the profession’s own organization that could serve as a vehicle for sending veterinarians. This would facilitate those with a desire to be involved in that process to do so.
After discussing this with some Christian veterinarians in Georgia, a charter was obtained for Christian Veterinary Mission (CVM) in September of 1976. Immediately afterwards, I was able to go to the Dominican Republic for a pilot project to work with an agricultural missionary. His focus of work was with the poor peasant farmers of the area. He recognized the need for someone with veterinary expertise to help with their animal husbandry problems. The response to my efforts was overwhelming. Thus, CVM was born.
On July 1, 2021, Christian Veterinary Mission became an independent non-profit organization.
