Who are we?

  We are a family of 9 who moved from South Texas to Paraguay in 2005 (when we were a family of just 6).   After studying Spanish and then Guarani-Jopara for 18 months in the capital city of Asuncion, we moved out to a rural town called Colonia San Francisco in the Departamento de Caazapa (about 180 miles to the southeast of Asuncion).  After 4 years of living there and a one year furlough back in the U.S, we moved in September of 2012, 10 kilometers "down the dirt road" to a town called Jataity.  We are involved in church planting/ evangelism ministries with Serving in Mission.

Our Background

My name is Jeff McKissick and I am a board certified Family Physician. I call Texas home, but having a dad in the US Army meant that we moved every three years! I graduated from ACU (Abilene Christian University in Abilene, TX) in 1997 and received my MD from Texas Tech Medical School in Lubbock, TX. After graduation I completed a three year residency in Family Practice at the Valley Baptist Family Practice Residency Program in Harlingen, TX (near Brownsville/ Mexico). This program is one of two Christian Family Practice training programs in the US. After working for nearly a year as an ER doc, we moved to Paraguay in 2005 as full time missionaries with SIM (Serving in Mission, an international, interdenominational evangelical mission- see more at www.sim.org). 

My wife, Amy, also went to ACU and later completed her R.N. training in Lubbock, Texas at Covenant Hospital. She grew up in Hawaii and her father was on the legal staff of YWAM (Youth With A Mission). Her specialty is childbirth education and lactation consulting. 

We met back in 1995 on a one month, cross-cultural Medical Evangelism Training program in Guatemala. This trip changed our lives by showing us how we could mix our faith in the Lord Jesus and healthcare in practical and powerful ways. It is for this reason that we want to offer a similar cross-cultural experience for Christian pre-health professional students.