Former Bluffton resident Bill Swartley will present “A Pacifist in a War Zone,” at 7 p.m., Saturday, June 23, during the Mennonite Healthcare annual gathering at Bluffton University. His talk is free and open to the public.

Swartley will speak about his experiences as a nurse anesthetist in a forward surgical hospital near Mosul, Iraq, in 2017, while working with the relief organization, Samaritan’s Purse.

Included will be a review of the religious and political environment, images of the facilities, and stories of patients who presented for care.

He will also share his response as a Mennonite to short-term work in a setting of prolonged violence, and how that response could relate to life in the church in the United States.

While living in Bluffton, Swartley was on the medical staff of Blanchard Valley Hospital, Findlay.

In addition to his Iraq experience, since 1998, Swartley has participated in over 17 trips as a member of a surgical team with Medical Ministry International, an "evangelical but not denominational" organization based in Texas. The mission trips have taken him to countries such as Ecuador and Dominican Republic.

Several additional area residents will make presentations during workshop and plenary sessions open to registrants of the event.

Those session leaders and their topics include:
• Alex Sider, “Amid the Pains: Christianity, Disability, Healing.”
• Dr. Anna Kauffman, “Our Own Stories: Provider health and the healer as patient.”
• Ross Kauffman, “Healing Communities: Stories from public health history.”
• Rudi Kauffman, “Direct Primary Care: New model, new solutions, new problems.”

Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship will hold the meetings Friday through Sunday, June 22 to 24 on the Bluffton University campus.

Formed in 2011 with a legacy, which dates back to the 1940s, Mennonite Healthcare Fellowship serves Mennonite and other Anabaptist individuals with the resources they need to integrate their faith into their professional and personal lives.