Dr. Thomas Flowers
Dr. Thomas Flowers is a certified emergency physician with the American Board of Emergency Medicine since 1992. He has been an Advanced Cardiac Life Support instructor for over 10 years, and is also trained in Advanced wound care and Hyperbaric Medicine.
Dr. Flowers has led medical and emergency medical care teams to South Africa (2007-2014), New Orleans (2007-2009), Swaziland (2009 and 2012- 2014), Houston (2008, 2010-2014), Zambia (2010), Togo (2009), Sierra Leone (2011 & 2012) and Ghana, West Africa (2006-2010). He currently practices Emergency Medicine at Clear lake Regional Hospital in in Houston, Texas. As former Vice President of World Missions Possible, Dr. Flowers stays busy volunteering his time and services at local area eye and health care clinics for the indigent in Houston, Texas, and in many other nations.
Brad Starkey
Brad has a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health and is currently in pursuit of is Masters in Public Health as well as is Doctor in Medicine. Brad has over 20 years of experience in field, prehospital, in hospital and aeromedical services. After spending 10 years in the Air Force, specializing in remote medical operations, aerospace medicine and mass causality incidents. Prior to returning to school full time He worked in EMS on both ambulance and life flight as a paramedic as well as Emergency Department. Brad has been an CPR, Advanced Cardiac Life Support Instructor, International Trauma Life Support Instructor, and Wilderness Medicine Instructor for over 12 years.
Brad first joined World Missions Possible in 2012 with the “Mek de Bodi Wel” Mission to Sierra Leone. Since he has been perusing opportunities in Tropical Medicine and Neglected Tropical diseases and recently completed research on the Chikungunya virus. Brad has been involved with multiple global and local outreach programs over the years and continues to serve in local capacities while planning on further trips abroad in the future.
Dr. Suresh Rajendran
Dr. Suresh K. Rajendran is a diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine, with a subspecialty in gastroenterology. Throughout his career, he has served as a clinical Instructor at Baylor College of Medicine, was honored as “Physician of the Year” at Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, and is a Fellow of the American College of Gastroenterology, the American College of Physicians, the American Gastroenterological Association, and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.
Dr. Raj’s mission service includes medical missions to Clara Swain Hospital, Bareilly, India in 2006, where he 70 endoscopy cases, trained the nursing staff, and established a gastrointestinal endoscopy unit with 6 endoscopes, monitor, light source and video processor. In 2008, he 30 procedures and also trained he local staff and established a gastrointestinal endoscopy unit at Philadelphia Hospital, Salur, India. In 2012, he purchased a bronchoscope for Lady Willington Hospital in Manali, India, located in the remote foothills of the Himalyas. Dr. Raj also helped establish and actively supports Harvest Home orphanage in Hyderabad, India. He currently practices Gastroenterology and Hepatology with Gastroenterology Consultants, in Houston, Texas.
Elias has a Ph.D. in Theology and is currently an African Religious Studies professor at Rice University (The Harry and Hazel Chavanne Chair in Christian Theology and Professor of Religious Studies) in Houston, Texas. A native of Cameroon, Africa, Dr. Bongmba is active in Rice's campus and student organizations that are involved in humanitarian efforts throughout the world.
Dr. Bongmba is the managing editor of Religious Studies Reviews and the Bulletin of Council for Societies for the Study of Religion. His areas of teaching include African and African Diaspora Religions; African Christianity/Theology Hermeneutics and Theology; Contemporary Theology and Ethics and (Secondary): 19th Century Theology and Philosophy of Religion, African Studies; Philosophy/Ethics.
Dr. Bongmba combines his teaching of African religions and his research in theology and philosophy of religion working with African philosophical ideas and Continental philosophy. His first book explored intersubjective relations by probing the ethics of witchcraft using the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. He has published other articles on ethical dimension of witchcraft in the context of the Christian church in Africa. His books include:The Dialectics of Transformation in Africa (which won The 2007 Franz Fanon Prize for outstanding work in Caribbean Thought) and Facing a Pandemic: The African Church and the Crisis of AIDS. Professor Bongmba is also guest editor with Professor Jim Cochrane of the University of Cape Town, of a forthcoming special edition of the journal, Religion and Theology, that focuses on Health, HIV/AIDS and Public Policy. He is married and has 2 children.
W.T. has a Bachelor's degree in economics from the University of South Alabama. W.T. is Director and shareholder of American Tank & Vessel for over 20 years, a company that performs engineering, fabrication and construction for liquid storage facilities. W.T. has worked in projects in the Middle East, the far East, Australia, North America, South America, Europe, and Africa.
For 15 years, W.T. has been involved in international missions, participating in and leading mission teams in construction, education, computer education, drug rehab, and infrastructure (such as water, shelter, and cottage industry research) efforts. His participation in international mission efforts has expanded with a standing personal commitment to be engaged in missions to all markets served by his business enterprise. Over the last few years, mission efforts to Brazil and West Africa have been a focus.
He is a member The National Fire Protection Association, The National Association of Corrosion Engineers, and The American Welding Society. He has been married for 21 years and has a 15-year-old daughter at Houston Christian High School and a 10-year-old son at Grace Presbyterian School. His family members are active at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church and Grace Presbyterian Church, with his wife participating in the National Charity League as well as several other organizations.
Meet Our Distinguished Board of Directors
Dr. Richter is currently a 2020 Fulbright Specialist in Medical Mass Casualty Planning & Response. She was formerly a 2018 U.S. Embassy Ambassador Distinguished Scholar at the University of Gondar in Ethiopia, teaching Emergency Medical Services and Mass Casualty/Disaster planning, risk assessment, and medical response. She was awarded a Fulbright-Fogarty Award in Global Health, Sub-Saharan Africa in 2016-2017 for postdoctoral research (fogartyfellows.org/fellow-richter-roxane). She is focusing on advancing prehospital patient injury/trauma care, and Mass Casualty Incident (MCI) planning, preparedness and deployment in Ghana, West Africa. Dr. Richter has a cooperative teaching and research affiliation with Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi, Ghana. She has spent the past 17 years working and researching disparities in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) access, treatment, and outcomes in mass emergencies, pandemics, forced migrations, and disasters in sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa and the United States of America. She is a frontline Emergency Medical technician (EMT) and an American Red Cross Disaster health Services Provider.
Since 2006, Dr. Richter has been honored as a crowned Queen Mother (Ohemaa Ama Oyamyiefo, translated from Twi as: "Saturday-Born Queen Mother of Compassion") in Ekumfi Ekotsi-Bogyano, a twin-town in the Central Region of Ghana. In 2014, Richter received her doctorate from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa; she researched and documented female forced migrants' emergency healthcare access in host nations. Dr. Richter has traveled to 70 nations and her future goals are to further develop her "Gender-Aware Disaster Care" program, and develop innovations in Emergency Operations planning and prehospital trauma care in low-resource healthcare systems at a university or research institution. Dr. Richter's recent books include:
Witchcraft as a Social Diagnosis: Traditional Ghanaian Beliefs and Global Health
