“thus far the Lord has helped us.” I Samuel 7:12b
Ebenezer Stone Ministry is a unique physician retreat designed for Christian physicians and their spouses. The retreat is named after a battle site in Israel’s history that yielded two defeats and then finally victory. At the conclusion of the third battle the Judge, Samuel, erected a stone altar to celebrate God’s faithfulness and Israel’s victory. He called it Ebenezer. The altar was to remind the Israelites of what God had done for them. In I Sam 7:13 Samuel explains the meaning, “thus far the Lord has helped us.”
So often in our calling as physicians it seems defeats exceed our victories, and we often fall into despair and burnout. Our hope and prayer is that at the conclusion of our retreat your faith will be renewed, and you can return to your calling, your career with God leading you, and you can confidently say, “thus far the Lord has helped me.”
Who are we?
Dr. David Miller and Dr. David Crippin, who together have 70 years of experience in Family Practice Medicine as Board Certified physicians and whose hearts are burdened for their fellow physicians.
Dave came to know the Lord at a young age and has built his life around serving the Lord through medicine and the local church and his family. Dr. Miller graduated from Olivet Nazarene College (Kankakee, Il.) in 1976 and from the University of Illinois Medical School in 1980. Following a family practice residency in LaGrange, IL , he practiced the full scope of rural medicine, minus the OB, in the small town of Eureka, Illinois for 37 years. He has been married to Bonnie, the love of his life, for 45 years and together they have three grown married children and nine precious grandchildren. They have thanked the Lord many times for bringing them to rural America to raise their family and serve the Lord! Dave’s service at Liberty Bible Church in Eureka, IL has brought many years of joy as an elder, teacher, ministry leader alongside his wife Bonnie and their children. Dave has become a master craftsman as well, turning out many Christmas displays from his workshop for a witness to the community. When he is not in his shop, he enjoys traveling and spending time with his family. Early in his practice, the Lord burdened Dave’s heart to reach out to fellow physicians and help them carry the burden of their medical practice through a retreat opportunity, and now it is his joy to see this coming to fruition.
Dr. Miller is currently writing a book on “The Making of a Physician” which will be available beginning with our first retreat.
David Crippin is a life long evangelical Christian that has loved being a servant of God through the many doors and opportunities medicine and missions have opened. He attended Bethel University (St. Paul, Mn.) and graduated from University of Minnesota Medical School and Family Practice Residency. He practiced full scope of rural family medicine with over 1500 deliveries, ER, ICU , busy Covid unit etc. Numerous mission trips to Central and South America provided many challenges and blessings to see God working in other cultures . He is married over 40 years to Glee Crippin and has 2 boys, 4 grandchildren, (one son is a family physician in Bettendorf, Iowa.) Hobbies include traveling, fishing and writing. He has been a lifelong member of CMDA (Christian Medical Dental Association ) and currently is teaching adult Sunday School, leading a small group and still involved with many missionaries around the globe with health issues . His favorite passage of scripture is Psalm 121 . After seeing first hand the devastating impact of corporate medicine, unreachable goals and total lack of any work/life balance resulting in burnout and overload, he has a heart for helping any that are in need of a listening ear, a partner in prayer, and a new look at how to regroup and thrive in future medical systems. Serving the great Physician always .
Dr Crippin is a published author having written a guide to burnout for physicians entitled “Scorched Stethoscope, Burnt Bible and Parched Heart” which will be available at our retreats.
Our mission is to minister to Christian physicians and spouses by equipping and encouraging them with our textbook, the unchanging, inerrant, infallible Word of God. Our prayer is that the lives and families of our attendees will be enhanced by using Biblical principles and the example of the Great Physician Christ Jesus our Lord. Our’s is a unique lifestyle requiring unique solutions which we hope to convey both from our own personal experience but more importantly from the examples of the Living Word of God. In addition because our lives can often be lonely ones we hope that by spending time with other Christian physicians we can begin to form networks of support.