History

In 1954, the late J. Raymond Knighton answered a call in his tiny office at the Christian Medical Society on Dearborn Street in Chicago. As the director of an organization that coordinated fellowships among Christian medical students and doctors, Ray had a reputation for knowing “every medical missionary in the world.” So when an executive at a major East Coast pharmaceutical company wanted to donate $25,000 in surplus medicines, he knew just whom to call. He and his secretary spent the next three months distributing the 11 tons of medicines where they were most needed overseas. So began the new ministry providing essential medicines for mission clinics and hospitals. Since that day, MAP would deliver more than $2.6 billion in medicines and other essential supplies to poor communities around the world. In its early years, MAP's moniker Serving the Servants, reflected its mission toward providing for the medical needs of missions. Today, with Health and Hope for A Hurting World, MAP has expanded its focus to promote community health development and prevention of disease. Millions of families have been impacted by that single call. Ray Knighton’s thriving legacy impacts millions of people throughout the world each year. In the changing role of paramedics in relation to globalized scenario and paradigm shift, from ‘provider focus’ to ‘client focus’, Medical Assistants need to change to fulfill the client expectation in delivering curative, promotive, preventive and rehabilitative aspects.

J. Raymond Knighton Jr., the founder of an organization that has provided medicine to millions of poor people worldwide for nearly 50 years, died here on Aug. 30. He was 81 and lived on St. Simons Island, on the southern Georgia coast.
The cause was congestive heart failure, his family said.
A Chicago native, Mr. Knighton was executive director of the Christian Medical Society in 1954 when he started a branch called Medical Assistance Programs. The branch became an independent agency in 1965 and Mr. Knighton served as president until 1980.
The organization, MAP International, based in Brunswick, Ga., has about 125 employees and provides $150 million worth of medicine and medical supplies annually to hospitals, clinics and refugee centers.