“When I first met Don Mullen in my preaching classes, I knew that he had come to Princeton Seminary after years as a leading cardiac surgeon in Milwaukee. I soon came to realize that his medical aptitude was matched by his many other gifts— gifts for faithful preaching, intelligent leadership, pastoral compassion, and deep dedication to the gospel. In this breathtaking memoir, we see Don Mullen change direction from his successful medical career to become a courageous healing presence and witness for the gospel in some of the world’s most challenging places. Through this book, what has been an adventure of faith and hope for Dr. Mullen becomes one for the reader as well.”
—Thomas G. Long, Professor of Preaching, Emeritus, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
In his book, A Radical Change of Direction, Dr. Don Mullen describes the journey of a highly successful conservative cardiac surgeon with over 3,000 open-heart procedures and many thousands of thoracic and vascular surgeries, which took him in a direction he never thought he would go.
This journey began with a trip to a small mission hospital in Tenwek, Kenya, in 1981, which led to a change in his career. The different experiences in so many countries convinced him that a progressive attitude toward his theology and politics was more appropriate to a Christ-centered life than his previous beliefs. Dr. Mullen has worked in three war zones (twice in Iraq, and in Sudan and Rwanda), numerous countries all over Africa, the Far East (India, Vietnam, Laos, China, and Papua New Guinea), and the Middle East. He has spoken and preached in dozens of churches in the United States about his views developed from these experiences.
The book is a memoir of the spiritual journey of a surgeon and his life before and after his defining moment of change, along with his heritage, which may have led to his nonconformist personality.
The Author
DON MULLEN Buy Now
Dr. Donald C. Mullen was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, and graduated from The Citadel, Duke University Medical School, and Princeton Theological Seminary. After 30 years in cardiac surgery— primarily at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee— and serving as chief of staff and surgery at St. Luke’s Hospital, Dr. Mullen had a life-changing experience working in a small hospital in Africa.
At age 52, he attended seminary and spent the next 15 years working in hospitals and refugee camps around the world in over 20 countries. This is the story of those many fascinating experiences during this radical change of direction in his life and how they greatly changed his attitudes regarding his theology and politics.
Dr. Mullen is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and a former mayor of the town of Highlands, North Carolina.
Author’s website: www.radicalchangeofdirection.com