It's 2013! And I am in Australia. I am aware a proper update is in order. And one is certainly on it's way, but first I must semi-close up my time in India:
We
left the busy city, the obnoxious horns, the hospital with too many deliveries
too count, the old and new friends we’d made over the last couple months and we
finally made our way to the village- the last leg of our journey. About 3 weeks left. It was refreshing
to see a quieter side of India. Small town farming feel. Upon arrival we were
warmly welcomed by a pastor and his extended family. We moved into their house
and started life with them. We slept on the floor and ate too much rice and got
extravagantly loved by amazing people. It was a big transition for our team but one that we enjoyed.
Living with an Indian family was a privilege. We partnered with them in some of their local slum ministry
and we went back to work in the hospital. This hospital was a much slower pace,
but it was a great learning opportunity for the students and a great
opportunity for us all to serve. Outside of the labor room we also got to work
in antenatal care, postnatal care, immunizations, pediatrics wards, gynecology
wards and in the operating room. I
also got to spend a day in a leprosy ward. I was first educated on the signs
and symptoms of this ancient disease and then I walked into a room and got to see
them all firsthand. What an experience. Outcasts. Shunned from their community.
Crippled. Blind. Alone. Poor. And all of it is preventable.
It
hasn’t been easy being exposed to all these things. But the more I see, the more
I love healthcare. I love what it can mean for people of the nations. There is
hope in healthcare. There is healing in healthcare. And there is definitely
Jesus in healthcare.
I
read this quote by Henri Nouwen;
“Compassion
asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in
brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out
with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in
tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the
vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless. Compassion means full immersion
in the condition of being human.”
Healthcare
teaches me compassion. I have gone where it hurts. I have shared in the
brokenness. I have mourned and I have wept. I have been weak and vulnerable and
powerless. And it hasn’t been easy. That’s for sure. But the thing I like so
much about this quote is that it says this is the “condition of being human.” I
think that’s spot on. Things are not the way God intended them to be. This
isn’t Eden. And being a human and having emotions and feelings and knowing what
it means to suffer – in whatever capacity it may be- hurts. There is no sugar
coating it. But that’s where the hope of Christ comes in. And I have to tell
the world there is hope. That’s my mandate. And I have found my avenue to do that in- and that’s through
healthcare. And that’s why the
last couple months I have been able to accept the title of “missionary” that’s
been associated with my name. That hasn’t always been easy for me. A missionary? Isn’t that for flowy-skirt-wearing-women and
home-schooled kids?
Maybe.
But
it’s not limited to that.
Over
the last couple months there has definitely been some clarity brought to my
blurred vision of missions.
It’s
being obedient to the great commission. It’s walking out compassion. It’s love.
It’s freedom. It’s sacrifice. It’s hope. It’s God’s heart- that all His
children would be reunited with Him.
So
while the world may suck at times, and babies may die, and people may lose their
limbs by an age-old disease, and hearts get broken, and cancer is rampant, and people starve- we can still hold on to truth.
Jesus loves.
And
people need to know His love.
So whether I have to wear a flowy-skirt or not, I want to share that love with the world.
"I have told you these things, so that in me you may
have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have
overcome the world."
I'm definitely in a transitional period now and the way I fulfilling the great commission is looking a bit different than it has been for me for the last year and a half- but it's good. I am learning the ins and out of missions. And it's taking some adjusting and getting used to but I am seeing the value in what I am doing now.
I will expand more shortly.
Hope everyone had a lovely holiday with friends and family.
Happy New Year.