I remember clearly the year Cyclone Nargis hit. It was 2008 and I was still a medical student. I vividly remember the conversation I had with one of my closest friends, I wished so much that I had graduated, that I was ready to serve others in such a time. But I was unqualified. Without a medical degree, who could I help?
Having since graduated about 4 years ago, I know now that my medical degree is what qualifies me for the field only in the eyes of man. I have been on so many medical missions, seen so many patients, treated hundreds of cases of upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea, hypertension but I would rather spend the entire day getting to know one patient and learning their story. I don't want to be the 'foreigner' who sacrificed my personal time to come and help, I want to be the friend and sister you never knew you had, the one who loves you because of the one who loves me. Would you dare believe that a 'stranger' could love you so much? But I do now because I have felt it.
In about two weeks, I will join my friends in the Philippines to help the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda. This will be my first time to a real acute disaster zone and to be honest, I am afraid. I have seen the pictures on the news and it chills my heart to see the destruction and the dead bodies strewn on the streets. I know that by the time I reach, a large amount of the clearing up will have been done but the scars remain. And they will take a long time to heal. I don't know what to expect and I know that even after 8 years of doing missions, nothing will prepare for what I will see. But I know that after this, my life will never be the same…
However, as it is written: "What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived" the things God has prepared for those who love him - those are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit.
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
Having since graduated about 4 years ago, I know now that my medical degree is what qualifies me for the field only in the eyes of man. I have been on so many medical missions, seen so many patients, treated hundreds of cases of upper respiratory tract infections, diarrhoea, hypertension but I would rather spend the entire day getting to know one patient and learning their story. I don't want to be the 'foreigner' who sacrificed my personal time to come and help, I want to be the friend and sister you never knew you had, the one who loves you because of the one who loves me. Would you dare believe that a 'stranger' could love you so much? But I do now because I have felt it.
In about two weeks, I will join my friends in the Philippines to help the survivors of Typhoon Yolanda. This will be my first time to a real acute disaster zone and to be honest, I am afraid. I have seen the pictures on the news and it chills my heart to see the destruction and the dead bodies strewn on the streets. I know that by the time I reach, a large amount of the clearing up will have been done but the scars remain. And they will take a long time to heal. I don't know what to expect and I know that even after 8 years of doing missions, nothing will prepare for what I will see. But I know that after this, my life will never be the same…
1 Corinthians 2:9-10
