As most of you know (and have seen a lot on my Facebook page
lately), I am going to Zambia, Africa for 6 weeks this summer for my last
rotation of PA school. Talk about ending
with a bang! :) I am super excited, but I am also beginning
to get a little nervous at what it will be like. (aka the title of my blog,
“Parts Unknown”) I have never been to
Africa before, but from what I have been told by a good friend of mine, I will
never be the same! I’m not quite sure
what that means yet…
Some of you might be wondering what my story is and how I
came to the conclusion that I was planning on going to Africa… well here you
go! So sometime last summer our class
was told to come to a meeting one afternoon where 2 missionary doctors were
going to be speaking to us about their life in Zambia. I was looking forward to their presentation
because missionary medicine had always interested me… but honestly, I never saw
myself going to Africa… especially not as a PA student.
I had been to Peru twice on medical mission trips and loved
both trips, but Africa just seemed a little bit too far for me. The main reason being that I really do not
like to fly. I have a fear of heights. If you could drive to Africa, I’d be the
first one in line to go… but driving a car across the Atlantic Ocean isn’t
quite feasible currently. I didn’t
realize it at the time, but this fear of flying was really inhibiting me in
completely carrying out God’s call on my life.
I know how much I love to help people, especially in medicine (and God
knows it too)… I just thought I could sit tight in my little Tennessee bubble
and help people here locally without having to get stretched out of my comfort
zone… God had other plans…
In January of 2012, I had the opportunity to accompany some
of the college kids at my church to a conference in Atlanta called
Passion. The theme of Passion in 2012
was fighting modern-day slavery all around the world by “doing something
now.” I will never forget the morning
service on the 3rd day of the conference. The entire service, we were asked to remain
standing. The message that was brought
was directly out of Ephesians… the entire book of Ephesians to be exact. Four members of the Passion team took turns
reading the entire book of Ephesians while we all stood and followed
along. Periodically they would pause and
remain silent so we could wait on God to see what He wanted to teach us. During one of the pauses, I felt God put
Africa on my heart and point out to me the only reason that I wasn’t willing to
go to Africa. That reason… my fear of
flying. He helped me see through my selfishness
that having a silly fear should not stop anybody from doing His will. It was then when I realized that He wanted ME
to go to Africa (completely out of my comfort zone!)… Perfect timing because
when we returned back to school for the Spring Semester, we had to turn in our “Wish
Lists” for rotation sites- needless to say, Africa was on my list! :)
So the rest is history!
I filled out the application to go to Africa, had a telephone interview,
and was luckily one of the 4 selected to go to Zambia! I will be in the second group going (Rotation
8), and Julie and I (my partner in crime in Zambia) are set to head out June
22, 2013!
I know without a doubt that God is behind all of the
preparation, fundraising, etc. that is going on before I even get to
Zambia. Honestly, I struggle with
completely letting go and letting Him take control due to my incredibly Type A
personality. I am working on that!
I could still use some prayer though! Will you commit to pray from now until we
return from Africa at the end of July?
Here are some specifics to guide your prayers:
- Pray for Julie and I as we study and prepare our hearts physically, mentally, and especially spiritually for our time in Zambia.
- Pray for safe travels to, from, and within Zambia.
- Pray for the hearts of all who hear my story about Zambia, especially with the issue of fundraising.
- Pray for our preceptors, Drs. Dan & Joan Jones, to continue to be resilient towards their call to the people of Zambia through medicine.
- Pray for the people of Zambia to be receptive to Julie and I as we treat their physical ailments, and also as we point them to the True Healer, our Great Physician- who can give them the ultimate spiritual healing.
If you feel led and would like to support me financially on
this amazing journey, click here.
Ephesians 3:20-21 “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all
generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
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