The first biblical verse that made my hairs stand on end when I heard it was Luke 9:58. It was at a time of great change in my life; I had just graduated from college and was applying to medical schools. I had no clue what I was doing or where I was going, but thankfully God softened my heart, and I knew that no matter what happened I had to follow Jesus. However, at that time I had no idea what Jesus was trying to tell me, what did He mean when He replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”? I have been chewing on that verse for the past three years now and I think that finally after this mission trip – with Dr. Roberto Diaz and the rest of our team – it’s meaning has taken effect.
In retrospect, it has become clear that I was called to go on this mission by God. From the second I felt it in my heart to follow Jesus everything started to unfold: my MCAT score, the AMCAS application, the interviews, my admission into medical school, my choice of school, my introduction to my school’s CMDA chapter, and our involvement with GHO. All of it carefully and omnipotently orchestrated by God. God prepared me for all that hard work with the constant reminder that “the Son of Man has no place to lay his head”. The preparation for the trip also was hard work, for me it was going to be my first time traveling without my parents and with a team composed of people I had known for just under a year and others I had never met. Once again Jesus answered me in Luke 9:60 “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go proclaim the kingdom of God.”. I knew it was time; the work had been done. I had to travel to the Dominican Republic to proclaim the good news!
Never had I called on God more times in a single week than during our clinic week in the Dominican Republic. On the first clinic day, when asked to pray for the very first patient we saw, I was taken slightly aback. Was I ready? Was I worthy? In fact, I may even have wondered how to pray. Yet, I closed my eyes, held on tight to the patient and let the Holy Spirit speak through me. Later that evening, I lead our team’s second devotional in country aptly titled “Worthy”. Everyday, I grew closer to God as I served his people. Now that I am back home Jesus called to me once again in Luke 9:62 “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”. It all finally made sense to me now that I lived through it. Like Jesus we mustn’t rest, we must proclaim his word, the harvest continues.
