Catch Up

I have been very busy for the past few days, so it has been difficult to find time to write. That said, this will be a long post, so be prepared!! The past few days have been both difficult and incredible. I can literally see and feel God working in me and changing my heart, and even though it is difficult, I love it. There are a few events which stood out to me that I will reflect on: Speaking with physicians working at Esparanza health clinic, Ministry in the community, tension among the ministry team, and shadowing at Esparanza.

I love to plan for the future. Not the immediate future, but the long term future. It soothes me to think about what I will be doing ten or fifteen years from now, and it is how I get excited about life. I have been planning on taking 3-5 years after residency to work in a regular wealthy setting and pay off my 200-300K in loans. This idea was shaken after my discussions with various physicians working at
Esparanza. I always assumed that working at Esparanza would not pay enough to allow me to pay off my loans, but I was told by numerous physicians that the pay is about half I would be making elsewhere, but that there are loan repayment programs that can be used in conjunction with working at Esparanza. This way I could be gaining experience, working in a Christian environment, and LOVING my job while paying my loans off and still making more than enough to survive. I am not entirely sure that I want to work at Esparanza, but after speaking with physicians, it is certainly an awesome option!!

As I wrote earlier, the evangelism/health screenings have been going very well. I have gotten to work with Lauren a lot, which has been an enormous blessing. Sharing the Gospel alongside her is quite possibly my favorite experience of our marriage. I trust her completely, and our gifts really seem to complement each other. Some days have been more difficult than others though. A few days ago, we were doing health screenings in a hair salon, and many people came to get the screening. The manager even devoted a chair for us to give screenings in. While we saw many people, it was not intimate enough to get into the specifics of the Gospel. We felt rushed, and had to leave with only having invited everyone to the church. I felt like a failure, and did not want to go to another hair salon. God, however reminded me through His word that salvation is not up to me, and He could use us any way He wanted. The next day I was coincidentally assigned to the neighborhood with lots of businesses. Inevitably we ended up at another hair salon. I asked God for boldness and that His Will would be done. At first we were working through health screenings like there was no tomorrow with no real discussions, and then it was almost as if a window was opened and a breeze passed though the room. Conversation had begun and the Gospel was being preached. It was not forced though, and the women were very receptive. They were talking to each other about it, and we were having real conversations. I found myself taking a blood pressure and teaching someone about Jesus at the same time!! I was entirely different from the day before, and it had nothing to do with our actions or tactics.

God has been working in awesome ways, but the project has not been without its indications of the Fall. There has been an slight attitude of argument, and sarcasm, and competition growing among the group. I do not know how it found its way in, but I feel it has been detrimental to our sense of unity. I was very upset about this at first, and attempted to remedy it on my own. This only made me bitter because I was internalizing the whole thing, and I could not handle it on my own. I withdrew from the group, and was very upset, but then I remembered the song “What a friend we have in Jesus”. The song repeats over and over that we should take everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Take it to the Lord in prayer!! I decided to do this, and it made an incredible difference. I was able to let go of these things and focus on the real reason I am here.

The final thing that shook me was my shadowing experience at Esparanza. It was my favorite experience thus far!! I was able to see five patients with the DO I was shadowing, and one of them I was able to treat with OMM on my own. OMM is about the only thing I am proficient with, and I was very excited to use it and speak with the patient. After having shadowed at Esparanza, I realized that I would love working there! There were plenty of interesting medical situations and procedures, but it also had the primary care aspect. My favorite part of the day was praying with the patients. We prayed with almost every patient!! I was able to lead the prayer for a few of them. One that stood out was a young girl who was going through a traumatic experience. There was not much medically we could do, but the girl and her mother were extremely upset about the event. We cried some with them, and as the encounter was coming to an end, I mentally marked the point where our help would come to a halt in a secular medical office. We, however, were able to treat her even further with prayer, and I believe that this was more important than anything else we said. Dr. Wisecup asked me to pray, and I could tell that the Holy Spirit was giving me the right words to comfort this mother and daughter. I realized in that moment that not only could we offer people greater spiritual guidance as Christian healthcare providers, but also more thorough medical care.