Giving your life for Christ on a foreign field is not only a joy but also a blessing. I grew up in a home with many medical family members. My mother was a nurse whom I admired. She always seemed to know exactly how to tend to the medical needs of her twelve children! After I was saved, I had an opportunity to go to Armenia on a medical mission trip with Dr. and Mrs. Dreisbach. “Dr. D," as we fondly called him, loved Africa, and he imparted that love to the nurses and doctors who worked with him on the teams.

Myriads of Opportunities in Africa

In Africa, one can find countless opportunities to reach out to the sick, the homeless, the prisoners, the poor, and the needy. God commands us to reach out to those in need – even in the smallest of ways. Matthew 10:42 states, "And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward." Medical missionaries encounter "these little ones" in hidden corners of the globe.

Doris

Doris was one of “the little ones." A helpless mother brought her young child to a bush medical clinic where I was serving as a nurse. When the mother opened her arms, a nearly lifeless child stared back at me with fear and trepidation. Doris was an eight-year-old who appeared to be about three years old. On the brink of death, she was helpless, fatherless, and penniless.

While starting treatment that I hoped would save her life, I quickly realized that her needs would surpass our limited resources. God provided a missionary pilot to transport Doris to a mission hospital 45 minutes away for further treatment, which included a blood transfusion, malaria medication, antibiotics, and proper nutrition.

As her health returned, her vibrant personality emerged. After two weeks, her mother had to go back to her farm in the bush. Doris, who was still too weak to travel, remained behind, and I began to care for her in my home. Coming from the village, it was a learning process for her to adapt to new ways and new living conditions. She had never known what it was like to sit at a table, use proper utensils, use an inside toilet, and live in a cemented house that had tiled floors instead of dirt. She had never been trained, corrected, or cared for in her young life.

Food became Doris' passion, and limits became her frustration. My roommates and I gave her not only physical food but also spiritual food. She heard the Gospel while in our home, and she learned to grow in God's Word. Later, she lived with a pastor and his wife for a couple of years and attended school. While with them, she made a profession of faith in Christ. Eventually, Doris had to return to her village because her mother wanted money in exchange for her daughter.

Several years later I flew back to the village of Akwaya and saw Doris. Her body was covered with sores and scabies. I took care of her and nursed her back to health. However, I was not able to stay in the village beyond two weeks. It was clear that her poverty-stricken mother was still unable to care for her adequately, but I was not in a position to alter her situation at that time.

 It was six months later when I learned that Doris could not read even though she was 13 years old. I also heard that she was living with her unsaved uncle and had no motherly influence in her life. At that point, God burdened my heart to take Doris into my home for three years. My greatest joy was to watch her learn how to read and to memorize Bible passages. Doris memorized the whole book of James.  She was eventually baptized and continues to grow spiritually in a local church in Sabga.

The Investment of Medical Missions

Investment of time, love, and concern is what it takes to transform lives. On the mission field or at home, people all over the world do not care how much you know until they know how much you care for them. Love is transforming.

With medical missions one can reach out and give a "cup of cold water" in HIS name – allowing God to transform lives. Only HE can change a diamond in the rough to a priceless gem for Christ's glory. Any life we touch might become a jewel for Jesus, so we must be faithful to God's calling and leave the results to HIM.

The Joy of Being a Medical Missionary

I rejoice at the medical opportunities that God has allowed me to have on the mission field: teaching young children the Word of God as I tend to their cuts and bruises; ministering to troubled teenagers whose families have abandoned or persecuted them; going to a diabetic's home to wrap his weeping wounds as I talk about the love of Jesus; or reaching out to a downtrodden prisoner without hope and without Christ. We do ALL this for the sake of the Gospel. A life transformed by the power of Christ is worth every mile we traverse to reach a foreign land. It gives joy beyond compare to use medical missions in seeing souls saved through a gospel ministry.