Inescapable network of mutuality…

As we hear about the devastation in Haiti bloggers around the world are calling for support and prayers for those in Haiti. The images, descriptions and stories of suffering and loss can be overwhelming, but the response has been amazing too.

I wanted to share with you a quote from Martin Luther King Jr., “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality”.

This mutuality connects us to the entire world; a mother at the bed side of a child in sub-Sahara Africa, an elderly women in Thailand, newlyweds in Central America and all those suffering in Haiti. As Catholics we are reminded of this connection as we receive Christ in the Eucharist, there are many parts but we are all one body.

Please join Mission Doctors Association in offering support for the efforts at Hôpital Sacré Coeur, a hospital in northern Haiti, open and operational and in need of your help.

You can do so with a tax deductible donation on their web site through PayPal - You can help them meet these urgent needs, and of course keep all in your prayers.

Our hearts and prayers go to the people of Haiti and to all who are called to provide relief.

Christmas Gift

A newlywed couple, Dr. Mark and Mrs. Sheila Bisanzo from Massachusetts recently shared how they are experiencing Advent and preparing for Christmas in Uganda. Sheila commented “...we're grateful for the opportunity to enjoy the essence of Christmas and the renewal it brings without the overwhelming American distractions of buying and spending”.

I remember Christmas during our time in Thailand, now almost 30 years ago, with the same joy that Sheila recalls. There is something liberating about being removed from what we take for granted and have come to believe must be part and parcel of the 'traditional' holiday. Shopping, wrapping, planning, mailing, often accompanied by stress that can overtake the meaning of the Holy day. Removing all these made it easier to stay focused on what we are really celebrating - 'that God so loved the world that he sent his only Son...'

In the years since returning to Southern California, I can’t say I’ve always kept this perspective during Advent and Christmas, especially as my kids were growing up, wanting to create perfect memories for them. As I take a step back and look at all of the holiday that have come and gone, I know that Christ has been at the center, even if we were momentarily distracted. Taking the time to slow down and be grateful (even after staying up until 3 a.m. wrapping gifts and making cinnamon rolls...), we have been given the opportunity to express to each other the love that God has for each of us.

There is a special gift that those serving at Christmas receive, even if like Mark and Sheila it means working at the emergency room - a gift that will last a lifetime. Sheila shared 'When we think about the Holy Family and the image of the Nativity, a peaceful time of a family gathering is the gift they shared and which we still embrace today. ‘Where two or three are gathered together,’ that's the Christmas gift.”

May we all experience the presence of Christ, though all of the errands, shopping and wrapping, and may we always recognize the real Christmas gift!

Where Two or More are Gathered...

The Holidays often mean getting together with friends and families to share and celebrate.

We are working on plans, born of this same idea, getting people together to help spread the word about Mission Doctors. Generous veteran mission doctors and dedicated friends are hosting events in their area to share the stories and to celebrate the mission with friends and family, and plans are underway for more of these events after the first of the year.

I am just about to run out the door to pick up the invitations for a gathering in Long Beach next month. Dr. Brent Burket and Dr. Jennifer Thoene will be on hand to talk about their upcoming mission assignment to Guatemala, at the home of Dr. Laura King. As we make these plans and send out the invitations, I am reminded of Jesus’ promise that “where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Coming together to share in the story of doctors who serve those most in need, Jesus is certainly with us. The promise is that He will be with us as we gather, as we pray, and as we serve together.

The doctors who travel half a world away to provide life saving medical care for God's neediest, and those who gather to pray for them and offer support, are certainly not acting alone. May you too feel the presence of Christ on this Advent journey and as we celebrate His birth this Christmas.

Would you like to attend or host a gathering in your area to share information about Mission Doctors?

Sharing their Story

I wanted to take a moment and share with you a couple of the blogs our Mission Doctors are writing to share their mission stories.

A Step Along the Way This blog, with it’s title is inspired by the prayer of Archbishop Oscar Romero, is written by Dr. and Mrs. Richard Stoughton. The Stoughton’s have recently returned from an eight year mission in rural Zimbabwe, serving the people of St. Theresa's hospital. While their long term mission has ended their commitment to the people of St. Theresa’s hospital continues. In this season of thanks Dr. and Mrs. Richard Stoughton are sharing Eight Days of Gratitude, comparing the life lived in the US, life at St. Theresa’s Hospital and those living in the community around the hospital.

Burket-Thoene Family Mission The Burket-Thoene Family Mission is a new blog, started by Dr. Brent Burket and Dr. Jennifer Thoene. These veteran mission doctors will start a long term mission to Santiago Atitlan, Guatemala with their four children; Christopher, Elizabeth, Julianne and Nicholas. This doctor couple will be caring for the indigenous Mayan population, the Tz'utujil, working along side the people at a hospital called Hospitalito.

Please take a moment and check out their blogs, hear their stories and consider signing up as a “follower” to receive new blog posts.

We Wait Together

Advent is the time of waiting and preparing- but the word Advent is from the Latin word 'coming".

We are waiting, we are preparing for Christ’s coming – as the world waited more than 2000 years ago – but we know that in Advent our focus needs to be, not on the waiting but on who we are waiting for. We are waiting for Christ to come, waiting to celebrate once again the dawn of the new day when nothing would be the same.

Children may anticipate with joy the coming of Santa Clause.

Adults may prepare for families coming together at the holidays.

There are others in Guatemala that are also awaiting with joyful anticipation the coming of Dr. Brent Burket and Dr. Jennifer Thoene who will begin a three year assignment to Hospitalito in January.

In Uganda, the hospital awaits the coming of Dr. Ron and Mrs. Barbara Wick in January.

In Cameroon, Sr. Xaveria is awaiting the coming of Dr. James and Mrs. Terry Hake.

These doctors and others serve because Christ has already been born in their hearts and they can’t wait to share their skills and their faith with others.

Please keep all mission doctors and their families in your prayers this Holy Season.

We wait together. We know who we are waiting for, and we know that once again we can strive to be the one others are waiting for.

Courage on the Word Day of Prayer and Action for Children

When I travel to the Africa and Latin America to visit our doctors who are serving in small mission hospitals and clinics, it is the faces of children that remain etched in my memory. The children running along the road, laughing at the lady with the camera, singing in the church, and the children in the hospitals, their parents anxiously standing at their bedside.

As a mother of four, in these childern’s faces I see my own children. I recognize the joy and the fear, the laughter and the tears.

Those of us in the west however need to awaken to the reality of the lives of children around the world. In Uganda today there are over 1.2 millions AIDS orphans. In Guatemala more than half the children suffer from chronic malnutrition. In Cameroon the burden of poverty is heightened by diseases of malaria, TB, chronic respiratory infections. The needs of these children and their communities is what drives our doctors to sacrifice so much to serve, and is what drive my own work.

Today, November 20 is the World Day of Prayer and Action for Children. On this anniversary of the Convention of the Rights of the Child, I would like to share with you the story of Courage. This story not only inspired me, but all of the doctors and nurses serving in this small mission hospital in Ghana. Courage is a young boy none of us will forget.

Imagine a World

I wanted to take a moment this week and share with you a powerful quote from the founder of Mission Doctors, Monsignor Anthony Brouwers, “Many do not know the needs of the world’s poverty; some do not care. Others know but refuse to lift a finger or open a tight purse. The present writer, on journeys through the mission lands, has had the privilege of rubbing shoulders with the reality of poverty. To see it in all its stark realism is not enough; one must smell and touch it before the mind drinks in the realities of the senses.”

His ability to help those of us here in the US understand the reality of the needs has called many of us to join in the work of Mission Doctors Association. It is true, that the needs in the Africa and Latin America are difficult to imagine while sitting at our computer screen in a warm home or office. It is my charge however, as a missionary myself, returned home, to share these needs with others and to encourage prayers and support.

Imagine a world where all needs of the poor are met. We can imagine this one patient at a time. Click this link to view a Mission Doctors video. You can meet our doctors serving and learn about the real needs that exist.