Inspired by compassion

I have been working with Mission Doctors Association for over 27 years and have had the honor of supporting these doctors and their families. Their stories of courage, disappointment, hope and healing continue to inspired me. But, the countless stories of patients cared for, babies delivered, or operations preformed are written on the hearts of mission doctors and seldom on the pages of a newsletter.

One of my roles as director is to try to persuade them to share their stories. The humble health care providers are often reluctant to recount the numbers of patients seen, or the number of nights that they have been called back to the hospital to see yet another patient.
When encouraged to do so they sometimes share a case that was remarkable; a fisherman who traveled 100 km after a hippo attack and who received life saving surgery. And on the telling, the surgeon only stresses that the patient lived by the grace of God. I agree with him; however I don’t discount the surgeon’s skills and his sacrifices to be there – that night the life of this fisherman was indeed saved by the grace of God and the sacrifice of one, and the many who made it possible for him to be there – acting on their faith in God.

The doctors are just as likely to share their frustration when everything that they could do, with the limited resources at hand, was not enough. When practicing in the states with every resource available - when the battle is still lost - they may walk away feeling powerless in the face of death - but they know that everything that could be tried was tried. The frustration practicing resource poor medicine is in the knowing that for lack of a single drug, that cost only pennies at home, a patient dies, or for the time and distance it took to get to the hospital a child is lost.
These doctors unanimously recount that they have received more than they gave, that the experience made them a better doctor in their own practice and that they have been grateful for the opportunity to share their skills and quietly live their faith. I’m grateful to be witness to their service and their faith which strengthens my own.