Guess what I want to do with my life?

As children we may dream of our place in the 'grown up' world and this may include a job, place to live when we “grow up”, for others the ideal position may be a connection of what others recognize in us, and what is already written on our hearts.

For Terese Bauer, her dream job, came in the voice of friend during her undergraduate study at theUniversity of Wisconsin who insisted that “You should really become a doctor...”.

On her way home for Easter she contemplated how she could use her skills as a physician working in the mission field. When she arrived home,she asked her parents to guess what she wanted to do with her life…admittedly a common question throughout the year. Her mom guessed a several different scenarios, and when each was met with a 'No' she asked Terese to just tell them. Stubbornly, she said, “No you have to guess.”

Her dad looked her straight in the eyes and said, “You want to be a missionary doctor." She knew that the Holy Spirit worked through him to confirm her call.

Since that time, her energies have been focused on following the Lord on the path of this unexpected call to love Him and heal Him in the poor. Dr. Terese and her husband Dr. Paul Bauer are in Uganda this summer serving with Dr. Mark Bisanzo at Karoli Lwanga Hospital in Nyakibale. Here they offer direct patient care on the wards and provide teaching in pediatrics and adult medicine.

What is your dream job? What do you feel called to do?

To read the complete article, sharing the story of the Paul and Terese Bauer and their family, visit the Mission Doctors website and read the 2009 Annual Newsletter.

The harvest is abundant and the laborers are few…

Our office just received an email from one of our doctors who is completing his service in rural Tanzania at the Bwambo Health Centre. Mark, Molly and their seven children were the first sent by Mission Doctors to the diocese of Same, and Dr. Druffner provided a detailed report of the hospital, it’s equipment, facilities, staffing and access to transportation and pharmaceuticals.

The harvest is abundant and the laborers are few…(Luke 10:2)

The needs of the Health Centre and the people of Bwambo are indeed plentiful. The hospital is without an x-ray machine, a fully stocked pharmacy or full staff. The 40,000 people who are served by this rural hospital are without a fully-functioning health center. So, while the need is great, unfortunately, the laborers, are few.

This verse from Luke has spoken to me since I started working with Mission Doctors Association. In locations around the world, hospitals and clinics are in need of trained doctors to treat patients suffering with everything from a broken bone, to pneumonia, TB and HIV/AIDS.

The second half of that verse in Luke has gives us the faith and prayer to continue this work, and we “… ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest”.

We are all called to be missionaries by our Baptism.

If you are a doctor feeling called to work in the mission field, visit the MDA website and check our 2010 Retreat/Seminar. If you are not able to serve yourself, consider a financial gift to Mission Doctors Association and support those who labor in the field. Working together we live our Baptism as we were anointed to the mission to live and love as Jesus lived.

Holy Discomfort

Dr. Richard and Mrs. Loretta Stoughton returned to the United States in July after nearly 8 years in Zimbabwe.

They are now facing the challenges of ‘re-entry’ – coming home, adapting to life again in their home culture. They witnessed many changes in Zimbabwe and there have been changes in the United States since 2001.

Dick wrote:
“Re-entry” is easy because SO MUCH IS AVAILABLE (gas, electricity, water, groceries, ATM’s…)
“Re-entry” is tough because SO MUCH IS AVAILABLE! How do we reconcile the differences?

I am especially touched by this last question. “How do we reconcile the differences?”, one that is often echoed by those returning from a long-term mission, as well as those who have served a month.

Even for those who may never leave home the challenge remains – keeping the missions alive in our hearts so that our choices, our actions acknowledge this disparity and we live with the discomfort.

Author Ronald Allen wrote, “The Apostle Paul advocated a “holy discomfort” with the present status of the world. Paul’s gospel calls for people to be discontent with brokenness, injustice, scarcity, exploitation, violence and death and to believe that God seeks to increase community, wholeness, justice abundance, peace , love and live…. “

It is in this discontent with the brokenness, injustice, we strive to make the world a better place.

Sharing a Gift that Sustains

Dr. Phil Hawley, a veteran Mission Doctor has traveled several times to serve in the Peten in Guatemala. When there he is working with Dr. Linda Novak’s project to provide a service learning program for medical students and residents from Loyola Stritch in Chicago.

Springtime in northern Guatemala — blistering heat, burning fields, and warm hearts. The Mayan men leave their villages each day with machete in hand to clear jungle for next year’s planting, cut lumber to repair a neighbor’s hut, or haul water from a distant river.

Women gather in groups each morning to mend and wash clothing, and then spend each afternoon shucking, striping, grinding, kneading, shaping and baking corn into tortillas. What’s left of each day is used to cook simple meals over open fires. Mayans appreciate life and accept its challenges.

That’s the lesson I relearn with each visit to Peten, Guatemala. And the countless warm smiles — that’s the gift that sustains me until my next visit.

The community living in the Peten and it's peoples' spirits encourage Dr. Hawley. What gives you the energy and enthusiasm to serve?

National Holiday in Uganda

June 3rd is a national holiday in Uganda. Workers and students are off; churches across the country hold festivals and as many as a million people travel miles to the city of Namungongo to celebrate the lives of 22 young men who gave their lives for the faith in 1885. Why celebrate the gruesome death of young people at the hand of a tyrant, over a century ago?

These 22 young men, Catholic converts, died as martyrs for our faith. In the late 1800s Christianity was for the most part unknown in Uganda. As the faith grew, the young king, King Mwanga feared Christianity’s power and its rejection of both slavery and polygamy (both common practice at the time). This fear and the spread of the religion, led to the persecution and martyrdom of Christians.

Joseph Mukasa Balekuddembe was the first Catholic convert to be martyred. Joseph had been a chief advisor to the King and had spoken out, condemning the King's order for Anglican Bishop Hannington's death. The King would not tolerate this criticism from his advisors and ordered Joseph beheaded on November 15, 1885. Joseph proclaimed "Mwanga has condemned me without cause, but tell him I forgive him in my heart." King Mwanga may have believed that by killing Joseph he would convince other converts to give up their new faith. However, others in the King's service responded not with fear, but faith.

Charles Lwanga was the chief of the 400 pages who were the young men in the service of the King. When Charles learned of Joseph's death he went together with Bruno Sserunkuma, James Buzabalyawo and several others to the Fathers and asked to be baptized. They escaped from the confines of the palace grounds at night to be instructed, knowing that they were putting their lives in God's hands. Denis Sebuggwago, who was a servant of the king, was found teaching catechism and was killed on May 26, 1886. Andrew Kagwa who was the bandmaster to the King was also a catechist who had converted his wife and gathered many others to the new faith. Andrew and Ponsiano Ngondwe were beheaded the same day.

The King's anger and distrust of Catholics grew and he announced that it would be necessary for the pages to choose between their faith and life. He ordered that all the "who prayed" stand aside. Charles Lwanga led the way and was followed by others; all knew what their fate would be. Tied up, the next day they were forced to walk 12 miles to the hill that would be their place of execution at Namugongo. Gonzaga Gonza collapsed and he and Antanansio Bazzekuketta were killed on the road. One of the pages, Mbaga Tuzinde, was the son of the chief executioner who tried to hide him. He escaped from his family and joined the others.

Once they arrived at Namugongo, the place of their death was not ready, and they waited for seven days. They were cold and hungry, but despite this they were filled with joy and kept praying the Our Father and Hail Mary. On Ascension Thursday, the drums alerted them that their execution was about to take place. Charles Lwanga was first; then the others were brought out and tied in bundles of three and thrown into the fire, where they kept singing and praising God until they perished.

The King's intention had been to deter the growth of Christianity, but the martyrdom of these early believers sparked its growth instead. It has been observed in many other instances, that the blood of the martyrs proved to be the seed of faith. Christianity is now the dominant faith in Buganda and Uganda as a whole. The 22 known Catholic martyrs were declared "Blessed" by Pope Benedict XV in 1920. On October 18, 1964 Pope Paul VI canonized the 22 Catholic martyrs during the Vatican II conference. These 22 young people are recognized for their sacrifice and witness of faith.

A Father's Day Gift

Father’s Day gives us all opportunities to pray for and give thanks for the fathers in our lives – our own fathers, spouses, brothers, and sons. For some this primary relationship with our own fathers changes over the years. Older parents sometimes need the care of their children and this change of roll can be challenging for both parent and child.

Dr. Stoughton recently shared a story with me from the home based care program at St. Theresa’s Hospital in Zimbabwe that I felt was the perfect story to share for Father’s day:

A man, who had lost his wife, had three sons. Two lived with him after she passed away. Two years ago he was an in-patient on the male ward at St. Theresa’s hospital and although everything that could be done for him was tried, sadly he wasn’t getting any better. He was unable to get out of bed and was discharged and sent home. In the United States he would have been on hospice care because his prognosis was so poor.

He continued to take the antiretroviral drugs begun at the hospital after returning home. His son would make the long walk to Chengwena Clinic every two weeks to pick up his father’s medication and give a report on how he was doing. All of 2008, the father was bed-ridden, but the sons made sure he was fed and turned in bed frequently.

The sons even made a seat for him to sit out in the sun; made it of home-made bricks and put a cushion on it. The boys planted the maize and the garden, and they have done all of the cooking.
When the home based care volunteers would visit they were always impressed that they would find that the father had never developed any bedsores, had no other chronic illnesses, all the more impressive because the boys are now only 10 and 12 years old.

Dick wrote “Since the first of the year, the father has been able to walk with the help of a walker. They are indeed an inspiration for all of us, taking such good care of the father under such difficult circumstances.”

The love of his sons and their determined care has brought this man back from the brink and been an inspiration of love to all.

·For those of us whose fathers are already with our loving God in heaven, may Father’s Day be an opportunity to remember them with joy.

·For those who can take the day to share with their father, may it be an opportunity to reinforce the love and bonds of parent and child.

·And a prayer for all the fathers out there; whether you are still holding onto the back of the bicycle and running down the street, or being steadied at the elbow by your own child, or any point in-between, may the circle of love bring you ever closer and may you know the love of your children today and always.

The youngest son was not home when we were there, but just as we were getting into the car he came "running rapidly down the road" to see us and greet us, and be sure that he would have his picture taken also!

Happy Birthday Church!

We are the Church and Pentecost Sunday is our birthday – we are called – not to blow out any candles, but to share the gifts of the Spirit which we have received with all peoples.

It is the first reading from Pentecost Sunday that always resonates with me when I consider a missionary call. I do not know a missionary anywhere who wouldn’t be more than thrilled to have the people say in amazement “we hear them speaking in our own tongues.”

Sometimes for our doctors it may take two translators, one to a general language and a second to a dialect that is only spoken in a small area of the country. It can be frustrating and can also create challenges to diagnosis and treatment.

However, no words are needed for the doctor to know the concern in a mother’s heart when their child is ill.

And, no words are necessary for a mother to know that a doctor is caring for their child with compassion, and genuine concern.

No words are needed at the bedside of a woman who recognizes the reassurance and consideration in the eyes and touch of a doctor striving to offer their skills, though words between them may not yet be possible.

This is because the real language that can be understood by all people is God’s own language of love. This language crosses boarders, breaks down barriers, and can more powerfully communicate what is real between people who do not share the same language, or background or culture.

This language is a might act of God and we can each utilize this gift in all our communicating. May our words, typed, spoken, and unspoken always reflect the Spirit of God within us.

Is there a time when you have felt this powerful presence in your life?