Before I came to Cambodia I spent three days in Seattle with two amazing women that I met in Cambodia last year. They introduced me to more amazing women from their church and one night we all shared together stories, and our hearts for trafficked victims. They then prayed over me and asked the Lord for words for me. One woman even washed my feet. Needless to say, it was a very emotional and humbling evening for me. One of the prophecies that was given to me pertained to my skills as a nurse. Essentially I would be using my nursing skills more this World Race than my last one.
She said that I will be invited into the brothels and bars because of my skills and as a result of seeing the compassion and dignity with which I treat these women, the hearts of the brothel owners and pimps will be changed and entire brothels would come to know the love of Christ starting from the pimps down to the girls.
I had left all my nursing equipment in Ohio, but in obedience and faith that that prophecy would come true, I bought a stethoscope and a blood pressure cuff to take on my trip.
So far, I have not yet been invited into any brothels or bars, but the prophecy has been coming to pass in other ways! And it is so exciting to utilize the skills and training that God led me to pursue in order to advance his Kingdom!
On the airplane from Seoul, Korea to Phnom Penh, Cambodia the flight attendants found a man in the lavatory- pale, weak, cold, clammy, and in pain. They announced overhead that they needed someone with medical experience to immediately come to the back of the plane. I was the ONLY ONE on the plane with any such experience. I grabbed my stethoscope and blood pressure cuff and followed the flight attendant. The man had all the classic symptoms of a minor heart attack. I spent hours praying and doing all that was within my abilities to keep his health from deteriorating. By the time we landed in Phnom Penh the man’s color had improved, no longer cold or clammy, he stated his, “heart no longer feels weak,” his ability to breathe improved, his chest pain subsided, his left arm no longer tingled. He was able to walk off the plane when hours before I and two others were having to pick him up and assist him out of the lavatory and onto the floor. I received an email of gratitude from his family. He has been in the hospital for the last week. His blood pressure is being controlled and his health improving.
This month we are working with an organization that works to prevent the trafficking of children in a slum neighborhood of Phnom Penh. My specific job is GUESS WHAT?! NURSING! I am working with a Cambodian nurse and we are performing health check-ups on all the kids with pressing health issues, and those 5 and younger. Because the nurse is Buddhist, I wanted to be respectful of her and her culture and asked her permission to pray healing in Jesus’ name over all the children we came in contact with. SHE SAID YES!
I am also making for her a reference for pediatric nursing because she has no experience assessing children.
My other contribution to the ministry this month is to do community visits in the slum neighborhoods that surround our ministry site. The last two days we walked through a slum to the home of a young 18yr old mother who just had her baby 5 days ago. The first visit we just spoke with her about her general health and feeding habits of the baby. We observed her trying to breast feed and offered suggestions for a more successful experience. Yesterday we went back and I was able to complete a full head to toe assessment of both mother and baby. We brought them towels, soap, tooth paste, and tooth brushes, and a few safe medications. We were able to educate the family about bathing the child, caring for the umbilicus, the benefit of walking for the mother and breast feeding, as well as, the natural healing process and cessation of bleeding that the mother will experience.
I walked away from the experience thanking God for making me become a nurse!! (bc He knows better than anyone how much I fought him on it!) I walked away saying in my head, “YES! THIS IS IT! THIS IS WHY I BECAME A NURSE IN THE FIRST PLACE!”
Nursing is truly a gift,
and I am humbled and blessed that God entrusted it to me.
*** ALL Nursing expenses (medications, lab tests, my stethoscope, my BP cuff, supplies for basic hygiene, and all other materials pertaining to nursing) come directly out of my pocket. The World Race does not pay for these things!!
If you would like to join alongside me; if you would like to play a vital role in helping me provide nursing care to those I meet on this trip- then please,
write a personal check made out to me with Nursing Supplies in the memo line and mail it to:
Kristen Paulick; 5127 Waverly St.; Fairborn, OH 45324.
*** It is my promise to post monthly summaries of all donated monies towards Nursing Supplies and the allocation of those funds in order to be an accountable and good steward. Thank you.
