Hey everyone! I realize I am a little late on a blog update…I am so sorry for that! WiFi is a little hard to come by and it hasn’t been a priority of mine. I miss everyone back home though, so much!
I want to share a lesson I learned in India. But first, let me just tell you that India was stunningly beautiful and the people had beyond incredible hospitality. Our ministry host, Bibles for the World, treated us so well and are serving our Lord in extraordinary ways. Just being able to partner with them was a blessing in itself. Thank you so much!
As I sit here reflecting back on this whole story I am about to tell you, I realized it all occurred on the first day of ministry for us. In other words, it was the first day of EVER doing anything like this for me. I have done physical therapy mission work before but never to just go share the gospel. The nervousness set in and thoughts of inadequacy began saturating my mind. “What in the world have I gotten myself into.”
Our host stated that we would be going to a remote village plagued by witchcraft for a free medical camp. “BINGO! Right up my alley and comfort zone. Thanks God for taking it easy on me the first day!” Or so I thought…
For those of you that haven’t traveled overseas, language barriers make communicating quite difficult. This camp was set up at a school. There was a room for the doctor, the dentist and nursing to administer medication. And then there was the prayer room. We were quickly guided into the prayer room to set up shop. We were given specific instructions to share the gospel, hand out literature and pray for healing.
For those of you that know me on a deeper level, you know these are all things that make me extremely uncomfortable. I don’t like pushing religion into people’s face and I don’t like to be forced to pray for healing. It’s not because I don’t believe He can heal, because He can and He does. I just like those things to develop and manifest through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Needless to say, I was uncomfortable again so I start to walk around the grounds trying to talk to the doctors and nurses to explain that I was a physiotherapist and that I could help provide care. Turns out they had absolutely no idea what a physiotherapist was. They weren’t the least bit interested, despite how hard I tried to get my point across. So back to the prayer room I went. “Here we go God.”
The first patient that came in was having shoulder pain. Internally I was screaming, “just let me take a look at it for goodness sakes!!” But God made it very apparent He wanted me to keep my mouth shut. So I did.
I kind of started shutting down due to fear and being uncomfortable. I was just kind of watching from the perimeter. I watched a teammate beautifully and gracefully share the gospel. The lady accepted the Lord into her heart. Tears were in all of our eyes. I was thinking to myself that I could never do that. I know how to share the love and hope of Christ but as far as sharing the gospel biblically…I am not qualified for that.
Of course that’s when my teammate turned around, looked at me and said, “it is your turn!” Dangit. I was paralyzed with fear.
The woman came in and I asked her what was bothering her and she said, “my back.” Of course it is your back (insert sarcasm because back pain in one of the most common things physical therapist’s treat in the US)…I laughed and teared up at the same time. God you are funny. My flesh wanted to look at her back and treat her but God was telling me to pray for the woman and share the gospel. So I did.
I will probably never know what I said that day. The woman’s back was not healed (well actually I’ll never know that either because I didn’t even ask after the fact.)
Instead, that woman accepted Christ into her life. A woman living in a village darkened by witchcraft and hopelessness, got the greatest healing that ever could have happened!!!
God, without a doubt, uses my profession as a physical therapist as a platform to glorify His Kingdom (He actually used it the rest of the month in abundance). He blessed me with an excellent education and instilled passion in my heart for it. But just because He has blessed me with skills doesn’t give me the right to have a sense of entitlement and think I can fix everything.
Sometimes God just says stop and trust Me. God’s plan that day was far greater than I could have ever imagined. My skills fixing her back could never touch the healing power of Jesus Christ.
Needless to say I was humbled that day. I am grateful for the healing power of the Lord and for the intimate relationship we get to have with our Father. I am grateful for how He continuously wrecks my heart in order to teach me more about Him.
(Photo cred- my teammate, Katelyn!)
I challenge each and every one of you today…are you stopping and listening to hear God’s plan, not your own? I promise you His plan is far greater than any plan you could ever envision.
Thank you for taking the time to read this! I miss you all immensely! Reading e-mails from you all whenever I do get WiFi is such a treat and makes my heart so happy! My next financial deadline of $13,000 is coming up at the end of this month. If you feel it in your heart to donate, please click on the link above! Please share with everyone you know!! It is definitely hard to fundraise halfway across the world with limited WiFi! Love you guys!
