I greet you with the sincere hope that you are being challenged and nurtured by Christ daily. Recently, I have been pondering what Paul means, “to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). First, “to die” is to be deprived of all material possessions, leaving Christ as the sole master of your life. If I treasure Christ above everything else, then if I die, I will be fully satisfied having Christ only. Second, “to live” is to have complete joy in Christ and to help others realize that joy. Thus, in all that I do, I desire to declare with Paul, “that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death” (Phil. 1:20).
This summer God has called me on missions to Kenya with the Christian Medical Dental Association from July 22nd to August 6th. Our Global Health Outreach (GHO) team is made up of 32 individuals including medical professionals from a variety of fields and my older sister, Abigail. The first week we will be serving underprivileged individuals in the slums of Dandora, just east of the Nairobi, the capital city. The following week we will visit the rural area of Nyamira, near Lake Victoria. In both locations, our main ministries will be providing for medical needs and evangelism. This year, I have been reminded time and time again that Jesus desires to bring healing to every part of people’s lives, not just spiritual.
As you may or may not know, God has called me into full-time ministry as an overseas Christian medical missionary in a place of greatest need. This past year, God has confirmed His calling to me more and more. Even now, God is preparing me through my medical humanities/pre-med studies at Baylor University and my leadership in the UNITE Intervarsity Christian Fellowship on campus. I have no doubt that God will use this time in Africa to continue preparing me to be a missionary doctor and molding my heart toward His heart and His purposes in this world. I know that I will not only get the opportunity to live for Christ, but I will die many deaths. In other words, I will have to die to the worldly comforts and luxuries that distract me from serving and glorifying Christ with all that I am. However, I know that God’s grace is sufficient for me and His power is made perfect in weakness (1 Corinthians 12:8).
