Scary thought. Especially for all those who knew me back in the day.
The timeline over the next few months is as follows:
Today: submit my rank list for residency
Today: leave for Zambia (more on that in a moment)
Four weeks from today: come back from Zambia and move back to Memphis (long story there)
March 12: get an email telling me whether or not I have matched
March 16: find out where I match
May 26: I graduate medical school, and move to wherever I match
July 1: start general surgery residency (providing I match of course)
So yeah, life is about to get crazy.
I've discovered at this point I'm a little used to crazy. I mean, in the last three months, I've been to 11 different states for various residency interviews and conferences, planned a one month trip to Zambia (I promise I'll tell you about it soon), went to my brother's wedding, and got married.
Yes, I am married. Never thought I would say those words.
My husband's name is Lawrence. We met in medical school. And he is absolutely the love of my life. Never did I imagine God would bring such an amazing man into my life. Let alone a man who wants to spend the rest of his life serving the Lord overseas.
I'll probably talk more about Lawrence is another post. But for now, I will concentrate on Zambia.
Coming back from China, and then going to Haiti with Dad a few weeks later, I realized the Lord has called me to a life of medical missions. From the moment I started medical school, I had been searching for an opportunity to serve the Lord overseas. A way to use what I was learning to help those in areas where access to healthcare is sparse. And for some reason, the Lord put the continent of Africa on my heart.
So I began searching. A great resource for medical professionals and students is CMDA. They're an organization dedicated to the spiritual health of medical professionals and students as well as a mission-minded organization. Through CMDA, I was able to get in contact with an organization that sends medical missionaries all around the world. And when I told them how the Lord had laid Africa on my heart, they gave me the options to go to Niger, Angola, or Zambia.
Enter Mukinge hospital in Kasempa Zambia. It was started in the 1950s and has been serving the people of northwest Zambia for many years. It is a 200 bed facility, that is pretty much at capacity all year round. People hike for days to make it to the hospital. It also has a full time HIV/AIDS center.
Dr. David Friend has been a surgeon there for quite a long time. We've been communicating via email for the past few months, and I'm greatly looking forward to working with him. One thing I learned was they did not have any surgical gloves smaller than a size 7. And my little hands fit nicely in a size 5 1/2. I'm bringing my own gloves but according to Dr. Friend, most of the procedures do not require a "fine touch" so I should be good.
The Lord has been so gracious as I've prepared for this trip. The original plan was that I would go in September of 2017. However, when my brother told me he and his now wife had to move up their wedding date, I emailed Mukinge immediately. They were so very kind and allowed me to delay until February-due to residency interviews and David's wedding, as well as my own.
And then there's Lawrence. I cannot believe God gave me this amazing man as my husband. After realizing that I would literally be leaving him for Africa a mere 6 weeks after we were married, I thought he would forbid me to go. Much to my surprise, his words were, "Of course you're going. God wants you to go."
How blessed am I? What did I ever do to deserve such favor from God? The Lord is faithful. He makes a way, always. Through every obstacle that seemed to arise, it was clear God wanted me to go to Zambia. He is good. All the time.
So here I sit. In the international terminal, waiting for my flight. In 24-ish hours I will be landing in Lusaka, the capitol of Zambia. I'll be there for a couple days and then head to Mukinge.
It is my prayer that the Lord will use me in the 28 short days I am in Zambia. May His hands guide mine. May His ways be my ways. May He give me His heart.
And as dear sister Rita Carr always says, "But God! Look at God!"
Yes, look at God! He is amazing!
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