We will go to Nicaragua again in a few weeks on our second
medical mission trip there with a group from our church. Last year was my first
visit to that beautiful country and my first medical mission trip. I returned
home changed by the experience, as I have been by previous mission trips. I recognized one such change recently when I was
forced to start antibiotics for a persistent respiratory infection. I was
grateful for the medicine, but felt guilty as I remembered the
hundreds of people who came to the doctors in our mission team for medical care
and for the medicines our group provided: aspirin, Tylenol, and antibiotics
among others. For many, if not most, of the people our doctors treated, such
medicines are not readily available. We live in
a culture that is saturated with drugs, good and bad. And while there are many
people in this country who lack access to medicine and good medical care, many
of us take pain relief and treatment for infections for granted. I find it hard
to wrap my mind around what it would be like to live without the basic medical
care I take for granted, a situation common to too many of the world’s people. In spite of the challenges in their lives, or perhaps because of them, I learned from the people we encountered
on our last trip to Nicaragua more about how to live joyfully in difficult
circumstances. I learned years ago that what we have to bring to the people we
meet on our mission trips is helpful, but what they have to offer us in return
is priceless if we go with open hearts. My prayer is that I will return from
the upcoming trip changed once again and for God’s help in sharing what I learn
there when I return.
Grace and Peace,
Donna Sue
