This November, I had the unexpected opportunity to use my skills as an occupational therapist and joined a team from EMAS on a short term medical trip to China. I say “unexpected” because I had other plans for myself this fall. Needless to say, I had a lot of doubts and fears going into this trip at first, but with a few encouraging nudges from friends and family and the prayer support of countless warriors, I said yes, and, two months later, found myself flying across the Pacific to a city in China.
Our surgery team operated on forty patients to treat various types of physical deformities, the majority of which were the result of poorly treated burn wounds. For these people, proper medical care was too expensive or not available, so years after their injuries, the scars had grown into problems of their own. In many cases, limbs and body parts were bound by these scars. Feet could not be used for walking, fingers were not fingers, and faces were permanently changed. Our surgical team corrected these deformities by surgically removing the scar tissue and sometimes replacing areas with new skin that would stretch and allow movement again.
During the trip, I had the chance to witness one of these surgeries. It would be a first for me and possibly a last. As I watched the doctor cutting away at the dead tissue that bound the man’s fingers together I cringed, felt a sharp pain in my stomach, and my head started to go light. I’m sure you can imagine what happened next, feeling sick to the stomach I needed to leave the room and sit down. But as I sat there, clutching my knees to my chest, waiting for the pain to pass, I was struck by the thought that this was a picture of what Christ does in our hearts as we obey our Father. Not that He makes us nauseous! But that He too is in the business of cutting our binding scars and freeing us from our old wounds. It takes a certain measure of bravery to let yourself be put under the knife with the knowledge of the weeks and months of pain and to follow, but the end result is worth it! For our patients the end result was being able to walk again or being able to hold a pen for the first time. In the spiritual sense, it means that when we offer our hearts to the Great Healer, He frees us from our own bad habits and desires that lead to destruction, and makes us more than we could ever be on our own... and of course, that unspeakable joy from knowing that we have been freed!
During this trip, God was doing exactly that, working on my heart, helping me to lay down my own fears and doubts, and holding onto the promise He gave in Jeremiah: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
In the end, I walked away with a humbled heart, touched by the faithfulness of team members who have gone back to China year after year to serve, and also by the commitment of those who are there for the long term. Their faithful obedience has resulted in a plentiful harvest, and I was privileged to hear some of the stories of those whose lives have been blessed and changed.
Through this, God has also challenged me to consider how I can continue to translate my faith into action, to challenge and put myself into situations where I need to depend on Him, and to keep looking for ways to show the awesomeness of His love to others.
I also have to give a big thank you to the prayer warriors that stood by me leading up to and throughout the trip. It was your prayers that carried our team safely through from beginning to end!
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