Hi, I am a Mom of 3. I have 2 boys ages 6 and 3.5 and a daughter who 16 months. I also am a wife and a physician. When I can, I go on medical mission trips. It is my desire now that my youngest is a toddler to start going on trips regularly (2-4 trips per year) as God allows. My life at home is far from boring balancing my jobs: military Wife, Mom, and Preventive Medicine physician. I am passionate about all of them. I have felt called to the mission field since I became a Christian in 2002. I have only managed to go on 4 trips so far: Peru '03, Bangladesh '04, Honduras '10, and Trinidad '12. My breaks between trips were often related to the age of my children (or pregnancy). I wondered if the long break between my trips (and the many changes in my life during that time - like motherhood) would cause me to rethink my desire to go on trips but it strengthened it. As a result, I have done training to not only lead Medical mission trips but also to do Disaster Response. It is hard to leave my family behind to go into the mission field but serving God in the way I feel called is important. Someday my children will be old enough to come with me until then I can share the stories of how God is working around our world.
Most recently I was in Trinidad. I wanted to tell you all
about what God showed me in Trinidad.
Trinidad was my 4th Mission trip with Missions to the World
(MTW) and it had a different feel than any other trip with MTW. Trinidad and Tabago, as a former British
colony felt a lot more like home. It is
one of the wealthiest nations in the Carribean and while it didn’t look like a
US city the infrastructure of the government was obviously better than many
places I have visited. English is the
primary language and much of the culture is similar to the US. The result is that I often felt more like I
was doing an outreach clinic in the US.
One of major differences is that only a small proportion of the
population is Christian. The population
has a mix of Hindu, Rastafarian, Muslim, Catholic, Protestant and Baptist (not
a branch of Christianity but another religion related to animism). 
I spent 6 days on the ground
in Trinidad. The team was made up of 3
physicians, 1 nurse practioner, 1 RN, 1 family counselor, 1 med student and 4
other nonmedical women. We spent our
first day visiting with Pastor Ricky Gosyne and his small church. He was our host and had invited us down with
purpose of serving those in need in his country and building the Christian
community through our outreach. Church
was full of challenging teaching and obvious depth of conviction within the
congregation. I wish I could attend
regularly. Pastor Gosyne like many
pastors faces many challenges. He works
an IT job full time and has his church meeting in his home as he has been
unable to secure a building to rent and is financially unable to purchase a
building. The community in which he
serves has only a small minority of people who are Christians (around 10%).
We spent 4 days serving
through medical clinics. Our medical
clinics were truly for the purpose of sharing Christ as the country has a
national health care system similar to England so everyone has some access to
doctors and medicine for free. At the
same time, we were obviously wanted, as we saw 300 patients in the 4 days we
did clinics. One of the most common
reasons that I heard for people coming to see us is that they wanted someone to
“hear their story.” I was given the
impression that there is a shortage of physicians so that people feel rushed
when they see their doctor. Many
patients just wanted someone to really explain their problems, or really teach
them how to improve their health.
 |
| Laventille |
The first 2 days of clinic
were spent in a town called Laventille.
It is the roughest part of Trinidad and Tobago with a high crime rate
from drug runners and gangs. As a result
of the violence, the Trinidad Ministry of Defense provided us with a police
escort throughout our time in Laventille. I often describe my goal as one of changing hearts. I am talking about the spiritual change but
in Laventille I was able to help a heart in the physical sense as well. I had an older man come in to the clinic who
had been having episodes of fainting for several months. He had not sought medical care, just because
he didn’t really like his doctor. As a
result of his fainting, he had been injured several times. I was able to diagnose his heart problem
(afib) with a portable EKG (yes, one of the team members had one with them
–only God!). I was able to teach him
about his problem and help arrange for how he would get to the hospital and
cardiologist. He was also able to have a
long conversation with Pastor Ricky. 
The next 2 days of clinic
were done in part of Port au Spain where Pastor Ricky lives and serves. Here were really serving his church and
helping him reach into his community, which is mostly Hindu and Muslim. In 2 days, I only had a few patients who were
Christian but I also was able to share with each of my patients not only about
Jesus but about where they could learn about Jesus. Pastor Ricky said that he was able to meet
many people who he had never met and has had several visit his church since.
One of the highlights of the
trip came on the last night. The
Ministry of Defense hosted a dinner to thank us for serving in Laventille. We were in Laventille because of the heart
Pastor Ricky has for his people but also because the government has recognized
the impact of MTW teams. Pastor Ricky
has been hosting MTW teams several times a year for the last few years. The Ministry of Defense has seen a positive
change in Laventille since MTW teams have been visiting it. The change is so noticeable that they pledge
to partner with us to serve along side us for as long as we are willing to come
and even to have a dinner for us each time as a thank you. What a great witness of the work of Christ
than the fact that the darkest place on the island is starting to shine a
little brighter.
Overall, I would say that the
trip was amazing. We were able to love
on over 300 people from orphans to widows to drug dealers. The local church was encouraged and seeds
were planted and watered. I look forward
to serving Christ in the mission field again soon. Since returning I have learned of several trips
this fall that may not happen if physicians are not found who can go on
them. I am willing to go and I am
praying for God to lead. With Jeremy’s
support, I plan to continue to serve wherever God leads whether it is to the
Disaster Field (with Disaster Response Ministry), with Medical teams, or
stateside. I do still need to continue
my fundraising to be ready to go when the next disaster strikes. Unlike with trips like the one to Trinidad,
the disaster response trips need funds ready and waiting so that as soon as the
disaster strikes the team can start cooridinating supplies, equipment, flights,
etc. to be ready to as usually they arrive within 2 to 3 weeks of the disaster.
In Christ's Service,
Tiffany Wedlake
No comments:
Post a Comment