Port au Prince

Port au Prince
"He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure." Psalm 40:2

Monday, July 25, 2011

Humility and the Almighty


Today was my first day working as a physician in the outpatient clinic of King’s Hospital. The last few days I’ve been very anxious about my ability to recognize and treat tropical illness. Primarily because I haven’t studied them since medical school and have never treated them. Within moments I realized my fears and anxiety had been inappropriately placed. The challenge was not the medicine (as it turns out, pretty much every fever is malaria) but much larger, more powerful enemies. I saw children that were the victims of unspeakable violence. Another women presented with a life threatening condition but left the clinic untreated, insisting that she could not be admitted because there was no one else to care for her young children.
As a pediatric oncologist, I’ve become comfortable in the face of impending tragedy, secure in my ability to provide life saving medicine. Today I was overwhelmed with the enormity of the circumstances I encountered and my complete inability to intervene. In His gentle way, I felt God remind me that it is never I who provides healing. This little revelation was both humbling and enormously comforting. I’m choosing to abandon my reliance on my skill, and instead place my hope in Him Who Is Able.

--Nadine (Medical Team)

6 comments:

  1. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Haiti Team 3! Nadine, thank you for sharing. We must decrease so that He may increase. Grace Huang

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  2. Your words reminded me of this passage in Ephesians that I thought was so apt.

    "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

    Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."

    Praying for you!

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  3. Proud of you...all of you. And praying! ~grace

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  4. Nadine may God fill you with wisdom and hope as you face the cases in clinic. I thank God for your openness and ability to convey your experience and enable us to pray for you and the entire team. Mary Ann Schunemann (PT from last year's team)

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  5. Thanks, Nadine, for stepping out in faith to serve the Lord in Haiti this week. I pray for His continuous peace and blessing on you - God Bless!

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  6. Sophia and the rest of the team,
    today I needed to read about your experiences and how God is showing you what he can do, and that you and me and everyone else that believes in the Lord is but an vessel of clay within which lies the power of the Almighty! I am touched to hear about how the Lord is using each of you in very unique ways. I have been feeling lost and overwhelmed by career challenges in my life, and this is inspiring me to rely on the Lord! May the Lord bless you and keep you, and may his face shine upon each of you!
    Armando

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