Dr. Marc Chetta, Health Professions Faculty In the summer of 2013, I took 22 BJU pre-med and nursing students to Arequipa, Peru. The local missionary had arranged for us to provide medical, dental and optical care to the Quechua people. They are descendants of the Incans and are considered to be lower class by the Spanish majority. The missionary told us that Quechua have a difficult time getting adequate medical care and when they do, they are given a cold shoulder or are ignored. The students and I decided that when we would see them in the clinics, that we would treat them with kindness and with Christlike love. As the Quechua people entered our clinic area, we would stand and speak to them in their language, acknowledging them with respect. Throughout the week we saw miracles happen. A little 5-year-old girl in great danger of dying from a peritonsillar abscess dissecting down into her neck was bathed with prayer and intramuscular antibiotics. Over the course of four days of treatment, she improved dramatically much to the joy of her mother (and us!).
Around the 3rd day a young lady in her 20’s came to see us (I usually had 2 or 3 students working with me each day). She wouldn’t look me in the eyes in spite of our extreme care and outward show of concern. She wouldn’t even tell us why she was coming to see us. So, I did a quick exam and prescribed some vitamins and other “freebees”. Just before she left, I asked her one more time if there was anything we could do for her. She began to cry and then shared with us that a few months before she had been gang-raped by five men. She was fearful, ashamed and depressed, despairing even of life. The students began to minister to her physically and emotionally. I shared with her that there was Someone who loved her very much and wanted to heal her heart and give her hope. She went on to accept Jesus Christ that day as her Savior and to this day is attending that missionary church. That week, 909 Quechua prayed to receive Christ as their Savior (out of nearly 3000 that came to our clinics). The 22 students on that trip got to see God in action using us as His tools, His mouthpiece. We imitated the Savior’s M.O. by using the healing arts to break down barriers and show them that we loved them as Christ loved us. We were all changed. I had the privilege of taking 14 present and former students to Romania this past summer. In a strange twist, we held our medical, dental, and optical clinics in a large concrete auditorium built during the terrible reign of Nikolai Ceausescu. This auditorium had been used to brainwash the local people with atheistic, totalitarian communism. This summer our local missionary and his people preached an evangelistic meeting in the same building. God always has the last say! When you go on a mission trip to a third world country, it is actually you that gets changed…not just the people to whom you are ministering. One thing going on 28 or so mission trips has done for me is to make me appreciate just how good we have it here in the good ole USA. For example, I took a hot shower this morning. Do you know what an amazing privilege that is? (I’ve had so many cold showers in water that you better only hum in, not sing!) I heard the gospel when I was in college and knew no physical danger when I accepted Him as my Savior. Mission trips have greatly increased the gratitude I feel toward God for where I was born! So, you see why we go on short term medical mission trips. We minister, see results, and in turn, we are changed forever. Marc Chetta, M.D.
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AnonymousI was in a friend’s wedding right before my mission trip. On the wedding day, we spent the morning taking pictures. As much as I love my friend, it was quite difficult to bear both the heat and my slightly baggy pants with suspenders (you don’t know what that means until you actually feel your legs and your pants moving separately). We had about two hours to spare before the wedding ceremony, so we ate a quick lunch and waited at the backstage. God was surely teaching me patience! When our pianist began to play a prelude, we knew that it was time to prepare ourselves. The ceremony was about to begin—the groom and the bride were about to become one.
A pastor once said, “This life is a prelude to the real life.” What a wonderful quote: eternity awaits. We are currently listening to a prelude to the Holy Matrimony of Christ and His Church. The “prelude” is not always pleasant, but God uses everything together for good to those who love Him. Our physical death in this world is a mere beginning of the best life that will never end. Christ has lived, died, and risen for us to grant us eternal life with Himself. Suffering and pain are temporary, but joy and peace are unending. Isn’t that amazing? Why do I talk about this when I am writing about my mission trip? It’s for one reason: I saw so many people to whom this is simply a folklore. I saw many spiritually-dead men walking around as if they are alive. The darkness has blinded their eyes, and this temporary life is all they have. They’ll do whatever it takes to feel secure in this vain life. To them, this life is not a beautiful prelude to eternal life—it’s a dreadful requiem for eternal death. Ironically, the land of Buddhism does not follow the teachings of Buddha. The general mindset of Southeast Asian people is “do good get good; do bad get bad.” Their goal is to live the best life right now (sounds like a book in the States!). They worship the ancestors and go to Buddhist temples as they hope for material blessings. They’ll try “Christianity” if they can get money out of it. “Why aren’t you coming to church anymore?” a missionary once asked. “Because,” the man replied, “you stopped teaching English. Why would I be a Christian if I don’t get anything out of it?” For them, religion is a philosophy or a way of living rather than the world’s relationship to a deity—it’s a manual for How to Live a Nice Life 101. A Cambodian student said to me, “I want to study all religions because it seems like every religion teaches to do good. . . We see corruption in the government, and we want to change it. But we can’t. We’re not the government. We’re not the religion.” As we were looking down at the city of Bangkok from a skyscraper, my friend commented: “I guess… all these people will just populate hell in the future.” More than 8 million people live in the city and 70 million in the entire country of Thailand; about 1% claim to be followers of Christ. It’s a wonderful place to live—food, attractions, shops… you name it. But what’s the point of life without Christ? Is there life? I remember attending a funeral as a high schooler. People put the body in a coffin and placed it inside a small wooden Buddhist tower. We watched two men as they poured gasoline all over it. When they lit it on fire, we silently stared at the enlarging flame while the widow cried in agony. Ash began to fall from the sky like snow. His physical body burned very quickly, but his soul continues to burn even today. Even though the widow stopped crying, he will cry in agony forever. The world needs Christ. People need the Savior who will snatch them out from the flames of hell. The “requiem” continues to fade as eternal death approaches them. But how will they hear about Him without anyone telling them? Am I being faithful to the Lord who has given everything to me? Am I being faithful in sharing the Gospel, which is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom. 1:16)? This is a small portion of what I’ve learned during my trip in Southeast Asia. God has taught me so much through it. Even though I lived there for 11 years of my life as an MK, I barely scratched the surface of the deep spiritual darkness. After learning so much more about the region during my trip, I have a greater burden for lost people and a greater view of the Gospel. I thank God for the opportunity and for His faithfulness to His people. Father, You are worthy to be praised. You have every reason to pour Your wrath on us, but instead You sent Your only Son to die for us. We ask You that You will send more laborers to the harvest. Thank You for Your willingness to use sinners like us even though You don’t need any help. We are willing, so please use us to share the message of eternal life for the sake of Your Name. We love You, and we want to love You more. In Christ’s Name we pray. Amen. Rosie Zakes, Seminary StudentThis year, I met some of my family whom I’d never known before.
I met my brothers and sisters in Christ who have been persecuted out of their own country in the Southeast Asia and have settled in Bangkok, Thailand. I think we all know that persecution exists. We’ve all heard of Christians whose homes have been burned to the ground or whose family members have been killed because of what they believe and told others about Jesus who saves. But this summer I got to know them personally. Their stories changed me. I met a family of five who live in a one-room apartment that’s smaller than my own bedroom. They fled their own country in fear for their lives and arrived in Bangkok trying to get refugee status, but never actually attained it. Their visas and passports have now expired, and they earn next to nothing. Getting out of Thailand and into a country that will accept them as refugees has become extremely difficult. These brothers and sisters asked my hosts and I to visit one of their friends who did the same thing as them. Robert (name changed) and his family went to Thailand trying to get help and ended up overstaying their visas, too. Robert got caught for being in Bangkok illegally, and now he lives in an immigrant detention center (read, prison). He’s separated from his family, doesn’t get enough food in the detention center, and lives in a cell so crowded that the detainees must take turns sleeping. I went to visit him there, and I think it will be a long time before I forget what he told me. "Thank you for coming. You’re obeying Jesus’ command to visit those who are sick and in prison…Your assignment from God is to be in Thailand, mine is to be in prison here… God has big plans for you, so keep serving him and doing what He wants… Give him your life." When I asked Robert how I could pray for him, I expected him to request prayer that the UN would resettle him soon, or that he would be reunited with his family, or that God would provide for his family’s material needs. Instead, he said something that shook me. "Pray for me to be able to share the Gospel. Pray for my people to understand the Gospel and turn to Christ." God has allowed people to take away nearly everything Robert has ever owned because of his commitment to the Gospel, but he is one of the most joyful people I’ve ever met (Actually he and another man who’d been imprisoned as a Christian in the Middle East are the two at the top of my list). His commitment to Christ and his passion for telling people about Jesus regardless of his circumstances is overwhelming. This summer, I came away from my time with my newfound family members with a renewed sense of the urgency of the Gospel. The Gospel is so important to these refugees I met that they are willing to give up everything to be able to share it. The Gospel is worth it. 1 Peter 1:14-18 says, “Do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct … Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers.” Christians live in exile. None of us get to live in our home country of heaven yet, but some Christians are reminded of their exile in a much more tangible way than others. Robert is one of them. But God has called all of us to renounce “passions of our former ignorance” and the “futile ways inherited from our forefathers” while we live in exile. We’re supposed to renounce sin. This summer I learned from my brothers and sisters in exile that the Gospel is worth renouncing sin for. The Gospel is worth giving everything for. |
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