"The Lord was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night." Exodus 13:21
So my name is Jenny for those of you who don't know me and this is a record of my journey to Africa to work with Harvester's Reaching the Nations and the Baylor International Pediatrics AIDS Initiative. I'm a third year medical student and a follower of Christ - I do the former becuase of the latter and I hope, by placing one foot in front of the other in faith even when I'm not exactly sure where I'm going, that the Lord will show me how/where He has created me to love and serve His people. Below you'll find part of the letter I sent out explaining how all of this started and asking people to join me in prayer and support for this purpose. The Lord has allowed for this trip to happen through many of you who are reading this now and for that I thank you, if you are just now joining us then welcome, I"ll try not to be too long winded (though this is an endeavor I'm sure to fail). Thanks to all of those praying and walking with me through this process, I hope the Lord blesses you as well through whatever is coming.
The past year has been one full of change for me. I finished my second year of medical school and took my first medical board exam (there are 3 to pass before you can get your medical license), lost some dear friends, had a disillusioning medical mission trip to Bolivia, began rotating on the hospital wards and participating in discussions that affect people’s health and future life circumstances, discovered (not to your surprise I know) that I love pediatric medicine and that choosing between this field and obstetrics may be difficult in the spring =). I’ve also discovered that for some reason beyond my comprehension the Lord is calling me to Africa.
Why Africa? Honestly I do not really know. I have known since I spent the summer in Mexico building homes for the poor during college that God has only given me the opportunity to be in medical school so that I might turn around and serve His people at the end of it. But I speak Spanish not Swahili right? So I have some reasons that I have come up with since realizing that this was where I would be headed in 2009 – I want to see true third world medicine and not just read about it, I want to witness and participate in the largest health crisis in the world so that it is real and not just a statistic to me, I want to learn from the people in the trenches what is happening and what our best solutions are in the status quo, I want to explore if the Lord wants me in a secular or a faith based organization as a doctor, I want to more fully understand the capacity in which I may one day serve God’s people … But really I am going simply because the Lord called me. How do I know the Lord is calling me to Africa? He gave me the opportunity to go (the time off and cooperation of my school), then He put a Africa on my heart and gave me the programs that could take me through my church and alma mater; and then every time I tried to back out in the last 3-4 months because it was scary or far or illogical He gave me a gentle reminder through the people He has placed in my life (often without them knowing) that this is what He wants from me. I don’t have to understand it, I just have to allow His perfect love for me to cast out my fear and take a step forward in faith. On a Christmas note I’m sure Mary didn’t understand why she had to ride a donkey to Bethlehem to deliver a child who it was biologically impossible for her to be carrying either.
So what am I doing? I will leave March 27, 2009 and spend 10 days in Yei, Sudan with Harverster’s Reaching that Nations, a missionary organization my home church supports. While there, I will participate in a number of roles from working in the clinic or local hospital, to teaching at the school, working with small groups and playing with the orphans who live there. Here I hope simply to see the Lord’s heart through the amazing people who work there and experience a place that western medicine has left largely untouched. After that I will travel to Gabrone, Botswana for 4 weeks to complete a rotation in Pediatric Infectious disease (I will get elective credit for being there) at the Baylor International Pediatric AIDs Initiative Clinic (BaylorAids.org). The clinic was built by Baylor College of Medicine and works closely with my alma mater Rice University to treat HIV/AIDs in children in Botswana, one of the most endemic areas of HIV/AIDs in the world. This clinic has been hugely successful and is considered a prototype for how HIV/AIDs should be treated in sub-Saharan Africa and I hope to learn a great deal from the physicians who live and work there. May 6th I begin my very long flight home.
...
Thank you so much for reading my novel and being an important part of my life.
Timshel,
Jennifer Werdenberg
Why Africa? Honestly I do not really know. I have known since I spent the summer in Mexico building homes for the poor during college that God has only given me the opportunity to be in medical school so that I might turn around and serve His people at the end of it. But I speak Spanish not Swahili right? So I have some reasons that I have come up with since realizing that this was where I would be headed in 2009 – I want to see true third world medicine and not just read about it, I want to witness and participate in the largest health crisis in the world so that it is real and not just a statistic to me, I want to learn from the people in the trenches what is happening and what our best solutions are in the status quo, I want to explore if the Lord wants me in a secular or a faith based organization as a doctor, I want to more fully understand the capacity in which I may one day serve God’s people … But really I am going simply because the Lord called me. How do I know the Lord is calling me to Africa? He gave me the opportunity to go (the time off and cooperation of my school), then He put a Africa on my heart and gave me the programs that could take me through my church and alma mater; and then every time I tried to back out in the last 3-4 months because it was scary or far or illogical He gave me a gentle reminder through the people He has placed in my life (often without them knowing) that this is what He wants from me. I don’t have to understand it, I just have to allow His perfect love for me to cast out my fear and take a step forward in faith. On a Christmas note I’m sure Mary didn’t understand why she had to ride a donkey to Bethlehem to deliver a child who it was biologically impossible for her to be carrying either.
So what am I doing? I will leave March 27, 2009 and spend 10 days in Yei, Sudan with Harverster’s Reaching that Nations, a missionary organization my home church supports. While there, I will participate in a number of roles from working in the clinic or local hospital, to teaching at the school, working with small groups and playing with the orphans who live there. Here I hope simply to see the Lord’s heart through the amazing people who work there and experience a place that western medicine has left largely untouched. After that I will travel to Gabrone, Botswana for 4 weeks to complete a rotation in Pediatric Infectious disease (I will get elective credit for being there) at the Baylor International Pediatric AIDs Initiative Clinic (BaylorAids.org). The clinic was built by Baylor College of Medicine and works closely with my alma mater Rice University to treat HIV/AIDs in children in Botswana, one of the most endemic areas of HIV/AIDs in the world. This clinic has been hugely successful and is considered a prototype for how HIV/AIDs should be treated in sub-Saharan Africa and I hope to learn a great deal from the physicians who live and work there. May 6th I begin my very long flight home.
...
Thank you so much for reading my novel and being an important part of my life.
Timshel,
Jennifer Werdenberg
