You are looking big these days!”
The cashier meant it as a compliment, but I was speechless for a moment. Taking a moment to phrase my response, I smiled and said something about how I had been eating some really good food recently. The woman laughed and handed me my bag of purchased items.
Being a missionary here at Malamulo Adventist Hospital is certainly not boring. I think part of the unpredictability and excitement is from living in a different culture. After more than three years of being here, my husband and I have figured out some aspects of life in Malawi. Being called fat, for one, is generally considered complimentary. It represents wealth, which is what a lot of people desire. But we also realize that other cultural nuances are complex.
Being Challenged
Cross-cultural work is not easy. It challenges me and my husband to the core. Misunderstandings and frustrations occur. Moments of self-doubt are more frequent than I would like to admit.
Reflecting back to the time before we came, I think we had pretty realistic expectations of what life in Malawi would be like. We had prayed about moving overseas as medical missionaries for more than 12 years. We had visited Malamulo and had talked to those who lived here.
We anticipated that things would be different and that we would have a huge adjustment to make when we arrived. We were right. During the past few years we have adjusted to, and accepted, our new normal: power is unstable; water is unreliable; people frequently come to our gate asking for work, money, or food; and it is normal, even expected, for people to work for us in our home.
With the passing of time, we have taken on a wide variety of responsibilities that seem well beyond our job descriptions of “general dentist” and “general surgeon.” As most missionaries can attest, our respective positions at the hospital and other initiatives we have started provide us “many hats” to wear.
Let’s not put limits on what God can do through each of us when we allow him to work in our hearts!
As a general dentist, I had no experience building a new dental office prior to coming to Malawi. Yet in the first few months here I was assigned an informal advisory position that strongly influences the construction of a new dental clinic here. While I was excited about the new dental clinic, being the dental advisor for such a project, especially in a country foreign to me, was overwhelming! But God has provided individuals who have counseled and guided me through the process. I have learned a lot. Throughout this process I have clearly seen God leading so that I can say with certainty that this is His dental clinic, not mine. God opened doors when He saw it best, helping the project to move forward, even when I felt helpless and “in over my head.” He connected me with donors and expert advisors to make the dental clinic a reality. The fact that the building and dental equipment are here now, in Malamulo, installed and ready for use, is a huge testament to God’s power at work in answer to prayers.
My prayer is that this new dental clinic can be a center of dental excellence, challenging the status quo for oral health care in Malawi. Access to quality dental care is limited, with lack of oral health education being a huge barrier as well. This year will see the very first graduating class of Malawian dental students at the government dental school. Change is on the horizon, but it will take some time. These young graduates have the potential to really improve dental care in Malawi, but they still need mentorship, jobs, and improved access to resources.
Missionary dentists are still needed today.
More Work Yet
My husband, Brent, is a general surgeon and likes to operate, fixing problems requiring surgery. In September 2023 he also assumed the role of program director for a surgical training program for African doctors called Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS). It is a five-year program that combines a Christian-based curriculum with surgical training for African medical doctors seeking specialist training. He has somehow balanced all the demands of teaching nine surgical residents and caring for surgical patients, and, up until recently, doing it as the only general surgeon at Malamulo. Although it has been an incredibly challenging time for him and our family, his passion to train these surgical residents to think bigger than themselves, to push themselves to learn new skills, and to trust in God has kept him going. To be able to train, guide, and equip African doctors to become not just general surgeons but Christian general surgeons who make sharing Christ with their patients a priority is thoroughly rewarding.
Missionary surgeons are still needed today.
Dentists and surgeons, medical doctors and nurses, are most definitely needed. For any of us to be able to do our medical work, however, functioning equipment, working buildings, dependable vehicles, teachers for training the next generation, hospital administrators, and many other roles are also needed. Plumbers, mechanics, engineers, teachers, accountants, electricians, construction experts, and administrators are all viable missionary positions. Even long-distance advisors and short-term repairers and trainers have their place. You are needed for mission.
In our time here at Malamulo, God has gently been working in our hearts and refining our characters. We may not always feel qualified for what He asks of us, but we know that God has called us to Malamulo. Reflecting on what God has done for us in the past and knowing that He is our ever-present guide, we confidently move forward with each task given to us.
Please consider how God can use you for His honor and glory. Let’s not put limits on what God can do through each of us when we allow Him to work in our hearts!