Sunday, January 11th, 2009
Baptism of the Lord
Peace of Christ! I hope and pray that this Christmas season has been a blessed time of peace and joy for you and yours. The following is a copy of the letter I will be sending out to friends and family, summarizing my time in missions and explaining the next adventures of this little soul.
As you probably know, my life in missions really began during my time as a nursing student at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio. Throughout my university years, I became increasingly involved with medical and catechetical mission work in the country of Ecuador. I had always thought my future would be in Africa, amidst the poor there, but after my first visit to South America, my heart was captured by the Ecuadorian people and the ministry to be completed in their country.
I graduated with my Bachelors Degree in Nursing in May of 2007. Thus, after four years of study interspersed with five mission trips ranging from ten days to three months in length, I graduated from university and moved to my beloved mission territory. Teaming with Fundacion Santa Maria del Fiat, a beautiful Catholic foundation on the coast of Ecuador, I was privileged to be the nurse for approximately two hundred resident children with backgrounds of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. The work was difficult and immense, but I treasured each moment. After six months with this foundation, I felt the Lord’s conviction upon my heart to return to the States to pursue medical school. I want to be a physician in service to those who are ignored, those who are forgotten, those for whom no one else cares. My departure from Ecuador in March of 2008 was incredibly trying, as I loved the work I was doing. But Jesus was offering me an invitation to drop my nets and follow Him. So I did. Now, ten months later, I have been offered a place in my top choice medical school, University of Minnesota, Duluth, a school committed to training family practice doctors for rural communities. The Lord is so faithful to His little ones.
In these past months, I have been quite busy with prerequisite courses, MCAT preparation, and medical school applications. Nonetheless, in many ways, my heart remains in Ecuador. In order to have everything arranged to enter medical school this coming fall, I had to leave my mission much sooner than I had anticipated or desired. I have been back to the foundation for two quick visits since I left in March, and there is still much work to be done. The foundation is actually experiencing a bit of turbulence as new and unexpected challenges face the work they have done for forty years. Since I have already been accepted to medical school, there is a window of time available for me to return to Ecuador and continue in the work I have already begun. Having this unexpected gift of time is an amazing opportunity.
An important lesson that I have learned during my time in missions is that one of the best gifts we are able to give to our fellow man is the gift of a loving presence. Sometimes in mission, it was easy for me to be overwhelmed by the needs of the people around me. If only I could better equip the doctor’s office that these children could receive the best that healthcare has to offer. If only I could build a latrine for this community to prevent the spread of disease. If only I could provide clean drinking water to decrease the incidence of intestinal infections. And of course, that was what my work as a healthcare provider was all about. But I had to constantly come back to the root of it all. More than any of the above, which are indeed important issues to address, the children, the people I worked with had a greater desire, a more ardent hunger for my unconditional love. Moreover, the unconditional love and mercy of their Heavenly Father. Pope Benedict XVI stated this so aptly in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est: “Seeing with the eyes of Christ, I can give to others much more than their outward necessities; I can give them the look of love which they crave.”
This is my hope in these next few months of mission. I do hope to continue working as their nurse, especially with a new project the foundation is developing to provide home care to the sick of the surrounding villages. But also, especially as the foundation is experiencing such hardship at this time, I hope to be a presence of love for my fellow workers, the children, and all those I am blessed to encounter. Now all that remains is the resources to make this mission possible, as I am ready to leave as soon as possible (hopefully by the end of January or beginning of February). I have been a studen
t and missionary for long enough that my personal resources are meager. And I know that the economy is in a difficult place right now. Nonetheless, I feel that I must again give my Fiat, my yes to the Lord and trust that He will continue to provide for His little worker.
I am just that. Little. A little drop in the ocean. But as Blessed Mother Teresa would assert, the ocean would be less without that drop. I trust in His plan for me, I trust in His Providence. Thank you for taking the time to read my story. Please pray for me. Please help my little miracle to be realized, if you can.
St. Joseph, St. Gianna, St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Faustina, Blessed Teresa, pray for us.
Peace and Blessings,
m
PS: Please contact me at mehachey@yahoo.com for a mailing address for donations. Thank you!
