This trip to Guatemala with Medical Missions Outreach was my 17th medical missions trip. Facebook memories has been reminding me of previous trips. Since my first trip in 2015 so much has changed in my life. My life today looks very different than I anticipated. There have been “good” changes and there have been hard realities. I have learned to know and trust God in ways that only happen in hard times. He has not abandoned me, and He has not left me without hope. Seeing this in the hard times gives me confidence to trust Him now and in the future.

One of the biggest blessings of my trip to Guatemala was my roommates. I knew both of these ladies from previous trips and was looking forward to reconnecting with them. We had deep conversations about serving God in our daily lives, connecting with others in our local churches, the joy of medical missions, and other things. And we also had goofy skip-no games and walks through grocery stores on the way home from clinic. Spending time with other Christian women was a tremendous blessing and joy.

I worked in the clinic pharmacy on this trip, as I have on several previous trips. In pharmacy, most of my interactions were with other team members instead of with people from the community. After a person has seen a medical professional, they talk with a church member while their prescription goes to pharmacy to be filled. Some of the medications are pre-counted in 30-day supplies. Others need to be dosed and counted individually. I’m responsible for checking the prescriptions- making sure it’s appropriate, checking doses, age or weight restrictions, filling the medication, and then getting it to the nurse who will dispense the medications to the patient. Sometimes it can be monotonous. Sometimes it can be downright crazy 🤪. But it’s a necessary part of clinic that I enjoy being part of.

One thing that I love about pharmacy is the teamwork that makes it successful. Even though there’s only 3-4 people actually working in pharmacy, it takes the whole team to make it work. Before clinic starts many of the team members sit down and count thousands of vitamins into ziplock bags of 30. They do the same thing with acetaminophen, ibuprofen, and several other commonly used medications. This is slow work in a hot environment but they work together and make it fun. And, boy, does it make things more efficient once clinic gets started. It reminds me of so many aspects of ministry in my local church. There are so many “behind the scenes” aspects of ministry. Nobody knows about those aspects until that person is missing. And then we quickly realize how vitally important they were. Not all of us are called to serve God in dramatic, highly visible ways. But each of us is called to use the gifts He has given us faithfully.

One day in team devotions our leader was talking about the passage in Matthew 5 where Jesus talks about being the light of the world. He talked about the power of light to conquer darkness, to color drabness (giving joy to everyday life), and to change deadness. But then he talked about the ways that light can be hidden or concealed. Two examples were by putting our light under a basket or by hiding it under a bed. Listeners would have understood that the baskets Jesus referred to were baskets used for work. Do I let my light shine at work? Or do I put my light aside while I’m at work? Hiding it under the bed referred to rest and leisure activities. Do the things I do with my free time amplify the light? Or do they diminish it? I was challenged to evaluate my life - nothing I do at work or in my free time should dampen or diminish the light Jesus has given me to shine.

Romans 12:9 says, “Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them”. As a nurse I am frequently caring for people in ways that look a lot like love - taking care of them in the most personal ways on the hardest days of their lives. But if all it is is a job, I’m only pretending to love them. I have the opportunity to shine my light for Jesus when I truly love them in their darkest times. That’s my prayer going forward.