Spring break is a term that historically defines a week-long absence from school, whether elementary, high school, college, or university during the month of March. While the rest of the world continues its rhythm of life, students are granted a week of vacation to take a break from the rigors of academic pursuit. I suspect it was originally designed to give them rest and refreshment so that they could return to the classroom and homework with renewed vigor.
Here in America, college students take advantage of this break to spend with their friends and occasionally with their families. The number one priority is socializing, not rest. Studies reveal that the majority of students use the break to travel, party, drink, hang out at the beach, and hook up (sexually) with other students. Search Google images with the words “spring break” and you will get an immediate idea of the craziness that goes on during this week. There is, however, a minority of students who use the break to give back or engage in humanitarian projects.
My favorite university student, of course, is my daughter Rebecca. She is completing her fourth year of medical school with a particular passion for surgery. She lives in Uganda where access to medical care is very restricted by both a lack of medical personnel and facilities as well as money to pay for what is available. Rebecca’s passion for medicine is only outdistanced by her passion for Jesus Christ.
More than a decade ago, Next Generation Ministries, the missionary society I have the privilege of directing, began hosting medical missions in order to provide thousands of Ugandans with competent, compassionate, and caring medical care. A nurse named Barbara from Oklahoma joined one of those medical teams and has been to Uganda multiple times. While visiting her and her husband, she introduced me to a man named Eric who has a passion for orphans in Uganda. A friend and brother I met in the 80s named Don introduced me to the Sign of the Dove Church in the Chicago metropolitan area who had a connection with Pastor Dan in Kampala, Uganda. Each of these connections is significant because they were divinely arranged. Eric introduced me to Dr. Mike from Oklahoma in a conference call last year. They wanted to know about my daughter Rebecca who is a medical student with a passion to see medical care in her country develop. To shorten the story of connections, Rebecca joined them all on a medical mission during her recent spring break last month.
Something I have noticed over the decades of my relationship with Christ is that He is always more interested in the worker than He is in their work. God is a god of purpose and He is always going somewhere. His gracious invitation to join Him in His work during our brief stay on Earth is not just about the work. He is not utilitarian with us. He wants to change us and give us a significant and eternal identity complete with vision and purpose. Because of His great love, this is what is best for us.
Rebecca gets this. She is so intentional about her life, her time, and her purpose. The week she spent with Dr. Mike, Eric, Pastor Dan, and two Ugandan doctors I have never met was so beneficial for her as well as the hundreds of patients to whom the team attended. The days were long, the accommodations were inferior by Western standards, and the demands were great, but again … it is never about us. It is always about Jesus. It is always about being where He wants us to be, doing what He wants us to do, and doing it in a way that glorifies Him. This will benefit not only those being served but also the servant.
Speaking of serving … there seems to be a radical difference between caring for people with medical needs but who have no resources to purchase medical care. Most patients served on medical missions are confined to boundaries of poverty, suffering, and hopelessness. Those things cannot be fixed. So serving those with medical needs in a third-world country usually require the caregivers to descend into their misery and love them where they are. Someone has said that “people would much rather die holding someone’s hand than live alone.”
Medicine in the African environment is not about the resources being provided but the need in front of those with the resources. Seeing people before seeing their medical crisis or need is the primary concern.
While other young adults her age may have been sowing seeds of regret and destruction during Spring Break, Rebecca was sowing seeds of relief, redemption, and hope among the people of her nation. While the motivation revolved around their need, the personal benefit to her was and is also great. A friend of mine in Uganda, Moses Mukisa of Worship Harvest, has said, “When you are born you look like your parents; when you are old you look like your habits.” This young lady makes her dad very proud because of her consistent, day-in and day-out, habits. In whatever season. Spring break or not.