What’s a fourth-year medical student going to do while she has a short time during her break before resuming her studies?
Well … if you are Rebecca Hunter you organize a weekend medical mission in the northern region of the Agago District of Uganda! She drafted some of her friends from medical school who are passionate about medicine and Jesus along with some Next Generation Ministries staff members. And headed north to bring Jesus to her countrymen on the wings of free medical care.
Embracing the value of partnerships, Rebecca’s new relationship with the local radio station provided an opportunity to connect with potential patients as well as medically educate them. The host who interviewed Rebecca enabled her to share the vision of SOZO Dream Foundation and publicize the opportunity of free medical care during the next two … whoops! … THREE days. Only two days were planned, but the miscommunication resulted in the addition of a third day being received enthusiastically by the team members able to remain for it.
Over 700 hundred patients were cared for. 40 people gave their lives to Christ. Radio listeners were educated about the treatment of HIV and other prevalent but treatable diseases. Nothing to sneeze at. A very productive weekend. These are the headlines. But there are details that give this mission skeleton some muscle depth that makes it even more impressive to me.
By divine design, God gave me a father’s heart. The passion of a biblical father is to provide as many resources and training as possible for his children so that they easily outdistance him in their adult life. I arbitrarily decided that I would enthusiastically pursue this assignment until my children married. There is a brief season between birth and marriage where I had (four of my children are married) and have (Rebecca is single) the opportunity to encourage, equip, and empower my children for that day when they “leave their father and mother” and cleave to their life partner.
From the beginning, it has been my passion to RELEASE the next generation. This weekend’s medical mission impresses me more than a typical medical mission that results from healthcare professionals coming from developed nations to direct a mission in Uganda and who largely use nations for support. There is a medical phrase used in training that goes “See one, do one, teach one.” The medical professionals on this mission were entirely Africans.
You can imagine how proud I am of my daughter, Rebecca … for her humble servant’s heart and the strong leadership skills she is using for the glory of God and the benefit of her fellow nationals. Rebecca is a product of the presence of Next Generation Ministries in Uganda. Over the past ten years, the Lord has transformed her from a wounded and deeply scarred orphan to a secure and passionate child of God. She knows who God made her to be. She knows what He has called her to do. She walks by faith and has amazing God stories to tell because of it.
I echo the words of the Apostle John in his third letter when he wrote, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” I’m a proud father but I take no credit for what God has done for and in Rebecca. I stand amazed that God would invite me to be a laborer in the building of his house.
