Dr. Joel Tumlison, a Family Practice physician, is serving in Honduras through the Post-Residency Program. The following was published in the Winter 2010 edition of On Call.

Don Adriano is a man in his 70s whom I first saw in consultation about two months ago. He had the highest PSA (Prostate-Specific Antigen) I remember seeing. He had seen several doctors already who recommended he have a prostate biopsy, but he couldn't afford it.

By the time he came to see me he had started losing weight, appetite, and energy. He was anemic with a hematocrit (the proportion of blood volume that is occupied by red blood cells) of around 25 percent. Normal is about 48 percent for men. I figured he had prostate cancer.

I began speaking to him about Jesus and prayed with him. His brother, who always accompanies him, informed me that Don Adriano had not placed his faith in Christ yet, but had many family members praying for him for years.

At Hospital Loma de La Luz, you go to the chaplain for counseling after you see the doctor. So off Don Adriano and his brother went. I wandered into the lobby 30 minutes later and Don Adriano's brother came up to me smiling from ear to ear.

“Doctor, he believes!” he said. “He just put his faith in Christ!”

I was amazed. I turned around to see Don Adriano. He didn’t have an ear-to-ear grin, but a satisfied smile, the most peaceful smile I have seen. I spoke with him about his decision and congratulated him. He expressed his joy at having eternal life. He said he was happy to know Jesus. That, my friends, is a good day.

This story just highlights something the Lord has been teaching me, not just through this man's life, but in many experiences with patients.

José, a man I witnessed to with a gunshot wound to the abdomen, repented of his sins, received Christ in faith, and is following Him, joyful and thankful that Christ saved his life. This required very little effort on my part, just stating the obvious to him.

The man who shot him—whom José apparently hacked with a machete—also repented and dedicated his life to Christ through the witness of our nurses and my statement of the obvious, once again, that God had spared his life, too. He had a machete chop about 5 cm from his jugular vein and carotid artery!

Several other patients I have been involved with in the hospital and clinic have also received eternal life through Christ. It really has been joyous! And you know what? They were ready. They just needed someone to share it with them.

So, I encourage all of you to share your faith. Ask those around you if they know Jesus, if they have been forgiven, if they have received eternal life in Christ. It really is important. You're in a position to do it, to offer God's gift to them. I just wanted to encourage you to do so. God is doing the work, and He really has prepared people. Just get involved.

Click above to download the latest On Call

Samaritan's Purse , Honduras , World Medical Mission , “Doctor, He Believes!”