There’s a bookshelf full of missionary biographies in the short-termer housing at Mukinge Hospital. Although I still haven't tackled A Quare Geg or Thus Spake Quoholeth, I've been inspired reading about missionaries who risked death from meningitis, malaria, and raging animals not so long ago. Things are different these days. I'm just an average ER doc who somehow managed to find two years of his life to come and help out a little bit at a small African hospital in the bush. I am here with World Medical Mission, the medical ministry of Samaritan’s Purse, and during the next month, I hope to paint a picture of what it’s been like for me here at Mukinge Hospital for the past 20 months or so.

In cultural awareness classes, they teach that context is 90 percent of communication—eye contact, tone of voice, facial expression, body position, etc. Since I can't convey any of that over the Internet (well, maybe I could post a video of me dancing up to the pulpit when I preached a month ago), I figured I could at least give a little bit of personal context so it's a bit more clear why I'm living out here in northwestern Zambia four hours from the nearest grocery store and 12 hours from the nearest major airport.

I joined up with the Post-Residency Program after I did a short-term trip with World Med to Rwanda back in the beginning of 2006. I was finishing my residency and wanted to go into missions for some time but didn't really know how best to get there or where I should serve. After hearing about the program, I called the coordinator, who told me that their slots for 2006 were full, but that they had just gotten some additional funding that made it possible for one more person to go to the field. We both prayed about it. It seemed like there was some providential leading, so I agreed to go after I finished my residency.

I grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, which was good training for October in Zambia, but I wasn't actually sure that I'd be headed to Zambia when I agreed to go. I had only asked where doctors were needed. Someone said “Mukinge,” so I said “OK,” and that was about the extent of it. God has honored that desire to go where I was needed. Mukinge has been a good fit for me. I have been learning so much about the culture, the people, the church, and the medicine while I've been working here. I'll do my best to share some of those thoughts with you over the next few weeks.

Until then!