transformations 6 Being Challenged in Nicaragua by Susan Davies Prior to leaving for Nicaragua, my roommate asked me if Was nervous to go even though I had been on a few other healthcare mission trips before. | told her that it wasn’t the medical portion of the trip | was nervous about, but, in fact, the spiritual portion. As a practicing Catholic, | have found that | grow closest to Christ when am serving Him with my actions and not by preaching His word. | knew that this trip was going to push me out of my spiritual ‘comfort zone and I wasn't sure if | was ready for it. The trip not only pushed me out of my comfort zone, but it opened up a new thirst in my heart to lear more about Christ. | am very open in saying that during un- dergrad ! coasted on my faith and did not spend enough time nurturing it. So when | was challenged on some of my beliefs in Nicaragua, | was unabie to respond with the same confidence | used to have. | took this to be the wakeup call | needed to start developing my faith again. The morning and afternoon worships helped certer my thoughts and make me realize what | was missing in my Christ has always been with me, but | am now ready to take the next step and further my faith. While in Nicaragua, | became more comfortable pray- ing aloud and using the love and healing powers of Christ to help heal the bodies and souls of the patients we encountered. There were many times that we had patients whose ailments were beyond our medical ca- pacity. Before this trip, these were the patients | dreaded because there was nothing | could do. But now I see the Tooavs Cmsran Docron| Wine 15, ” power and ability of prayer to be used in the clinic. By simply taking time to pray with the patient, we were able to show them that we cared about them and wanted to help them, It was through our actions that we were able to open the door for Christ to enter their lives. Over the course of the week, we helped many people medically, but, more importantly, we brought Christ into the lives of everyone we met My faith and the course of my life have been forever al- tered now that | have seen how Christ can work through my hands to heal the hearts and body of the patients I care for. In America, religion in a professional setting isa touchy subject, but I now see that itis a wonderful tool to use as part of my medical plan. Christ is the Ultimate Healer ard itis through Him that I will be able to change the lives of the people I serve both medically and spiritually Susan is a student in the physician assistant program at Mercer University in Georgia. She participated in a Global Health Outreach mission trip to Nicaragua in August 2015. Visit wnxemda.orgigho to learn more about upcoming trips with, Global Heath Outreach.