By Maria Reese, MLC ’99
They carry their children on their backs, leaving home before the sun has fully risen. Baskets, containing what they need for the day, rest on their heads. Some of these women travel on foot for hours to reach the clinic where they can receive much-needed care for their sick children. They seek medications, vaccinations, or the added nourishment their children require. Afterwards, they return home- the children on their backs, baskets on their heads. These mothers do not consider the care of their children a burden too great to bear.
Sometimes, the everyday routines or the unexpected challenges of working in a foreign mission field make me question whether the work we are doing is worth the effort. Are we accomplishing anything? Will we see any of these people in heaven? Then I am reminded by these women and by the words of the Apostle Paul in
I Thessalonians 2:7-8, “But we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.”
At Lutheran Mobile Clinic, not only do these mothers receive the care they need for their physical ailments or for those of their children, but they also hear the Gospel message of the Great Physician who cures their spiritual ills. Is the work and effort worth it? Yes, it is! Every minute!
