City of David Atlanta /Vital Health International: Lagos and Warri, Nigeria Medical Outreach – A Servant’s Synopsis
By Dr Folu Akinnusi
Leaving Atlanta for Lagos to participate in an overseas medical outreach was somewhat of an emotional roller coaster. I was super excited about going to help others abroad, yet my wife was recuperating from a recent illness, with follow up tests and a doctor’s visit pending in rapid succession while I was away.
The day after departure, our son would resume at his academy, which meant my wife had to drop him off and pick him up each day while working, a chore we usually share.
As departure day neared, I summoned faith in the Lord, asking and trusting our Heavenly Father to provide her with divine strength to cope without me. God was more than faithful. Promptly, the one recurrent symptom she had experienced subsided, especially once she was given a God sent assignment through Pastor Joe Tarkon. It was a case of “I know not why God’s wondrous grace to me he hath made known, Nor why, unworthy Christ in love redeemed me for his own. But I know whom I have BELIEVED and I’m persuaded that he is able, to keep that which I’ve committed unto him against that day” as says the hymnist. I was equally reminded of Matthew 6:25 that tells us to be anxious for nothing.
Some may ask, why the enthusiasm for the mission? In Matt 25:40, we are persuaded to help others, especially the less privileged. Christ admonishes us in his words, saying “whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren, you do to me”. Furthermore, in Acts 10:38, we are told about Christ that, “Everywhere he went, he was doing good…… Almighty Jesus, he healed the leper, when the cripples saw him, they started walking, anywhere he went, my Lord was doing good”. As Christians, we strive to be Christ-like in our deeds. Hence, with the Lord being our pacesetter unto whom we set our goals and sights, none of what the outreach helped accomplish ought to be unusual or extraordinary. We were simply obeying the Master’s instructions as dutiful servants.
However, there is a dire need for help, a deteriorating chasm, calling us to do good in Nigeria, painfully akin to when sojourning British missionaries set foot on the land over a century ago. Personally, this is a country that gave me a lot for next to nothing while I was growing up. Having to give back is simply a no-brainer. Regarding healthcare and general wellbeing in the country currently, there is literally and figuratively ongoing starvation in the midst of abundance. For most citizens, healthcare access and affordability are perennial, pervasive and cost prohibitive issues. Good healthcare in Nigeria is sadly an unprecedented, seemingly unending mirage.
Fortunately, throughout the outreach, God’s glory shone in many ways. In the process of touching lives physically, there was an opportunity to interact with and impact many brethren and regular folks from various walks of life. More importantly, God manifested his greatness during the daily crusades with which the medical sessions occurred in tandem. At both disparate venues, it was humbling to listen to the many unheard in the community, attend to the sick, the weak and the broken hearted and to provide compassionate care to those truly in need. Altruistic service to humanity was at play. It was fulfilling and uplifting. One of the digital responses sent to us by a minister’s spouse for whom God used us to decipher a complex, persistent condition which had been troubling her chronically reads, “I truly appreciate your care”. It was palpable that many felt the same despite the brevity of our time with them. Verily, it is more blessed to give than to receive, as we are reminded in Acts 25:30.
My fervent prayer remains that the Lord will continue to use me in any little way that I may serve diligently. Let it prevail that whatever our hands findeth to do, we do with all our might, as in Ecclesiastes 9:10.
Dr. Folu Adenussi is a Nigerian-born physician based in the USA.
