My trip took a total of 37 hours to travel to a developing nation halfway around the globe.
I treated patients with very little access to medical care.
In some areas we served, many of the patients live in areas like this one:
Diseases such as dengue fever, malaria, and parasitic worms are not uncommon.
And yet, many of our clinic patients had one common complaint, and came to us as families of four or five with each family member suffering with the same complaint.
What was this rampant medical problem?
The common cold.
Cough, nasal congestion, sore throat.
Just like I deal with often as a mother of three.
And when I'd stop to prescribe cough medicine or nasal saline spray and some ibuprofen or Tylenol, I'd realize that this patient has only one true need.
And when I'd pause to reflect upon MY one true need, I came up with the same answer:
The hope of Jesus Christ.
Now, I do not mean to minimize these patients' very real and raw socioeconomic struggles. I will never be able to understand what they must go through mentally, physically, and emotionally each day simply to place food in front of their families. However, I was struck afresh in a very real way that while we live in areas literally worlds apart, we are very much the same.
In truth, I have NO more than this woman, sitting in my developed "first world" nation, surrounding by comfort and ease. In fact, it could be solidly argued that if we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus, we have much LESS than this woman who is struggling to make ends meet, and yet knows and trusts in the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jesus + ANYTHING is NOT > Jesus.
We all have one ultimate common need.
And that need is Jesus Christ. He alone is our hope, our strength, our comfort, our King.
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