Nothing is quite as life-altering as being given the opportunity to be able to heal people not only physically, but spiritually as well – and this was what was given to me during my mission trip to Boqueron, El Salvador. The clinic was in the mountains and we had to take a bus there and back every day with prayer in the morning and in the evenings. I always knew that I wanted to help others; it was why I joined the medical profession to start with. The people of Boqueron were underprivileged, had underwhelming access to health professionals, but were also extremely deserving and kind. We managed to help over 1,000 people during that mission trip with the limited resources that we had access to.

Despite not being able to speak Spanish (the language that they exclusively spoke), we were able to work with high school volunteers who acted as translators. Through this medium, I – along with medical professionals – was able to learn of patients’ ailments in order to better help them. Medical expertise wasn’t always enough, such was the case of one little girl whom I had the pleasure of meeting. She came to us while I was shadowing Dr. Lynne, a pediatrician. She had horrendous problems with her teeth and we had no choice but to refer her to the dentist. The little girl wailed and was quite visibly upset. Dr. Lynne suggested that we pray together, and this miraculously calmed the girl. We even saw her later smiling in the dentist’s chair. The calming effect of prayer and religion cannot be ignored. Without prayer it didn’t seem as if the girl could have had the ability to relax on her own.

Coming from a non-Christian background, it seemed foreign to me to pray for patients like Dr. Nina, a family practitioner, suggested to me. It took practice, but it became evident to me quite quickly how much of an impact my prayers had upon the patients. They seemed grateful for my spirituality and I was only too willing to oblige. It was amazing for me to see those who originally did not believe in God begin to accept the Lord. It felt strange, but also uplifting, that I was able to have that sort of effect on others, especially in such a short period of time.

Over the course of that week I learned not only a lot about the people of Boqueron, El Salvador, but also about working within the medical field and most importantly about myself. This mission trip I shadowed some amazing doctors who performed work on all sorts of ailments from hardened wax to tendonitis. I feel blessed for what this mission has taught me and to have been included in such an extraordinary journey.

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