spring break....and Uganda

I guess it's been a long time since I blogged...guess that's what med school will do to you...but I am FINALLY on spring break. There are time when i thought the end of anatomy would never come (or that I might be repeating it next year) but once again God has been faithful to provide all that I need for His will to be accomplished. I think there are times when I wish medical school wasn't His will for me because I know how hard it is going to be and how much I already have to give up and will have to give up for it. At the same time, though, I do want whatever God wants for my life. He never promised it would be easy and actually guaranteed that living life for Him would not be the easiest way. It is just so easy for me to get jaded by the process that it takes to accomplish God's will that I forget that it will absolutely be worth it to follow the path He has for me with everything I have...and right now that path is medical school.

From the time that God called me back to school I have felt His call to do missions and I am fortunate that He has given me the opportunity to go to Uganda this summer to serve with an organization called "Salvation To All Orphans" or STAO (see my support letter below and pass it along to anyone who might be interested). There have been multiple people interested in going with me but all of them seem to have fallen through for one reason or another. I'm not sure why but it seems to be God's will that I take this journey alone. Some people may think I'm crazy for going to Africa alone and only two months before my wedding (mom perhaps ;)) but I am trusting that once again God will provide everything I need, including safety, if it be His will. Ultimately, I just want to know that I lived my life following hard after Christ instead of living with a spirit of fear.

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Dear family and friends,

It is estimated that more than eight million people around the world die each year of extreme poverty. In other words, they are "simply too poor to stay alive" (Jeffrey D. Sachs "The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilites for Our Time). For me, this statistic was a startling realization of the impact that poverty has on our world. I have never personally known the fear of not having enough money or resources to survive. Like most of you reading this, I am by no means rich, but in comparison to those who make pennies a day, I live like a queen. Allow me to paint a picture of those suffering from extreme poverty, taken from the book referenced above:

"...the doctor stands up and suggests that we visit the medical ward, which lies just across the hall. 'Medical ward' is, in fact, a shocking euphamism, because in truth it is not a medical ward at all. It is the place where Malawians come to die of AIDS. There is no medicine in the medical ward. The room has a posted occupancy rate of 150 beds. There are 450 people in the ward. These 450 people are fit into a room with 150 beds by putting three people in or around each bed. In most cases, two people are lying head to toe, toe to head -- strangers sharing a death bed. Alongside or underneath the bed there is somebody on the ground, sometimes literally on the ground or sometimes on a piece of cardboard, dying beneath the bed.

The room is filled with moans. This is a dying chamber where three quarters of the people this day are in late-stage AIDS without medicines. Family members sit by the bed, swabbing dried lips and watching their loved ones die. The same doctor who is treating patients across the hall [with HIV medications that cost one dollar per day and have a nearly 100 percent success rate] is the doctor in charge of this service. He knows what could be done. He knows that each of these patients could rise from the deathbed but for the want of a dollar a day. He knows the problem is not one of infrastructure or logistics or adherence. He knows that the problem is simply that the world has seen fit to look away as hundreds of impoverished Malawians die this day as a result of their poverty."

It is precisely this need for medical intervention in the lives of those living in extreme poverty that has prompted me to embark on a medical missions trip this summer to Uganda. I will be working with an organization called Salvation to All Orphans (formerly Save the AIDS Orphans), or STAO. Their mission is to provide holistic support for those children and widows whose families have been ravaged by the AIDS virus.

This includes financial and psychsocial support, education and medical care, as well as meeting spiritual needs. In June, I will spend two weeks in Mafubira participating in mobile clinics that provide medcial care to those who are unable to make the journey to a medical facility. In addition, I will also be fortunate to spend time ministering to children who have lost their parents to AIDS. This will undoubtedly be an experience like none other I have had at this point in my life, but I feel God's call to explore this area of medicine as part of His will in calling me back to medical school. I would love for you to partner with me in this journey. My needs for this trip are two-fold: I covet your prayers and cannot make this journey without them. In addition, I ask you to prayerfully consider whether God might call you to support me financially. Each of us can play a role in the fight against the ravages of AIDS and extreme poverty. Your role may not be in traveling to Africa but YOU are an important part of the solution. If you'd like to talk to me more about this before you decide on your involvement, please contact me via phone or e-mail at (304) 237-4426 or tara.newcomb@gmail.com. My fundraising goal is $2500-$3000. Any money raised in excess of what is needed for travel and trip costs will be used to provide resources such as mosquito nets, food, sewing machines, cows or goats for the widows and orphans of Mafubira. I thank you in advance for your love and support.

In His love,

Tara