5 Lessons About Christ - Lesson Two: Faith

by Karen Chung

By the grace of God, Karen will be starting her first year at UofT for plastic and reconstructive surgery. She asks for your prayers, that she may abide in God daily

I had the privilege of watching the beautiful Janessa Se Lan marry Timothy Gee on June 11 2016 at the Elk Ridge Resort in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. All names have been granted with permission.

God used this wedding to share five lessons about Christ, and I write them now. I write to remember, to understand, and to testify. I pray that this will be a blessing for you.

"What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?" (Mark 8: 36)

This verse was on Bible Gateway, and lead me to Mark 8, my new bread for my daily hour with God (last week He lead me to Ephesians). As the busyness of residency approached and the process of adjusting began, His Holy Spirit and His still, quiet voice continued to nudge me to write down Carrie's and Roshini's testimony of faith during Janessa's wedding on June 11/12.

Mark 8:17-21 convicted me. The disciples saw the miracle of the seven loaves of bread becoming seven basketfuls left, after feeding 4,000. Yet, one boat ride later, they were concerned when they only brought one loaf:

"Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: 'Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?' 'Twelve,' they replied. 'And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?' They answered, 'Seven.' He said to them, 'Do you still not understand?' (Mark 8:17-21)

This is written to remember, and to understand how much power our God has, and how He meets our needs faithfully, every time.

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Leaving the Elk Ridge resort, I open the back car door and see two new, beautiful and friendly faces smiling back at me. Carrie and Roshini were two of Janessa's American friends who had met Janessa during a summer Christian medical elective in California. These two beautiful women shared life stories of faith, faith that moved mountains. Most importantly, their words encouraged and inspired me to look towards God, our father.

When I remember Roshini, I remember how she looked at me. She had these beautiful, warm, brown eyes which made me feel as though she truly cared about everything I had to say. When I looked at Roshini, I felt His love.

Roshini's Testimony:

Her parents were both born in India. At many levels, their marriage was taboo. Her mother was Hindu and her father was Christian. Then, her mother became a Christian. Still, they were both from different castes, where her father was quite wealthy.  By the grace of God, they were married. For eight years, they tried to have a baby.

At this point, Roshini smiles, "My parents had a lot of faith." One day, they're going for a drive. Her mom says to her dad, "I'm dizzy." Her dad says to her mom, "You're pregnant."

"No, I'm not, I'm just dizzy."

They take a pregnancy test and it's positive. They take a pregnancy test every week thereafter for a month and it's positive. It's confirmed by ultrasound by her family doctor in October. Roshini is born full term in February, and her mother experienced no pain during labour! When she is just two and half years old, she asks her mother for a baby brother. She's told to ask Jesus. Her brother is born.

Roshini laughs, "I let my brother know, it's because I prayed for you, you were born!"

Carrie begins to share. She has this beautiful voice, smooth and soft. When she speaks, words come together harmoniously, sharpening my heart and nourishing my soul. A few of the quotes she shared still resonate in my mind.

"To all those who compare themselves, why do you compare? You think you're the standard? Who made you the standard? Jesus Christ is the standard. He's the only one worth comparing to"

"His ears are this close. He is so ready to hear and listen and answer our prayers."

Carrie's Testimony:

Carrie felt unprepared to write an important end-of-year exam. What struck me is what she said next: "So I began praying and fasting for my exam."

One night, as she was praying and fasting, she saw a bunch of numbers swirl around her head. These numbers became a ratio. She said "Oh Lord, if these numbers are my test result, what a testimony that will be!" This was Monday night. She had to write her exam on Wednesday. She wrote her exam, and committed it to God.

Her test result? The ratio God had given her before her exam.

Our God is so good.

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come." (Ephesians 1: 18-20)

5 Lessons About Christ - Lesson One: Community

by Karen Chung

By the grace of God, Karen will be starting her first year at UofT for plastic and reconstructive surgery. She asks for your prayers, that she may abide in God daily

 

I had the privilege of watching the beautiful Janessa Se Lan marry Timothy Gee on June 11, 2016 at the Elk Ridge Resort in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. All names have been granted with permission.

God used this wedding to share five lessons about Christ, and I write them now. I write to remember, to understand, and to testify. I pray that this will be a blessing for you.

"How do you know Janessa?"

"Well, we met in our first year at the CMDS leadership conference, and we clicked. We shared personal stories, we laughed together and we stayed in touch through Facebook. I happened to meet her again on elective in Ottawa and spent time with her and her friends from Saskatchewan,  It was so refreshing to see her Christ-like perspective and I'm thankful to have gotten to see her again... "

... You see why I went to her wedding, I was not quite sure. I supported her wedding entirely, knew the important parts of her story with Tim, was very impressed and appreciative of her great love for others, her beautiful compassion and her quickness to empathy.

However, to fly from Ontario to Saskatoon was not inexpensive (check out that double negative). Yet, I felt compelled to go. It sounded foolish to my parents and surprising to my friends. So, when I couldn't truly reconcile it in my mind, I committed to praying for her wedding, that it would be glorifying to Him.

God gave me so much more. It was the best weekend of my entire summer. This was the summer after my fourth year, when I had travelled to Hawaii, Iceland and France with the best company I could have asked for, eaten the best desserts, and seen awesome sights. Yet, what I gained during this wedding weekend was worth so much more.

Peter Hong, a fellow CMDS 2016 graduate whom I met at the wedding shared this piece by CS Lewis. It perfectly sets the tone for this lesson.

“But in Friendship, being free of all that, we think we have chosen our peers. In reality, a few years' difference in the dates of our births, a few more miles between certain houses, the choice of one university instead of another, posting to different regiments, the accident of a topic being raised or not raised at a first meeting—any of these chances might have kept us apart. But, for a Christian, there are, strictly speaking, no chances. A secret Master of the Ceremonies has been at work. Christ, who said to the disciples "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you," can truly say to every group of Christian friends "You have not chosen one another but I have chosen you for one another." The Friendship is not a reward for our discrimination and good taste in finding one another out. It is the instrument by which God reveals to each the beauties of all the others. They are no greater than the beauties of a thousand other men; by Friendship God opens our eyes to them. They are, like all beauties, derived from Him, and then, in a good Friendship, increased by Him through the Friendship itself, so that it is His instrument for creating as well as for revealing.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

Janessa (may God bless her and keep her), went out of her way and coordinated my ride from Saskatoon to Elk Ridge Resort, the room that I would be staying in, my table, and my ride back to the Saskatoon airport.

God used each person that I met, to teach me something, and the lessons He wants me to share are from: Jennifer, Jessica, Gloria, Roshini, Carrie, Preston and Sunny.

Janessa placed me in a room with Peter, John (another fellow CMDS 2016 grad), and his fiancee Jessica. Jessica and I clicked almost instantly, our friendship secured when we discovered:

1. Our parents were both from Mauritius (a beautiful island off the coast of Madagascar). She was born in Mauritius and had moved to Canada when she was 16.
2. We were the same age.
3. Her mother went to the same school as my mother and they were in the same class!

So to summarize, God placed me in a room with another Mauritian Chinese Canadian Christian sister, whose mother knows my mother.

Oh, His love.

The next friendships were formed quickly as well. When Christians come together, it is remarkable how quickly we connect, having barely known each other. Ephesians 2:14-22 summarizes it quite nicely:

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."

In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

The Value of Fellowship

- Stephanie Potter

Across the country CMDS members have been coming together to discuss how the current changes to  federal law and college policy affects their practice and their ability to act according to their conscience. While these are difficult circumstances, it is hard to ignore the many positives these meetings are bringing to our members. It is easy to get lost in the worries and cares of our day to day lives. It is easy to become isolated in our concerns and forget to reach out and find a community of like-minded individuals with whom we can find fellowship and support.

At one of the local CMDS meetings this week, we had the privilege of having Doctors and allies come in person to share a meal. Each of us shared a short witness of our life and faith journey over a delicious meal lovingly prepared by our hostess. We were encouraged to share about the moment of our conversion, jokingly nicknamed our "TSN Turning Point", when we fully gave our hearts to God. Each story was similar and yet unique. For one married couple and their son, the stories intertwined in a beautiful tapestry, showing clearly the glory of God's plans. It was an evening of powerful re-affirmation of our faith and our mission to be Christ to one another and the world.

After our meal we had a lively and insightful discussion about current events and had the pleasure of being joined via FaceTime and telephone by two Doctors who couldn't join us in person from our Province. It was wonderful how technology had increased our little community so that we could share in fellowship and discussion with them. At the end of our chat, one of the Doctors remarked that she had missed the community she had felt in her med school days through her CMDS chapter. Our meeting had given us a chance to make an important contact with her and plans were made for visits, meals shared, and continued contact. 

If we accomplish nothing else in these days, there is no doubt that the Holy Spirit has been with us in our communities across Canada. We are reminded again the value of fellowship. The early Church was built up of small communities dedicated to encouraging one another, sharing a meal, and praising all that God had done for them. Let us remember to reach out to our brothers and sisters to draw them into our company to reflect on Christ's promise: "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Matt 18:20)

Love Selflessly

- Karen Chung
Karen is a fourth year medical student from Queen’s Medical School, prior co-chair of CMDS. She has been involved for all four years. God has given her a heart for Africa, miraculous experiences in Ghana and Ethiopia and leadership opportunities to serve the poor in Hamilton and Kingston. He has given her a passion for plastic surgery and global health.

I have started my final year of medical school at Queen's University and would like to share the lessons I have learned. The intended audience of this piece is for my brothers and sisters starting medical school. It is my whole-hearted prayer that God will use these three (or four) years to bring Him as much glory as He created you for. There is no other wish.

Pray

Dear God, I commit this piece to you. I pray that I will write the words that You want me to share and I pray that you open hearts to receive the words You would like shared.

Prayer is powerful.

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

We are righteous because of Jesus Christ.

In my second year, I had a dream. I had just finished reading Heidi Baker and had the repeated, recurrent dream of seeing the Acts 4 church come true. I longed to see medical students, professionals, undergraduate students, homeless people and drug abusers eat together, giving and sharing as there was need. I told this dream to as many people as I could from multiple groups: Geneva House, Morning Prayer Group, Joel’s Bible Study, Bethel Church and prayed. God gave me a heart to listen and to obey Him. On my birthday, God did a miracle. He made this dream come true. See the article of the actual event and here for the Facebook page as God answered prayer. 

Location: Martha’s Table, a local soup kitchen happily agreed to host the event.

Food: Metro, No Frills donated funds for food.

Doctors (in and out of CMDS) donated funds for food. Betty’s Byre and her sister a local Kingston Farmers Market donated fresh veggies and apples, lots of beautiful apples. 

Service: A Christian brother from Queen’s Acapella group, heard about it and volunteered this group to perform there. My Queen’s Medicine classmates and my brothers and sisters from CMDS, Geneva House, Morning Prayer Group, Joel’s Bible Study, Bethel Church came to volunteer: clean dishes, cook food and serve the homeless.

Chefs: Chef Luke Hayes-Alexander, one of the youngest and most innovative chefs in Kingston designed and volunteered his time to make the appetizer. Chef Clark Day, the head chef of Aquaterra, one of the finest restaurants in Kingston donated food and designed and volunteered his time to make the main course and dessert

My God worked in the details. Here’s a quick snap shot:

I woke up on a Saturday feeling so sick and incredibly nauseous. I felt God pushing me to go to the Kingston market place and ask for a donation. On my walk there, I was relying completely on His strength and I made a plan: “Okay God, I’m walking. I’m going to ask for a donation. If they say no, I’ll ask for a discount. If they say no, I’ll just buy it all and worry about the money later. I give it all to you.” I walked up to Betty’s Byer and I told her about this dream.

“How much do you want?”

I was blown away. We needed apples for dessert and Chef Clark Day was thinking of doing an apple crumble because it’s very easy (core the apple, put in oatmeal, sugar, bake and serve with vanilla ice-cream). I went to pick up the apples from Betty:

“Karen, I picked out the most beautiful apples for you. These are the best of the best, with no bruises or blemishes.”

Over 140 apples were donated. These apples were free.

Get involved

Make friends outside of CMDS, get involved in Christian communities outside of medicine. Get involved in the community. Live as though each day is your last.

My Christian family nourished me so I could serve my classmates and patients. They prayed for my friends, for my patients. They prayed for me when I was sick. They brought me coffee, snacks, and love when I was studying. They wrote me cards of encouragement. They were the family I could call at four in the morning.

We worked together to serve our Kingston community. We visited strip clubs with food. We had bi-weekly cooking sessions for the HIV/AIDS regional service just before our prayer meetings. We are in the middle of raising $15,000 to build a kitchen for the HIV/AIDS nutrition program in Kingston. We walked around the community offering prayer and food to the homeless. We held surprise birthday parties for each other.

God gave me friends in my medical class who were so beautiful, inside and out. I love them and He loves them more. I continue to commit these friends to God and pray that I exemplify who He wants me to be. These friends see my actions and words, and they know I am a human who has been given a heart for Jesus. It is my hope and prayer that one day they will come to Christ. I pray in Jesus’ name, that my speech will be full of grace and seasoned with salt.

Deny yourself

You and God know the sins that are holding you back from truly denying yourself to live as Christ did. Reflect on them. Then, share these sins with those close to you and to confess and repent from them in prayer. Please ask God to banish all the spiritual demons and thoughts that are not from Him.  Ask your brothers and sisters to hold you accountable.

There is absolutely NOTHING that is more worthwhile than living for God. When you are tired and serving patients and no one wants to take call on the long weekend, it is my prayer that you would take the spot. When you are tired and you’ve been asked to see one more patient, it is my prayer that you will cry out to God, beg Him for strength and thank Him for the opportunity to keep serving. Then document this story and share it on this blog.

You will be tempted. Know that God has given you victory to overcome it. Make a list of acts of service you can do when you’re tempted. Pray for others, document your testimonies, study for what you’re passionate about, go outside and be a Christ-centered example to your friends, worship God, cook for others – the list is endless.


Connect with me on twitter @loveselflessly

Fond Farewell from Paul Verhoef

Editor: In preparation for our upcoming issues of FOCUS Magazine, we asked our friend Paul Verhoef, who is leaving his work with CMDS this season, to send us some information on his time with CMDS and what his plans were. He sent us this beautiful piece. We ended up having to reduce the size of his piece dramatically, but felt that his words had some wisdom and power that everyone should have the chance to read. Thank you, Paul, for sharing your words with us and for your time serving the students at University of Calgary Medical School.

With Gratitude

Dear friends of Jesus,

My name is Paul Verhoef.  For almost two and a half years, I’ve been serving as the CMDS Associate Staff person for the University of Calgary Medical School.  But now my time is finishing; I’m being called away from this work so that I can more deeply invest in my primary work.

For 11 years, I’ve served as a Chaplain at the University of Calgary, supported by the Christian Reformed Church (CRC).  And over those 11 years, I have been blessed to be invited in a myriad of ways to support the life of the University.  While I work with students and student groups, and organize programs and gatherings, the CRC has always asked me to first and foremost be present with the University itself, to watch the movements, to feel the blowing of the Spirit, and to fan into flame any possibilities that are uniquely available to me as a Chaplain (some campus ministries focus fully on students and programming – certainly to God’s glory; chaplains also tend to think about the University as an institution, about its ‘soul’ and how it might be shaped by God’s presence, love, and wisdom).

And there is a conversation growing at the University of Calgary – a conversation about how the individual and the collective can interact in the public sphere, a conversation around pluralism, multi-culturalism and secular society, a conversation about the varied rootedness of communities and creating an imagination of partnership towards a common good.  At my university, strangely perhaps, the questions guiding that conversation are not happening mostly in the classroom, but instead are being asked around the hallways of student services.  And my department, the Faith & Spirituality Centre, is the key catalyzer of that pluralism dialogue.  So the door for me to participate in the instigation, shaping, and direction of the conversation on pluralism (starting with religious pluralism) is clearly open.  And the CRC has said to me, “It’s for such a time as this that we have called you to the University of Calgary.”  So for the next year, I will be more intensely focusing on how the University of Calgary might be a hospitable place to many people who bring with them their deeply rooted religious conviction and behaviours.  I’ll be going to in reading groups, classrooms, conferences.  I’ll be collaboratively creating workshops and student engagement opportunities.  That is my call.

You might hear in all of this something parallel to your own work and practice.  As Canada has dialogued around abortion, and more recently been discussing euthanasia, the CMDS community itself has been pulled into the conversation.  And that conversation has taken place in classrooms, in courtrooms, and many places in between.  And so as I step more deeply into a parallel conversation at the University of Calgary, I am thankful that during my time with CMDS, many of these similar questions were percolating, and indeed, even boiling over at times.  The posture of CMDS in the midst of that fertile conversation have been a gift for me to observe.

But as I depart, let me mention just a few more things about CMDS Student Ministries that have been a surprising gift.  I love how the ministry has such a national, regional, and local flavour.  CMDS has a national conference, a national student leadership gathering, a regional retreat, and all sorts of local activity.  But all through these levels, students are invited to rub shoulders with Physicians – who hold in them years of experience and practical wisdom, who have lived through some of the questions the students are anticipating or asking.

But it is really the people that make CMDS such a good gift.  Wonderful physicians who host meals or mentor students – like David and Andrea Loewen in Calgary.  Gifted colleagues around the country doing student ministry with medical students – like Roger and Munjula, Barbara and Yaw, and so many others.  And leaders like Larry Worthen, faithful to the task, to the community, and to our God.  And it draws students in that are hospitable and prayerful, rooted and wise – and willing to step forward into a future where God is King and where His people are known for their love.

So good to be connected to you, in Christ,

Paul Verhoef 

Mission Opportunity for Dental Professionals: Mercy Ships

Our friends at Mercy Ships is looking for people to join them on a mission trip to Madagascar this August! Information can be found below. Please discern is the Lord is calling you on this important mission!

The Mercy Ships Dental team recently finished up their services at the end of May having provided 6,290 dental patient encounters with over 22,000 procedures.The Africa Mercy will return to Madagascar in August and dock for ten months where the Dental Team will pick up where they left off at the renovated off ship dental clinic. 

We have needs for Dentists, Dental Assistants, and Dental Hygienists throughout the service. Information and online application available online.

“Your mouth is really important in your daily life. My time with Mercy Ships has really opened my eyes to the need that is out there, and the desperation that some people will have to relieve their pain and to get treatment,” says Mercy Ships volunteer, Swedish dentist Vera Alstad. She knows that lack of affordability and lack of access to oral healthcare and education leave a trail of pain-filled mouths. She has seen the consequences firsthand as she served with Mercy Ships in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Togo, Guinea, Congo, and Madagascar. To read more of her powerful witness, go visit the Mercy Ships Website.

Not Lukewarm in Encouragement

- Lester Liao

Let me tell you about my friend, Hao Li.  He is the greatest encouragement to me of all my fellow medical students.  Why?  Because I have seen the Spirit of God in his life; life-giving and soul-transforming grace at its finest.  And it is just about the most invigorating and wonderful a thing that can be seen.

Hao was not a Christian when he entered medical school.  If you asked him, though, he would have said he was a Christian.  He now vehemently denies he ever truly knew Christ upon entering.  In fact, he identifies himself even as an impediment to the Gospel in his earlier days.  When I first presented the student club CMDS and took it as an opportunity to briefly share the Gospel with my class, Hao spoke to me afterwards and stated that I should not talk about matters like sin in a public forum.  In my mind I thought, “Whatever, this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”  Only a few months later God rebuked and humbled me for this attitude.

God was at work in Hao’s heart.  Despite what he would call a lukewarm heart to God, Hao would come to our regular CMDS meetings and we would discuss at length the Christian life.  One evening we watched a sermon by Francis Chan called “Lukewarm and Loving It” and discussed amongst ourselves what genuine faith entailed.  I do not recall Hao saying too much that evening.  Little did I know then that he went home that night, got on his knees and begged God to forgive him for his lukewarm heart and to really be Lord of his life. 

The change in Hao’s life has been stark.  He now speaks about Christ with a boldness reminiscent of the rejoicing apostles leaving the Sanhedrin after a flogging (Acts 5:40-41) and challenges me to consider my own lukewarmness.  Between lectures, he engages in all manner of spiritual dialogue with classmates.  His dedication to his church has drastically changed and he has a true passion to eradicate the plague of lukewarm faith.  He is hungry to soak up the Word with a rare humility and willingness.  He questions every facet of his life in terms of whether it is built on the solid rock of Christ and His Word.  Now he is even involved in leading our local CMDS chapter. 

Hao is such an encouragement to me I often cannot express it very clearly.  Often times when I see him or after our conversations, I will just pray and thank God without words.  What a brother the Lord has raised up and what a comrade he has been on this spiritual battlefield!

I share this story firstly because I want to encourage others with Hao’s encouragement to me.  I also share this because there are others like Hao, who have yet to experience such transformation by God.  He has appointed His people to go out and spread His Word to bring many in medicine to Himself.  What if we all began to pray regularly for one or two of our colleagues and asked God for boldness to speak to them about Christ?  What if we committed this truly to the Lord?  We have friends out there that may not have a single other person in the world earnestly praying for them.  Consider Augustine’s words about his mother. 

You sent down your help from above and rescued my soul from the depths of this darkness because my mother, your faithful servant, wept to you for me, shedding more tears for my spiritual death than other mothers shed for the bodily death of a son. (Augustine, Confessions III.11.)

May those we love around us say a similar thing of us one day.