For the significance of this story to be fully understood, it is best told in 3 seperate parts…especially since it's the way this story unfolded.
Part I:
JJ came to me one Saturday morning with a swollen, red, irritated eye. He was pretty sure he'd simply scratched his eye while removing his contact, but over the course of the day, it became extremely painful and sensitive to light. Against his strong-willed insistence that he would be "fine," I looked up the nearest Urgent Care clinic and all but dragged him into that waiting room. While sitting among the crowded waiting room of people -- snotty-nosed children, old men with hacking coughs, and crying babies -- we happened to notice several framed book covers on the wall. They appeared to be children's books, and the author's name matched a name we had seen on the window of the clinic. When we finally got into a patient room, we asked the nurse what the story was behind those children's books on display. She advised us to ask the physician, as he was the author!
When the door to our room opened, we were not expecting to see an 80+ year old man with white hair and a slightly hunched posture who introduced himself as the doctor. We were immediately intrigued when he began to tell us the story of how he'd been in a coma following a major surgery and had a recurring dream. In his dream, he was standing on a platform watching a train pass. The side of the train had a word on the side that he kept reading over and over: UNAFRAID. After his miraculous recovery, he decided to write a series of children's books about a train called "Unafraid," teaching them to be brave during scary times in their lives.
While examining JJ's eye with a dusty old lamp from the top shelf, a needle, and a reminder to wear gloves [a kind gesture by his nurse], he shared with us that he'd spent much of his career in Africa as a medical missionary. It was there that he formed a close bond with a tribe in Zimbabwe, shared the Gospel with them, and formed a close bond with some of the tribal leaders. In fact, some of the leaders eventually moved to the U.S. with their entire family and now lived in our city! Something about this story intrigued us, and we continued to laugh about our unexpected encounter at the Urgent Care clinic - we had come seeking medical care, but we ended up talking about much bigger things with a man who had been on a fascinating journey.
[JJ ended up having a really serious eye infection and temporarily lost vision. His faithful wife administered eye drops every single hour around the clock and became his personal chef, chauffeur, and nurse…He eventually recovered and now has normal vision in that eye…something the doctors said was a miracle..but that's not really part of this story.]
Part II (one week later):
When JJ and I finally found what would eventually be our church home, we arranged to meet with one of the pastors to learn more about the church's mission and vision. While sitting in his office, we quickly learned that he shared our passion for global missions. We spent an hour swapping stories about places we'd visited around the world, people we had met, and the ways we had seen God work on our trips. He happened to mention one of his favorite stories of God working through missions - this church had supported a local doctor (several decades ago) who went to Africa. He shared the Gospel with a tribe of people there, and they became believers. The relationship they built was so strong that one of the prominent families in this tribe decided to move to the U.S. They were now living in our city and were active members of this church!
Part III:
While walking through the halls of the hospital on my typical route to work one day, I passed by an office with a name plate on it. I had never really stopped and looked at this name until this particular day…something about it caught my eye. Underneath the name was the title of Organ Donation Coordinator. Why did this name look so familiar? Wait…this was an African name. A name I'd heard before. It was THE last name of the family who had lived in Zimbabwe, met the physician, and moved to our town…now members of our church! I had never met this family, but the name was undeniable. I immediately called JJ (who works closely with organ transplant teams) and told him what I could hardly believe. All along, we had literally been working alongside a man (and walking past his office daily) who was the connection in the story that we had been intrigued by for several months now!
Then, one day after church, a dark-skinned man with a beautiful accent approached JJ to compliment him on his bow tie…We immediately recognized who he was and introduced ourselves. We told him we had a crazy connection to his story and that we wanted to get to know him better.
Three years ago, while sitting in the waiting room of that Urgent Care Clinic, we had NO idea how God would bring together pieces of a large puzzle over the next 3 years and bless us tremendously along the way. In the near future, we may have the opportunity to join our African friend on a mission trip back to his home village in Zimbabwe! Seriously. How incredible is that?!
I share this story because it's a great example of the small world we live in and the crazy cool ways in which God connects people. You really just never know what impact you will have on another person's life when you share your story and ask others about theirs. Even in a doctor's office.
Part I:
JJ came to me one Saturday morning with a swollen, red, irritated eye. He was pretty sure he'd simply scratched his eye while removing his contact, but over the course of the day, it became extremely painful and sensitive to light. Against his strong-willed insistence that he would be "fine," I looked up the nearest Urgent Care clinic and all but dragged him into that waiting room. While sitting among the crowded waiting room of people -- snotty-nosed children, old men with hacking coughs, and crying babies -- we happened to notice several framed book covers on the wall. They appeared to be children's books, and the author's name matched a name we had seen on the window of the clinic. When we finally got into a patient room, we asked the nurse what the story was behind those children's books on display. She advised us to ask the physician, as he was the author!
When the door to our room opened, we were not expecting to see an 80+ year old man with white hair and a slightly hunched posture who introduced himself as the doctor. We were immediately intrigued when he began to tell us the story of how he'd been in a coma following a major surgery and had a recurring dream. In his dream, he was standing on a platform watching a train pass. The side of the train had a word on the side that he kept reading over and over: UNAFRAID. After his miraculous recovery, he decided to write a series of children's books about a train called "Unafraid," teaching them to be brave during scary times in their lives.
While examining JJ's eye with a dusty old lamp from the top shelf, a needle, and a reminder to wear gloves [a kind gesture by his nurse], he shared with us that he'd spent much of his career in Africa as a medical missionary. It was there that he formed a close bond with a tribe in Zimbabwe, shared the Gospel with them, and formed a close bond with some of the tribal leaders. In fact, some of the leaders eventually moved to the U.S. with their entire family and now lived in our city! Something about this story intrigued us, and we continued to laugh about our unexpected encounter at the Urgent Care clinic - we had come seeking medical care, but we ended up talking about much bigger things with a man who had been on a fascinating journey.
[JJ ended up having a really serious eye infection and temporarily lost vision. His faithful wife administered eye drops every single hour around the clock and became his personal chef, chauffeur, and nurse…He eventually recovered and now has normal vision in that eye…something the doctors said was a miracle..but that's not really part of this story.]
Part II (one week later):
When JJ and I finally found what would eventually be our church home, we arranged to meet with one of the pastors to learn more about the church's mission and vision. While sitting in his office, we quickly learned that he shared our passion for global missions. We spent an hour swapping stories about places we'd visited around the world, people we had met, and the ways we had seen God work on our trips. He happened to mention one of his favorite stories of God working through missions - this church had supported a local doctor (several decades ago) who went to Africa. He shared the Gospel with a tribe of people there, and they became believers. The relationship they built was so strong that one of the prominent families in this tribe decided to move to the U.S. They were now living in our city and were active members of this church!
Part III:
While walking through the halls of the hospital on my typical route to work one day, I passed by an office with a name plate on it. I had never really stopped and looked at this name until this particular day…something about it caught my eye. Underneath the name was the title of Organ Donation Coordinator. Why did this name look so familiar? Wait…this was an African name. A name I'd heard before. It was THE last name of the family who had lived in Zimbabwe, met the physician, and moved to our town…now members of our church! I had never met this family, but the name was undeniable. I immediately called JJ (who works closely with organ transplant teams) and told him what I could hardly believe. All along, we had literally been working alongside a man (and walking past his office daily) who was the connection in the story that we had been intrigued by for several months now!
Then, one day after church, a dark-skinned man with a beautiful accent approached JJ to compliment him on his bow tie…We immediately recognized who he was and introduced ourselves. We told him we had a crazy connection to his story and that we wanted to get to know him better.
Three years ago, while sitting in the waiting room of that Urgent Care Clinic, we had NO idea how God would bring together pieces of a large puzzle over the next 3 years and bless us tremendously along the way. In the near future, we may have the opportunity to join our African friend on a mission trip back to his home village in Zimbabwe! Seriously. How incredible is that?!
I share this story because it's a great example of the small world we live in and the crazy cool ways in which God connects people. You really just never know what impact you will have on another person's life when you share your story and ask others about theirs. Even in a doctor's office.
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