Why PMI?

On March 3, 2012 we went to a Needtobreathe concert in Charleston, SC to celebrate my 24th birthday. It was the first time I heard about Palmetto Medical Initiative. 

On January 25, 2014 I went back to Charleston, SC and spent the day learning about PMI and falling in love with the organization and their mission. Also, we celebrated Melissa's 26th birthday.

Charleston. PMI. Birthdays. It's a thing with us. :)

Almost 2 years to the day (March 7th) that I first heard about PMI, I will be going to Uganda with the amazing organization and I could not be more excited or honored to be a part of a PMI team.

Many people know that I was a biology major in college. My plan was to go to medical school. If you know anything about the past five years since I graduated from college, you probably know that I didn't make it to medical school. Instead, I went to seminary. I wholeheartedly believe that working in children's ministry is what God created me to do. Nothing brings me the same amount of joy that loving and sharing Jesus with little ones does. However, giving up the dream of going to medical school wasn't easy. I always wanted to travel and do medical missions. It took me a while to realize that as good as that life could have been, good is not great. For some people, working in medicine is the great life because that's what God created them to do. For me, that wasn't the case. My great life is ministering to kids. Still, I loved the idea of medical missions and hated the fact that I wasn't really qualified to help others in that way.

Enter Palmetto Medical Initiative.

In the speech that Bear gave about PMI he said that non-medical people travel with PMI. I didn't really believe it until Melissa returned from Uganda in December 2012 and confirmed that yes, non-medical people can go and actually help on a medical mission trip. In fact, they even did children's ministry while they were there. 

Many illnesses that plague Ugandans can be cured or alleviated with education or just a little bit of medication. As we heard about the healthcare system over there during our team training, my heart broke. PMI has made it their mission to help countries, like Uganda, have a better, more reliable option when it comes to receiving medical care. Yes, there are the short term mission trips like the one I will be going on in March, but in 2010 they built the Masindi-Kitara Medical Centre. Since it opened, more than 65,000 patients have received care. PMI has pulled out of the medical center and it is now completely supported, sustained, and staffed by Ugandans. As the old proverb says, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." At team training, one of the PMI staff said that the mission was "empowerment, not entitlement" and I cheered inside. I could not be more excited about going to Uganda and helping in whatever ways I can...but I am so grateful that ultimately our mission for the week is to help the people of Uganda help themselves. I love giving people a hand, not so much a fan of the hand-out. :) 

Yet, the fact remains, no matter how much I love what PMI does, I have no medical expertise...so what exactly will I be doing in Uganda? After exchanging emails with Katie, our awesome PMI representative, I will be the team leader for children's ministry. I like to stick to what I know. :) I love God's sense of humor and the way He plans things. I'm fulfilling a long-held dream and going on a medical mission trip where I'll be able to see how simple medicine will radically change lives...but I'll be doing what God created me to do, ministering to children. What a crazy, unexpected blessing. 

So, in case it's not clear, I love PMI. Hopefully, the mess of words above gave you an idea of why, but in case they didn't, watch this video about Alex, Eddie, MKMC, and PMI.