Second-year pharmacy student Kevin Gonzalez spoke for LLU's Week of Renewal chapel series and shared his experience during a recent SIMS (Students for International Mission Service) trip to Guatemala. Thank you, Kevin, for sharing your testimony! See more photos on Instagram.
... There I was, in the middle of the clinic, standing with a handwritten prescription label in hand, mentally preparing what I was going to say to counsel my patient. When I finally worked up to courage to speak, I counseled the patient on the name of the drug, dosage, what it was for, and potential side effects, and then I noticed a weird look from the patient. I thought I had said something wrong or maybe missed something, so I asked them to teach back a few points that I had covered. In that moment, I realized that the patient did not speak Spanish at all, rather they spoke a local dialect called Quechua. I started to worry and think to myself, how will I communicate effectively with this patient and how will I ensure that they will take the medication correctly when they get home? That's when a friend in the clinic came to me and said, 'I noticed you struggling to communicate with the patient, and I would like to help translate between Quechua and Spanish so that together, we can make sure they know and get the care they deserve.' That person didn't have to be there with us and probably had other things to do, but out of the goodness of their heart, they volunteered their time to be with us and help serve the community.
That's when I came to understand the words of the prophet Isaiah when he recalled, "And I heard the voice of the Lord saying 'whom shall I send? And who will go before us?' And I said, 'Here am I, send me.'" And then I realized, you don't have to be the most knowledgeable or experienced; all you need is to be present with a heart that's willing to serve...