leaving in two days. i don’t have anything that substantial to say, though hopefully that will not be the case when i’m writing from across the globe i met one of the doctor-contacts yesterday because he came to the states to work for a few weeks. it was good to meet him, as we’ve been emailing for a while now. he told me that the clinics in the refugee camps see about 50 patients per hour, and that erin and i will be exposed to a lot of things we wouldn’t see in the states (obviously). he said i might be able to give shots, or some other basic but invasive stuff, which would be fantastic! he also welcomed us to come work in his hospital at any point, though it is a normal hospital with an ER, ICU, med surg units, etc. that might be neat for me, as i haven’t had any clinical experience, but probably not so exciting to erin.
erin let me stick her with IVs a few times to practice last semester, and by the 5th or so, they were going in alright. but she (and the other girls i practiced on) had pretty good veins. still, it was exciting to stick for the first time. i never thought that i’d find something like stabbing a needle into somebody else’s skin exciting, but i guess i’ve been thoroughly brainwashed by the nursing profession by this point in my life.
anyway, the doctor i met started discussing why he left the states and moved his family to jordan. he went to med school at U of Mich and lived in west bloomfield for a while. one day when his daughter was 10 or so and fasting for ramadan, she went to a friend’s birthday party, and everybody was questioning her about not eating and asking what was wrong. they thought it was so strange that she couldn’t eat. his daughter didn’t break her fast, but came home, saying she felt difficult. and that was it. the doctor decided he wanted to move his family to jordan where they wouldn’t be so different. he was saying that all people should be around people that are most like them, that they are comfortable with. then my aunt affirmed him, saying that was the best decision he could have made on that matter.
i’m not sure what to say on that, as i hope it speaks for itself. its just interesting, how the natural human tendency is segregation. mostly racial, yes, but certainly by other distinctions as well (interests, occupation, religion, etc). whenever people begin to argue that it is awkward to try to force racial integration in the church, my first response comes back to that basic concept- that segregation is always the inclination of man. if integration is not intentional, it won’t happen. 11am sunday morning will continue being the most segregated hour of the week. perhaps people won’t admit it, but it is certainly less comfortable to integrate. that seems to be underneath a lot of the reasons as to why people find church racial integration very low on the priority list: its difficult, its a long process, it opens doors to more difficulties, on and on. but it is such a beautiful picture of redemption to see community that even crosses one of the most difficult barriers to man: race. things that are worth and right are usually difficult. jesus, please teach us to give up our own comfort and be intentional about things that are hard but right, death (to ourselves) but life.
i’m hoping to send this blog url out to people today. although, we may end up using a different server (blogger) because posting pictures on wordpress are somewhat complicated and limited. but we may not do the photo thing anyway, we’ll see.
erin let me stick her with IVs a few times to practice last semester, and by the 5th or so, they were going in alright. but she (and the other girls i practiced on) had pretty good veins. still, it was exciting to stick for the first time. i never thought that i’d find something like stabbing a needle into somebody else’s skin exciting, but i guess i’ve been thoroughly brainwashed by the nursing profession by this point in my life.
anyway, the doctor i met started discussing why he left the states and moved his family to jordan. he went to med school at U of Mich and lived in west bloomfield for a while. one day when his daughter was 10 or so and fasting for ramadan, she went to a friend’s birthday party, and everybody was questioning her about not eating and asking what was wrong. they thought it was so strange that she couldn’t eat. his daughter didn’t break her fast, but came home, saying she felt difficult. and that was it. the doctor decided he wanted to move his family to jordan where they wouldn’t be so different. he was saying that all people should be around people that are most like them, that they are comfortable with. then my aunt affirmed him, saying that was the best decision he could have made on that matter.
i’m not sure what to say on that, as i hope it speaks for itself. its just interesting, how the natural human tendency is segregation. mostly racial, yes, but certainly by other distinctions as well (interests, occupation, religion, etc). whenever people begin to argue that it is awkward to try to force racial integration in the church, my first response comes back to that basic concept- that segregation is always the inclination of man. if integration is not intentional, it won’t happen. 11am sunday morning will continue being the most segregated hour of the week. perhaps people won’t admit it, but it is certainly less comfortable to integrate. that seems to be underneath a lot of the reasons as to why people find church racial integration very low on the priority list: its difficult, its a long process, it opens doors to more difficulties, on and on. but it is such a beautiful picture of redemption to see community that even crosses one of the most difficult barriers to man: race. things that are worth and right are usually difficult. jesus, please teach us to give up our own comfort and be intentional about things that are hard but right, death (to ourselves) but life.
i’m hoping to send this blog url out to people today. although, we may end up using a different server (blogger) because posting pictures on wordpress are somewhat complicated and limited. but we may not do the photo thing anyway, we’ll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment