Urbana 12

16,000 participants at Urbana 12 built
32,000 medical kits for people with
HIV/AIDS in Swaziland, Africa

I was so blessed to be able to attend Urbana 12 conference held in St. Louis, MO with my brother this year.  You can read about his experience on the Business Changing the World track here.

As an MD/PhD student with a heart for missions, I went to this conference hoping for direction as to how God can use someone in my position to share His love with the world.  God was so gracious at this conference, connecting me with other medical students, graduate students and faculty who love Jesus and want Him to be glorified in their interactions, research, and studies in academia.  I also got to attend several graduate school and healthcare missions seminars.

One seminar that I am particularly grateful for was Grad School for God's Global Mission by S. Josh Swamidass, an Assistant Professor in Pathology at Washington University in St. Louis.  It was a huge encouragement to see that God can use grad school as a way to prepare me for the future and as an opportunity to serve God while in school.

Coming from Urbana 12, I have a renewed sense of purpose as I continue my studies (only ~7.5 years to go!).  I am hoping to do medical work and medical research as a mission.  Although I do not know exactly how that will look, I can continue to live out Colossians 3:23-24. I can keep studying hard, serving the people around me, and enjoying my time in school knowing that God is with me, giving me strength and guiding me, so that He may be glorified in and through my life.