Something I’ve come to recognize and understand recently is that God’s heart for the lost is HUGE. Even when I feel a burden and a passion for a global issue, I realize that my comprehension of it is still so little, and that the need for the gospel message is enormous.

I have to first confess that I have always been very ignorant of what goes on in the world. I carried the mentality of “Who cares about what happens in Thailand if it doesn’t affect me?” Even after Katrina, I just thought, “Wow that sucks.” Yes, it may have seemed like I had no compassion, but that wasn’t it. It was because in my mind, I couldn’t understand why it had to matter to me. Why should I care if in fact AIDS in South Africa won’t ever affect my personal life? God then decided to step in and transform the way I think and He opened my heart to gain His heart for the nations.

I began pharmacy school this year believing I knew the calling He had for me. As I studied psychology as an undergrad, I gained a passion for the mental health field. I believed that God was leading me to work with the mentally ill, the outcasts of society, in order to bring them the Good News. I imagined a stable, comfortable life where I could pursue a passion, make good money, live a routine life, and do something good for God.

However, during my first-year pharmacy classes, I learned about the role of the pharmaceutical industry and its power over drug treatment related to world-wide epidemics like HIV/AIDS and became incensed! For many people, the monopolistic practices, the greed, and the politics involved within the pharmaceutical industry are enough to detract them from a career in that field. However, for me, the injustice can not be ignored. In many developing countries like Thailand, the costs of drugs are unfathomably high, making it impossible for those who need treatment the most to gain access. In Africa, people don’t have the resources to find a clinic, transport themselves, and have proper and consistent care. Also, many Africans are too afraid to get tested and therefore they end up spreading the virus to more people; an HIV positive status is like a death sentence not only socially, but also because there’s no hope in their regions for treatment.

At the same time, souls are perishing by the millions each year all across the world without Jesus to call their Savior and living King. They are completely deprived of the eternal hope we in our HMCC community possess and often take for granted.

I think it’s personally humbling to recognize that in God’s sovereign plan He has been working the past few years in giving me a compassion for the unloved, the stigmatized outcasts of society, and the unreached people of the world. I’m finally realizing that His plan for my life is not something I can predict or assume.

God works in ways that are always higher than what we can imagine. Likewise, I believe He will work through the Transformasphere Movement in greater ways than we expect. He’s already transformed my naive attitude towards the world and has given me a burden over one issue in my sphere of healthcare. However, I think that as much as God is passionate for the lives that are suffering through pain, injustice, and shame across the world today, He is just as urgent about His children catching onto His mission and enabling us to participate in His work.