Students for International Mission Service (SIMS)

Outlook 1998

Pakistan by Dong Won Kim, sophomore, School of Medicine

A Muslim woman and child at the Karachi Adventist Hospital in Pakistan. Photo by Dong Won Kim.

Medicine is only a means to a greater goal.... This past summer, I had an opportunity to volunteer at the Karachi Adventist Hospital in Karachi, Pakistan, for about a month. Medically speaking, I learned and experienced a lot; I was able to see first hand many diseases I had only read about and some very unusual ones. However, in terms of missions, I was most affected by the fact that I worked along side Muslim doctors. The majority of the Pakistanis are Muslim; therefore, it was not too unusual that most of the doctors were Muslim even though the hospital had a Christian affiliation.

However, the foremost thought in my mind was, "How am I different from these Muslim doctors?" We both were committed to healing the sick, so that was not it. The art and science of medicine is not enough; a Muslim physician can be just as compassionate and competent as I am as a Christian physician. Thus, this experience confirmed my beliefs that medicine is only a means. Anyone could go into medicine, but it is what we do with it that matters. Christ did not come to heal the sick primarily; but He came to proclaim that He is the Son of God and that salvation is exclusively through Him. Furthermore, His last commandment to us was to make disciples of all the nations. What sets us apart as Christian doctors is not being competent and compassionate (though necessary).

Healing the sick is not the end; it is only the beginning.· It is the first step in making disciples of all the nations in proclamation that Jesus Christ is Lord.

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