The Journey Begins

I’m sitting in the airport at Roatan island waiting for my next flight to mainland Honduras. With a 4 hour layover, seems like a perfect opportunity to write my first blog post! From here I will take a 20 minute flight to La Ceiba and then a taxi ride to Hospital Loma de Luz in Balfate where I will spend the next 5-6 months.

It is amazing to me that less than 3 hours is the difference between a different country, a different landscape and climate, and a different language. I quickly exchanged cold, dry, and brown for warm, humid, and green and English for Spanish. 

Waiting in line at customs, there is a sign that says “Somos Honduras, somos para ti,” or in English, “We are Honduras, we are here for you.” This sign caught my eye not only because of the bright and tropical colors of the letters and the images of beautiful flowers, serene beaches, artisan jewelry, and mouth-watering cuisine. But the words themselves reminded me of the common humanity we share in a world that too often focuses on our differences and the boundaries/borders that separate us. Though these signs highlight the many things that make Honduras unique, they also affirm that Honduras is here for everyone. I imagine how different our world would be if all of its nations and all of its people truly lived out these words in our everyday lives: “somos para ti…we are here for you.”

Ten years ago I left the United States for the first time in my life- and I found myself in Honduras. It was here that I first felt God calling me to become a physician, specifically for the underserved and forgotten. Since that moment, I have always felt a stirring within me to return to Latin America as a physician and/or continue to serve immigrants and refugees in the US. Returning to Honduras feels like I have come full circle!

I don’t think it’s mere coincidence that my arrival in Honduras marks the same day as the feast of the Epiphany. For those who don’t know, the Epiphany is an important feast day for Christians that recognizes Jesus’ manifestation to the entire world, known by most people by the visitation of the “three kings.” 

Pope Francis in his sermon at Mass today said: “The journey of life and faith demands a deep desire and inner zeal. Sometimes we live in a spirit of a ‘parking lot’; we stay parked, without the impulse of desire that carries us forward…the Magi teach us that we need to set out anew each day, in life as in faith, for faith is not a suit of armor that encases us; instead, it is a fascinating journey, a constant and restless movement, ever in search of God, always discerning our way forward.

Indeed as a foreigner and a physician in my first year of practice, I hold a bag of mixed feelings- anxiety, fear, excitement, hope. I, like the magi, have embarked on a journey of many unknowns- but I look forward to the ways in which God will bring clarity to my life and the lives of others through Jesus.

I am grateful to have all of you with me on this journey from afar- thank you for all of your thoughts, kind wishes, prayers, and support.