pre-Zambia prayer requests

February 10, 2000

My Dearest Brothers & Sisters in Christ:

Praise the Lord for His never-ending faithfulness to His children! I pray that all of you are doing well, particularly among your circle of friends and family, and with our Lord. As some of you may already know, I am in my last year of medical school at Loma Linda University, but before I graduate this late May, I wanted to take the great opportunity that God has given me in this Christian university to go on a senior missions elective. I will be leaving March 18 to spend eight weeks at the Luampa Christian Hospital in Zambia, a country in south central Africa. As I believe the Lord has given us to each other for mutual support, I'd like to use this letter to let you know a little more about my trip.

God has somehow put missions on my heart for several years now, and I now feel a strong desire to go into career medical missions as soon as I can after medical training, to use medicine as a model of and vehicle for sharing the Gospel. Since the beginning of this school year, I have explored different possibilities with regard to Christian hospitals in Africa, and Luampa Hospital has all of the ingredients that I felt were important: a strong commitment to evangelism as well as medicine, English-speaking peoples (although there are many other languages spoken in this former British colony), and openings for medical students. This hospital is under the Evangelical Church of Zambia, which works with missionaries from the Society for International Ministries (SIM), under whose leadership I will be serving. At Luampa, I will likely be rotating as a student-doctor through their female/pediatric, maternity, male, and surgical services.

SIM is an interdenominational mission organization whose ministries began in 1893, and whose main focus is to glorify God by evangelizing the unreached, ministering to human needs, discipling believers, and establishing national churches that fulfill the Great Commission.

My main purpose in writing this letter to you is to recruit your help in praying for this missions trip, both now as I prepare to go and also while I am there. I would greatly appreciate your prayers in the following specific areas:
- the next 4 ½ weeks of heart preparation before I go, not just for my service abroad, but for a lifetime of service to our Lord, that I would be free of selfish and worldly pursuits, and that I would always seek opportunities to share the Gospel.
- daily time with the Lord, that I would look to Him for guidance and strength, and that I would realize that He is the One who accomplishes any significant work in and through me.
- deep compassion for those with spiritual and physical needs around me (many Zambians, as do Americans, claim to be Christians but do not have life-changing personal relationships with Jesus; the HIV/AIDS epidemic is running rampant in Zambia, affecting more than 15% of the adult population!)
- time with my family, that I would honor, respect, and serve them while I’m with them. Shortly after graduation, I will likely be leaving the state for residency training, and God has been putting it on my heart to spend more meaningful time with them while I can.
- sensitivity to cultural differences, that I would be willing to give up my “rights” for the sake of the Gospel, as God gave up even His own Son for our sakes.
- humility in the midst of different leaders, that I would graciously contribute what I can to our mission team without bickering or complaint.

I’ve asked for quite a bit of prayer support already, and I’m a little embarrassed to have done so, since I stated earlier that we have been joined in Christ’s body for mutual support. Please let me know how I may pray for you also. I would be very honored to do so.

Thank you very much for joining with me in God’s wonderful work.


Sincerely,

Sidney Wu