I’d completed my first semester of nursing school at the University of South Carolina (USC) Upstate and had been planning for months to travel to Cape Town, South Africa, as a part of my International Community Health course. We would provide training and health education to community members.
During our two weeks in South Africa, our senses, emotions, and minds were challenged. We encountered patience-testing travel interruptions, new tastes and smells, and a refreshed sense of hope throughout our group.
Deep poverty exists in Cape Town. Informal settlements on the outskirts are very poor and home to the majority of the population. The settlements where we worked housed people in homes the size of average U.S. living rooms, made of scrap metals and wood pieced together. Amenities included one toilet per 300 people, water so contaminated that it was not potable yet thousands drink it, and litter-scattered streets because there’s no place for trash.
For Lack of Hope
We learned that many problems in these poor communities are due to a lack of hope. Thousands of people live in poverty and don't have the mindset to break free and improve their standard of living. Around 83% are unemployed; this acts as the catalyst for other problems.
New Beginnings, based out of Belhar Baptist Church in Cape Town, offers programs that teach men and women skills, such as home-based care/frail-care workers (comparable to a CNA in the U.S.). During training, each student receives a medical backpacks with donated items: a stethoscope, blood pressure cuff, thermometer, gloves, soap, hand sanitizer, and small supplies vital for a healthcare worker.
To me, these basic backpacks were simple supplies; to the New Beginnings students, the backpacks set them apart as equipped to serve. I discovered the students would be more desirable to future employers, since most newly certified frail-care workers have no supplies and have to purchase their own. Once employed, my new friends could obtain jobs providing home care.
The South African students' thirst for knowledge and their contagious desire to learn were evident. They absorbed information quickly. At first, they tentatively handled stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and other supplies much like I recalled first handling this equipment as a new student. Tears ran as they received their backpacks. They proclaimed, “God is so good.”
This Urgency
Today my goals are ambitious as a result of the urgency for missions instilled during my time in South Africa. The need for healthcare in developing countries is significant. I resonate with Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV):
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
I traveled to South Africa with the desire to experience another culture, as well as to help others. But my life was the life influenced and changed. I remain in awe of how big God is! The call to missions does not place the command for us all to travel internationally, but to support and encourage that call in whatever way we can. If missionary nursing is something you have an interest in, don't ignore it.
- Check out the opportunities in your community or faith-based organizations.
- Take the time to identify areas of need in your community where you can join others in providing compassionate care.
- Build relationships where you are.
- Ask God to help you see your city and open the door to share the gospel in unobtrusive ways.
God used an international community health course to confirm my call to serve him with my nursing career. How might he confirm yours?
Victoria Snead BSN, RN, was attending Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and studying Women's Studies with International Missions when she wrote this article for JCN with the goal of using her nursing skills on the mission field.
Read the full article in the Journal of Christian Nursing.
Wondering about how you fit into God’s big story of missions? Check out Urbana 2025.
