Honea Heart

At the end of May, I attended a medical mission conference in Nashville Tennessee where the focus was health care delivery to the uninsured and under-insured...and how Christians (of all people) are leading the way in a true health care reform.

During the conference, I stayed with some dear friends--Parker, Ninfa, and their lovely Mechecita. They (along with some other 120 believers)  live in an intentional christian community in Nashville where their vision is as follows...

Our community is being equipped to meet the challenges faced by the poor and marginalized by developing capacity in our members to act as agents of education, advocacy and empowerment.  In other words, our people are being trained to be educators, advocates and administrators.  Educators, in the holistic sense, regarding health (both physical and mental), agriculture, technology, ethics and  sociology.  Advocates to come alongside those who need a voice in those same arenas of need.  Administrators, to facilitate the development of such agencies to be self-sustaining, empowering the people to experience a healthy inter-dependence where they take care of themselves.

(learn more about them at http://godinternational.org/home/)

Interestingly enough, God has been showing Himself and His heart for the poor and marginalized (in both this country and abroad) to me lately in almost every facet of my life right now.

School--My first course in my advanced practice nursing degree was on policy, leadership, and role of the advanced practice nurse.  Historically, nurses were those who reached out to the poor and underserved when other health care professionals would not.  Nurses like Lillian Wald, founder of the Henry Street Settlement, who saw it as both her moral and social responsibility to advocate and serve children, labor, immigrants, civil and women's rights (http://www.henrystreet.org/about/history/).  The marginalized of her day are still the marginalized of ours.


The further I go in this profession, the more clearly I see why God directed my steps down this path instead of others.

Home--Phillip (my dear husband) has finished his second year of medical school (and his frist step boards) and will be starting 3rd year rotations in a hospital in central maine.  We currently live in southern maine, and have been looking to move closer to his site for a few months now.  Up until the time of the conference, we were considering moving to another quaint and friendly coastal town and commuting to our perspective sites from there.  During the course of the 3-day conference, the Lord showed me that He had plans that were much bigger and brighter than mine.

This week, Phil and I signed the lease to our 3rd apartment since being married.  We are now moving to Lewiston Maine--home to many poor and marginalized including a growing Somali population.  Please watch the youtube video for more information.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0g-h_aL458

Racism, discrimination, poverty, drugs, human trafficking, homelessness, educational and health care disparities are very real issues in our new community.

we move home next weekend.