Grant Recipient Testimonies
MedSend grant recipients have worked hard to develop the professional and spiritual qualifications they need to make an impact on the world's poor and underserved people. MedSend grants allow them to get to the mission field quickly to do the work God has called them to - instead of spending years working in the U.S. to pay down their educational loans. Their heartfelt gratitude for MedSend - and for our faithful supporters - is reflected in a sample of their testimonies below.

A doctor serving in Haiti
I would like to take the time to personally thank you for choosing to support our ministry by helping with my student loans while we serve our Lord Jesus Christ on the mission field in Haiti. My school loans were definitely one of the ‘perceived’ obstacles to us being able to go full time into the work we know God created us for.

I truly believe that every dollar your organization spends will be diligently invested into the kingdom of God. Thank you for being generous and giving in your time and abilities. I ask that you let your donors know that I could never express to them how grateful we are.

A doctor serving in Indonesia
MedSend is a portrayal of what Jesus Christ did for us. He paid our debt.

A grateful couple
It was a very strange experience when Christy and I first felt the call to overseas missions because we knew that we were not able to go. On one hand we had God telling both of us that this is what He has planned for us, but on the other hand, I knew that our student loans were too large and there was no way we would be able to survive on our salary overseas and continue to honor our obligation to pay back what we had borrowed. The only solution I could see was for us to wait until our loans had been paid off before we left. We had accepted the idea that we might still be a few years away from being able to leave, but all we could think about was the people overseas who did not have anyone to tell them about Jesus. Our application to MedSend was a difficult decision for us because our pride was getting in the way of asking for help. In the end we decided that we had to put God’s call on our lives above our pride and apply.

All throughout our journey to go overseas we had seen God’s hand over and over again, including when we heard back from MedSend letting us know that we had been approved. As a psychologist I spend a lot of my time talking and I am rarely without words, but I was speechless. Because of MedSend we are now able to move overseas years earlier, which we believe is all a part of God’s plan for us. It is easy to measure what MedSend has done for us in terms of dollars, but the real measure will be the time we spend in refugee camps, local hospitals, and working in village clinics with people who have no access to any type of healthcare. It is exciting to think ahead to our time overseas and we are praying that we will be able to honor the support MedSend has given us by repaying it with stories of people coming to know Christ. I pray that one day we will be able to introduce new believers to the people who blessed us with the financial support we needed to go overseas.

A nurse serving in Nigeria
Praise God for MedSend, an organization whose purpose is to facilitate medical missions by paying off student loans for health care workers! If it were not for MedSend, I would not be able to go to Nigeria for many years.

A doctor headed for Asia
Thank you for the great news about MedSend. We were so encouraged…what a blessing to know that our loans will not hinder us!

A physician serving in Honduras
A friend cued me in to an organization of which I had never heard; it was called "MedSend." I checked out the website at www.medsend.org and found that a Christian organization existed whose sole purpose was to make the student loan payments for medical professionals while they are in the mission field. It seemed too good to be true, but I inquired anyway. As I communicated with them, it became clear to me that MedSend was for real and they had been given a tremendous call and burden to get medical and dental missionaries to the field ASAP. I applied for one of their repayment grants and I was approved. They funded the grant and, "POOF!" my student loan payments were covered for the next four years. After this tremendous blessing, we were ready to go to the field.

A doctor who served in Ecuador
The grant was absolutely priceless. If it weren’t for MedSend, I couldn’t have gone to Ecuador. I know God can provide anything He wants in whatever way He wants. But He chose to provide through MedSend and I’m thankful for that.”

A couple confirming good advice
MedSend has had a powerful impact upon our lives, both as we look back and as we anticipate the future. Our relationship with the organization actually began while we were first year medical students. It was at that time that we learned of the ministry. Since we were feeling the Lord's call to work overseas at that time, we hoped even then that MedSend might be part of our future. With that in mind, we sought out the MedSend booth at medical missions conferences we attended. We took very seriously the counsel we received regarding simple living and avoiding debt as much as possible. We applied this counsel, and although our debt is certainly still substantial, it is a significantly smaller number than it could have been. Thus, MedSend's ministry to us began far before we received our grant.

The grant itself has certainly been a tremendous blessing. We have a clear calling to go, and the door is open now. If we had the burden of being responsible for our debt, it would be at least an additional two years of working here before we could depart for the mission field. And although we're solidly committed to going, we know there are many who have had similar convictions whose passion waned or who faced new obstacles during the years of paying off loans that ultimately prevented them from going. We're so thankful that the potential barrier of our school loans will not prevent us from answering the call God has placed on our lives to go now!

A doctor serving in Asia
Our MedSend grant has enabled us to pursue God’s calling on our lives by making monthly payments on the educational debt we incurred during medical school. MedSend has been our faithful partner since we were awarded the grant last year. Please let other health care workers who feel called to undeserved ministry at home and abroad know about MedSend.

A nurse serving in Southern Sudan
I've been reflecting on MedSend's contribution to my presence here in South Sudan, and I wanted to share some of my reflections with you. I recall quite vividly the moment when I was told that MedSend was giving me a grant for my student loans. In stunned silence, I went to the prayer room in the church, crying out to God because I was scared about what that meant. I was intensely aware of my lack of training and experience, and the medical needs which exist in a place like the Didinga Hills of South Sudan.

I have now finished six weeks in the Didinga Hills. In that space of time, I've seen some amazing things, not the least of which were medical in nature.

I've already sewed up two head wounds, one minor wound requiring three stitches and a major wound requiring some fifteen stitches. The lady with the large head wound would have had to be carried some three hours to the nearest health clinic, where it is possible they would have sent her another three hours away to a better facility. Instead, I sewed the wound while the other nurse on the team held the flaps together, and some team members handed us supplies and equipment while the rest prayed for us. Then, while a teammate held a reference book so I could see how to do it, I did a nerve block on her hand to sew up the end of her amputated finger. After three hours of work on the Maralena's head and hand, we had finished. The gathered crowd was impressed. Then our team team leader began to speak to the crowd, explaining that we are here not only to help their bodies, but also to tell them about the God who heals the heart. The whole event came in perfect timing to counteract some rumors that had been spreading in the community about our team. In fact, one of the people who gathered to see the repair of the lady's head was a man who had been responsible for spreading the rumors. After seeing what we did, and hearing our team leader's words, he spoke up, "These people are here to do good. We should pray that God blesses them." Amazing how God used the work of our hands to let the Gospel go forth!

I've seen Him give me grace in each situation thus far, and I know He'll give me grace again and again as I rely on Him for whatever might come. In just four weeks on site, almost every week has brought an emergency which pulled me out of my "learner" status to function as a nurse practitioner in this very needy community. Although it has been difficult to balance medicine and the demands of language learning God has given me joy and grace in the midst of all the pressure.

I'll be honest, in the beginning, I had my doubts about why MedSend would want to support me to send me here, with my limited experience and training. But now I have seen that my presence here has made a major impact, when paired with God's grace and wisdom (and a really awesome team to work with!). So I wanted to thank you and share with you some of the things that God has already allowed me to do using the training and skills He's given me. I want you to know that your support of me is allowing the Gospel to go forth in the Didinga Hills, and to thank you for your confidence in me when I had none in myself.

An entire team blessed by your generosity
MedSend has made my calling and dream of serving as a medical missionary become a reality. My wife and I were both able to graduate from undergrad without debt. Being a missionary kid with a small piggy bank, this was no small task for God. However, even with a modest lifestyle and my wife working a good paying job, we found ourselves over $100,000 in debt after my medical training. Perhaps this challenge was a little too much for God? It would take years to pay this off before we could afford to leave for ministry in the third world. Well, it turns out God had other plans.

At the beginning of medical school, I prayed that God might knit together a team of medical professionals to serve overseas. God answered that prayer when I met Eric, who was in the class below me in medical school. We happened to go to the same church and be part of the same ministry in medical school. Eric had considered medical missions overseas, but he really got serious when he married an OB/GYN resident who, like me, had been called to medical missions since her teenage years. Eric, his wife, and I all happened to be finishing our residencies at the same time, June 2009.

If that weren't enough, I met a general surgery resident, Jason, during my third year surgery rotation. He was also a missionary kid planning to head back to Africa after his training. He too would be graduating June 2009. He also became a member at our church too! After much discussion, advice and prayer, we decided God was calling us to serve together as a team. There were many obstacles.

Not the least of the obstacles were the medical education costs of an ob/gyn surgeon, a family practitioner, a general surgeon and an ophthalmologist. Between the four of us, that we have 49 years of post-high school education! Yikes! Add our wives' teaching degrees and master's degrees to the mix, and we have 59 years. It would take several well-compensated doctors significant time to repay our loans.

So how is it that our entire team will be leaving for a Mission Hospital in October of 2009, three months after finishing residency? God was up to the challenge after all! Largely through the message of MedSend, God has placed a burden on the hearts of His people to help get medical missionaries like ourselves to Africa. By God's grace, MedSend has agreed to sponsor all members of our team who have outstanding medical school debt! Many generous people have decided to place our financial obligations squarely on their own shoulders. MedSend has been critical in modern medical missions by raising awareness of medical missionaries' educational debt. Without MedSend, the tremendous need for medical missionaries would be largely unmet or at best, severely delayed. We are so thankful for God's provision through the sacrificial work of MedSend and its donors.

A nurse serving in Zambia
I was just seventeen, but the call to foreign missions was clear and undeniable. But I was in love and my future husband let it be known that the mission field was not part of his plan. So I chose love over obedience. I dropped out of school to marry, raise a family, and create a comfortable and loving home. While the children were young, I went back to night school and got my high school diploma.

Twenty-six years later my marriage fell apart. The children were grown and gone and the house was as empty as my heart. My life no longer had purpose. I cried out to God in anguish. It was during those desperate prayer vigils that God revealed himself in fresh, comforting ways. But He also reminded me of the call. I was in my forties, divorced and had no job skills. Who would be willing to support me on the mission field?

With encouragement from family and friends, and a strong conviction of God’s faithfulness, I began the long process of graduating from nursing school, passing my boards, and getting clinical experience.

After graduation, I was ready to go to the mission field. However, there was one thing holding up the process. I had acquired a large student loan. Even though I didn’t have any other bills, I was strapped with the loan. Disappointment hovered over me like a thick cloud. It would take 10 years to pay off the school loan. Why would God bring me so close just to put an obstacle in the way? The mission board told me about MedSend. I applied and was accepted. What a blessing!

Then the REAL challenges began. With a commission from my denomination and a commitment from MedSend, I arrived in Zambia to serve in a mission hospital where there was no full-time doctor and no one to run the mission guest house for those short-term medical teams that were so vital to our work. On one of my first days at the hospital during the rainy season, I was the only nurse to show up for the day shift. I had to cover the male and female wards, pediatrics, and the TB wing. I was feeling overwhelmed and overworked. I was also running the guest house; paying the bills, cooking, supervising the nationals, running taxi service to the airport, ambulance for the hospital and orienting the teams on arrival.

I had finally come to the end of myself! But God was indeed faithful! He became my strength, my comforter, and my sustainer. I have never been as intimate and as dependent on Him as in recent years. My prayer life is richer, my heart stronger, my smile brighter, and my joy overflowing. I am reminded of the scripture passage, “For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” (Romans 11:29) And to that I say, “Leza Alumbwe” (Tonga for “God be praised”).