In January of last year, I had an incredible opportunity to travel to Niger, Africa with some people from my physical therapy program at the University of Minnesota. During this trip, I learned a lot about the faithfulness of God and his work around the world. It was also there that I had my first blog experience, writing with my classmates about our experiences. There are many stories about God’s faithfulness that stem from this trip that I would like to share in the days to come but I think its best to start at the very beginning, because how God lead me to Niger is a story in itself.
Part of the reason I chose to go to the University of Minnesota’s physical therapy program was because of their international opportunities during the internship year. Because I played soccer in college, I wasn’t able to spend time studying abroad and thought PT school would be the perfect opportunity to experience life outside of the US. As the application date for the international internships drew closer, I had my heart set on one internship in particular: Tanzania. It was a 3-month experience working with kids in a local hospital. I knew that when I graduated from PT school, I would be working with kids in some capacity, so this internship was perfect. I met with one of the missionaries from church who happened to live in Tanzania but was back in the US for a family get-together, to learn all I could about the country and the work she was doing there. I was so excited and just knew that I would love this trip.
When it came time to sit down and fill out the application, I had to put a first choice and second choice. My first choice was Tanzania but I had a hard time deciding what my second choice would be. The choices were Niger or Ecuador. I was a Spanish minor in college and Ecuador required that you be fluent in Spanish. I was not fluent in Spanish despite my minor, but thought that if I needed to I could do some refresher courses and brush up on my vocabulary. Secretly, I wanted to put down Ecuador in the hopes that they didn’t think I was fluent enough and I would get Tanzania by default. All I knew about the trip to Niger was that it involved wound care, which did not interest me at all. I prayed over my application and suddenly felt panicked that what if I didn’t get any at all because I had put Ecuador without being completely fluent in Spanish and someone else was more qualified for Tanzania. In addition, I was hesitant to change my preference from Ecuador to Niger because I had never heard of Niger before coming to PT school so how in the world could I say I would travel there? God lead me to read Joshua 1 before I made my final decision. Verse 9 was particularly helpful:
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified, do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” ~Joshua 1:9
With that, I felt a peace about putting Niger as my second choice instead of Ecuador, even though it was scary and unknown. I don’t think this was an accident, I truly believe that God chose me to go to Niger. When we found out the international placements and I was chosen for Niger instead of Tanzania I was really disappointed. But in the months leading up to the trip, my time in Niger, and the time since I’ve returned, God has shown me so much about who He is, what He is capable of doing, and how He is willing to use His children when they step out in faith.
If you’d like to read about our trip, we’ve got pictures, videos, and stories on a blog we created for use during our time in Niger. You should check it out: http://umnniger2011.blogspot.com/
Have a fantastic day!!
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