Most of us are probably familiar with the book, “Where There Is No Doctor.” It’s a medical manual available in more than 85 languages and provides practical, easily understood information on how to diagnose, treat, and prevent common injuries and illnesses. Of course, nowadays, folks are more likely to consult Google, WebMD, or send a quick WhatsApp message to their doctor friend to gather necessary information.

“Why not make an appointment and visit a doctor in town,” one might ask. Well, depending on where you live in the world, the solution may not be so simple. Having a medical emergency or getting really sick while living in a foreign context can feel very intimidating and scary. There’s often a language barrier to hurdle, and sometimes quality medical care is a long drive or plane ride away.

In this episode, we’ll be discussing some of our crazy “how did this happen??” medical stories, along with a few stories that really made us lean into our faith in the Lord.

A quick note: we want to acknowledge that some medical stories turn out much differently for people while living abroad. We want to hold space for those who’ve experienced loss while living in a foreign context and/or have needed to return to their passport country indefinitely because of a medical diagnosis. While we didn’t dive into that category of medical stories for this episode, it is a topic we’d like to cover in the future.

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 Denise
 Melissa
Alicia

Mentioned in this episode:

Episode 20: You Asked, We Answered: Take Two

Denise’s daughter’s tooth that got knocked out:

This wasn’t mentioned in the episode, but Alicia recently co-authored a book called Liturgies and Laments for the Sojourner: Volume One. With prayers for packing, culture shock, visas and immigration, language learning, homesickness, and other cross-cultural experiences, those living abroad will be reminded that they aren’t alone in their struggles and that they can find God’s presence in the midst of them. One of the prayers that specifically relates to this episode is “For Getting a Medical Diagnosis.”

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Show credits: 

Hosted by Denise James, Alicia Boyce, and Melissa Faraday // produced and edited by Melissa Faraday // content managed by Kim Johnson.

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