“What did he just say?” – A doctor pricks her ears

Dra. Ana Delgado Soto

Sunday 3rd December 2017.  Ana Delgado attends a church service in the city of Arequipa.  She is here neither out of tradition nor because it is a special 1st Advent Sunday.  The fact is that the devout Christian loves spending time with other Christians.  In his sermon the pastor suddenly mentions a missionary hospital that some Germans have built in the South Peruvian Mountains.  Ana is wide awake.  Being a medic herself, she knows how complex a hospital is and, if this hospital helps the poorest of the poor, who do not have to pay the real price for their treatments, the whole thing becomes even more complicated.

Once the service is over the young doctor heads home with all deliberate speed and sits down on her PC.  Typing in the keywords “Missionary Hospital” and “German” brings her quickly to Diospi Suyana’s website – that same day she sends an email to “hospital@diospi-suyana.org“ and introduces herself.

Christmas comes and goes and on 27th December Ana Delgado heads to Curahuasi and spends the next three months working at the missionary hospital as a volunteer.  She identifies herself utterly and completely with Diospi Suyana’s vision.  Five months have now passed and the doctor has a job contract and is part of the team.

“Ana, how long have you been a Christian?” I ask the sympathetic Peruvian – “While I was growing up God, church and faith played absolutely no role whatsoever in my life.  As a sixteen year old I lived the party-drugs-alcohol life to the full.  But then our school spent a day at a catholic retreat centre.  As soon as the programme started I knew I was totally out of place here.  “What a waste of time,” I thought.  Bored to death my eyes wandered aimlessly around the room.  But suddenly I was on my knees and knew that God is a reality.  He loves me and there truly is a meaning to life.  This experience radically changed my life forever.  I felt an inner joy within me, something I had never known before.  That was seven years ago!” /KDJ

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