You Are Not Alone: God Will Finish What He Started

You Are Called- And Not Forgotten.  Stay Faithful to Your Call in the Hard Middle.

There is a moment in nearly every medical student’s journey when the calling to medical missionary work feels like a distant dream—overshadowed by exhaustion, endless demands, and the fear of not measuring up. That moment often comes between the second and third years of medical school.

The first two years are grueling, yes, but they often allow a fragile stability—lectures, labs, and exams follow a pattern. There’s time, albeit limited, to think, to pray, to dream about the reason you came to medical school in the first place: to serve. To heal. To be used by God.

Then come the clinical years. Demands escalate. Opportunities to rest and recharge are often stripped away. You’re expected to perform, compete, and succeed—without faltering. For many students, this transition marks a dangerous turning point. The weight of medicine’s commercial machine begins to press in. The idealism of medical missionary work, once burning bright, starts to flicker.

Let me say something clearly: this is not your fault.

The system was not built to nurture medical missionaries. It is built to produce healthcare providers who serve commercial interests—money, prestige, and power. That model is easy to adopt because the world celebrates it. But the call to medical evangelism? That call brings no fame, no fortune. It brings instead sacrifice, trust in God, and eternal purpose.

You came to medical school—perhaps even Loma Linda University, formerly the College of Medical Evangelists—with that purpose in your heart. Let me remind you: His calling is His promise of enabling. What God begins, He will complete. He has called you for such a time as this, and He will not abandon you in the hard middle.

You Are Not Alone

Years ago, a student named Sarah wrote to me. She was in her third year at Loma Linda, feeling the burden of it all. But instead of shrinking back, she called for help. She invited us—myself and Pastor Kablanow—to come and remind her classmates of their purpose. She didn’t want herself or her fellow students to be washed out by the sheer intensity of the program. She wanted them to know they were not alone.

There have been generations of students like Sarah. Generations who faced the same overwhelm, discouragement, and doubt you may be feeling now. But God was faithful to them, just as He will be to you. We have nothing to fear except we forget how the Lord has led us in the past.

Stories of Courage and Restoration

Let me tell you about a few moments that illustrate how close you are to being renewed and restored.

Pastor Kablanow and I had agreed to go to Loma Linda to encourage the students in their vision for medical missionary work.  At one presentation, I noticed a group of students from the Christian Medical and Dental Association seated together, clearly not part of the Adventist student body sitting on the other side of the room. After speaking my portion of the program, I sat directly behind them. One young man turned around and introduced himself warmly, expressing appreciation for my presentation. We began talking, and he mentioned he was a fourth-year student in medical school. He volunteered that he wasn’t a Seventh-day Adventist, which I already surmised based on his group.

Curious, I asked, “How did you end up at Loma Linda?” He paused, then said, “I came here because I wanted to attend The College of Medical Evangelists. I researched and found out about Loma Linda’s original mission.” I was astonished. “We haven’t called it the College of Medical Evangelists since the 40s and 50s,” I said. “Yet you knew that was its legacy and chose it for that reason? That’s amazing!”

I asked him how his experience had been in his four years of study.  His expression changed. He looked down and said quietly, “Right now, all I want to do is graduate, get a nice car, get a place by the beach, and forget it all.” His honesty struck me deeply. There was a long pause as the gravity of his statement sank into my heart.  After a moment, I looked at him and asked, “Do you believe God called you to be a medical evangelist?” He nodded yes. “Are you a Christian?” Again, yes. “Do you believe the Bible?” He confirmed.

I said, “You know then that the Bible says the work God begins, He will carry on to completion. He nodded; he was familiar with that text.  I told him, I’m not an elder in your church, but I’m an elder in mine. If you accept my hand, I will dedicate you to the medical ministry right now.  If this is the work God has called you to, you can trust Him to finish His work in you.”

Quietly, in front of his peers, he stood. He bowed his head and folded his hands. I stood, placed my hand on his shoulder—I couldn’t reach his head, he was so tall—and I prayed over him, committing him to God’s service as a medical missionary evangelist. When we finished, his eyes filled with tears—holy tears. That moment was sacred, accepted by God. I don’t know where he is today, but I know God does. And the work God started in him, He will complete.

Another student came to me after a talk, tears in his eyes, and asked, “You really think it’s not too late for me?” He’d given up on medical missions because he was discouraged. He believed his discouragement so early in the game had disqualified him as too weak to qualify for the difficulties of mission service. I told him, “It is never too late with God, and He who called you will give you power and strength to prevail when needed.” We prayed, and he left with tears, but not with tears of sorrow and discouragement, but tears of joy.

A young woman, also a second-year student, came forward and threw her arms around me, sobbing. “I was so afraid,” she said. She was afraid of the financial cost, afraid of being alone as a woman in the mission field, and afraid to say yes to God. That night, she decided not to be afraid anymore. She said yes to her calling. Today, she is in the mission field with her husband and child, faithfully doing the work God called her to. God made a way where fear tried to close the door.

You Are a Missionary to Your Class

If you are a student in medical training right now, you are in a position no one else can occupy. You are capable of being a missionary to your classmates. You are uniquely positioned to influence your peers to follow Christ and become missionaries with you. You can bring Christ into the classroom, the clubs, the interest groups, and the conversations. You can reignite the mission vision in others just by staying faithful yourself.

In your generation, missionaries will go out—or they won’t.

Let it be because of your faithfulness that many go out. Let it be because you stood firm, even in discouragement, that others dared to dream again. Let it be because you prayed, shared, encouraged, and believed that your school became a place of revival.  Let it be because of your faith that Loma Linda University Medical School became again The College of Medical Evangelists.

A Call to Courage

To every student and resident in training who is reading this: Be of good courage. Have faith in God. He knows your struggle, and He will sustain you. His calling is not a mistake; He will give you the strength to finish the work.

To faculty, administrators, and those entrusted with guiding these students: Meet your obligations. Give them the tools, encouragement, and support they need—not just to survive medical school, but to thrive as medical missionaries. Remember the mission. Remember why this institution exists.

As you read Sarah’s letter—attached for you to download—see in her words your own struggle and the faith of a generation that refused to give up. You are part of that lineage now. You are not alone.

And you never will be.

God has called you. He will provide.

And He will finish what He started in you.

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