What’s the purpose of the Christmas Advent season? It’s a time for reflection and expectation. It also offers us a unique opportunity to draw connections between our personal spiritual journey and the important work we may do in the inspiring field of international health. Advent is a time of anticipation and preparation for the arrival of something greater, the Christ. It mirrors the emotions and steps that go into an effective career of service in low-resource places to cross-cultural people, reflecting Christ’s call for healing and hope in our broken world.
Advent invites us to prepare ourselves. The season is characterized by addressing our hearts, setting aside of time for reflection, and cultivating a spirit of patience. This waiting need not be passive, but rather active, filled with intention and purpose. Similarly, the earlier stages of a career in international health are rooted in preparation – not simply through acquiring technical knowledge or skills like we emphasize at INMED, but also by cultivating our hearts to empathize deeply with the suffering and needs of others. Today, such empathy takes little imagination. Simple clicks on any news app will display widespread hunger in Gaza, fresh killing in Syria, and attacks on healthcare facilities throughout Sudan.
The Advent season also calls us to embrace hope, even amid darkness. Christ was born in a nation under savage foreign occupation. The Roman ruler worked diligently to kill the Christ child, slaughtering thousands of his peers. Today beyond armed conflicts, epidemics of meningitis, untreated fractures, and lack of the most basic healthcare plague low-income communities worldwide, Challenges like these strike us as overwhelming. But the message of Advent reminds us that hope need not be simply a passive wish; it can be active assurance that progress is possible. At INMED, we enjoy the privilege of working with healthcare professionals and students who embrace such altruism as guideposts to their careers.
Finally, Advent is a time to serve others. Christ’s earthly ministry emphasized healing the sick, feeding those who were hungry, defending the persecuted, announcing the Good News of repentance for salvation, and ultimately sacrificing Himself. As we remember the arrival of Christ on earth, we are summoned to recall that true greatness lies in humble service to others – especially those who are disabled, unemployed, unhoused, minorities, chronically ill, and displaced from their homes. Christina St Michel, an INMED Master’s Degree in International Health graduate, fully embraced this element of Advent, serving for years among the people of South Sudan – those who regularly suffered from malnutrition, illiteracy, disease, and lawlessness.
This season let us each create space to prepare ourselves and refine our skills, embracing hope with active anticipation and seeking opportunities to serve those in need – fulfilling the true purpose of Advent.