Nezer A. Soriano
I always knew what I wanted to be when I was a kid. I would
be a doctor someday to be able to help the poor and the sick. Not because most
of the kids my age have the same reasons, because I was taught that as a
Christian it is my duty to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Growing
up in a church, we are taught about our responsibilities as Christians so I
only had one thing in my mind. As a Christian, it is my responsibility to take
care of God’s creations and that includes all the people in different walks of
life. It stuck in my head that when I got into college, it was easy to decide
what course I would take. I enrolled myself in a BS Biology course as a
preparation for medicine.
As an active United Methodist youth, I had the chance to travel
to the mountains of Surigao del Norte to the Agusan Riverside to Tungao to the
mountain ranges of Sultan Kudarat and tribal villages of Tacul. It was an
opportunity for me to see how hard life is in the mountains – being deprived of
the basic human needs like food, clothing, shelter and even health. It gave me
joy to share myself and be able to reach, comfort and share God’s blessing to
them. These experiences gave me more inspiration to choose a career that helps
the poor and the needy, and I thought that career was to be a doctor.
After I graduated from college, I studied to become a
medical doctor to fulfill my childhood dream. I thought being a doctor would
give me that opportunity to help the poor and the sick. But with the busy and demanding life medicine
requires, it took a lot of my time that I found myself slowly drifting away
from my Christian responsibilities. I could no longer travel to the villages I
was helping. I could not even go to church on a Sunday. I reflected why being a
doctor and helping the sick and the dying does not make me happy and fulfilled when
it should be. I felt that I was missing something but I don’t know what. I felt
there was something lacking to satisfy my hearts desire.
During my internship in the hospital, I had a terminally
ill patient assigned to me. When I was doing my rounds to give her medications,
she called me and asked me to stay. I told her to just take her medicines
because it’s all that she needs. She replied calmly, that she doesn’t need
medicine but for me to sit beside her and be with her as she prepares herself to
meet her God. I was speechless for a moment. I needed to have a dying patient
before I could realize that something more important than the physical body needs
healing and comfort. I then realized what was lacking in my heart and what I had
to do about it. Before I took the Medical Licensure Exam, I did what was long
overdue – answer God’s call.
God has a perfect plan for me. It took me more than ten
years before I could figure God’s plan. I realized that there is something more
important to be healed than the physical body. I thought the sick just needed
to get healthy, the hungry just needed to get fed and the less fortunate to
have a little more. When Jesus came to help the poor and cure the sick, he did
not only helped and healed them physically but more importantly he gave comfort
to the weary souls and the spirit. Sometimes we overlook the more important
things when we get so overwhelmed of trivial things. When I got my plans
aligned to God’s purpose for me, I felt everything was just falling in the
right place. I felt the satisfaction and joy in my heart that I have been longing
for. As a medical doctor, treating the physical body is my profession but as
Christians helping souls is my lifetime vocation.
Being here in the US US
One of my significant experiences in my field ed. placements
is my first stew-cooking experience in a rural church. While I was there
stirring my own pot of stew, I just can’t help but be amazed with how every
member in the church came out to help and become part of something big. I told
myself that if there is anything to describe what makes a church, this is it. I
never thought that stew cooking is one way of having fellowship with other
churchgoers. An urban church would probably never have a fellowship activity
like stew cooking. As I was reflecting of this experience, I realize that each
one who was involved in cooking the stew was part of the “stew” – from
harvesting the corn and raising the hog. If the stew defines the church, my
stirring the pot makes me part of the church too. The church has been my
“family” in the absence of my wife and daughter. As I learn more and grow
deeper in my faith through my experiences here in the US, I know God will be
there to guide and lead me as I continue in my Christian spiritual journey.
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