For most rape victims, returning to the scene of the crime would be unthinkable. But for Carol Spears, it was the only way to follow her life’s calling.
Spears is answering the undeniable call of God to medical missions in Kenya and in the process, returning to the area where she was raped in May 2003.
At the time, Spears, a native of Gadsden, was working on a one-year medical residency at Kenya’s Tenwek Hospital, located 140 miles west of the capital city of Nairobi in the highlands of the Bomet district. She had been there since July 2002 and had spent the weekend at a Kenyan resort with a friend. The two women were forced to pull their car over in broad daylight by four armed men. What began as a demand for money turned into an ordeal that would forever change Spears’ life.
"I was grappling with the issue that night of ‘God, are you really God? Are you really in control of all things? Why did this bad thing happen?’" said Spears, a member of Immanuel Baptist Church, Lexington, Ky.
She traveled back to Tenwek, but it was a week before she felt like she could share about her ordeal. Spears sent an e-mail to some friends, which they shared with others, starting a worldwide prayer chain.
"I can’t tell you what an amazing experience that was," she said. "I felt carried through that week."
Although Spears was not pregnant, she was worried about the possibility of contracting HIV because of its prevalence in Kenya.
She sent a blood sample to Nairobi for an early detection test while she waited for the results of a longer, more thorough test.
The early results came back positive and Spears was devastated.
"I was really shocked," she recalled. "I was so angry at God for letting this happen to me."
Spears entered a "Jacob time" of wrestling with God, asking Him to heal her. She began writing on index cards Scriptures that talked of God’s unfailing love, His plans for the good of His people. "I would say, ‘God, this doesn’t feel like that,’" she said.
But Spears finally reached a point where she decided to trust God with her future and her life, even if that meant dealing with HIV and AIDS.
"He gave me this immediate, unbelievable sense of His presence and His peace," Spears said.
Several weeks later, she received the results from the longer HIV test — it was negative.
"He gave me my future back and my life back," Spears said. "But what He showed me about who He is and His character and how powerful He is was just an amazing experience.
"I’m so thankful for what I came out of there really knowing, not just with my head but with my whole heart."
Spears decided to share that knowledge, speaking to churches and groups around the United States as she wrapped up her medical education and began teaching at the University of Kentucky (UK) in Lexington.
While Spears had entered her medical training later in life, she also felt God calling her into career missions. That call led her to return to Tenwek.
Spears left in January, serving as a general surgeon at Tenwek through World Gospel Mission (WGM), based in Marion, Ind.
She will serve two-year terms with a six-month return to the United States in between terms.
She will be at Tenwek 10 months of the year and in Sudan for two months.
Her mother, Barbara Spears, said that while she has "a mother’s heart" and is concerned for her daughter’s safety, the power of prayer comforts her.
"She has a huge prayer support, and I just trust the Lord to take care of her," said Barbara Spears, a member of Southside Baptist Church in Etowah Baptist Association.
As for facing the memories of the trauma that occurred her first time at Tenwek, Carol Spears said she has not had any problems.
"I never even think about my trauma unless someone asks me or there is some other correlation," she said. "I know God has called me here. It is difficult at times to be so far away from friends and family and all that is familiar — but I love it here and I have a peace that this is where I am supposed to be."
Tenwek is a surgery referral center, as well as the primary hospital for the area, serving 1 million people, according to the WGM Web site.
The hospital’s staff of 500 treats more than 10,000 inpatients and 70,000 outpatients each year. It also performs approximately 3,000 major surgeries and delivers 2,500 babies annually.
"[W]e see quite a broad range of pathology," Carol Spears said. "It is a daunting task as a surgeon to be called on to help patients with not only their general surgical problems but also urology, pediatric surgery, neurosurgery, orthopedics, etc."
She is keeping a faculty appointment with UK in order to facilitate a partnership that will bring medical students to serve at the hospital.
She said along with the challenges of her new job, she continues to grow in her relationship with God. In a recent newsletter, she said, "I know that I am in a refining and growing time and I also know that God is the one who is truly ‘in control’ … I am fortunate to be in Kenya in a place I love doing surgery that I love."
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