I’m down to Barbie Band-Aids. Sorry, dude,” nurse Joe Thomas tells a future Baptist overseas worker in his mid-20s after giving him a shot.
Thomas and Katrina Otto are longtime volunteer nurses at immunization clinics at the International Learning Center (ILC) near Richmond, Va. During the two-month orientations to prepare workers for service with the International Mission Board (IMB), the nurses administer shots for everything from rabies to Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever.
Otto, an emergency room nurse at Providence Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan., has been volunteering since 1999. When she accompanied a friend to the IMB for an orientation in 1998, she realized the shot clinics were an excellent opportunity to use her nursing skills. She also has a special place in her heart for Baptist workers — her parents were North American Mission Board representatives in Alaska.
Thomas, a nurse in the intensive care unit at St. Luke’s South Hospital in Overland Park, Kan., heard about the opportunity through Otto, a fellow church member at Lenexa Baptist Church. After going with Otto to an orientation at ILC in 2000, Thomas committed to returning as a volunteer as a way to be involved in missions while using his God-given talents.
Four times a year, Thomas and Otto fly to Richmond from Kansas at their own expense. Airfare isn’t cheap, but God has always provided. The nurses say the rewards of volunteering far outweigh the cost.
“One of our goals is to be a support to the full-time medical staff and provide them with what they need,” Otto said. “God spoke to us about coming, and I’m honored to be a part of it.”
Vaccinating hundreds of IMB representatives and their families at each orientation is a feat that IMB’s full-time medical staff couldn’t accomplish without Thomas and Otto’s help. This past summer, 3,000 shots were administered. At one session, 486 shots were given in just two and a half hours.
An average of 12,000 to 15,000 shots are dispensed at ILC per year which, according to Sandy Hammack, an IMB clinical nurse, makes IMB one of the largest administrators of immunizations on the East Coast.
The volume of work makes IMB’s medical staff appreciate Thomas and Otto’s servant hearts even more.
“It’s significant because they not only come at their own expense, they use their vacation time,” Hammack said. “They take off four times a year — for each of the orientation sessions.”
But their dedication doesn’t stop there. Both nurses sometimes work the graveyard shift so they are able to fly out for an IMB shot clinic that same morning. They are careful to plan missions trips and work schedules around clinic dates. They’ve even turned down job offers because they wouldn’t be able to volunteer at ILC.
“We’ve established a certain skill set, and to get to use it to further the Kingdom, that’s really enjoyable,” Thomas said. “Ever since I became a Christian, I had an interest in missions. … [T]his is a place I can contribute to international missions on a continuing basis and do my part.”
Spending time with the IMB representatives and getting to hear stories is what Thomas finds most rewarding. “We [have] heard some fantastic stories of God working through them and how they were called and the conflicts they go through to get here and the commitment they make to go,” Thomas said.
Another benefit is seeing firsthand how Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Cooperative Program funds are used. The immunizations, some of which can cost $100 or more, are paid for by Southern Baptist contributions.
One sacrifice both nurses make is time away from their families. Otto’s husband is disabled and Thomas’ wife is continuing to recover from a serious car accident. But the prayer networks they’ve established are a major support. In addition to their church, they have prayer partners in the IMB community.
When they aren’t busy with clinics and their jobs, Thomas and Otto frequently go on missions trips. On several occasions, they’ve encountered workers on the field they had inoculated at ILC. These full-circle moments remind the two that every Christian plays a part in helping fulfill the Great Commission.
“God is doing fantastic things and He’s not calling ‘supermen,’” Thomas said. “He’s calling ordinary people who are willing to commit in obedience, and it is just such an encouragement to come [to ILC].” (BP)
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