As most of you know, I am a Flemish-American missionary doctor, and I have come back for a short time to Belgium to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with my family, and to do some much needed medical examinations before I leave again.
I met a lady online who gives every month toward my medical mission work in the countries I have gone to, including the country I just came from. Her name is Elsa. She is from Canada. I thought she was from the USA.
Although I am still very tired and recuperating from all the work we just did in the Andes and the Amazon, Elsa pushed me to record an interview before the end of the year, since you might still consider tax-deductible gifts before December 31st, which was coming fast. I know it was a pretty narrow window of time, but it was the only way, as I had just come out of the 110 degree Fahrenheit jungle, where my team and I were surrounded by 2730 wildfires, working to save the lives of as many children, elders and other people as we could.
Elsa wanted me to tell the whole story, from my childhood on, and I warn you that it became a pretty long interview, 56 minutes, as she wanted to see the red line.
The red line that God defines if you have a passion for something, or you really want to set your love in action.
Again, I am sorry that it became so long, and that it is in broken English, as I normally speak Spanish and Flemish. In it, you will hear about my aunt, and how she introduced me to what became my lifelong passion. You will also hear about some very difficult early experiences doing my best to help the poorest of the poor, and how those experiences motivated me even more.
God bless you all very much in the coming year. Rik and Carolien, together with our medical teams, who are already much younger than me and do not stop working in the field.
