My name is Laudith Tatiana, and I have been a missionary for 7 years.
In August 2021, I started nursing training at Silo Institute. It was a time of intense theoretical learning. When everything was over and months passed, I decided to go to Bolivia to an Adventist clinic.
When I arrived at the clinic, fear overwhelmed my mind because I didn’t have much practical experience in procedures like catheterization, blood extraction, among others. But when I got there, they asked me to take charge of the kitchen for an event with around 100 people. I honestly got scared, and my reaction was, “I don’t want to.”
But they didn’t have anyone else in the first few days, and I thought, “I didn’t come here to cook.” I even complained. However, as the days went by and the event activities unfolded, I understood that God wanted to train me precisely in that area. The event passed, and I gradually got involved in the clinic’s activities, receiving patients with various illnesses. It wasn’t easy because it is a different culture from mine, and every day I asked God to give me love for the patients. Sometimes exhaustion would set in, and I just wanted to rest, but I remembered that I had to attend to people who needed help. Some of them arrived without hope, given up by hospitals. They came there with the desire to see a different place or to feel important to someone.
The fact that they felt a physical touch through a massage, clay therapy, in addition to intravenous fluids, saunas, thermal baths, and all the relevant procedures, made them feel more at ease. Many of them felt lonely. There was one particular patient who caught my attention. She was 32 years old and had cervical cancer, already metastasized. She was in a lot of pain, but she always talked about having a smile and giving thanks. One night, the doctor saw her test results and said, “There’s nothing more we can do with this patient.” My eyes welled up with tears as I saw her, so young.
A few days later, she told a pastor that her biggest dream was to get married. Immediately, the clinic team started planning her wedding, and it took place the next day! It was a very joyful afternoon for them. After the celebration, the patient’s condition worsened, and her vital signs were not looking good. The next day, she said to me, “I fulfilled my dream! I am happy!” But her vital signs showed no sign of improvement, although her face was radiant. A day later, she was taken home, and three days later, she passed away.
From this experience, I learned to have more sympathy and love for the suffering, and to depend more on God, who is the only one who can grant true peace and strength of spirit.