An Invitation Changes Lives: Join Novus Medicus for the 2024 Texas Mission Trip

By Dr. Seth Chauhan

Invitations change lives. In fact, all of salvation history is the story of God’s continual invitation for a deeper encounter with Himself. Saying “yes” to an invitation from Christ is often an invitation to an adventure. It usually requires some form of changing plans, leaving comfort behind or entering the unknown, all with the hope that God’s plan is better than anything we can imagine. While the Holy Spirit is constantly inviting us into union with God throughout our daily lives, sometimes God likes to shake things up in a bigger way to get our attention.

After being accepted into medical school, I felt a gentle knock on my heart to put my plan on hold and join the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). Gently, the Lord eased my fears and replaced anxiety of the unknown with childlike trust that the Lord would not let me drown in stepping out of the boat to follow Him. Looking back, I see how accepting that invitation changed both my life and the lives of so many others, further solidifying my faith that God is not limited by our fears.

Prior to starting my third year of medical school, I was given another invitation to lead a committee focused on bringing mission opportunities to the Catholic Medical Association (CMA). I was hesitant at first, but I had come to recognize the still small voice of Christ. I said yes, and faithfully, the pieces started to fall into place. Jesus called like-minded individuals into mission with me, and after a few months, I had an incredible team working with me to make the dream a reality.

From the start, we wanted to create a mission trip that would change lives. To do that, it had to be more than just another service opportunity but rather an encounter with Jesus in His healing ministry. Like so many others, I had an image of what I thought Catholic, Christ-centered health care could be, but had not yet seen these values exemplified in a way that I could emulate during my training. I often felt I was struggling against the grain to incorporate my faith into the practice of medicine and challenged by the pervading culture around me. It was as if I knew deep down there was a better way, but had no guide to help me find it.

Thankfully, one of our mission members pointed us towards Culture of Life Ministries in Harlingen, Texas where Dr. Stephen Robinson was practicing medicine in a radical way. He had said yes to giving up everything and providing Gospel-centered health care to the poor and marginalized in that community free of charge. The more I heard about him, the more I felt certain that this is where we needed to go. Over the next few months, all the details fell into place. We invited others to join the mission and in early February 2023 made the trek to south Texas.

During that week, we experienced first-hand what it meant to participate in the healing ministry of Christ. We started our day by spending time with Christ through the sacraments and prayer, then encountered Him in the people we served at the clinic, refugee center, nursing home, and each other. After practicing medicine in such sterile, efficiency-focused settings, it was incredibly refreshing to have the freedom to minister to our patient’s emotional and spiritual as well as physical needs by praying and listening to them. Watching Dr. Robinson and the other volunteers at Culture of Life Ministries treat the patients with love and respect gave us a real-life image of Catholic medicine. Finally, being on the trip with such an amazing group of like-minded individuals from across the country renewed our hope in the vocation God was calling us to and created an incredibly joy-filled week full of laughter and fun.

Christ’s invitation to “come and you will see” is presented to us every day. Like the disciples in the Gospel, He invites us to follow and remain with Him. For some, this may be a radical invitation to jump out of the boat and follow Him on mission. For others, it may be an invitation to dwell with Christ in the silence of prayer or for others to find Him in the faces of the sick. Regardless, He stands at the door and knocks. Open the door. Accept the invitation. Live the adventure.

The Missions Committee of Novus Medicus is looking for physicians and other medical professionals (PAs, NPs, PTs, nurses, etc.) to join us for our 2nd annual mission trip serving in Harlingen, TX from April 7-13th, 2024 with Culture of Life Ministries. This organization offers free Christ-centered medical care for those in need. For more information email David Talarico at davtal328@gmail.com or sign up here.

Seth Chauhan is a first-year family resident at Via Christi in Wichita, Kansas. He completed medical school at Louisiana State University School of Medicine and his undergraduate education at The University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. He led the Novus Medicus Mission Committee for the last two years and is interested in the subspecialty of underserved medicine. 

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