Ginn Family Missions

October 8, 2023

Welcome to our blog! Through this blog, we hope to share glimpses into our lives, our calling, and our journey as we go to Papua New Guinea as medical missionaries.

Our Journeys:

Abigail:

For as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a doctor. Even back in elementary school when people would ask me “what do you want to be when you grow up?” my answer was always “I want to be a doctor.” In high school, I worked hard to get good grades with the hopes of studying biology in college, and ultimately, attending medical school. To be honest with you, I didn’t even think about medical missions until I was in high school. While attending my oldest sister’s college graduation, I heard a missionary couple speak of their ministry in Asia, and I very distinctly felt that God was speaking to me about becoming a missionary. That terrified me. No one in my family is a missionary, so I didn’t know the first thing about how to become one. And I am very much a homebody, so the prospect of leaving my family and friends to move across the world was scary. For a while, I kept my calling to myself, but God was still quietly reminding me of it. It was also during high school that one of my teachers, as part of a large research paper, challenged me to research and write about the obstacles that people with HIV/AIDs in sub-Saharan Africa experience in trying to obtain treatment due to the high cost of medications. The process of researching and writing that paper opened my eyes to human suffering and to the inequities that exist for people with treatable diseases. As I reflect on that time, it is clear to me now that God was using that research paper as a means of fueling my desire to become a doctor, and ultimately reviving His calling on my life to serve as a medical missionary.  

Let’s fast forward a tiny bit to college. I was studying biology at Olivet Nazarene University, again, with the plans of attending medical school. I was sitting in chapel one fall day in 2010 when the mission trips for the spring/summer were introduced. I was nearly brought to tears when the speaker talked about an 8 week mission trip to Zambia, geared toward students pursuing medical careers, that would focus on providing HIV/AIDs education in local churches. This was one of those moments that I knew God was directing me to serve on that trip. Despite some personal challenges, I made it to Zambia. It was a transformative experience to spend my days ministering with and to the people of Zambia. That trip reaffirmed the calling God had placed on my life to become a medical missionary, and I was ready to share that calling with my friends and family. 

About 1 year after returning from Zambia, I was a senior in college and started dating a dashing young man named Brian Ginn. When praying about the man I would someday marry, I knew I needed someone who would support and encourage me in my own call, so what a gift it was to be dating (and then ultimately marry) a man who had experienced his own call to medical missions (more on that later). I was also accepted into medical school at Michigan State University, which meant I was one step closer to my dream of becoming a doctor. In March 2017, I matched into a pediatrics residency in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I was intimidated by the prospect of moving to Chicago, but God has used this city to enrich my life in ways I did not think possible. I have met and cared for patients from countless cultural backgrounds and have listened as patients share their stories with me. I have also had opportunities to learn about different religious practices and share my faith with patients and colleagues. During my residency training, I had to think about what kind of practice I would join after graduation. Initially, I thought that I would join an outpatient practice and be a general pediatrician, but God had other plans. I felt a nudge toward pursuing a fellowship (additional medical training in a sub-specialty) in hospice and palliative medicine. Some of you may know that hospice is a philosophy of care provided to patients at the end of life, whereas pediatrics is the field of medicine dedicated to caring for children, which is generally on the other end of the life spectrum from hospice care. Who am I to tell God what to do, so I applied to hospice and palliative medicine fellowship and completed the program in July 2023. Being a pediatrician who is also a hospice and palliative medicine physician has given me the unique opportunity to care for children and now adults who are battling significant illnesses. I have seen God through my patients and have been humbled by the testimonies I have been privileged to share in. 

Before I officially started my fellowship, Brian and I had applied to a program with Samaritan’s Purse called the Post-Residency Program. The goal of this program is to support and equip doctors who have just completed residency or fellowship training to serve as missionary doctors. During the application process, we spent many hours reflecting on our journeys and praying about what God wanted us to do. It was very clear that God was still calling us to serve as medical missionaries, and we are so humbled that He chooses to use us for His kingdom. So here we are, preparing to be medical missionaries to Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea. This calling is 10+ years in the making and we are eager to see how God will continue to work in our lives.

I would not have made it to this place without the unending love and support of my parents, sisters, husband, in-laws, and many many friends. So, thank you thank you thank you. 

Brian:

I would like to share my testimony not in terms of when I gave my life to Christ, for that happened at a young age, but when God called me into medical missions. It started with an interest in medicine starting junior year of high school. At that time, my interest was mostly selfish. Being a doctor was an esteemed profession that historically paid well, I could be respected and everyone would know how smart I was. But I knew that it was a long road with much schooling and many hours, so I wasn’t sure if it was right for me.

I planned to enter college in the fall of 2010 and be a biology major, with plans to apply to medical school. In July of that year was my final mission trip with my high school youth group. We were in Wagner, South Dakota and I was part of a wood-splitting crew. On Wednesday morning July 21, 2010, during devotions I read the tenth chapter of Luke. “For the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” I knew God was calling me to be a worker for Him, but I didn’t know what that looked like. Should I pursue the long road to becoming a doctor? Should I find something else? That morning I prayed in earnest that God would reveal his plans for my life’s work. I prayed specifically that He would reveal to me if His call was that I become a physician by letting me help treat someone with an injury that day: The day progressed and I went on with my wood splitting duties. My splitting maul got stuck in a knotted log and one of my teammates came with a sledge hammer to pound it through. As he pounded I felt a pop in my left arm and blood started trickling down. A metal chip from the back of the axe had broken off and become shrapnel. The cut was not deep and I set about cleaning and bandaging it. As I did so, I realized that God had indeed provided someone with an injury to treat: me! Along with this was a quiet reassurance that medicine was the field He was calling me to.

Fast forward two years to the summer after my sophomore year of college. College was going well, but in pursuing my biology degree I found that I equally loved the human biology of medicine and the part of the field dedicated to ecology and conservation. I felt torn between the two. Did God really call me into medicine? Or maybe I should become an ecologist and work to educate and preserve the natural world that He has created. I was on a mission trip to Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea (PNG). I figured this trip would clearly show me which field God was calling me to. The trip was led by Dr. Mike and Nancy Pyle. Dr. Pyle is a general surgeon and was one of my college professors at Olivet Nazarene University. He’s an amazing man who served as a missionary surgeon in Swaziland (present day Eswatini) for four years and he and his wife are such empowerers of young people pursuing careers in medicine. The experience was incredible. I saw missionary doctors do amazing things and treat people through the love of Christ. I also got to experience the vast beauty in the mountains, plants, and animals of tropical PNG. I left for the trip expecting a clear pull toward either medicine or ecology, but I came home from the trip even more unsure. Unsure to the point of despair. So I prayed. Again, in earnest, I prayed that God would clearly reveal his plan for me. And He did. There was no flash of light or clash of thunder, just a peace that completely enveloped me. He not only affirmed that He was calling me to be a physician. He was calling me into full time medical missions!

This was not something I had even considered before. But the “perks” that initially drew me toward medicine (the money, the status, etc.) no longer held any allure for me. God had called me to serve in His plan and He began changing my heart and mind in order to do so (and He continues to shape me to this day). 

Not only did God give me the gift of a clear calling, but that summer I also met a particular young lady named Abigail. I soon learned that she had also experienced a call into medical missions when in high school. We got married 4 years after that and she continues to be my biggest supporter in following God’s call on my life!

There were still tough days, but the calling never went away. Despite an average application, I got into medical school, where God provided mentors to support both the medical and spiritual aspects of my call. I then matched into general surgery residency in Chicago. Chicago was never a place that Abigail and I saw ourselves living or working, but it has held so many wonderful and unforeseen benefits for us throughout our training. 

And then He led us to Samaritan’s Purse, who paired us with a hospital that had need of a surgeon and a pediatrician… Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua New Guinea. And that is where we are now – grateful for our calling, confident in the One who goes before us, and excited for the ways in which we will serve!

Why Are We Going?

Not infrequently we are asked the question: why are you going overseas? Many people cannot understand why someone would move far away from friends and family, leave the prospect of a high-paying career, work in a resource-poor area, and leave behind the lifestyle that we enjoy in the first world. So why are we going? The answer is deceptively simple: because we are called. We are not going because it will be easy, or to feel good about ourselves, or to run away from problems, or because it will be a vacation; we’re going because God has called us to serve in this way. Everyone is called to serve, and this is one of the ways in which He has called us. It’s daunting, anxiety-provoking, and overwhelming at times, but we know this is what we are called to do, and so we look forward to it with eager anticipation, despite all the obstacles it presents.

Timeline:

As of July 2023, we have both completed our medical training. We are waiting for some official paperwork to be processed in Papua New Guinea before we can book our flights, but we are hopeful to be en route to PNG in January 2024. In the meantime, we are enjoying this season of life where we have more time together with our son and family.