All Roads Lead to Faith

Sitting in on appointments with Dr. Richard and sharing parting words with patients with Dr. Eric today, I couldn’t help but wonder... in the face of immense challenges—where it would be easy to fall into hopelessness—how do these beautiful people go on every day? When life throws unfair curveballs, when resources are scarce, when pain lingers longer than it should, how are they stronger than I could ever be? Not only do the amazing people of Coban (and further) rise above seemingly "limiting" circumstances, they show up with sparkling smiles, champion attitudes, and an unprecedented kindness.

My observed answer to this question is faith.
Faith in their deeply connected communities.
Faith in our medical team. 
Faith in God.

But it’s more than belief for these wonderful individuals—it’s a way of living. From the moment we arrived, they welcomed us in, not just into their clinic visits, but into their stories, their struggles, and their sacred moments. Today a beautiful woman who had known Dr. Eric and I for only minutes grabbed our hands, bowed with us, and began to pray with a depth that was humbling. Her faith was generous, immediate, and unguarded and this represents many of the people I have had the privilege to come in contact with throughout the week. 

But also, as I witnessed today, sometimes, we don’t have the answers or the resources for patients, even when we so badly want to. Sometimes all we can offer is acknowledgement and hope. But still—patients met us with trust. Still, they prayed. Not just for healing, but for us. 

This kind of faith is something I won’t forget. It’s a faith that doesn’t erase suffering, but somehow, transforms it.

Witnessing this kind of faith in the midst of struggle has not only moved me, it’s changed the way I show up here. In many ways, it’s made space for our own kind of faith to grow too. As students, we’ve been stretched. We’ve seen things we weren’t fully prepared for, we’ve felt the weight of wanting to help but not always knowing how, and in those moments, we’ve had to lean on each other immensely.

This trip has stripped away the small talk. We've gone from distant classmates to a family. We process the heavy moments together, share the quiet ones, laugh endlessly and rally when the day demands more of us than we think we can have to give. It’s become clear that with each other and the out-of-this-world medical team, we're not doing this alone. We all decided to lock in with each other and boy did we (Shoutout Lavender Ladies + John and Mason) 

As a whole, we’ve become a team in the truest sense.

And that, too, is faith. Faith that even in unfamiliar territory, you are not alone.

 I will leave Coban with something far more lasting that I ever thought possible: a witness to resilient faith, a deeper trust in community, and a circle of teammates who have become lifelong friends. This experience reminded me that healing isn’t just found in medicine—it’s found in presence and in prayer. 

And maybe that’s what this trip has truly taught me: that in the face of challenge, connection carries us. I'm grateful for this team. I'm grateful to be let into the lives of these patients. I'm grateful to have been selected for this experience. Because I have had the opportunity to witness, that at La Ciudad de Esperanza, all roads really do lead back to faith. 

Oh, and it's only been three days. So there's that. 

Karly