Thursday, May 31, 2012

Nathan Hockert



Meet Mr. Nathan Hockert, our second 
wonderful male on this young adult mission team!


Nathan graduated from Totino Grace High School in 2006 with Angela Rodgers. After high school, Nathan attended St. Olaf College and was involved with club hockey and lacrosse. In 2010, he graduated with a degree in both Biology and Religion with the hopes to someday attend graduate school to become a medical provider. In the meantime, however, he has been busy planning a year of volunteer work with the Luther Volunteer Corp. and working as a nurse assistant at U of M Medical Center. While this will be Nathan's first time going to Haiti, it will not be his first mission trip experience. Nathan has had several mission and service opportunities, one in particular being a service trip to Guatemala. 

Nathan and I both attended the same high school, but met 2 months ago when he inquired about the work I was doing in Haiti. At the time, I was actively seeking out another young man to join our team of predominately women. After explaining to Nathan about the mission and the work I have been involved in, I casually dropped a line about my young adult team leaving in June. In the following message from Nathan, he told me about the book he was reading called "Mountains Beyond Mountains" (which I hope to now read!). He says, "The book is non-fiction and is primarily anecdotal. The book hinges on Paul Farmer, whom is living the life I hope to live." Paul Farmer, a founding director of Partners in Health and a professor at Harvard, is an anthropologist and physician that has traveled the world to provide medical care to third world countries. It was a "God-thing" that Nathan was reading the book at the same time I was actively seeking out an additional male for our Haiti team. It was by no accident that Nathan came across my facebook posts and felt compelled to know more about my experiences in Haiti. Within several weeks of talking about the trip details, Nathan couldn't turn down the opportunity to travel to Haiti to witness the country for himself. I am so blessed that Nathan has responded to this call to serve in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and to join our team to serve some of the poorest people in the world. I know Nathan's gentle heart and kind-spirit will greatly impact the lives of the people we are about to serve.

Given the path Nathan is headed on and his passion for service, I have no doubt in my mind that he will pursue his dream of using his medical career to make a difference in the lives of those living in dire circumstances. I look forward to watching God's plans for Nathan unfold in Haiti this next week, especially since Nathan will have the opportunity to engage in 3rd world medicine.


Please lift Nathan up in prayer as he continues to prepare his heart and his mind for Haiti! May God provide for Nathan's needs at this time of preparation!! 


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