Hospital Elective: exceeded expectations
Living in Lille: exceeded expectations
Meeting God in France: exceeded expectations
So, I came to France for three reasons:
- To do my Dean’s elective for medschool.
- To experience the culture, and what it’s like to live in France.
- To see for myself what the spiritual atmosphere is like in France and how people are interceding for the country.
I’ve got another 2 weeks so go, but today was my last day and hospital. And this Saturday, I’ll be leaving Lille – the place which has been my beautiful home for the last 6 weeks! So, I thought I would give a little overview of my time here 🙂
HOSPITAL ELECTIVE
- 6 weeks in the service of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes at Hospital Huriez
- I thought it would be a good opportunity to brush up on my endocrinology as I sometimes find all the syndromes hard to remember. Plus, I figured having diabetes in therewould mean I had a better chance of understanding what was going on.
- Every week was different and I discovered the Service was very big and very varied! Got ALOT of clinical experience, made great friends with the portable ECG machine, the hospital photocopiers and the patient notes. Met some lovely medical students and doctors 🙂
- Just some of what I got to do: histories and examinations in French! Patient education days with the gestational diabetics and insulin dependant diabetes. Calculating sugar content in my lunch (and I got some free French recipes after!) Mega diabetic feet. Everything about insulin pumps! Exopthalmos.  Thyroid issues. Opthal. NEM, neurofibromatosis, pituatory tumours, head trauma, infective endocarditis. A bunch of genetic syndromes Basedow, Fabry, Steinert etc.
- P.S Medschool in France sounds super hard!! They work 24hrs sometimes (the students!!!) That’s not even legal back home.
- My thyroid has been imaged. It is normal. My blood sugar has been checked. It is also normal.
- I passed my elective and the consultant/head of Service was very lovely – he wrote some very nice comments in my evaluation, gave me a good mark, and gave me a lovely souvenir to take home! A book with photos and description (en francais) of Le Nord Pas-de-Calais.
- I met with the International Student Coordinator at CHR-Lille and it seems they are very keen on arranging a partnership and exchange program with Adelaide University! Yesssssssssssssss!!!!!! I’m also very keen and very willing to help with this.
- Planning to be back in Lille again one day!
LIVING IN LILLE
(Oui mes amis, I’m going to talk about you :P)
- I’ve made some amazing friends over here who I will really miss alot… ALOT! Including some vampires and loup-garous (werewolves) … 😛
- Christchurch has become my home church and I’ve been so blessed to have a beautiful family of Christ here in Lille to walk with and share with and love! I’m so thankful for their love and their prayers! Plus, they are super fun to hang out with! I love you all very much 🙂
- I went to L’Eglise de La Reconcilitaion one Sunday (a French church) and was so blessed by the living Spirit of God moving in that place. They coupled worship with prayer (adoration and intercession) and were worshippers in Spirit and in Truth. I felt they were a Psalm 150 church and I wish I had been able to worship and fellowship with them more often!
- My medfriends are awesome 🙂 Really lovely, really fun, really talented musicians, but I bet they’ll make amazing doctors! Such unforgettable memories of adventures in Lille, Paris, hanging chez vous, and out in snow! Yes, I learnt the real technique to snowman making and had a real battre de neige! Laughed so much with you all, love singing with you, running with you, NOT getting run over by cars. And I’m going to miss you all like crazy-ish!
- I’ve made it to Belgium and Germany (thanks to my beautiful church family), to Paris (thanks to my wonderful medfriends), and to London (with fellow Adelaidians and some Londoneers)
- I’ve eaten lots of delicious home cooked meals – thank you again to my lovely friends! I’ll try cooking some for the Adelaidians when I return 🙂 I’ve also eaten a copious amount of Galette de Rois! But it’s fun!
- I’ve danced waltz, swing, latin, Jamaican, macarena… and Danse de Les Canards (ie. the chicken dance except in France, it has a full set of French lyrics!)
- I have a favourite supermarket (Carrefour), jewellery shop (Didier Guerin), fabric store (Toto), shopping centre (Eurolille)… and then there’s The Sherwood (well, what I can I say)
- I’ve learnt language and culture and history and all sorts of other things! But most of all, I’m thankful for all the people I’ve met and the time we’ve been able to spend together!
MEETING GOD IN FRANCE
- Well He’s here, He’s working, and He’s loving.
- Honestly, I don’t know where to start when I think about my journeying with the Lord! He’s revealed His heart for France, for Israel and for people. He’s shown me my heart. He’s protected and provided for me in Lille – like I haven’t been in need of anything, and I have been alone in any places really either. I’ve seen a strong and persevering Spirit of Worship and Intercession in small groups of believers. I’ve heard testimonies of transformed lives. I’ve seen His beauty and His glory as I’ve lived in Lille. I’ve had the priviledge of partnering with Him in various ways. Psalm 63 was the word I received for this trip and the word of the Lord is alive and working!
- His face is literally everywhere – painted, sculptured, carved, written.
- I’m looking forward to spending the rest of eternity with Him! And, I’m also excited for the upcoming time of worship and intercession at Le Chateau Blanc, Thumeries. I want to know His heart for France 🙂
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