The Full Life
December 10, 2024
Eliya Moody
“Eliya, what in the world do you want to do with your life?” is the typical response I receive upon telling people that my majors are Missions and pre-Occupational Therapy. To many, the two are complete opposites – it is a matter of faith versus science. But to me, they fit seamlessly together.
I fell in love with missions on a middle school trip to Cincinnati, Ohio. Though I wasn’t far from home, my heart felt like it made a giant leap. For the first time, I felt the deep joy and fulfillment that comes with living for God, and I never wanted to go back to how I lived before. I devoted my life to missions/ministry and ended up as a Bible major at Lipscomb. But something was still missing.
I found Occupational Therapy (OT) a few years later. I fell in love with the way OTs use practical approaches to help others develop the skills they need to participate in daily living. At first, I was a bit confused about how I could do both, but now as a Junior in college, I see that my life is unique in the way the two are intertwined. If Jesus is “the way and the truth and the life” (John 14:6), then how can an OT help someone to find holistic life without helping them to find Jesus? And how can someone live into the fullness of the life they were created for if they cannot accomplish the basic skills of daily life? I cannot wait to pursue the two together, using medical missions to further the kingdom of God.
This understanding of how missions and OT intersect in my own life is what makes this summer’s mission trip to Uganda so meaningful to me. I will be traveling with a team of other students and leaders to Jinja, Uganda through Lipscomb Missions. My team and I will be partnering with The Kibo Group, a program that seeks to provide physical, emotional, and spiritual health by working alongside communities and promoting lasting change. Kibo’s holistic, long-term, and culture-preserving approach to missions is immensely inspiring. I am excited to learn how to serve and help others in a healthy way and use the lessons I learn in my future career.
As the holiday season quickly approaches, I am reminded of the holistic agenda that Christ brought into the world. Jesus came to heal the sick, feed the hungry, and include the outcast. He came to restore the whole of the human condition– physically, emotionally, and spiritually. That is how I want to live my life, too. As I prepare for this mission, I reflect on how Christ’s example of gentle leadership challenges me to seek the good of others in every aspect of life.
I am excited to see how God will use this trip to train me and deepen my faith. Please keep my team and I in your prayers as we prepare to embark on this incredible journey.
Not a Trip
Category: Student Life