As a little girl, IM Regional Consultant Carmella Jones dreamed of one day being a nurse. Sure enough, decades later, Carmella was providing spiritual and physical care as director of a faith community nursing program.

It was a career Carmella could have nurtured for a lifetime, but God intervened with an unexpected plan.

Carmella (center left) with lead nurses (left and right) and lab technician (center right).

In 2003, a team from Carmella’s church arranged a short ministry trip to Guyana, the only predominantly English-speaking country in South America. She decided to go along. Nothing in her twenty-plus years as a nurse had prepared Carmella for what she experienced. “People walked forever just to receive care,” she remembers, “and they asked us to pray with them when they got there. For me, that was big.” She thought to herself, “Could God be calling me to a life of service in an international setting?”

Carmella had been a nurse — and a believer — long enough to know that every feeling isn’t specifically a “calling.” After a career in listening to patients, Carmella comprehended the value of listening to God. For fourteen years, Carmella listened and waited for clear direction from God. Meanwhile, she earned a Master of Divinity degree and continued her medical work.

Finally in 2017, after much discernment, Carmella understood her calling from God. She was commissioned as a global servant with International Ministries and was sent to Hungary.

“When people are hurting, it’s not uncommon for others to want to shut them up. And quickly,” Carmella says. But that’s not God’s (or Carmella’s) approach to people in pain.

In Hungary, Carmella teaches kids with special needs. When a child has a meltdown, Carmella sits with them — and listens. When their concerned parents show up for meetings, Carmella listens to them, too. As IM regional consultant for health and education in Europe, the Middle East, and Liberia, Carmella made her first trip to Liberia to help provide health consultation services.

How did she serve? As a listening presence.

Ricks Institute Clinic, an IM-supported school health clinic in Liberia.

In Liberia, staff members at the Ricks Institute Clinic, an IM-supported school health clinic, face overwhelming burdens — malaria, asthma, chronic disease, and onchocerciasis, commonly known as “river blindness” — and have few resources to combat them. Carmella traveled to Liberia where she provided medical and management insight for clinic staff members and leaders.

“One of the lab technicians was incredibly frustrated because he didn’t even have Clorox to do his job with. He needed a listening ear and help finding a solution.”

Staff also wanted to know…

• How do you run a 24-hour clinic with no lights at night?
• What can we do to help patients who are afflicted with malaria, a disease that always seems to be a prevalent issue?
• How do we help young women with menstrual health and hygiene when we have such limited supplies?
• And what do you do when you’re Carmella — who’s expected to provide solutions to these problems?

You observe before you speak. And then you build on what’s there.

Two nurses at Ricks Institute Clinic in Liberia.

“Liberia has a problem with malaria. Many sick patients stop taking their malaria medicine after one or two doses,” Carmella explains. “They feel better and decide to save the rest.” However, stopping the medicine often results in a more severe infection since the parasites are still active. It can even lead to chronic complications that persist into old age.

The clinic staff got nowhere by lecturing patients about compliance. So, Carmella watched, and waited, and listened. The staff noticed that patients often arrived with a friend, and one day, a nurse happened to remark, “This is what friends are for.”

“That was it!” Carmella said. “We could use friendships to help people stick with the treatment program.”

Thus, the foundation was laid for a peer-to-peer support program to help people comply with their malaria treatment. “We built on the pieces that were there,” Carmella says, “so everyone has a friend in place when they come to the clinic.”

Looking ahead, Carmella plans to develop the peer-to-peer support system further. She is also sketching out a new plan for menstrual health and hygiene. “Young ladies are missing school for days because of limited supplies, cramps, or soiling themselves on their way to school. We want to set up a ‘pink room’, a safe place for them to receive supplies, clean up, and get support.”

The “pink room” is just one of Carmella’s God-inspired ideas as she serves Hungary, Liberia, and other countries worldwide. She knows that when you listen to God, you wind up doing work bigger than you ever dreamed.