In 2018, while working as a research medical officer, God awakened in me a desire to share the Gospel more consistently, energetically, and regularly. The more I thought about how I was to do that, the more I kept arriving at becoming a pastor as a possible solution. I also found myself wondering what I was meant to do with my medical degree. I loved medicine, and becoming a pastor was going to be just as demanding as being a doctor, yet I felt called to both, to offer what I have come to call a “double cure”: the Gospel cure for sin and physical healing for sickness. PAACS became the place where this calling found its home.
I began training in 2021 at Malamulo Hospital, and from the start I felt right at home in surgery. I loved the often immediate results the field provides. A patient presenting with an obstruction or severe pain could receive their solution within hours and walk home a few days later. I was also struck by the compassion shown by my attendings, unexpected in a field often stereotyped as harsh. Their kindness, along with the patience of my colleagues as I struggled and learned, removed any sense of being an imposter and motivated me to strive for more.
The multinational nature of PAACS broadened my understanding of culture, how to respect differences, how to think differently, and how to learn from others. Training in Malawi during my first year, I knew PAACS was bigger than my hospital, but it was at the Junior and Senior Residents’ Conferences at Brackenhurst that I truly understood the size of the family to which I belonged. Even more remarkable was that we were bound together not only by surgery, but by a shared trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I never felt out of place at these gatherings; conversations began easily at the Junior Residents’ Conference in February 2022 and continued just as naturally at the Senior Residents’ Conference in October 2024.
As I approached my final year, I could sense the end coming. I realized how much I had learned from my trainers, and I often paused in amazement, asking God how it was possible that I would soon graduate as a general surgeon. The thought of the potential impact I might have in my community filled me with both nervousness and excitement. I prayed more in my final year than in any other, asking God to preserve my life so that I might use the knowledge and skills He had entrusted to me over these five years.
The climax of this journey was my graduation from PAACS and COSECSA. It was a moment that left me feeling both significant and insignificant. I felt significant because church leaders, representatives of ministries of health, and government officials all gathered to witness our sending off. At the same time, I felt insignificant because I am a sinner saved by grace, undeserving of anything from a holy God. I felt rightly small as I sat in awe of the traditions of graduation, the attire, the speeches, the procession, and the long history they represent.
I leave PAACS training holding tightly to the charge of 2 Timothy 2:2: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses, entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” My prayer is that I will continue to share the gospel, and the knowledge and skills of surgery, with those in need, and to do so with compassion.
Joseph Mkandawire, MD
2025 PAACS Graduate
Malamulo Adventist Hospital, Malawi
