Dr. Christelle Gbiatene Kasoki
Anesthesiology Resident
AIC Kijabe Hospital
Kenya
“I never imagined I would end up in anesthesia,” says Dr. Christelle Gbiatene Kasoki, a second-year anesthesiology resident with PAACS at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. “But through PAACS, I can do what I love and fulfill the Great Commission.”
After medical school, Dr. Kasoki began working as a general practitioner, often caring for pediatric patients. But something was missing. “Faith was never part of the conversation,” she recalls. “Medical training is often separate from spiritual life. But with PAACS, I get to study medicine and the Bible, and that’s been amazing for me.”
She knew she wanted to do medicine but never imagined she would go into anesthesia. The year she and her husband married, he was selected for the PAACS general surgery program at Bongolo Hospital in Gabon. After his graduation, the couple moved to Liberia. There, her husband witnessed patients suffering serious anesthesia-related complications. “I remember thinking, if I could do this [anesthesia], I could help.”
Already familiar with PAACS, she saw God open a door when its first anesthesiology program began at AIC Kijabe. Now as a second-year PAACS resident, she finds great joy in integrating her faith into her daily work. “Some patients don’t expect doctors to talk about Jesus. But when we do, it opens hearts. I have had people say, ‘Wow, you are a doctor? I never imagined a doctor would talk about the Bible.’ It shows them a different way.” Moments like these remind her that her work is also a ministry where she can offer a glimpse of Christ’s love and truth in unexpected places.
She now finds joy in weaving her faith into daily patient care. One recent encounter left a lasting impression. A woman with severe preeclampsia had just come out of surgery, and her condition was rapidly worsening. “She wasn’t my patient, I was just walking by. But I felt God prompt me to stop.” The woman could barely speak, but Dr. Kasoki gently asked if she could pray with her. “I took her hand, prayed, and left.”
The next day, the woman had improved. When she saw Dr. Kasoki she said, "Thank you, I was so down, I could not even pray for myself." Dr. Kasoki was just passing through, but God drew her attention to this woman, and she is so glad that she listened. Her training with PAACS has shaped her to stay spiritually alert, to care with compassion, and to let her faith guide her in every encounter.
Dr. Kasoki reflects, “Even when we can’t always change the physical outcome, we can still share that Jesus is present. That is what makes PAACS different, we are training to care for both the body and the soul.”
