Steury Scholarship Interview

On our way to Bristol, TN, exhausted and brain-dead from a long week of end-of-the-year teaching, we could hardly believe that such a day had come. The opportunity to meet and glean wisdom from Dr. David Stevens and all the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA) staff was too good to be true—a gift that was freely given us by God.

For the past year, the biggest question besides “Will we get into med school?” has been “How are we going to pay for our education?” There have been three main tracks all along that we’ve considered. The first was the military. We could join the Air Force, be taken care of for the next 7 years, and then pay the military back with 3-4 years of service. The second option was the National Health Service Core (NHSC). We would agree to work for any underserved area the government places us in for 4 yrs, and in exchange, they would pay for our schooling and provide stipends to live on. But both of us would have to get that for it to work. Lastly, there is the CMDA Steury Medical Missions scholarship of 100 grand for doctors planning to go immediately on the mission field after school. But they only give out one per year, and the chance of one of us getting that seemed too good to be true.

When David received an email saying he was 1 of 3 finalists for the CMDA missionary scholarship, we were too excited for words. Is this really happening? Could we really get this scholarship? We told as many people as possible about David's upcoming interview and asked for prayer for God's will to be done.

The day of the interview, we met the other two candidates. They are both amazing believers. One young lady named Kristin was a practicing PA in Africa until she realized she needed more training to be as useful as she would like on the mission field, so she went to medical school and just finished year one.

Both candidates are in financial need, just like us, and we all have the same goals and passions. Therefore, going into the interview, there was no stress. We knew that God would give the money to whom he wished, and that He would in fact, without a doubt, provide for all of us in his timing in different ways.

Sadly, we arrived late for chapel because I cannot follow directions. When we arrived, we couldn’t believe how beautiful the CMDA building is. It looks like a mountain lodge, and later, Gene Rudd told us stories about all the amazing things God did in people’s lives during the construction project that took place in 2000.

First, David and I were given a tour along with the female candidate while the other male candidate was interviewed for an hour. We were able to meet and talk with many amazing people, like Susan Carter and Daniel Toleman. David had a blast introducing himself to Susan Carter as the guy who sent her the message, “Hey, hot love, baby face…” one day when he pressed reply instead of forward when trying to send me a CMDA article. She laughed and laughed. Apparently, everyone in CMDA knows about that.

While the female candidate was interviewing, we sat and talked with Mrs. Foulkes, whose husband was a roommate of Ernest Steury. They were missionaries in Africa for 23 years. Later, Jim Foulkes gave us his book about his adventures called To Africa With Love. I later read it over vacation; it was phenomenal.

At last the time arrived for us to interview. We sat down at a long conference table with Debbie (Ernest Steury’s daughter), Jim Foulkes, and Dr. David Stevens. Dr. Stevens began by asking David to tell about himself—his upbringing, education, spirituality, and call to medicine. The interview was a hour long, and sadly, it wasn't our best performance. We luckily got to go out to eat with the panel afterward. I know that David interacted a lot with Jim and Dr. Stevens at lunch. He is so good with people one on one. We really enjoyed our time there.

While the committee went up to decide on who the scholarship would be given to, we went on a trail with the other candidates. We then said our goodbyes and started our 4 hr trip home.

It was in the car that David was really hit with the reality of how off the interview truly was. He was really quiet and frustrated on the way home. My heart went out to him because I know I would have felt the same way. The sadness and uneasiness went on into the night, and it woke us both up in the morning as we tried to prepare ourselves for a crazy last Friday of school. All day, I just felt emotionally exhausted and sick to my stomach over the whole thing. It was safe to say that we both agreed it would be a miracle if God gave the $ to us.

I am so glad that our weaknesses cannot hinder God’s plans—or else we’d both be sunk. David has indeed been praying for humility lately, and I think God is constantly answering him. This morning, we are comforted by Phil 4; we cannot be anxious about the future. We must trust God. I thank you for what we’ve learned through all this, even though we had to learn the hard way.

Thy will be done.