Winter 2012 - Wayland Baptist University Alumni Association

Wayland grad and physician Dr. John Blevins addresses students as the
guest speaker for the 2012 Homecoming School of Mathematics and
Sciences guest lecture. Blevins, who practices medicine in Midland, recently
went on a medical mission trip to Uganda.
8 footprints
“If you get a
chance to travel,
travel, especially
to a third-world
country. God still
is asking that
question, ‘Who
can I send?’
“Dr. John Blevins
BS’99, MA’03
to follow his calling this past summer when he
spent several days on a medical trip to Uganda.
A group from Fort Portal, Uganda had visited his
church in Midland and had asked for help. Blevins
explained that he had not been able to attend
the actual service but when his wife, Lisa, called
him and told him he needed to come meet with
the visitors he got to the church as quickly as he
could.
The doctor ended up as part of a team that
did medical work in some very remote areas of
the country — areas where there was only a small,
ill-equipped clinic and a single nurse practitioner
treating all of the people of the region.
Blevins explained that the trip was very
eye-opening on a lot of levels. To begin with,
because of the poverty in the rural area where
he was working, the medical professionals were
thrilled with anything they could get their hands
on. His team had put together 29 pallets of donated
medical supplies — material that was expendable
in the United States — that were seen as a
true blessing to the people of Uganda.
He also was amazed at the level of medical
need in the region and how God was able to use
his commitment to serve as a way to meet that
need.
“I saw some very, very, very sick kids,” he said
(see related story on page 9).
In concluding his talk to the students, Blevins
encouraged them to take their time at Wayland
seriously and be grateful for the opportunity to
get an education at a faith-based university. He
encouraged them to dream big and take advantage
of any opportunity they had to travel and
expand their worldview.
“I’m going to encourage you guys, if you get
an opportunity to go on a trip like this, go,” he
said. “If you get a chance to travel, travel, especially
to a third-world country. God still is asking
that question, ‘Who can I send? Who can I send?’”
Finally, he told them to stay focused and
strong because sometimes it was a long road that
had to be travelled to get from vision to reality.
“It took me until I was 35 years old to get to
do what I was called to do when I was 17,” he
said.