Dear Family and friends,

To say the last three years of my life have been eventful would be not only the understatement of the century, but a gross disservice to God’s hand in moving me(no matter how badly I refused to move) in the direction he needs me. I’m pretty stubborn when it comes to giving up my vision of what I believe my life should look like. He’s had to be pretty direct with me.

After what sometimes feels like divine redirection, I’ve landed in Denver, Colorado where I’ve been working at a faith-based health care clinic for the past year. I had no idea exactly what I was getting into when I took the job as a patient advocate there last August. When I was thinking about where it might take me, in all my uncertainty, I knew that one thing was true:

I’ve always felt a calling towards a people-focused career in fulfilling my vocation, one where I can encounter people in the moments in their lives that they need to be lifted up a little bit. There have been countless moments in the last three years that God has shown me just how weak I am alone. In this, he’s also delivered ten times over on making sure I in turn am overwhelmingly flooded with support from those around me. That includes you. Thank you for being God’s hands for me.

I need God, I need people, and people need people. In my career I want to be the person for others that so many were for me. Someone that mimics Christ’s unrelenting love for us in fighting for our lives. Everyone deserves that.

Bella Health and Wellness hasn’t just given me the opportunity to do this, but they’ve given me every single tool I could need to fall in love with and boldly pursue it. Daily staff prayer in the morning, mass in our chapel almost weekly, gentle but direct support from my managers and team, and most importantly, a model to follow in providing dignified healthcare. As I’ve discovered, monotony in healthcare has become all too normal in modern society. People are looked at as list of symptoms, not an intricately designed masterpiece, as we were created. At Bella, we are reminded every minute that the person we are caring for in front of us is just that. A person. And as such, according to our faith, they deserve the very best of our care and our sincere imitation of the tender love offered to us by Jesus.

If you didn’t know, Bella was an idea that was placed on the hearts of our founders, mother-daughter duo Dede and Abby Sinnett, while on a medical mission trip in the high mountains of Peru, in a small city named Ayaviri. Where over 50% of their population is stuck in poverty. They lack clean water, food, clothes and the every day comforts that we don’t ever have to think about. They lack healthcare. Every year, Bella partners with this mission to send some of their healthcare providers and team members back, to continue to care for and love on the people of Ayaviri. If you’d like to learn more about this mission or see pictures from past years, I’ve linked the website below!

This year I’ve been blessed to receive this opportunity with the support of our managers. I believe that God is calling me to serve, if only for a short time, and offer everything I can to care for these people.

The mission is now. I’m sending you this from the airport in fact! Truth be told, I had been talking about the possibility of attending this mission for months, but it was hard to make it happen. I just bought tickets last week! I will return to Denver next Sunday. As for the trip itself, although I’m supported by Bella insofar as the time I’m gone for this mission trip is considered ‘work time’, I do have to contribute financially to getting myself there. For the week, I’m financially responsible for $925 for basic food, lodging, and transportation and my airfare, which was $1545.74. The total amounting to $2,470.74.

I humbly ask you to prayerfully consider supporting me as I(kind of blindly) follow this calling. Anything you’re willing to give, I would appreciate. If you can’t contribute financially, please pray for me and the other people I’m going with throughout the week. Pray that God grants us the strength to minister to His people in Ayaviri, and most importantly pray for the people of Ayaviri. Pray that they feel God’s presence while we’re there. Pray that they continue to feel His hand and the Holy Spirit, guiding their hearts and bringing them comfort throughout their difficult lives.

Regardless, I would be overjoyed to bring your prayer intentions with me on this trip. Please send your prayer intentions to me so that I may carry them while on mission.

As always, thank you for your continued prayers and support in my life. I’ll be praying for you, please continue to pray for me.

In Christ,

Catherine Gisla

https://bellamissions.org