治疗身体 & 灵魂

米塞克·阿巴特继承了她父亲一生中所体现的敬虔和关心他人的精神. 为他, it meant becoming a theology professor in their home country of Ethiopia, 然后在康考迪亚欧文. For Miseker, the path is in the field of medicine. 她最近在加州大学欧文分校获得医学学位，并在哈佛大学获得公共卫生硕士学位. She heads now to Cornell University for her surgical residency.

我们的目标, 她说, is to use everything she has received to help those lacking medical access, 特别是在非洲.

“I feel like I’ve always been on a discovery path,米塞克说. “The question I had for God was, ‘What is my purpose?“我知道我是有福的, privileged and had opportunities that so many people wish they had, and I needed to find a way to maximally give back the opportunities I received.”

这家人去欧文康考迪亚大学的旅程始于她父亲在高中时的精神觉醒, 这让他的许多亲戚感到震惊. Eshetu Abate是一名优秀的学生，在学术考试中取得了如此高的分数，以至于埃塞俄比亚的皇帝, 海尔·塞拉西一世, visited his school (in a rural region seven hours south of Addis Ababa, 并赏给他一块金表. 而不是在后来统治这个国家的共产党德格政权中接受领导培训, 米塞克的父亲从事神学研究，并受到挪威传教士的庇护，他们给了他奖学金，让他进入亚的斯亚贝巴的梅肯耶苏斯神学院学习. He finished his PhD in 1988 at Concordia Seminary in St. 路易.

“很多人劝他留在美国.S. 因为金正日政权的剧变, but he went back and worked at the seminary in Addis as a professor, 然后作为院长,米塞克说.

这就是我开始考虑传教工作的原因. I couldn’t continue as though things were normal here. I knew I needed to do things with the opportunities I received.

Miseker was born in Addis, two weeks after the overthrow of the Derg regime in 1991.

At age seven, the family moved to Norway for two years as her father taught in churches
整个斯堪的纳维亚半岛和她的母亲, Amarech, continued to teach and advocate for women’s empowerment within the church and society. 当他们搬回埃塞俄比亚时, 第一世界和第三世界状况的巨大差异引起了年轻的米塞克的注意.

“挪威与亚的斯亚贝巴非常不同, so it was kind of a shock and a question that lingered in my mind,她说。. “I wanted to understand why the disparities existed, but I was too young to delve into that and didn’t wrestle with it too much. 这些问题搁置了一段时间. 我以为我会继续在埃塞俄比亚生活.”

A few years later the family made a permanent move to Irvine, where Dr. 阿巴特成为了崔大学的神学教授. For Miseker, the transition was extremely difficult.

“It felt like a loss to come here and start a new life,” she recalls. “留下你所知道的一切, you start missing your family and then it hits you that this is forever. 我一直在问，‘为什么这是我的生活?’”

她经历了一种类似于幸存者的负罪感，因为她拥有如此多的机会，而埃塞俄比亚的许多人却没有.

“这就是我开始考虑传教工作的原因,她说。. “我想成为像我父亲一样的神学家. I couldn’t continue as though things were normal here. I knew I needed to do things with the opportunities I received. 在尔湾，人们都很热情，我也有朋友，但这从来都不是我的生活. When you grow up in a different place, you can’t ignore it.”

她的父亲在长滩和洛杉矶建立了两个教堂，同时也在CUI教书. 她的母亲, who earned a master of philosophy in religious studies and a bachelor of arts in theology, had been a professor of women’s studies at the seminary in Addis. 她仍然深入参与当地的事工，并努力为埃塞俄比亚教会和社会中的年轻女性创造领导机会, 同时提倡反对有害的文化传统，如早婚和劳动不平等.

康考迪亚教授. 迈克尔·杨博士. Ken Ebel和Dr. 约翰·肯尼 were instrumental in everything I did.

During Miseker’s undergraduate years at Concordia, 癌症开始夺走她父亲的生命，她面临着辍学和他在一起的选择, or pressing on with school and missing some of his last moments.

她向 Dr. 约翰·肯尼她的分析化学教授.

“我们一起聊天，一起祈祷, and I said there will be many semesters when you can retake this class, but only this time will be set aside for you to be at the bedside of your father,” Dr. 肯尼记得. “I reminded her that the order in which we do things is God first, 然后是我们的家庭, 然后我们的职业生涯, 在她上学的那个阶段. 我说，‘这是一个神圣的不完整. 你这么做是有充分理由的. 这是比班级更高的召唤. 去你父亲的床边. 然后，回来完成课程.’”

米塞克就是这么做的, taking a semester off to walk through the last stages of her father’s life with him.

“康科迪亚就像一个家，”米塞克说. “That was so important and I’m indebted to the Concordia family. 那是一个非常好的社区. 安德森牧师博士. Mary Scott and all of them were very supportive.”

Dr. 肯尼博士说. 阿巴特是“一个不可思议的人.”

“He was a holy man, is the best I can put it,” Kenney says. “他向周围的每个人散发着上帝的爱，并且以一种尊敬你的方式说出你的名字. Miseker has exactly that same supernatural radiance. 以任何标准衡量，她都是绝对优秀的, but her definitive characteristic is her supernatural, 从她身上散发出神圣的光辉.”

One residency interviewer asked what I was most proud of, and I answered that it was Concordia Irvine because it made me who I am, 的老手.

米塞克已经决定接受父亲的建议，从医而不是从教, 他相信这会让她在传讲上帝的话语时产生实际的影响. 康考迪亚教授. 迈克尔·杨博士. Ken Ebel和Dr. 约翰·肯尼 were “instrumental in everything I did,她说。. “I’m so thankful for all my professors at Concordia.

我得到了很多研究机会，当我提到我的远大梦想时，人们指导我，相信我. 它让我不断奋斗，永不止步.”

After graduating from Concordia with a degree in 生物学 辅修了 化学, 米塞克回到她父亲在埃塞俄比亚的家乡，在泛非基督教外科医生学会做了六个月的志愿者.

“I had decided on medicine and was figuring out how I would go back and help, 以什么身份,米塞克说. “我非常喜欢这样做. 我住在我姑姑的一所老房子里, and walking back to that village you see so many street children. Every time I would go by, they would know I was not a local, and follow me. At times I took them to a restaurant and fed them. 很多人的四肢都断了, people that really needed access to health care and weren’t getting it.”

我们一起聊天，一起祈祷, and I said there will be many semesters when you can retake this class, but only this time will be set aside for you to be at the bedside of your father.

Dr. 肯尼为她的医学院申请写了一封推荐信，她获得了加州大学欧文分校医学院的全额学费奖学金. 在第一年, she planned a trip for ten UCI medical students to perform ultrasounds in Ethiopia. 他们筹集了30美元,000, 买了两台超声波机, 在当地一家餐馆为300名儿童举办了一次喂养活动，并在一家医院志愿培训200名医科学生，为期6周.

在医学院的时候, Miseker rotated through training in trauma surgery, 心脏手术, 使用机器人进行微创手术, 还有更多. 三年后，她休学一年，获得了哈佛大学的总统奖学金，获得了公共卫生硕士学位. She turned down invitations from similar programs at Johns Hopkins and Yale.

她说:“那是我人生中最美好的一年，我见到了所有我想共事的人。. “我所有的同事都有很大的梦想. 有时候你说你想改变这个世界上的一些事情，人们看着你就像, “你不能这么做.’ This time, every time I mentioned an idea, everybody rushed to fulfill it.”

Harvard confirmed her desire to go into global surgery, 她很高兴有机会与埃塞俄比亚和卢旺达的卫生部合作，为新医学院制定课程. She returned to UCI to complete her medical degree and invited Dr. Kenney to speak at the big graduation celebration at her church.

When interviewing for surgical residency programs, Miseker always carried something special: her Concordia folder.

“One residency interviewer asked what I was most proud of, and I answered that it was Concordia Irvine because it made me who I am, 的老手,米塞克说. “Everything  hat has led to my success has been because of Concordia.”

每次重要会议，她都会带着她的Concordia文件夹，“因为它会让我想起会议的开始。,她说。. “它把所有东西都放在一起.”

她选择在康奈尔大学(Cornell University)做住院医师，因为该校专注于全球外科, 外科医生在哪里努力为发展中国家的人们增加获得安全和负担得起的外科护理的机会.

我想你们会看到米塞克对医学和基督教灵性都产生了重大影响.

“这是关于如何在这些国家扩大手术服务的系统化计划,米塞克说. “我想在全球外科领域利用我的公共卫生硕士学位，继续在手术室里练习, 专攻器官
移植手术.”

Developing countries lack access to care not because there aren’t capable people, 而是因为缺乏机会, 除其他原因外.

“I have this unique position as an Ethiopian-American,米塞克说. “I feel that with the right amount of effort and prayer, 我可以帮助弥合海外众多有才华和创造力的人与那些想给他们机会的人之间的差距.

在发展中国家，即使是最聪明的人或工作非常努力的人也没有很多机会. 我想找到改善的方法.”

在她闲暇的时候, 米塞克完成了两次全程马拉松，并在医学院期间在当地一家健身中心教授跆拳道课程. 她的母亲在康考迪亚欧文大学从事行政服务工作，并继续在世界各地领导神学研讨会和会议, 赋予非洲妇女权力, 以及路德教会如何能做得更好
让人们融入非洲文化. 在家里, 她曾担任埃塞俄比亚路德教会Mekane Yesus的长老和执事委员会主任.

“I would not be anywhere without my mother,米塞克说. “她是我认识的最强壮的人类. 她一直是我们的基石.”

One of Miseker’s younger brothers went to Stanford and works for 脸谱网 as a programmer. 另一个是进入高中.

在康奈尔大学, 米塞克希望花时间在日内瓦的世界卫生组织了解更多关于扩大非洲国家手术准入的情况. Her father’s example continues to inspire her to overcome challenges.

“我认为你会看到米塞克对医学和基督教灵性产生重大影响,肯尼说。. “I don’t think she fully appreciates just how special she is. She is the kind of person who can turn an entire nation around, or revolutionize health care and spiritual care in Africa.”