Move of Faith

Before the year ends, I would like to tell you a story of a man whose decision has impacted so many lives. There are so many lessons one can get from this short story and it is my prayer that as you read, the Holy Spirit ministers unto you exactly what you need. This is a short story about Dr. Phillip Plunk.

I met Dr. Phil (as I came to call him) on a trip to Guatemala in 2015. I uncontrollably cried after he shared his testimony (I’m not a cry baby, I promise) because I felt like the Holy Spirit used him to say exactlly what I needed at that time. I went back to my hotel that evening and wrote everything I could remember from our encounter. So here it is.

In 1985, there was an ongoing civil war in Guatemala. One day, when Dr. Phil was watching the news about it, he felt “like God hit him in the head and told him that this was where he belonged” (his words). He expressed that he felt a strange urge to go out to Guatemala to help the people. He did not know how or why but he felt and knew that this was his calling. Now, at this time, Dr. Plunk was a well-known dentist in Texas getting ready to go higher and earn big bucks. So he did not see a reason to leave his life and make a move to a place he did not know. Hence, he ignored the call but he never felt at rest. He finally decided to say yes to God in 2000. According to him, he did not know how he was going to start but he trusted God to provide.

So now what? Did he just sit back and wait for God to do everything for him? No, he had to put in work. He began by making calls to hospitals in America and told his “doctor friends” about his plan to settle in Guatemala to start a clinic. Everyone taught he was crazy for leaving behind a high paying job in America to go to a developing country. But one day! (Say to yourself “one day!”) One day, his friend, who owned a practice was going to renovate his hospital so he called Dr. Phil and said he wanted to give away all his equipment for Guatemala. First way God made a way.

Okay so now, he had equipment and a ticket for Guatemala, what now?! Next, he wrote a letter to the first lady of Guatemala and instantly got a response to start a clinic in Guatemala. Second way, God made a way. Boom! So by his faith and his works, Salud y Paz (Health & Peace) clinic erupted in 2001.

James 2:17 New King James Version (NKJV)

¹⁷ Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

When I visited Guatemala in 2015, I volunteered at this very place Dr. Phil built. At the clinic, I encountered patients who traveled near and far because Salud y Paz was the only clinic in the Camanchaj village. In fact, the first day I volunteered at the clinic, the line was so long that it went out the doors of the clinic. From dental care to surgery, people came there for all sorts of treatments. The most patients paid for treatment was 50 quetzals which is about $6.50. Today, Salud y Paz continues to grow exponentially. There are now 3 clinics and a nursey school. Mission teams from around the world travel there to volunteer and learn. Lives are being transformed and getting better because Dr. Phil said yes to God’s calling and made a move of faith.

This 2020 is the time for you and I to step up. Let us believe in what God is calling us to do. Let us have the faith to say yes and trust God to provide. Yes, it means we will have to put in the work. Yes, we will be uncomfortable sometimes and yes, there will be times where we just do not feel like doing it but let’s hold on. God has called you and I to do something for a reason. He knows the end from the beginning. We may not see the reason now but it will become clearer as time goes on. Make a move of faith. God always comes through.

On December 28^th, 2018, Dr. Phil Plunk went to be with the Lord. This blog post isn’t much but I wrote this in honor of him. Dr. Phil, thank you for saying yes and having faith in God. Even though you did not know how God was going to provide, you trusted Him to make a way and as a result, many lives have been impacted and blessed, including mine. Continue to rest well.

To read and learn more about Salud y Paz, check out their website at https://www.saludypaz.org/

God bless you for reading.