Dr. Peter Mesilien's Story
Written by: Missy Wilson, Co-Founder of myLIFEspeaks
You can listen to the audio/podcast version of this story, here.
On one of my first trips to Haiti, I was placed in a group that was going to host VBS for the week at a nearby village from where we were staying. We packed up all our supplies and began the walk down the sugarcane path, which would lead us to the next village. Walking close to me was a young man who was said he would be our translator for the day. I felt this would be a great opportunity for us to talk and get to know a little more about his village and his country.
He said his name was Peter Mesilien. He was 17 years old and he grew up in the village of Neply. As we continued to walk and talk, I asked Peter if he was still in school and what he wanted to do in his future. He looked at me and quickly responded “My dream is to be a doctor!”. He was so confident, so bold in his statement, and so sure of what he was declaring.
Peter and I grew a friendship on that day. He came to work as the commUNITY Involvement Director for myLIFEspeaks and I was able to witness God work through so many obstacles in Peter’s LIFE.
Fast forward 5 years from the first day I met him, Mike, Peter, and I were riding on a bus together. We had been on this bus for a very long time that day. Sitting in stand-still traffic in the heat of the Haitian sun. We were hot, sweaty, and ready to be home but what better time to talk about dreams.
Mike asked Peter, “What happened to your dream of being a doctor”? Peter laughed and said, “That dream wasn’t for me, I am not from an area or have the money to make that dream come true, so I had to let that dream go.” As he made the statement, I saw his face drop, it wasn’t the confidence I had seen from him in the past. It was a look of defeat, of sadness. We both told Peter on that day, it didn’t matter where he was from, it didn’t matter what he did or didn’t have, if this was a dream he had and it was what God had created him for, God would provide all his needs in His timing.
Peter received a huge blessing not long after this conversation. He was told he would be fully sponsored for medical school if he could pass the test and get in. Peter enrolled in Medical school in Port-au-Prince and took the test. He scored very high on the entrance exam and the administration came to him and told him they didn’t see his exam; “It was lost." Then once it was “found” they told him they did not see how it was possible for someone like him, from the Province, to be able to score this high on the exam and they felt he might have cheated and he would need to take the test again. Peter stood strong, retook the test, and scored higher than he did on the first one. YES!
Peter completed five long, trying years of medical school and finished his residency this past year in St. Marc, becoming the first licensed doctor from Neply. Now he will begin working towards his specialty as a licensed gynecologist. He will begin his medical career where it all began, serving in his home village of Neply at LIFE Clinic.
I am beyond proud of the perseverance I have seen in Peter over these last several years. His faith has been a testimony to so many. He had every opportunity and reason to give up but his dream wasn’t just his dream, it was a God-sized dream, which he is now living out to the fullest.
When we are able to connect with what God has designed for us, follow Him with all our hearts, and live through exactly what the scriptures say, all is possible.
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
- James 1:1-4
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