In rural Florida, Amy Yelton scanned Dollar Tree’s school supplies and thoughtfully selected colored pencils, adding them to the shopping cart holding other small gifts and personal supplies. As she contributed each December to Operation Christmas Child, a project of Samaritan’s Purse, she imagined the children receiving them. Yelton pictured a bright smile lighting up an unfamiliar face halfway across the world. Later, she listened in awe when their congregation received a letter back from a shoebox recipient, always hoping a child might one day answer the letter she wrote and carefully tucked inside the boxes she filled.
In her bedroom across the country in California, Juliet Terpstra carefully pinned a vibrant Samaritan’s Purse poster to her bulletin board, a tangible reminder of her dreams. She felt a rush of inspiration each time she stopped to reread the stories of hope and healing from the mission field, imagining herself in those distant places, equipped with the skills of a doctor and the heart of a servant. As she envisioned herself in scrubs, providing care and comfort, Terpstra also felt a deepening sense of responsibility to heal physical ailments and share God’s word with those she would encounter.
Little did they know that their childhood dreams would soon intertwine with reality, leading them to experiences solidifying their commitments to medical missions and spiritual outreach. Neither could have predicted that they would become fast friends years later, their shared experiences with Samaritan’s Purse blossoming into aligned career goals in medicine and a deep-rooted passion for global health missions.
Although they met in their first year as medical students, it wasn’t until Terpstra was praying for a close friend and searching with her husband for a church home that the two connected. Yelton invited them to church, where they worshiped, and their friendship grew stronger. As third-year medical studentsat Liberty University, Yelton and Terpstra now stand united by a childhood compassion that’s grown into a powerful force shaping the future of healing.
Most recently, they attended a Samaritan’s Purse conference that clarified their goals and callings, reinforcing their commitment to medical missions.
“The conference was a coming together of providers from across the globe, being refreshed and encouraged,” Terpstra reflected. “They emphasized the youth and pouring into the next generation to take on the baton because a lot of the older generations are getting a little too old, and there is a real need for young medical professionals to step up.”
The spiritual aspect of the conference deeply impacted both women and reinforced their commitment to integrating their faith with medicine.
Terpstra shared, “The worship services were so powerful. There’s something so cool about being surrounded by people with the same mission as you.”
“Edward Graham said something that stuck with me,” Terpstra said. “He said, ‘We love people who want to volunteer and want to help, but if you’re not willing to share the gospel, then there’s not really any point in helping because if you come and you don’t share the gospel at all, you leave that person as spiritually dead as you met them.’”
She continued, “What I’m trying to remember going forward in medical missions is that it’s great if you want to help and serve, but we also need to be sharing the gospel because that’s the most important thing. Medicine gives you a unique opportunity to talk to people, maybe on the worst day of their lives, and you’re there comforting them. That’s a unique opportunity to speak into their life.“
It was Yelton’s third Samaritan’s Purse conference, but it clarified the direction of her future in missions.
She said, ”This year, being married a little bit longer and having a better idea of what I wanted to do in medicine, there were more practical ways I could start forming what medical missions might actually look like in my career, not just confirming whether that was going to be something I wanted to do or not.”
While different, early inspiration set them on medical career paths.
“I knew, pretty much since I was a little girl, that I wanted to become a doctor,” Terpstra recalled. “I had an amazing pediatrician who inspired me to pursue medicine.”
For Yelton, the journey began with those Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and evolved through mission trips and a Samaritan’s Purse internship.
“I’ve been going on mission trips since I was 13,” Yelton said. “That’s really where my passion started.”
Today, their medical focuses differ slightly. Yelton is pursuing general surgery with an interest in rural health care, while Terpstra is considering emergency medicine.
“I really enjoy the shift work, and it’s very broad,” Terpstra explained.
Yelton and her husband grew up in rural communities, and this is the population she wants to serve.
Yelton emphasized, “I want to be able to treat as much as possible and do anything and everything that I can to better serve that patient population.”
Both see short-term missions as part of their future. Yelton envisions short-term trips in the summer and potentially full-time mission work in retirement.
Terpstra, balancing her aspirations with married life, says, “As of now, I think we’ve decided on short-term missions.”
As they look to the future, both Yelton and Terpstra see their roles extending beyond traditional medical practice. They’re committed to bridging gaps between advanced and basic health care, physical and spiritual healing, and generations.
“There are still young people who have a heart for missions and want to serve and share the gospel,” Terpstra asserted, offering hope to older generations concerned about the future.
From childhood dreams inspired by shoebox gifts and mission posters to their current position as medical students poised to make a global impact, Yelton and Terpstra embody the future of healing — one that combines medical expertise with compassion, faith, and a commitment to serving those in need around the world. GN
