Meet the Medical Missionary: Dr. Meg Hixson

Dr. Meg Hixson is a pediatrician and MedSend grant recipient who has been serving in Tanzania, Africa.

Currently, she is back in the United States and was able to spend time chatting with MedSend. We had the privilege of hosting her during August’s “Meet the Grant Recipients” webinar. We hope you will enjoy getting to know a little about Dr. Meg and her ministry!

The Story of a  Martyred Missionary

While a junior in high school, Meg attended a youth retreat at her church. Prior to the retreat, Meg would have told you that she planned to be a veterinarian. She had no idea that the weekend would prove to be life-altering.

The theme of the retreat was World Missions. The speaker told the story of a missionary named Karen Watson. Karen was a passionate missionary who was serving in Iraq, and she knew that there was a very real possibility that she would lose her life during her assignment. She accepted this potential fate and left a letter with her pastor to be shared in the event of her death. In her letter, she explained her heart for missions and why she had chosen this path for herself. Karen was indeed killed during her assignment, and her letter had a deep impact on Meg.

After hearing Karen’s story, Meg felt the Holy Spirit placing the call of medical missions on her heart. “It was as close to an audible voice as you can get without truly being audible, if that makes any sense,” she shared. She described the call as being completely “out of the blue,” but fully convicting.

“I knew I owed him everything,” she said.

An Altered World View

Meg says that her relationship with Christ has changed every part of her life. “It’s completely altered my world views,” she said. “It affects the way I view my purpose in this life, my relationships, hardships, trials, and why things happen.”

Meg says that she understands that this earth is not her home. She has a passion for living her life for Him now and a desire to follow wherever He leads.

“The beauty of knowing Him is what fuels my faith and drive to keep walking with Him even when He leads me into places that don’t make sense – at least not at the time,” she said.

Serving in an Under-Resourced Area

Meg followed through on her commitment to become a medical missionary. She became a pediatrician and took an assignment in Tanzania.

“I went straight out of residency, ” she said. ” I was suddenly seeing things I had never seen in life. And – the things I knew how to treat, I couldn’t with the limited resources we had. Of course, doing it all in a different culture and a different language was overwhelming as well.”

Meg says that serving in an under-resourced area has had its “rough patches, for sure.” But, she said “it’s been a joy to spend time with these patients, to love on them, and to do whatever we can.” She has witnessed God working in “amazing ways” at the mission hospital and in the community.

COVID-19’s Impact on the Mission

The impact of COVID-19 has been vastly different in the various areas served by our grant recipients. When asked about the impact of COVID in Tanzania, Meg said, “It’s complicated.”

Security restrictions prevented Meg from telling us much more. “Things were becoming unsafe for us to do ministry there,” she said. “Not only unsafe for us, but also for the people we were ministering to. Everyone from our organization is out of Tanzania at the moment.”

“I don’t know quite what the future holds,” she says. She and her teammates remain stateside, “resting in His Sovereignty.”