June 27, 2025 • 42 mins
What happens when a young woman's passion for music collides with a heart for healing and a calling to missions? In this deeply personal episode of OnTrack Podcast, co-host Isabel Dimond opens her life story to listeners, tracing God's fingerprints from her early homeschool years through her upcoming journey to medical school.
Growing up in a culturally diverse home during financially challenging times, Isabel's foundation was built on faith, musical talent, and a growing curiosity about the world beyond her San Diego neighborhood. Her nine-year commitment with the San Diego Youth Symphony developed more than musical skills—it cultivated discipline and collaboration that would serve her throughout life. But it was a middle school missions trip where she first glimpsed her future calling, sleeping on the streets to understand homelessness and discovering her heart for the marginalized.
The narrative takes fascinating turns through her high school years at a project-based charter school, where she created everything from dystopian mini-series to public health initiatives. Her internship at a ministry center working with refugee communities and teen mothers further shaped her vision for combining healthcare with ministry. Perhaps most remarkable was her college journey—double-majoring in biology and music while completing 186 units in just four years, a feat she attributes not to personal strength but to divine sustenance: "I ran on pure Jesus."
Medical missions trips to Malawi and Indonesia provide some of the most compelling moments in Isabel's testimony. In Malawi, she confronted the harsh realities of global healthcare disparities—one doctor for every 50,000 people. In Bali, she witnessed miraculous healing while sharing the gospel, an experience she describes as "living in the Bible."
As Isabel prepares to begin medical school in Tennessee, her story reminds us that our unique talents and experiences aren't random—they're purposefully designed pieces in a larger divine narrative. Her journey inspires listeners to consider how their own paths, however winding, might be redirected toward meaning and service.
Have you discovered where your passions and the world's needs intersect? We'd love to hear your story. Subscribe now and join the conversation about finding and following your God-given purpose.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hey guys, welcome back to OnTrack Podcast with
your hosts, brandon and IsabelDiamond.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey guys.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
We'd like to start off today's episode by thanking
you for your support and forjoining us today, where we'll
dive deeper into Isabel'stestimony.
Sit back, relax, grab yourpopcorn, because all God has
done within Isabel's life istruly extraordinary.
We hope you're able to connectwith parts of her story and
enjoy this week's episode.
All right, welcome.
(00:38):
It's been such a pleasure ofgetting to hear your testimony
and I don't believe a lot ofpeople have gotten the chance to
, yeah, just hear your testimonyand hear the breadth of what
God has done in and through yourlife, from A to Z.
It has been so extraordinaryand I just can't wait for us to
(01:00):
be able to broadcast it to alarger audience.
So bring us into just thebeginning, where everything
started and, yeah, yourchildhood.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, I'd love to.
So I was born and raised in SanDiego.
I've been here my entire life.
So, you know, for most of mylife that was kind of all I knew
was suburb and city and beach,and that wasn't too bad.
I didn't have much to complainabout in regards to location.
I have one older brother and Iwas always, you know, the
(01:33):
antagonist growing up and tryingto act all innocent, but I was
always caught quite quickly.
Um, my parents are stilltogether and uh, yeah, just
really shaped me into the womanI am today.
I'm half German and half PuertoRican, and so I was raised with
(01:55):
just a mix of cultures in thehome and that was unique in a
sense, but also makes you feelkind of out of place in
different social contexts.
But, yeah, I would say it wasjust, all in all, just a really
sweet, yeah, small familydynamic.
I'd say kind of the biggestmarkings on my upbringing was
(02:17):
that we didn't grow up with verymuch.
We struggled financially in alot of ways during the 2008
recession, my dad lost his joband was in and out of work for
many years, and so that just puta lot of strain on my parents'
marriage and, yeah, just on ourfamily dynamic and that was,
(02:37):
yeah, I think, a pinnacle pointthroughout my upbringing, to
really understand what it lookslike to rely on the Lord and see
beyond circumstance.
Yeah, so I grew up in the church.
My mom actually worked at ourchurch for 18 years in
children's ministry and so youknow, that was kind of unique in
the sense that I would show upbefore church and serve during
(03:01):
one service, attend the other,and I was quite involved in
vacation Bible schools and fallfestivals and just involved in
all the things that happenedthroughout the week as well.
So I think I did in some waysgrow up in a little bit of a
Christian bubble, which I don'tthink was terribly bad for a
young child, and that led tojust, yeah, some unique
(03:23):
experiences.
I was part of this group calledBee Sisters and it was this
little group for like elementaryschool girls where I got to
learn how to be sisters inChrist with other girls my age
and we got to read the Bible anddo volunteering things together
and I just learned how to formtight knit friendships.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That's adorable.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, super cute.
Also cute was when I was sixyears old.
I decided I was very adamantabout getting baptized and our
church had an outdoor baptismthis particular Sunday and I
remember tugging on my mom'ssleeve and saying you know, I
really want to get baptized.
And so I ran up and jumped inthe pool and I just knew, you
(04:10):
know, I would sit in my room andwrite songs to Jesus when I was
at that age and it was just,yeah, something that I just
deeply knew at that age that Iwanted to commit my life to
Christ at that age, that Iwanted to commit my life to
Christ.
In addition to all of that, inaddition to the things I was
exposed to in church, I washomeschooled kindergarten
through eighth grade, and sowith that there was a lot of
(04:33):
external factors that allowed meto grow.
I was quite involved in thecommunity.
My mom was very good atspotting almost like free
extracurricular activities thatshe would plug us into.
So whether it was art classesor Latin or robotics or
gymnastics or music lessons, Iwas quite busy.
(04:54):
But that again just exposed meto ways in which I can learn and
also develop relationships withexternal mentors.
I think sometimes when you justhave your parents pouring into
your life, there's potential forpushback.
But when you have all theseother mentors in your life that
(05:16):
you look up to, that are alsowalking with the Lord, that kind
of holds you accountable todifferent degrees.
So, for example, when I wasalso around six years old, I
started taking percussionlessons and I was so shy I hid
behind my mom's leg during myfirst lesson and I was on the
verge of tears and I was given apractice pad and drumsticks and
(05:39):
I was learning how to doquarter notes and rests and yeah
, just learning essentially howto play the snare drum.
And then eventually I learnedhow to play flute and piano and
taught myself guitar.
But that was kind of like thefirst push to kind of exposing
myself to the world outside ofmy little church and homeschool
bubble.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
So did your mother or father push you into getting
into percussion, or was it yourown self-discovery and wanting
to explore that?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It was definitely my parents.
So my dad was born and raisedin New York and he was part of
an all-boys choir so he wasreally involved in singing and
it had such a great impact onhim and his upbringing.
So he knew that even if wecouldn't afford private lessons,
he wanted his kids involved inmusic somehow.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, so it was super sweet.
Yeah, around the age of eight,I decided to audition for the
San Diego Youth Symphony for afull-ride scholarship.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And, yeah, I started playing with them at the age of
nine and I played with them fornine years, so from the age of
nine to 18.
And, yeah, there's a lot in andthrough that that really shaped
me.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What was your most joyful memory of the San Diego
Youth Symphony?
I know there is long, gruelinghours that you may not have
wanted to participate in onsaturdays and right.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
yeah, I mean, I was never the kid that got to sleep
in on saturday and wake up andwatch cartoons.
I would always wake up superearly and have this like pit in
my stomach, you know, gettingprepared for the eight hours of
rehearsals that day, um, butyeah, I would say the most
enjoyable element was justlearning to collaborate with so
(07:31):
many different people, so manydifferent backgrounds and so
many ways of thinking, all forjust a collective purpose, and
it allowed for just incrediblefriendship building and also
just, yeah, learning how to relyon other people to different,
different degrees that'sincredible.
Thank you, I love that yeah, andI'd say, like outside of music
(07:54):
exposures, when it came to myfaith, one of the biggest um
pushes that really opened myheart up to evangelism and doing
missions was when I was inmiddle school and I went on my
first missions trip to LosAngeles, which isn't that far,
(08:15):
but for me it was kind of likethis big push for my parents to
drop me off in Pico Union and Ididn't know anybody at this
church and we slept in thebasement with rats and this
whole week we put on thisvacation Bible school for the
kids in the local community, andPico Union has, over the years,
become pretty homeless populace, and so that just kind of
(08:40):
provided a framework for how canwe love these people and how
can we attend to these people inthis area, and so one thing
that they had us do was ahomeless simulation, and so we
actually had to just choose oneitem that we had brought with us
.
I think I chose a pillow, and afriend that I had made picked a
blanket and we went out and thatnight we slept on the street
(09:01):
and I woke up actually with myeye like completely swollen and
I'm like what, what got in there?
But all to say like that was tojust allow these young people,
myself included, to say, to see,like, oh, this is what it looks
like to live on the streets tosome extent, and it actually
allowed us to connect with thepeople a little bit more because
(09:22):
we empathize with them.
So was it crazy?
No, but as a middle schooler,it was a great push to say, oh,
okay, this is, this is adifferent way that people live,
and I have a heart for peoplethat are walking all different
ways, all in all differentscopes, and I want to step in
(09:43):
and serve.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
That is absolutely incredible and such a unique
opportunity to gain perspectiveon that type of situation.
Not a lot of people are exposedto that type of stuff and it's
just.
It truly makes an impact.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Absolutely yeah.
And then, just segueing into myhigh school years, you know
there's always a reputationaround homeschoolers that we can
be a little socially awkwardand praise the Lord that I don't
believe I fell into that.
Um, just because I did getquite a bit of social
interaction.
But going into high school Iwas not homeschooled.
(10:22):
I went to a project-basedcharter school, so I was in
school five days a week.
Um, it was not homeschooled.
I went to a project-basedcharter school, so I was in
school five days a week.
It was a little different thanyour typical public school in
the sense that we didn't havestandardized exams predominantly
, but we displayed our learningthrough projects.
A project that I did was adystopian themed mini series
(10:44):
where we basically made a wholeseries of scripts and then we
recorded episodes and then hadour episodes premiered at a
local theater.
Another project was somethingthat I put on called a walk for
wellness.
So I was really intrigued bythe hepatitis C outbreak in
(11:04):
downtown San Diego and, in andthrough my research and
curiosity, I partnered with somelocal public health officials
and I put on a walk for wellnessto raise funds for sanitation
kits, and that was unique andthat was also kind of a
partnership, of one of theprojects I did at school where I
(11:24):
had some other peers tag alongand help, support and make that
happen.
I was part of an ichthyologyclub, so basically a fish club,
so to speak, and we had like 25fish tanks in our classroom and
we bred sharks and we were oneof SeaWorld's research
facilities.
That's incredible were one ofSeaWorld's research facilities.
(11:45):
That's incredible, and so, yeah,I mean it was kind of just
extraordinarily unique, and itdefinitely prepared us for the
real world to different extents.
One thing in particular aboutmy high school years was that we
were actually required to do aninternship our junior year, and
so I did an internship at aministry center, and this center
(12:06):
was unique because it hadchurch services for several
different demographics.
So there was a Spanish church,there was an Eritrean church, so
on and so forth, and this placeactually was one of the few
places that housed Ethiopianrefugees that were coming across
(12:27):
the border after the Olympics,and so when I was at this
ministry center, I was given theopportunity just to interact
with all kinds of people.
I predominantly didadministrative work and helped
in that regard.
But there was also this schoolfor teen moms that was being put
on and I would sit into some ofthe classes and listen in to
what they're being taught, and Iasked if I could teach a class
(12:50):
on professionalism and justresume building and giving them
some additional tools to helpthem integrate within society,
being a you know, a teen with ababy, and that was just a really
fun opportunity to kind of justplace myself in that position.
There was a clinic there as wellthat was run by some local
(13:11):
university nursing students andsome overseeing nurse
practitioners and I also helpedvolunteer and support them, and
they predominantly helped justthe public that didn't have
access to health insurance, andso they would also provide free
dinner for them and I would justsit and listen to their stories
and connect with them throughdifferent ways.
(13:33):
And there were so many otherthings that came out of that
internship, but I would say oneof the coolest things was just
being able to be exposed to alldifferent kinds of people with
all different kinds ofbackgrounds and seeing how God
was able to use me within that.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, that was a lot.
You just knew how to have ago-getter energy and just do
what was required of you, andthat's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Thank you.
It's definitely God working inand through me at that time, um,
and in that I was very involved.
Still within church throughoutmy high school years, youth
group was kind of the the thingI looked forward to every week
and I would often help serve onthe worship team with youth
group and, yeah, I justabsolutely loved partnering with
(14:27):
my peers in church andcontinuing to invest in those
relationships.
One thing that my church hostedduring, I think, my sophomore
year of high school was thiscourse called perspectives, and
this course, if you've neverheard of it, basically teaches
you about the Great Commission.
It teaches you about unreachedpeople, groups, people that
(14:49):
essentially have never heard thename of Jesus.
And it's not a course to teachyou how to be a missionary, but
it's a course to just open youreyes to what our greater purpose
is as a Christian here on earth.
And so I took this course and Ijust began to recognize that God
had a greater calling over mylife and I knew I wanted to do
(15:11):
mission work.
I just didn't know what outletsI would use to do so,
especially when you go to closedcountries.
You can't just show up and say,hi, I'm a missionary.
You know it's quite, quitedangerous in that regard.
So at the time they wereadvertising oh, business is
missions.
If you pursue business, thatwill help get into closed
countries, so to speak.
(15:32):
But I was never passionateabout finance and spreadsheets
and all the things and I waslike, oh, what is my thing?
And then that was like, oh,maybe I can get into health care
and then that can be an outletto share the gospel.
And so that was incredible andI ended up taking the course a
year later as well as an alum,just to continue to keep my
(15:54):
heart anchored into that.
And so I started volunteeringat a hospital for three years
and just exposed myself to whatthat world continued to revolve
around.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So, taking it back a little bit, what was that
initial urge to help people andwhy did you know that this was
what the Lord was placing onyour heart in order to
eventually get into healthcaredown the road?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
That's a great question.
Yeah, I don't know exactly ifthere was a moment in time where
I felt a switch or I felt thisdeep, knowing that I wanted to
help people.
All I know is, you know, asI've grown, I've come to realize
that I'm a three on theEnneagram.
I'm a three wing two.
(16:46):
If you don't know what theEnneagram is, it's a personality
test Enneagram.
I'm a three-wing two.
If you don't know what theEnneagram is, it's a personality
test and the numbers deduce,you know, certain traits and
characteristics that you mightcarry and I just have a deep
passion for basically achievingat helping people, whatever that
might be.
(17:06):
And yeah, I don't have anyonein my home that you know works
in healthcare, so there wasn'tanyone that was a role model or
mentor or someone that can kindof point me in that direction.
But yeah, it was just somethingthat was birthed in me and I
heard.
Honestly, I think it was justGod speaking to me subtly and I
was just trying to attend tothat.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That is absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Thank you for for sharing that international and
national orchestra.
So it was very fun because theinternational orchestra was
(17:51):
comprised of students from allover the globe and I just you
know, I had never left thecountry, and so it was my
opportunity to just be againexposed to people from all
different backgrounds.
And during our breaks frompracticing for extensive amounts
of time, I'd go on walks withsome of the students, and there
(18:11):
was one girl from Poland and wewould just talk about God, and
she didn't know anything aboutGod, she didn't have a
relationship with God, and Ijust knew in my heart.
There were just moments in timeand this is one of them where I
was like, okay, the Lord isusing all the things that he has
placed me in to be used asministry platforms.
And so, again, I didn't knowwhat and we'll get into this
(18:39):
later what discipleship lookedlike, but I knew what forming
friendships look like and how tobe inviting in the way in which
I talked about what I believedin.
So, even though I didn't knowwhat discipleship was, I, for
whatever reason, felt drawn tothis middle school girl that I
had met, and she was the oldestof many, many siblings, and so
(19:00):
she kind of carried a lot ofresponsibility on her shoulders
and didn't get a lot ofone-on-one attention.
And once a week I would go toher house and pick her up when
we would go to the beach and wewould walk on the beach.
And once a week I would go toher house and pick her up when
we would go to the beach and wewould walk on the beach.
And there was one time where Ireally felt led to challenge her
.
I was like, okay, we're gonnawalk on the beach and we're
gonna see if the Lord highlightssomebody to us and then we're
gonna walk up to them and we'regonna pray for them or we're
(19:21):
gonna ask them just about theirstory or share a little bit
about Jesus, you know, and thatwas so nerve wracking for her.
And again, I didn't know whatdiscipleship was or what
modeling different things lookedlike for people that were
younger than me.
But I think the Lord justcontinued to give me opportunity
(19:42):
to be placed intricately inother people's lives.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Once again, your high school years just showed how
hardworking of a woman you trulywere and still are.
I just can't believe all thatthe Lord had done in and through
that time, and I'm excited tohear what he's done in and
through your college experiences.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Absolutely.
So.
I went to a small Christianschool here in San Diego and I
was a double major.
So I studied music and biologyas a pre-med student.
So if you can imagine, I waskind of pulled in two different
directions.
I don't know how music studentsdo it, I mean I went through it
(20:32):
but it is a whole nother world.
You would think that after nineyears of playing in orchestras
I would kind of pause for asecond, but then I jumped
straight into eight semesters ofplaying in band and taking
music theory, music historyclasses, conducting classes,
piano pedagogy courses and allthe in-betweens.
(20:53):
So if you can imagine, a musicstudent basically just practices
music 24-7.
But on the other hand, Istudied biology and pursued
pre-med because I knew that Godwanted to continue to sharpen me
in that area for missions, andso yeah, just, my transition
(21:16):
into college was a hard push andI remember this was a really
critical shift in my lifebecause the enemy was really
coming at my identity.
You know, I felt empowered, Iwas excited for this shift to
move forward and the things thatGod had equipped me in.
(21:36):
But I remember there were somany times where I just felt so
alone, I felt inadequate, I feltlike I couldn't.
I couldn't do this thing, um,and I often wondered if God had
actually a different path for me.
And yeah, I would say.
In parallel with this, Iactually started attending a new
(21:58):
church and, after attending myprevious church for 18 years, it
was definitely another bigtransition, but this church
really pushed me and was verymission focused, and so that
kind of went in.
The introduction of college forme, in the midst of struggling
(22:18):
with my identity and all thethings, was that my brother was
a senior at college while I wasa freshman and he saw me
struggling.
He saw me doubting myself.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Hey guys, hope you're enjoying today's episode.
We encourage you to like, shareand follow on whatever platform
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Please provide feedback on ourplatforms in order for us to
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Let's jump back into thisweek's episode.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
And he kept telling me to attend this prayer group
on campus and it met from like10 to 11 pm, so pretty late, and
I was already pushing 12-hourdays nonstop, seven days a week.
I didn't necessarily know whata Sabbath required or entailed
at the time and so I told mybrother I don't know if I can
squeeze this in.
I kept pushing it off buteventually I hit a brink and I
(23:16):
decided to check out this prayergroup and I was so welcomed and
so accepted and I felt so muchpeace and eventually this group
became some of my closestfriends that are still my
closest friends today and wewould meet every single day of
the week.
And we met every single day ofthe week for my entire freshman
year and wow, was thattransformational.
(23:38):
I learned how to pray justdeeply with people.
I learned how to walk alongsidepeople in their hardest moments
.
I grew in my spiritual giftings.
I just grew in my confidencewith the Lord and that is what
honestly set a beautifulfoundation for the years to come
.
So I was actually discipled allfour years of college and this
(23:59):
was when I really started tounderstand what discipleship
looked like.
Yeah, just a woman that wasolder than me who was walking in
her faith and even maybe in adifferent stage of life than me,
that I met with weekly orbiweekly.
And she just got to.
And they got to just pour intomy life and speak truth and
(24:20):
challenge me in different areasand it really was iron sharpens
iron.
As time progressed, I startedto model this discipleship in
other areas.
So during my sophomore year Iwas a resident assistant and
this basically required me tolive on a freshman hall with 24
(24:41):
freshman girls or young womenand I was kind of their point
person so I would put on funactivities to help build
community and help with theirintegration within their first
year of school.
But I was also the person theywould call if they were having
some sort of crisis.
Or you know, there was one timewhere it was like two in the
(25:04):
morning and I got a knock on mydoor and one of my residents was
having a health crisis and wecalled EMT and she had to jump
on the ambulance and she lookedat me and she was like, can you
please come with me?
And so I went on the ambulanceand she looked at me and she was
like, can you please come withme?
and so I went on the ambulancewith her at like 2 30 in the
morning and then ubered backlater and I think it was a
(25:24):
Sunday morning, so, or Mondaymorning at the time, so we just,
yeah, started the week off withzero sleep.
But, um, yeah, it was like okay, so that was fun in some
regards, and I did this thingcalled quality time with Isabel,
and it was like a sign up onthe bulletin board in the
hallway and so all these girlswould sign up and I would do
(25:45):
one-on-ones, like we'd get acaibowl or go walk on the beach or
something like that, and Istarted to just disciple
different ones within that roleand I think that just continued
to remind me that God places usin very specific places in order
to just invest in the peoplearound us and be lights.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, it's just incredible to hear how
sacrificial you were throughoutthose years and throughout the
very extreme of double majoringand going through all that you
were.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah, it was definitely a balance, but the
Lord sustained me and in themidst of all, that continued to
keep my vision centered.
So I went on a medical missionstrip in college and it was far
less clinical than I thought.
I basically went to a men'snursing home in Mexico and I
(26:47):
remember I was borrowingsomeone's guitar and I learned a
couple songs worship songs inSpanish and um, I was sitting at
this table with a few, a coupleof men that were actually blind
and so I was just playingguitar and um, you can just see
these these big smiles on theirfaces and I'm like you know what
?
Like God has really called usto step out of our comfort zone
(27:12):
and to learn how to love peoplefrom all different walks of life
.
And a lot of these men thatwere at this nursing home, um,
were actually just kind ofdropped off by their family
members and never visited.
It was like they werecompletely abandoned.
It's so sad and, yeah, I thinkI think what the Lord was trying
to do in and through that wasjust remind me that a big part
(27:36):
of healthcare is actually justlike sitting with people and
loving them and seeing them andmaking them feel valued.
Towards the later end of college, I discipled three girls that
were all a year younger than meand I would meet with them
biweekly and I think yeah, again, we talk about discipleship a
(27:58):
lot because really that's theheartbeat of growing in the
church.
If you don't have discipleship,then there's a lot of things in
your personal life that couldbe anchored in the wrong thing,
or the enemy can have rain onthings that are just hidden, and
if things aren't brought tolight, then you might be
following in perpetual sin thatyou're not even personally aware
(28:20):
of, and then that kind oflimits you from how God can use
you and shape you and ultimatelytransform you into the person
he's created you to be.
Yeah, there's so many otherthings that I could share within
these years.
They were so jam-packed, but Iwould just kind of conclude this
season of my life with sayingthat I really truly learned
(28:44):
diligence, resiliency anddependency on the Lord.
Every single day I would wake upand I would pull out my Bible
and my journal and I would say,lord, I'm desperate for you and
I need you and you would get methrough my 12 hour days.
I mean, I graduated with 186units in four years.
There was never a dull moment.
I would leave from a three hour, you know, immunology exam and
(29:08):
run to the music building for arecital that evening.
Or, you know, I just I ran onpure Jesus and it was the most
exhilarating and exhausting andtransformational years of my
life.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
I believe it.
So then, what happened aftercollege and not having that
ability to latch on to thatacademic portion?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Right Once you're off the training wheels or the
academic track, you kind of feela little bit vulnerable.
I would say, or it kind of feelslike you just jumped off a
cliff and you're like all right,where am I heading next?
Yeah, so immediately after Igraduated, I decided that I
(29:55):
needed to take a little bit of apause.
I needed to rest, I needed torecalibrate, I needed to just
like that.
I needed to take a little bitof a pause, I needed to rest, I
needed to recalibrate, I neededto just like, just reflect on
those years and I decided to goon um more of like a medical
vision trip, I would call it.
So that December I went toMalawi If you've never heard of
Malawi, it's um Southeast Africaand it's landlocked country and
(30:20):
it's one of Africa's mostimpoverished countries and I
(30:42):
ended up going out there soloand staying with a missionary
couple out there um Le Longue,which is their um main capital
city, where I got topredominantly shadow people
within um that local, umsettings of hospitals and
clinics that were in the city,which was a different
demographic from when I went toin coma, which was like an hour
and a half outside of the city,and so it was more of the rural
area and I shadowed out amission hospital.
So, just for a little bit ofcontext, this country was, or is
(31:05):
, 80% village, so if you'redriving down a dirt road, you're
going to see agriculture.
You're going to see peopleworking in their fields.
You know babies on mom's backs,baskets on their heads.
You know it's a really strippedback country, but it's the most
beautiful thing.
I'm so glad that there are somany different cultures out
(31:25):
there and ultimately, thesepeople didn't know that they
didn't have very much becausethere wasn't much to compare.
Most people don't leave thecountry, most people don't visit
the country, and so there isnot a lot of comparison going on
in terms of like, oh, weactually don't have very much.
The thing about it, however, wasthat you know the health care
system and disease states andmortality was quite high.
(31:48):
Just for more reference, thereis about one doctor for every
50,000 Malawians.
There's one hospital or onemedical school in the entire
country.
That spews out about 50 doctorsa year, and so at this hospital
, I witnessed things that Inever witnessed in my shadowing
(32:09):
exposures in the United States.
Every, basically every personthat we saw was at the tertiary
level of their diseaseprogression, and so, essentially
, they were at the brink of, youknow, their time taking away,
and so a lot of these people waslike, hey, we can do emergency
surgeries, we can attend to themas quickly as possible, but
it's going to require a miracle.
(32:31):
And I won't go into the detailsbecause I know some people are a
little bit more squeamish whenit comes to that kind of thing.
People are a little bit moresqueamish when it comes to that
kind of thing.
But, all to say, theenvironment required me to kind
of walk away at the end of everyday and just deeply process
with the Lord to say, lord, likeyou've called me here can
(33:02):
ultimately be equipped to do,because it required a level of
love and compassion and hardwork that I had never really
seen um displayed within anyother like healthcare settings.
And that's not to say that thepeople I've shadowed in the past
were not loving andcompassionate, because they
absolutely were.
But it's like when you're in anenvironment that seems
incredibly hopeless very lowmedical supplies, very low
(33:24):
staffing, super high mortalityrate, super high disease state
it just feels like an neverending, perpetual cycle of just
despair.
And I think that's why missionscan be so discouraging.
Spare, and I think that's whymissions can be so discouraging,
(33:44):
but also just requires adeep-rooted walk with the Lord
to navigate it.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
So, leading out of that time that I was in Malawi,
I continued my first job outsideof college and that was working
in clinical research outside ofcollege.
And that was working inclinical research.
And, yeah, I would say this wasmy first job working in a
secular environment.
Again, my college was anotherChristian bubble to some degree,
(34:11):
and so I think I was justcontinuing to get those
exposures, but this just allowedme to work in healthcare on a
more macro level.
As opposed to patient topatient.
You're running these largeclinical trials and developing
assays and different medicaldevices that help in healthcare
(34:34):
prevention and more of the worldof epidemiology.
And so I absolutely lovedworking in clinical research and
I think I would have stayed inthat role because I loved it so
much, if I didn't know thatthere was more that the Lord had
for me.
And so I ended up leaving thatjob fully and studying for the
(34:55):
MCAT, which is the medicalcollege admissions test, and
studying for the MCAT, which isthe Medical College Admissions
Test, became my full-time job,and so I just buckled down and I
studied and studied andprepared for this exam, and
throughout this time I continuedto stay plugged into church,
(35:17):
attended life group regularly,just tried to find community
where I could.
And in the midst of this, Ibelieve after I took my MCAT, I,
shortly after met my futurehusband, and that was so
unexpected because I was rightthen and there, you know,
(35:38):
applying to medical school andthen also being pursued by this
incredible man, and I'm like Idon't know how this all is going
to work.
If it does, I wonder who thatwas.
Yeah, but we will reserve thedetails of that for a further
(36:00):
episode.
But it did require a lot ofprocessing with the Lord because
, you know, my life wascontinuing to push forward and I
didn't know where medicalschool would take me.
And so, in the midst of that aswell, I decided to go on
another missions trip to Bali,indonesia.
I decided to go on anothermissions trip to Bali, indonesia
(36:23):
, and this was unique because,you know, bali is predominantly
Muslim and Hindu, and so for me,truthfully, I was a bit
intimidated.
You know, we were partneringwith a church that we had
(36:43):
planted through our church herein San Diego, and we were
helping, just support themduring this trip and we were
just learning what it lookedlike to grow and sharing the
gospel to people of completelydifferent religious backgrounds,
so, for example, people thatare Muslim know Jesus as Isa
Al-Masih, who is their prophet,and so when talking about Jesus,
we have to use the term IsaAl-Masih and then eventually try
(37:06):
to explain Jesus through acompletely different scope.
And just to share one testimonyof my time there, there was one
outreach that we did on Uluwatu,which is one of the most famous
beaches in Bali.
It's so beautiful.
We were walking and the Lordhighlighted this one individual
(37:26):
to go talk to, and we wereworking with very proficient
translators and we ended upengaging in conversation with
this guy and eventually he wascurious about hearing the gospel
, and so we took a stick and westarted illustrating the gospel
through the bridge diagram.
If you've ever heard of it,it's a visual illustration of
(37:47):
Jesus and what he did on thecross for us.
And at the end of sharing that,he just continued to just share
all these ask, all thesequestions and he asked was it a
coincidence that you stopped me?
And we said no, actually wefelt like the Lord was
highlighting you and he began totell us that for the past five
years he had been dealing withsevere gum and toothache that
(38:10):
prohibited him, honestly, fromjust talking and navigating his
day to day.
But as we were doing theillustration of the gospel in
the sand and sharing it with him, his pain completely went away.
And it was like this momentwhere you feel like you're
living in the Bible, whereyou're like, okay, lord, like
healing still happened.
(38:30):
And it was sweet because on myplane ride to Bali I was
journaling and I said, lord,allow me to see you working in
through people and heal them,and so that was really really
sweet.
And we ended up meeting withhim again that week and talking
with him further and he ended upgiving his life to Christ.
So that was so sweet.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
To this day that still gives me chills.
God is good so life is.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
My life is full in different ways.
Um, as I came back from thattrip, I was just so overjoyed by
what God had done.
Um, I started going on dateswith my now husband and um,
continuing my involvement in thechurch.
So I?
Um, that year, was a deacon atthe church, so I served in that
(39:21):
capacity, essentially supportingpeople that had gone through
different crises and meetingwith them very intentionally.
I was also serving on thefreedom team, so we'll dive more
into what freedom looks like,but helping people break through
strongholds and lies andperpetual sin that was
(39:43):
inhibiting them from ultimatelywalking in freedom and walking
in their God-given identity.
And that summer I led a summerlife group and just continued to
allow God to work in andthrough my heart and prepare me.
And, yeah, shortly after that,I stepped into a position at the
(40:05):
church.
I became a children's pastorand I was able to just, yeah,
attend to the youngest membersof God's family for a year.
And working in ministry is veryunique and and I'd love to
share further about thatexperience but Brandon really
helped support me in that roleand was able to just quickly
(40:28):
jump in and hold babies everySunday, which is so sweet.
But yes, I'm at this point intime now where I've kind of
transitioned fully from a lot ofthe things I was involved in
and I'm moving to Tennessee inabout three weeks from now
actually to start medical school.
(40:50):
And, yeah, the Lord has deeplyimpressed his love and infused
his love into so many differentareas of my life and has shaped
me into the woman I am today andI'm excited for him to continue
pushing me along this journeyas I, in four years from now,
become a medical doctor and seehow God uses that out on the
(41:12):
mission field.
I'm just excited to share mytestimony today and, yeah,
that's that leaves me to now inthis, at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Absolutely.
It was such a pleasure to thankyou for your vulnerability and
openness to sharing all that Godhas done in and through your
life, and that concludes today'sepisode.
We just want to thank you somuch for tuning into Isabel's
Testimony.
(41:42):
If you haven't already, pleasegive our third episode a listen
on the heart behind why we'recreating OnTrack.
We hope you have such anamazing and blessed week ahead
and don't forget to stay tunedfor what next week's episode
entails.
Hey guys, welcome back to OnTrack Podcast with
your hosts, brandon and IsabelDiamond.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hey guys.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
We'd like to start off today's episode by thanking
you for your support and forjoining us today, where we'll
dive deeper into Isabel'stestimony.
Sit back, relax, grab yourpopcorn, because all God has
done within Isabel's life istruly extraordinary.
We hope you're able to connectwith parts of her story and
enjoy this week's episode.
All right, welcome.
(00:38):
It's been such a pleasure ofgetting to hear your testimony
and I don't believe a lot ofpeople have gotten the chance to
, yeah, just hear your testimonyand hear the breadth of what
God has done in and through yourlife, from A to Z.
It has been so extraordinaryand I just can't wait for us to
(01:00):
be able to broadcast it to alarger audience.
So bring us into just thebeginning, where everything
started and, yeah, yourchildhood.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
Yeah, I'd love to.
So I was born and raised in SanDiego.
I've been here my entire life.
So, you know, for most of mylife that was kind of all I knew
was suburb and city and beach,and that wasn't too bad.
I didn't have much to complainabout in regards to location.
I have one older brother and Iwas always, you know, the
(01:33):
antagonist growing up and tryingto act all innocent, but I was
always caught quite quickly.
Um, my parents are stilltogether and uh, yeah, just
really shaped me into the womanI am today.
I'm half German and half PuertoRican, and so I was raised with
(01:55):
just a mix of cultures in thehome and that was unique in a
sense, but also makes you feelkind of out of place in
different social contexts.
But, yeah, I would say it wasjust, all in all, just a really
sweet, yeah, small familydynamic.
I'd say kind of the biggestmarkings on my upbringing was
(02:17):
that we didn't grow up with verymuch.
We struggled financially in alot of ways during the 2008
recession, my dad lost his joband was in and out of work for
many years, and so that just puta lot of strain on my parents'
marriage and, yeah, just on ourfamily dynamic and that was,
(02:37):
yeah, I think, a pinnacle pointthroughout my upbringing, to
really understand what it lookslike to rely on the Lord and see
beyond circumstance.
Yeah, so I grew up in the church.
My mom actually worked at ourchurch for 18 years in
children's ministry and so youknow, that was kind of unique in
the sense that I would show upbefore church and serve during
(03:01):
one service, attend the other,and I was quite involved in
vacation Bible schools and fallfestivals and just involved in
all the things that happenedthroughout the week as well.
So I think I did in some waysgrow up in a little bit of a
Christian bubble, which I don'tthink was terribly bad for a
young child, and that led tojust, yeah, some unique
(03:23):
experiences.
I was part of this group calledBee Sisters and it was this
little group for like elementaryschool girls where I got to
learn how to be sisters inChrist with other girls my age
and we got to read the Bible anddo volunteering things together
and I just learned how to formtight knit friendships.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
That's adorable.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
Yeah, super cute.
Also cute was when I was sixyears old.
I decided I was very adamantabout getting baptized and our
church had an outdoor baptismthis particular Sunday and I
remember tugging on my mom'ssleeve and saying you know, I
really want to get baptized.
And so I ran up and jumped inthe pool and I just knew, you
(04:10):
know, I would sit in my room andwrite songs to Jesus when I was
at that age and it was just,yeah, something that I just
deeply knew at that age that Iwanted to commit my life to
Christ at that age, that Iwanted to commit my life to
Christ.
In addition to all of that, inaddition to the things I was
exposed to in church, I washomeschooled kindergarten
through eighth grade, and sowith that there was a lot of
(04:33):
external factors that allowed meto grow.
I was quite involved in thecommunity.
My mom was very good atspotting almost like free
extracurricular activities thatshe would plug us into.
So whether it was art classesor Latin or robotics or
gymnastics or music lessons, Iwas quite busy.
(04:54):
But that again just exposed meto ways in which I can learn and
also develop relationships withexternal mentors.
I think sometimes when you justhave your parents pouring into
your life, there's potential forpushback.
But when you have all theseother mentors in your life that
(05:16):
you look up to, that are alsowalking with the Lord, that kind
of holds you accountable todifferent degrees.
So, for example, when I wasalso around six years old, I
started taking percussionlessons and I was so shy I hid
behind my mom's leg during myfirst lesson and I was on the
verge of tears and I was given apractice pad and drumsticks and
(05:39):
I was learning how to doquarter notes and rests and yeah
, just learning essentially howto play the snare drum.
And then eventually I learnedhow to play flute and piano and
taught myself guitar.
But that was kind of like thefirst push to kind of exposing
myself to the world outside ofmy little church and homeschool
bubble.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
So did your mother or father push you into getting
into percussion, or was it yourown self-discovery and wanting
to explore that?
Speaker 2 (06:09):
It was definitely my parents.
So my dad was born and raisedin New York and he was part of
an all-boys choir so he wasreally involved in singing and
it had such a great impact onhim and his upbringing.
So he knew that even if wecouldn't afford private lessons,
he wanted his kids involved inmusic somehow.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
That's amazing.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, so it was super sweet.
Yeah, around the age of eight,I decided to audition for the
San Diego Youth Symphony for afull-ride scholarship.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And, yeah, I started playing with them at the age of
nine and I played with them fornine years, so from the age of
nine to 18.
And, yeah, there's a lot in andthrough that that really shaped
me.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
What was your most joyful memory of the San Diego
Youth Symphony?
I know there is long, gruelinghours that you may not have
wanted to participate in onsaturdays and right.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
yeah, I mean, I was never the kid that got to sleep
in on saturday and wake up andwatch cartoons.
I would always wake up superearly and have this like pit in
my stomach, you know, gettingprepared for the eight hours of
rehearsals that day, um, butyeah, I would say the most
enjoyable element was justlearning to collaborate with so
(07:31):
many different people, so manydifferent backgrounds and so
many ways of thinking, all forjust a collective purpose, and
it allowed for just incrediblefriendship building and also
just, yeah, learning how to relyon other people to different,
different degrees that'sincredible.
Thank you, I love that yeah, andI'd say, like outside of music
(07:54):
exposures, when it came to myfaith, one of the biggest um
pushes that really opened myheart up to evangelism and doing
missions was when I was inmiddle school and I went on my
first missions trip to LosAngeles, which isn't that far,
(08:15):
but for me it was kind of likethis big push for my parents to
drop me off in Pico Union and Ididn't know anybody at this
church and we slept in thebasement with rats and this
whole week we put on thisvacation Bible school for the
kids in the local community, andPico Union has, over the years,
become pretty homeless populace, and so that just kind of
(08:40):
provided a framework for how canwe love these people and how
can we attend to these people inthis area, and so one thing
that they had us do was ahomeless simulation, and so we
actually had to just choose oneitem that we had brought with us
.
I think I chose a pillow, and afriend that I had made picked a
blanket and we went out and thatnight we slept on the street
(09:01):
and I woke up actually with myeye like completely swollen and
I'm like what, what got in there?
But all to say like that was tojust allow these young people,
myself included, to say, to see,like, oh, this is what it looks
like to live on the streets tosome extent, and it actually
allowed us to connect with thepeople a little bit more because
(09:22):
we empathize with them.
So was it crazy?
No, but as a middle schooler,it was a great push to say, oh,
okay, this is, this is adifferent way that people live,
and I have a heart for peoplethat are walking all different
ways, all in all differentscopes, and I want to step in
(09:43):
and serve.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
That is absolutely incredible and such a unique
opportunity to gain perspectiveon that type of situation.
Not a lot of people are exposedto that type of stuff and it's
just.
It truly makes an impact.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Absolutely yeah.
And then, just segueing into myhigh school years, you know
there's always a reputationaround homeschoolers that we can
be a little socially awkwardand praise the Lord that I don't
believe I fell into that.
Um, just because I did getquite a bit of social
interaction.
But going into high school Iwas not homeschooled.
(10:22):
I went to a project-basedcharter school, so I was in
school five days a week.
Um, it was not homeschooled.
I went to a project-basedcharter school, so I was in
school five days a week.
It was a little different thanyour typical public school in
the sense that we didn't havestandardized exams predominantly
, but we displayed our learningthrough projects.
A project that I did was adystopian themed mini series
(10:44):
where we basically made a wholeseries of scripts and then we
recorded episodes and then hadour episodes premiered at a
local theater.
Another project was somethingthat I put on called a walk for
wellness.
So I was really intrigued bythe hepatitis C outbreak in
(11:04):
downtown San Diego and, in andthrough my research and
curiosity, I partnered with somelocal public health officials
and I put on a walk for wellnessto raise funds for sanitation
kits, and that was unique andthat was also kind of a
partnership, of one of theprojects I did at school where I
(11:24):
had some other peers tag alongand help, support and make that
happen.
I was part of an ichthyologyclub, so basically a fish club,
so to speak, and we had like 25fish tanks in our classroom and
we bred sharks and we were oneof SeaWorld's research
facilities.
That's incredible were one ofSeaWorld's research facilities.
(11:45):
That's incredible, and so, yeah,I mean it was kind of just
extraordinarily unique, and itdefinitely prepared us for the
real world to different extents.
One thing in particular aboutmy high school years was that we
were actually required to do aninternship our junior year, and
so I did an internship at aministry center, and this center
(12:06):
was unique because it hadchurch services for several
different demographics.
So there was a Spanish church,there was an Eritrean church, so
on and so forth, and this placeactually was one of the few
places that housed Ethiopianrefugees that were coming across
(12:27):
the border after the Olympics,and so when I was at this
ministry center, I was given theopportunity just to interact
with all kinds of people.
I predominantly didadministrative work and helped
in that regard.
But there was also this schoolfor teen moms that was being put
on and I would sit into some ofthe classes and listen in to
what they're being taught, and Iasked if I could teach a class
(12:50):
on professionalism and justresume building and giving them
some additional tools to helpthem integrate within society,
being a you know, a teen with ababy, and that was just a really
fun opportunity to kind of justplace myself in that position.
There was a clinic there as wellthat was run by some local
(13:11):
university nursing students andsome overseeing nurse
practitioners and I also helpedvolunteer and support them, and
they predominantly helped justthe public that didn't have
access to health insurance, andso they would also provide free
dinner for them and I would justsit and listen to their stories
and connect with them throughdifferent ways.
(13:33):
And there were so many otherthings that came out of that
internship, but I would say oneof the coolest things was just
being able to be exposed to alldifferent kinds of people with
all different kinds ofbackgrounds and seeing how God
was able to use me within that.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
Yeah, that was a lot.
You just knew how to have ago-getter energy and just do
what was required of you, andthat's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
Thank you.
It's definitely God working inand through me at that time, um,
and in that I was very involved.
Still within church throughoutmy high school years, youth
group was kind of the the thingI looked forward to every week
and I would often help serve onthe worship team with youth
group and, yeah, I justabsolutely loved partnering with
(14:27):
my peers in church andcontinuing to invest in those
relationships.
One thing that my church hostedduring, I think, my sophomore
year of high school was thiscourse called perspectives, and
this course, if you've neverheard of it, basically teaches
you about the Great Commission.
It teaches you about unreachedpeople, groups, people that
(14:49):
essentially have never heard thename of Jesus.
And it's not a course to teachyou how to be a missionary, but
it's a course to just open youreyes to what our greater purpose
is as a Christian here on earth.
And so I took this course and Ijust began to recognize that God
had a greater calling over mylife and I knew I wanted to do
(15:11):
mission work.
I just didn't know what outletsI would use to do so,
especially when you go to closedcountries.
You can't just show up and say,hi, I'm a missionary.
You know it's quite, quitedangerous in that regard.
So at the time they wereadvertising oh, business is
missions.
If you pursue business, thatwill help get into closed
countries, so to speak.
(15:32):
But I was never passionateabout finance and spreadsheets
and all the things and I waslike, oh, what is my thing?
And then that was like, oh,maybe I can get into health care
and then that can be an outletto share the gospel.
And so that was incredible andI ended up taking the course a
year later as well as an alum,just to continue to keep my
(15:54):
heart anchored into that.
And so I started volunteeringat a hospital for three years
and just exposed myself to whatthat world continued to revolve
around.
Speaker 1 (16:09):
So, taking it back a little bit, what was that
initial urge to help people andwhy did you know that this was
what the Lord was placing onyour heart in order to
eventually get into healthcaredown the road?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
That's a great question.
Yeah, I don't know exactly ifthere was a moment in time where
I felt a switch or I felt thisdeep, knowing that I wanted to
help people.
All I know is, you know, asI've grown, I've come to realize
that I'm a three on theEnneagram.
I'm a three wing two.
(16:46):
If you don't know what theEnneagram is, it's a personality
test Enneagram.
I'm a three-wing two.
If you don't know what theEnneagram is, it's a personality
test and the numbers deduce,you know, certain traits and
characteristics that you mightcarry and I just have a deep
passion for basically achievingat helping people, whatever that
might be.
(17:06):
And yeah, I don't have anyonein my home that you know works
in healthcare, so there wasn'tanyone that was a role model or
mentor or someone that can kindof point me in that direction.
But yeah, it was just somethingthat was birthed in me and I
heard.
Honestly, I think it was justGod speaking to me subtly and I
was just trying to attend tothat.
Speaker 1 (17:25):
That is absolutely incredible.
Speaker 2 (17:26):
Thank you for for sharing that international and
national orchestra.
So it was very fun because theinternational orchestra was
(17:51):
comprised of students from allover the globe and I just you
know, I had never left thecountry, and so it was my
opportunity to just be againexposed to people from all
different backgrounds.
And during our breaks frompracticing for extensive amounts
of time, I'd go on walks withsome of the students, and there
(18:11):
was one girl from Poland and wewould just talk about God, and
she didn't know anything aboutGod, she didn't have a
relationship with God, and Ijust knew in my heart.
There were just moments in timeand this is one of them where I
was like, okay, the Lord isusing all the things that he has
placed me in to be used asministry platforms.
And so, again, I didn't knowwhat and we'll get into this
(18:39):
later what discipleship lookedlike, but I knew what forming
friendships look like and how tobe inviting in the way in which
I talked about what I believedin.
So, even though I didn't knowwhat discipleship was, I, for
whatever reason, felt drawn tothis middle school girl that I
had met, and she was the oldestof many, many siblings, and so
(19:00):
she kind of carried a lot ofresponsibility on her shoulders
and didn't get a lot ofone-on-one attention.
And once a week I would go toher house and pick her up when
we would go to the beach and wewould walk on the beach.
And once a week I would go toher house and pick her up when
we would go to the beach and wewould walk on the beach.
And there was one time where Ireally felt led to challenge her
.
I was like, okay, we're gonnawalk on the beach and we're
gonna see if the Lord highlightssomebody to us and then we're
gonna walk up to them and we'regonna pray for them or we're
(19:21):
gonna ask them just about theirstory or share a little bit
about Jesus, you know, and thatwas so nerve wracking for her.
And again, I didn't know whatdiscipleship was or what
modeling different things lookedlike for people that were
younger than me.
But I think the Lord justcontinued to give me opportunity
(19:42):
to be placed intricately inother people's lives.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
Once again, your high school years just showed how
hardworking of a woman you trulywere and still are.
I just can't believe all thatthe Lord had done in and through
that time, and I'm excited tohear what he's done in and
through your college experiences.
Speaker 2 (20:11):
Absolutely.
So.
I went to a small Christianschool here in San Diego and I
was a double major.
So I studied music and biologyas a pre-med student.
So if you can imagine, I waskind of pulled in two different
directions.
I don't know how music studentsdo it, I mean I went through it
(20:32):
but it is a whole nother world.
You would think that after nineyears of playing in orchestras
I would kind of pause for asecond, but then I jumped
straight into eight semesters ofplaying in band and taking
music theory, music historyclasses, conducting classes,
piano pedagogy courses and allthe in-betweens.
(20:53):
So if you can imagine, a musicstudent basically just practices
music 24-7.
But on the other hand, Istudied biology and pursued
pre-med because I knew that Godwanted to continue to sharpen me
in that area for missions, andso yeah, just, my transition
(21:16):
into college was a hard push andI remember this was a really
critical shift in my lifebecause the enemy was really
coming at my identity.
You know, I felt empowered, Iwas excited for this shift to
move forward and the things thatGod had equipped me in.
(21:36):
But I remember there were somany times where I just felt so
alone, I felt inadequate, I feltlike I couldn't.
I couldn't do this thing, um,and I often wondered if God had
actually a different path for me.
And yeah, I would say.
In parallel with this, Iactually started attending a new
(21:58):
church and, after attending myprevious church for 18 years, it
was definitely another bigtransition, but this church
really pushed me and was verymission focused, and so that
kind of went in.
The introduction of college forme, in the midst of struggling
(22:18):
with my identity and all thethings, was that my brother was
a senior at college while I wasa freshman and he saw me
struggling.
He saw me doubting myself.
Speaker 1 (22:31):
Hey guys, hope you're enjoying today's episode.
We encourage you to like, shareand follow on whatever platform
you're listening on, to like,share and follow on whatever
platform you're listening on.
Please provide feedback on ourplatforms in order for us to
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enjoy.
Let's jump back into thisweek's episode.
Speaker 2 (22:54):
And he kept telling me to attend this prayer group
on campus and it met from like10 to 11 pm, so pretty late, and
I was already pushing 12-hourdays nonstop, seven days a week.
I didn't necessarily know whata Sabbath required or entailed
at the time and so I told mybrother I don't know if I can
squeeze this in.
I kept pushing it off buteventually I hit a brink and I
(23:16):
decided to check out this prayergroup and I was so welcomed and
so accepted and I felt so muchpeace and eventually this group
became some of my closestfriends that are still my
closest friends today and wewould meet every single day of
the week.
And we met every single day ofthe week for my entire freshman
year and wow, was thattransformational.
(23:38):
I learned how to pray justdeeply with people.
I learned how to walk alongsidepeople in their hardest moments
.
I grew in my spiritual giftings.
I just grew in my confidencewith the Lord and that is what
honestly set a beautifulfoundation for the years to come
.
So I was actually discipled allfour years of college and this
(23:59):
was when I really started tounderstand what discipleship
looked like.
Yeah, just a woman that wasolder than me who was walking in
her faith and even maybe in adifferent stage of life than me,
that I met with weekly orbiweekly.
And she just got to.
And they got to just pour intomy life and speak truth and
(24:20):
challenge me in different areasand it really was iron sharpens
iron.
As time progressed, I startedto model this discipleship in
other areas.
So during my sophomore year Iwas a resident assistant and
this basically required me tolive on a freshman hall with 24
(24:41):
freshman girls or young womenand I was kind of their point
person so I would put on funactivities to help build
community and help with theirintegration within their first
year of school.
But I was also the person theywould call if they were having
some sort of crisis.
Or you know, there was one timewhere it was like two in the
(25:04):
morning and I got a knock on mydoor and one of my residents was
having a health crisis and wecalled EMT and she had to jump
on the ambulance and she lookedat me and she was like, can you
please come with me?
And so I went on the ambulanceand she looked at me and she was
like, can you please come withme?
and so I went on the ambulancewith her at like 2 30 in the
morning and then ubered backlater and I think it was a
(25:24):
Sunday morning, so, or Mondaymorning at the time, so we just,
yeah, started the week off withzero sleep.
But, um, yeah, it was like okay, so that was fun in some
regards, and I did this thingcalled quality time with Isabel,
and it was like a sign up onthe bulletin board in the
hallway and so all these girlswould sign up and I would do
(25:45):
one-on-ones, like we'd get acaibowl or go walk on the beach or
something like that, and Istarted to just disciple
different ones within that roleand I think that just continued
to remind me that God places usin very specific places in order
to just invest in the peoplearound us and be lights.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Yeah, it's just incredible to hear how
sacrificial you were throughoutthose years and throughout the
very extreme of double majoringand going through all that you
were.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah, it was definitely a balance, but the
Lord sustained me and in themidst of all, that continued to
keep my vision centered.
So I went on a medical missionstrip in college and it was far
less clinical than I thought.
I basically went to a men'snursing home in Mexico and I
(26:47):
remember I was borrowingsomeone's guitar and I learned a
couple songs worship songs inSpanish and um, I was sitting at
this table with a few, a coupleof men that were actually blind
and so I was just playingguitar and um, you can just see
these these big smiles on theirfaces and I'm like you know what
?
Like God has really called usto step out of our comfort zone
(27:12):
and to learn how to love peoplefrom all different walks of life
.
And a lot of these men thatwere at this nursing home, um,
were actually just kind ofdropped off by their family
members and never visited.
It was like they werecompletely abandoned.
It's so sad and, yeah, I thinkI think what the Lord was trying
to do in and through that wasjust remind me that a big part
(27:36):
of healthcare is actually justlike sitting with people and
loving them and seeing them andmaking them feel valued.
Towards the later end of college, I discipled three girls that
were all a year younger than meand I would meet with them
biweekly and I think yeah, again, we talk about discipleship a
(27:58):
lot because really that's theheartbeat of growing in the
church.
If you don't have discipleship,then there's a lot of things in
your personal life that couldbe anchored in the wrong thing,
or the enemy can have rain onthings that are just hidden, and
if things aren't brought tolight, then you might be
following in perpetual sin thatyou're not even personally aware
(28:20):
of, and then that kind oflimits you from how God can use
you and shape you and ultimatelytransform you into the person
he's created you to be.
Yeah, there's so many otherthings that I could share within
these years.
They were so jam-packed, but Iwould just kind of conclude this
season of my life with sayingthat I really truly learned
(28:44):
diligence, resiliency anddependency on the Lord.
Every single day I would wake upand I would pull out my Bible
and my journal and I would say,lord, I'm desperate for you and
I need you and you would get methrough my 12 hour days.
I mean, I graduated with 186units in four years.
There was never a dull moment.
I would leave from a three hour, you know, immunology exam and
(29:08):
run to the music building for arecital that evening.
Or, you know, I just I ran onpure Jesus and it was the most
exhilarating and exhausting andtransformational years of my
life.
Speaker 1 (29:22):
I believe it.
So then, what happened aftercollege and not having that
ability to latch on to thatacademic portion?
Speaker 2 (29:34):
Right Once you're off the training wheels or the
academic track, you kind of feela little bit vulnerable.
I would say, or it kind of feelslike you just jumped off a
cliff and you're like all right,where am I heading next?
Yeah, so immediately after Igraduated, I decided that I
(29:55):
needed to take a little bit of apause.
I needed to rest, I needed torecalibrate, I needed to just
like that.
I needed to take a little bitof a pause, I needed to rest, I
needed to recalibrate, I neededto just like, just reflect on
those years and I decided to goon um more of like a medical
vision trip, I would call it.
So that December I went toMalawi If you've never heard of
Malawi, it's um Southeast Africaand it's landlocked country and
(30:20):
it's one of Africa's mostimpoverished countries and I
(30:42):
ended up going out there soloand staying with a missionary
couple out there um Le Longue,which is their um main capital
city, where I got topredominantly shadow people
within um that local, umsettings of hospitals and
clinics that were in the city,which was a different
demographic from when I went toin coma, which was like an hour
and a half outside of the city,and so it was more of the rural
area and I shadowed out amission hospital.
So, just for a little bit ofcontext, this country was, or is
(31:05):
, 80% village, so if you'redriving down a dirt road, you're
going to see agriculture.
You're going to see peopleworking in their fields.
You know babies on mom's backs,baskets on their heads.
You know it's a really strippedback country, but it's the most
beautiful thing.
I'm so glad that there are somany different cultures out
(31:25):
there and ultimately, thesepeople didn't know that they
didn't have very much becausethere wasn't much to compare.
Most people don't leave thecountry, most people don't visit
the country, and so there isnot a lot of comparison going on
in terms of like, oh, weactually don't have very much.
The thing about it, however, wasthat you know the health care
system and disease states andmortality was quite high.
(31:48):
Just for more reference, thereis about one doctor for every
50,000 Malawians.
There's one hospital or onemedical school in the entire
country.
That spews out about 50 doctorsa year, and so at this hospital
, I witnessed things that Inever witnessed in my shadowing
(32:09):
exposures in the United States.
Every, basically every personthat we saw was at the tertiary
level of their diseaseprogression, and so, essentially
, they were at the brink of, youknow, their time taking away,
and so a lot of these people waslike, hey, we can do emergency
surgeries, we can attend to themas quickly as possible, but
it's going to require a miracle.
(32:31):
And I won't go into the detailsbecause I know some people are a
little bit more squeamish whenit comes to that kind of thing.
People are a little bit moresqueamish when it comes to that
kind of thing.
But, all to say, theenvironment required me to kind
of walk away at the end of everyday and just deeply process
with the Lord to say, lord, likeyou've called me here can
(33:02):
ultimately be equipped to do,because it required a level of
love and compassion and hardwork that I had never really
seen um displayed within anyother like healthcare settings.
And that's not to say that thepeople I've shadowed in the past
were not loving andcompassionate, because they
absolutely were.
But it's like when you're in anenvironment that seems
incredibly hopeless very lowmedical supplies, very low
(33:24):
staffing, super high mortalityrate, super high disease state
it just feels like an neverending, perpetual cycle of just
despair.
And I think that's why missionscan be so discouraging.
Spare, and I think that's whymissions can be so discouraging,
(33:44):
but also just requires adeep-rooted walk with the Lord
to navigate it.
Speaker 1 (33:47):
Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (33:49):
So, leading out of that time that I was in Malawi,
I continued my first job outsideof college and that was working
in clinical research outside ofcollege.
And that was working inclinical research.
And, yeah, I would say this wasmy first job working in a
secular environment.
Again, my college was anotherChristian bubble to some degree,
(34:11):
and so I think I was justcontinuing to get those
exposures, but this just allowedme to work in healthcare on a
more macro level.
As opposed to patient topatient.
You're running these largeclinical trials and developing
assays and different medicaldevices that help in healthcare
(34:34):
prevention and more of the worldof epidemiology.
And so I absolutely lovedworking in clinical research and
I think I would have stayed inthat role because I loved it so
much, if I didn't know thatthere was more that the Lord had
for me.
And so I ended up leaving thatjob fully and studying for the
(34:55):
MCAT, which is the medicalcollege admissions test, and
studying for the MCAT, which isthe Medical College Admissions
Test, became my full-time job,and so I just buckled down and I
studied and studied andprepared for this exam, and
throughout this time I continuedto stay plugged into church,
(35:17):
attended life group regularly,just tried to find community
where I could.
And in the midst of this, Ibelieve after I took my MCAT, I,
shortly after met my futurehusband, and that was so
unexpected because I was rightthen and there, you know,
(35:38):
applying to medical school andthen also being pursued by this
incredible man, and I'm like Idon't know how this all is going
to work.
If it does, I wonder who thatwas.
Yeah, but we will reserve thedetails of that for a further
(36:00):
episode.
But it did require a lot ofprocessing with the Lord because
, you know, my life wascontinuing to push forward and I
didn't know where medicalschool would take me.
And so, in the midst of that aswell, I decided to go on
another missions trip to Bali,indonesia.
I decided to go on anothermissions trip to Bali, indonesia
(36:23):
, and this was unique because,you know, bali is predominantly
Muslim and Hindu, and so for me,truthfully, I was a bit
intimidated.
You know, we were partneringwith a church that we had
(36:43):
planted through our church herein San Diego, and we were
helping, just support themduring this trip and we were
just learning what it lookedlike to grow and sharing the
gospel to people of completelydifferent religious backgrounds,
so, for example, people thatare Muslim know Jesus as Isa
Al-Masih, who is their prophet,and so when talking about Jesus,
we have to use the term IsaAl-Masih and then eventually try
(37:06):
to explain Jesus through acompletely different scope.
And just to share one testimonyof my time there, there was one
outreach that we did on Uluwatu,which is one of the most famous
beaches in Bali.
It's so beautiful.
We were walking and the Lordhighlighted this one individual
(37:26):
to go talk to, and we wereworking with very proficient
translators and we ended upengaging in conversation with
this guy and eventually he wascurious about hearing the gospel
, and so we took a stick and westarted illustrating the gospel
through the bridge diagram.
If you've ever heard of it,it's a visual illustration of
(37:47):
Jesus and what he did on thecross for us.
And at the end of sharing that,he just continued to just share
all these ask, all thesequestions and he asked was it a
coincidence that you stopped me?
And we said no, actually wefelt like the Lord was
highlighting you and he began totell us that for the past five
years he had been dealing withsevere gum and toothache that
(38:10):
prohibited him, honestly, fromjust talking and navigating his
day to day.
But as we were doing theillustration of the gospel in
the sand and sharing it with him, his pain completely went away.
And it was like this momentwhere you feel like you're
living in the Bible, whereyou're like, okay, lord, like
healing still happened.
(38:30):
And it was sweet because on myplane ride to Bali I was
journaling and I said, lord,allow me to see you working in
through people and heal them,and so that was really really
sweet.
And we ended up meeting withhim again that week and talking
with him further and he ended upgiving his life to Christ.
So that was so sweet.
Speaker 1 (38:49):
To this day that still gives me chills.
God is good so life is.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
My life is full in different ways.
Um, as I came back from thattrip, I was just so overjoyed by
what God had done.
Um, I started going on dateswith my now husband and um,
continuing my involvement in thechurch.
So I?
Um, that year, was a deacon atthe church, so I served in that
(39:21):
capacity, essentially supportingpeople that had gone through
different crises and meetingwith them very intentionally.
I was also serving on thefreedom team, so we'll dive more
into what freedom looks like,but helping people break through
strongholds and lies andperpetual sin that was
(39:43):
inhibiting them from ultimatelywalking in freedom and walking
in their God-given identity.
And that summer I led a summerlife group and just continued to
allow God to work in andthrough my heart and prepare me.
And, yeah, shortly after that,I stepped into a position at the
(40:05):
church.
I became a children's pastorand I was able to just, yeah,
attend to the youngest membersof God's family for a year.
And working in ministry is veryunique and and I'd love to
share further about thatexperience but Brandon really
helped support me in that roleand was able to just quickly
(40:28):
jump in and hold babies everySunday, which is so sweet.
But yes, I'm at this point intime now where I've kind of
transitioned fully from a lot ofthe things I was involved in
and I'm moving to Tennessee inabout three weeks from now
actually to start medical school.
(40:50):
And, yeah, the Lord has deeplyimpressed his love and infused
his love into so many differentareas of my life and has shaped
me into the woman I am today andI'm excited for him to continue
pushing me along this journeyas I, in four years from now,
become a medical doctor and seehow God uses that out on the
(41:12):
mission field.
I'm just excited to share mytestimony today and, yeah,
that's that leaves me to now inthis, at this point in time.
Speaker 1 (41:22):
Absolutely.
It was such a pleasure to thankyou for your vulnerability and
openness to sharing all that Godhas done in and through your
life, and that concludes today'sepisode.
We just want to thank you somuch for tuning into Isabel's
Testimony.
(41:42):
If you haven't already, pleasegive our third episode a listen
on the heart behind why we'recreating OnTrack.
We hope you have such anamazing and blessed week ahead
and don't forget to stay tunedfor what next week's episode
entails.
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