Elise Gerard: Prepared for a Life of Service
Elise Gerard gives a prenatal exam to an expecting couple in El Salvador. Without Elise’s help and the ministry of G.O.D. International, the couple would have had a very difficult time receiving medical care.
Each time I interview one of our Institute alumni to get a glimpse of what’s happening with them on the other side of graduation, a theme emerges from their journey that challenges me and spurs me on in some way.
For Elise Gerard, class of 2012, that theme is preparedness. As a certified midwife, an international development worker, a wife, mother and even the occasional live performer, Elise knows how to prepare for the variety of roles and responsibilities she plays in life.
As we talked, I was reminded of the exhortation of 1 Peter 1:13
“Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves, set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed.”
Elise’s heart for missions grew throughout various mission experiences facilitated by G.O.D. International and continued as she received training at The Institute. Elise here (2005) on mission in Kenya as part of her Summer Internship experience at The Institute.
A Heart for the Poor in Middle Tennessee and Beyond
Elise’s story of participating with the ministry of G.O.D. dates back to her high school years in the early 2000s. Her desire for a life of service began with a few trips that would shape the way she understood God and his concern for the poor.
She initially went on two trips to impoverished areas in Appalachia and Morristown,TN, where she served with Students Living A Mission, primarily working with children. These trips gave Elise a glimpse into the possibility of one day serving in ministry alongside her friends.
Upon graduating high school in 2004, Elise traveled to Ensenada, Mexico with SLAM, where she got her first experience in international mission work. It was here that she decided mission work was in her future.
The following summer of 2005, Elise summer interned with G.O.D. traveling to Latin America, East Africa and the UK. The increased exposure to serving the poor compelled her and she knew she would need proper education and training to be a responsible development worker.
Elise’s heart for maternal health was informed and deepened through the stories of local midwives on the field, for whom there was little hope, help, or resources available.
Learning a Language, Growing in Skills
She enrolled at the Institute in the Fall of 2005. Having developed a heart for Latin America during her previous travels, Elise was among the first group of students to begin learning Spanish and investing into G.O.D.'s work in Mexico, Guatemala and eventually El Salvador.
During a trip to Guatemala in 2008, Elise had a pivotal meeting with a local midwife, who shared with her about the shortage of professionals working in maternal health. Elise was already interested in health care and working with women, so this concrete need resonated with her as she continued her undergraduate studies.
In 2010, Elise was among the first class of students to go through the Institute’s childbirth education program, developed by Tara Garner, the wife of Institute President Gregg Garner. The program, developed as a result of the overwhelming need for birth workers in the third world, catered towards providing graduates with the tools to educate and serve women who need birth support, particularly women who live in more vulnerable conditions.
Elise was one of the first students in The Institute’s Childbirth Education Program (now Maternal Health minor) pioneered by Tara Garner, with the help of Heather Muñoz (CPM) and Celesta Bargatze (CPM), pictured.
A Certified Professional Midwife and Development Worker
After completing this program and her undergraduate degree in Community Development and certification in Childbirth Education, Elise has gone on to work with Nova Birth Services in Nashville, voted one of the top childbirth service providers in Nashville Scene and Nashville Parent Magazine.
Elise’s ability to be prepared, but also to adapt to unpredictable circumstances, has served her well in the midwifery profession. Even as we sat down to an interview, she had just come off attending 3 births in one week, just before welcoming her own third child!
In addition to her primary job responsibilities, Elise has also volunteered her time in Nashville supporting Spanish speaking immigrants throughout the intimidating process of having a baby in a country and language not their own.
She serves alongside a team of Latin America development workers from G.O.D. Int’l to provide various reproductive health seminars for adolescent girls in El Salvador, in addition to teaching childbirth education courses to cooperatives of G.O.D. in El Salvador.
I asked Elise if there were any particular scriptures that have kept her grounded over the course of her dynamic journey. Philippians 4:4-9 and its themes of choosing to rejoice, of choosing prayer over anxiety and choosing a healthy thought life have kept her rooted as she has developed into the driven woman she is today.
We are inspired by and thankful for the continued faithfulness Elise has shown in using the skills she has developed to serve people, and look forward to seeing how the Lord continues to use her gifts to touch those in need. We are thankful for God’s faithfulness to a young woman who did her best to prepare and discipline herself for the kind of selfless action required to fulfill the call of God on her life.
