GARLAND, TX. ( USA ) – Rebekah Ann Naylor's life purpose began when she was a young girl. God called her to be a missionary and a doctor. Yet how many children have a dream that is not followed through? Certainly many, but not Rebekah. She knew God's call was real and determined to follow His leading, despite difficult odds.
In "Rebekah Ann Naylor, M.D.: Missionary Surgeon in Changing Times," (to be released June 2008) author Camille Lee Hornbeck details Naylor's life, from her deliberation when choosing a specialty in the last year of medical school, to her life in Bangalore, India, where the hospital into which she had poured her life faced possible sale.
Dr. Naylor, who has supported Hope Clinic in many ways in the past, will be speaking at the May 1 prayer breakfast for this clinic, which is a faith-based, free medical clinic for those who meet certain qualifications. The event will be held at First United Methodist Church in Garland, TX, from 7:30-9am. Author Camille Hornbeck will also be in attendance.
Dr. Naylor's amazing story is one of extraordinary obedience to God and perseverance in difficult circumstances. Her family life (as the daughter of Robert Naylor, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1958-1978) and spiritual foundations led the way for her superb accomplishments, which include receiving the Pre-med Student of the Year award at Baylor University; being the only female in her 1968 residency class and the first woman to graduate from the surgical residency program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School; and greatly improving and expanding the entire Bangalore Baptist Hospital in India during her 35 years of unselfish work as a medical missionary.
Yet even with all of these successes, Dr. Naylor never neglected her sole purpose. "Despite her hectic schedule, her spiritual ministry never wavered. She never forgot that she was here to serve God and show His love," said Alexander Thomas, MS, M. Phil, director of Bangalore Baptist Hospital, in the book's foreword.
And Dr. Naylor certainly had reason to abandon her focus. Throughout three decades in India, she experienced dramatic change in both the Southern Baptist Convention's Foreign Mission Board (now called the International Mission Board), for which she worked as a missionary, and politically and socially in India. These changes caused her to re-evaluate how she approached certain situations and even prompted her to become more of an administrator and entrepreneur for the hospital.
Learn from Dr. Naylor's honest letters, which are included in the book, and follow her sometimes unbelievable experiences as surgeon and administrator at Bangalore Baptist Hospital, where she encounters trials of every kind. Discover how God equips the person He calls through Dr. Naylor's transformation from a painfully shy personality to one who can accomplish anything with God's help.
Talented storyteller Camille Lee Hornbeck – mother, grandmother, reader, traveler, heirloom-dress creator, and literature and composition instructor – holds a bachelor of arts (Baylor University) and a master of arts in English (Texas Christian University). She is a retired English instructor from multiple schools, including Fort Worth ISD, Texas Christian University, Baylor University and Tarrant County Community College. She and Jeff, her husband of 44 years, members of Travis Avenue Baptist Church, live with their cocker spaniel KurtLee in Fort Worth, TX.
Paperback copies of the book are available for $19.95 through online bookstores such as Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. Hannibal Books also offers the book through 800-747-0738 and www.hannibalbooks.com. ISBN: 978-1-934-749-04-3.
