For most people, having to care for younger siblings at age 5 would be a hardship. For Nicole Joseph, it was an experience that pointed her toward her life’s purpose. “My sister was born with hyperplastic left heart syndrome,” she said, describing how her parents spent time in and out of the hospital. “As the oldest sibling, I became ‘mom’ to my siblings, in a sense, and it made me love and want to care for people.”

Extending herself in love and service to others is a calling she’s pursued ever since – on numerous mission trips, as an ER trauma nurse in the U.S. and now as a medical missions coordinator. “I love what I do,” Nicole said. “We take medical education for granted so much here in America, but in some parts of the world, you teach them how to use an ultrasound machine, and you’ve radically changed the way they do medicine.”

Nicole has organized missions to clinics, schools and orphanages in numerous countries across six continents. Her responsibilities are twofold: 1) to meet the goals of international partners on the ground, and 2) to provide the type of opportunities that volunteers are looking for.

“As medical professionals, our mission is rooted in prevention and protection,” Nicole said. “Our goal is sustainability, to stabilize communities so that progress continues long after we leave.” She also provides training and supports the teams internationally – and she has plenty of stories from the field.

“When I was in Uganda, a man came to me and said, ‘Miss, I haven’t been able to hear in seven years.’ It turned out he had impacted earwax. After I cleaned out his ears, he told me, ‘You came to Africa for me.’ That’s why I do what I do.”

Another story: “I had one mother who spent hours in labor, and the baby’s heartbeat was tanking. We didn’t have an operating room, so I took her down to the district hospital in the car that I was using. We were able to get her in for a C-section, and later, I got to hold her baby. If I wasn’t there, would she have gotten to the hospital? That’s the impact we can have.”

Nicole estimates she’s been to about 40 countries, including Senegal, the Central African Republic, Uganda and elsewhere. Between trips, she raises money and collects donations to support the goals of mission partners on the ground. She also takes steps to organize, prepare, document and receive prior permission to bring the items into the country she is traveling to.

“Since I was a young girl, I’ve really loved helping people,” she said. “I want to serve people. I want to come in, walk alongside them and hold their hands when they’re going through some of the worst days of their life.”

Those values have also served her well as an Amway IBO. In addition to building a business, Nicole focuses on building people, serving others with humility, consistency and heart. “I want to inspire people to be the best that they can be,” she said, “but also push them out of their comfort zone so that they can see that there’s a world of potential – more than they realize. That definitely goes hand in hand with the principles and values that Amway holds.”

Just like in the Amway business, Nicole acknowledges that medical missions can be challenging at times. Delivering timely care can be difficult in many locations due to material and technological constraints, and not every patient survives.

Many times, Nicole has comforted a grieving parent or sibling. It isn’t always easy, even for an ER trauma nurse. But sharing love and compassion with those who need it most is a responsibility she is grateful to experience. She’s even currently pursuing her nurse practitioner certification so that she can work at the highest level of nursing anywhere in the world and provide the best care.

“Everything I do is to have the opportunity to share the love of Christ,” Nicole said. “God gave me the skills of medicine and teaching, and I’m going to use what He’s given me.”