Southeast Asia/East Asia: 1st week
The week has been a blur of activities for our team and
Internet service was not so great. Here are several days of updates so please
continue to pray for this mission even when you are unable to receive news from
us.
We arrived Sunday evening, September 21st, late in the
evening. After a short night's rest, we
traveled about 3 hours to a nearby province to meet with our hosts to prepare
for the two days of medical clinics.
Everything seemed to be working out despite many challenges in the days
leading up to our arrival. We thank God
for opening doors of opportunity to minister to the poor people of this
province!
Upon arrival in another province, we had the formalities
of meeting with the local government officials.
They were very gracious in welcoming our team and even presented us with
a beautiful flower arrangement. We were
scheduled to have lunch with many folks from the local community each of our
two days at this location.
Our medical team saw about 80 patients the first
day! It was a little chaotic the first
morning, as many people were anxious to see the American doctor and nurse. Also, they were extremely interested in
receiving medicines that came from the U.S. because they believe them to be far
superior than anything that came from their country.
The patients were most grateful for our help and were
quick to share their appreciation. We
were informed that the District Police would be with us throughout our time in
this village and therefore we would have to refrain from initiating spiritual
conversations. We were disappointed in
this news but knew that a sovereign God was not surprised nor would His will be
circumvented from being accomplished.
On our way to the village the second morning, we passed a
serious motorbike accident very near the clinic where we would be seeing
patients. We had only arrived for a few
minutes when the villagers brought the man to the clinic. He appeared to be in
serious condition but our medical team immediately took charge and stabilized
him so he could be transported to the hospital.
Later, when we reflected on this situation, we felt like it was divinely
arranged that we be in this village on this morning! Many people from the village could see the
care and concern of our team as they provided great medical expertise but with
compassion.
The team continued to see about 70 more patients that
morning. Everyone was so appreciative of
our team coming from such a far distance to provide medical care. We trust that our, "Lights so shined
before men that they saw our good works and glorified our Father in
heaven."
We traveled to a nearby village to share with some new
believers as well as provide medical checkups for the residents. Our team was
able to see between 40 and 50 more patients and distribute appropriate
medicines. This was a local house church
and we were able to provide several gifts, including religious materials. There was a sweet spirit as our hearts came
together to worship the King!
Keep praying as our focus shifts to reaching university
students and then connecting with our Unreached/Unengaged people group! We are looking forward to seeing how God
might use us to proclaim His name in a challenging environment.
