Medical outreaches

The medical outreaches are a great tool to bless the people and open the door to the gospel. This map shows several villages we did clinics in. The one at the bottom was the last one. The lower right was the first one and the upper right was the third one and the village we stayed in was one of the upper middle ones.

Often we had to load our supplies and go by boat to the next village. On the last day we transferred from our boat to this little peki peki boat, then landed on the beach below and walked to the tree line in the distance and got on another boat to reach the village.

First we had to sort all the medicine and supplies we had brought and divide into four different groups for four different clinics. We had several different ideas as to the best way to do this of course :)

For our first clinic we crossed the river and walked about 20 minutes and held the clinic in this school.

The people line up quickly to give their names and take a number.

Tonia takes blood pressure and temperatures.

We would usually have three stations to interview the patients staffed by the doctor or the nurses.

Jan and Fairy ususally manned the pharmacy.

After getting organized we would try to entertain the children by drawing pictures or puppets with them.

WELL DRILLING A SUCCESS

I am pleased to report that we returned home yesterday October 3rd after having a succesful trip to the area of Iquitos, Peru. We gave medical relief to 4 remote villages and drilled wells in two of them. A third well that we raised the funds for will be drilled soon.

Above is a video of me taking my hand at the back-breaking work of drilling the well. There are a lot of stories and photos of our adventure that I will add in the following days.

The Commissioning

The Commissioning
On Sunday, September 20, the Peru 2009 team was commissioned by Northlake Baptist Church. All of the members of the team that are members at Northlake were charged to follow the scriptures below and they committed themselves to the code of conduct listed as well. Following this the congregation laid hands on them and prayed for them. The Spirit of God was ministering among them as they prayed. This team goes forth well provided for, well prepared, and well prayed for. We depart from Longview at 5:00 AM on Thursday, September 24.


Peru Mission Team Commissioning
September 20, 2009

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had
taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See,
this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who
will go for us? "And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" Isaiah 6:6-3 (NIV)
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were
together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood
among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20 After he said this, he showed
them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am
sending you." 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the
Holy Spirit. John 21:19-2! (NIV)

15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which
you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are
saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have
believed in vain. 3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:
that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried,
that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he
appeared to Peter, and then to the twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than
five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living.
though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the
apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also...
Cor 15:1-7 (NIV)

15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
2 Tim. 2:15 (NIV)

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Colossiani:15-17(NIV)

11 I long to see you so that 1 may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you
strong- 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's
faith.
Romam 1:11-12 (NIV)

The Commitments:

Are you committed to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, willingly giving yourself to serving Him wherever, whenever, to do whatever with whomever He calls?
(I am)

Do you believe that He has called you to be a part of this mission
team, representing not only your local congregation, but the Lord Jesus Himself?
(I do)

Will you give yourself with joy to any and all works of service to the people you go to serve, your teammates, your leaders, and all others you meet along the way?
(I will)

Do you commit yourself to do whatever is asked of you as unto the Lord, serving others even as Jesus carne not to be served but to serve?
(I do)

Will you set your heart to seek and save the lost, trusting the Holy Spirit to clothe you with power and boldness in sharing the message of God's love for everyone, inviting as many as possible to believe in Jesus as Savior and Lord?
(I will)

Will you consider others as more important than yourself, building a relationship of mutual blessing with our brothers and sisters who so lovingly welcome us to partner with them for the sake of the kingdom?
(I will)

Will you pray everyday without ceasing, participate fully in worship and team life, and seek to put the needs of the mission ahead of your own?
(I will)

Northlake, do you now commission these, our missionaries,
to represent you, charging them to serve the Lord
wholeheartedly, giving glory to God in everything?
(WE DO!)

On behalf of the Peru team we would like to thank everyone who contributed to making this mission possible. Please be watching this blog for pictures and updates. Please continue in prayer that all that God has in mind for us on this trip would be accomplished.

Lots of Stuff to Pack

 
Pictured here is the growing pile of things we need to pack for our trip. Besides the rolls of mosquito netting we are bringing down for YWAM Peru we are also packing boxes and boxes of medical supplies that we will need to operate our clinic. This, of course, is not to mention the clothing and personal items each team member will need to pack. Oh yeah, we have eight team members and each can only bring two bags and a carry-on without being charged extra for baggage by the airline. I think we can do it, but it will take some arranging. Hopefully, we won't have to get by without anything we would have normally brought.

Here's The Team!

 

From left to right: Ken(RN), Matt, Karen, Chris, Tonia, Fairy (Pharmacy Technician, Trisha (LPN), and Jan

The Team Is Assembled. The Packing Begins!

We now have the team assembled, the airline tickets are purchased, and we're in the final stages of accumulating and packing all the things we will need. Through the generosity of church members, friends and family and by the grace and mercy of God the finances necessary to accomplish our goals have been supplied. We have enough to drill three wells and run a medical clinic for four days. We will be working in Northern Peru in the upper Amazon River system. We will be taking medical care to people who rarely, if ever, have the opportunity to see a doctor. We have the finances for three wells and our team will be helping to drill at least two of wells. Time will likely run out before we will be able to help with the third well, but Youth With A Mission Peru will continue the work on our behalf and complete a third well.
The team is pictured above.

Medical Work

Along with our efforts to bring the Good News of the Gospel  along with clean water to remote villages in Peru we want to further extend a helping to meet the immediately felt  medical needs of these communities.   In 2007 a doctor came along with us.  He was joined by a Peruvian doctor and a dentist and together they were able to assist hundreds over the course of a few days with parasites, infections, and in one case arranging to get a pregnant woman with a complicated labor on a fast boat to a hospital downriver where she could get the help she needed.  Bringing healing is a significant part of exhibiting the love of God.  We’re planning something like this again in 2009.  

Wonderfully Significant

Mark 14 3-9 

While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume made of pure nard.  She broke the  jar and poured the perfume on his head.  Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “ Why this waste of perfume?  It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.”  And they rebuked her harshly.  “Leave her alone," said Jesus. "Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me.  She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.  I tell you the truth, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her." [NIV]

A woman comes into the feast that Jesus is attending, comes up to him, breaks open a jar of perfume worth a year’s salary, and pours it on Jesus head.  To all but her and Jesus this seemed to be a complete waste.  "What a waste of money!," they thought, "Surely this could have been put to better use."  But Jesus and the woman both knew she did this in obedience to God.  It was a prophetic act of anointing Jesus for burial ahead of time.  She may have thought long and hard before she made such a great sacrifice, but in the end it seemed to her she needed to do what she could with what she had. She was convinced it would not be a waste.  She was right. Jesus said this act of service would be told everywhere the gospel is preached, and here I am still today, telling about her.  In fact in The Message Jesus calls what she did "wonderfully significant."

This woman demonstrates to us that when we are obeying God's direction no price is too extravagant.

It can be very easy to begin to measure the actions of this woman by our world’s economy and not God’s.  We can quickly calculate the cost versus amount of people benefited from the action and quickly come up with the bottom line assessment of “It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.”  We must guard against this.  Instead, the message of this woman is simple.  Take what you have and be obedient to the leading of the Lord with it, even if it may appear to be an extravagance, or possibly a waste.   Let God handle the balance sheet. 

Think of it like this. If a king were to call his servant before him and say, "I want you to go to this foreign country.  Don't worry about what you are going to do when you get there, I'll send word to you about that after you arrive."  If the servant responds, "I won't go because that is a waste of time and resources.  I don't even know their language.  What can I do there?"  Is that servant being obedient to his master?  What events won't happen if the servant does not go?  What blessings might he miss out on?  Could he expect to get any further assignments from his king? 

When we seek guidance from God it is not our job to determine if the price is too high or if it is wise to use our resources to obey.  It is our duty to simply do his bidding, and in so doing we may end up doing something wonderfully significant for Jesus. 

 

Why wells in Peru?

In 2007 a group of us from Northlake went to Peru to construct a church building and hold medical villages in remote villages on the Amazon River system.  While there we lived in the village, ate their food, and slept in their houses. We were all struck by how different their lives are from our own.  The most striking difference was the lack of clean drinking water.  The villagers rely on carrying their water from the muddy river to their home to use and were often seen doing laundry by hand.  This lack of clean water is not only inconvenient it is a threat to their health.  Sickness and death caused by these conditions are common.   This became a burden for me.  I love the fact that my house has running water.  We don’t have to carry it from the river.  We just turn a tap and it runs in great abundance to wherever we want it.   Not only that.  It’s clean too.  I can drink it all day without fear of disease or parasites.  When I compared my lifestyle to the plight of these villagers I realized that I God was making this problem so real to me that I would have to do something.  It is a constant in my life.  I could not be any closer to this than if my neighbor here in Longview had to carry his water from the river.  God has been calling me to be part of the solution, to put my faith in action.

 

Matt 25:37-40

 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?  When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?   When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'   "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'”

When I was told of a way that wells with clean water could be provided for these villages I began thinking of how we might be able to help.  The Peru Mission Team has set a goal of drilling 3 wells in remote villages in Peru the fall of 2009.  We will need to raise $3,000 to pay for the wells.  Each team member will also need to come up with $2,000 to cover their own travel and lodging expenses.  It is an ambitious goal, but people who serve a great God can afford to dream beyond their means.  None of us know how this can be accomplished based on what we now have or can budget personally, and in economic times like we all face it almost seems absurd to be thinking like this.  However, I think that one of the duties of the people of God is to show forth His glory.  Why not look with faith to see God do something big for the people of Peru?