October 2, 2007 
 
 

This is a picture of the children in our alley way during the Chinese Moon Celebration.  They light little lanterns in the early evening possibly to guide their ancestors to their homes.  It originated as a harvest celebration.  These kids are Vietnamese and adorable.

Can it already be October???  I am amazed at the time . . . in Cambodia, life is going on as usual although it is probably quite different than your usual.  I am at a corner internet café with its doors open to the sounds of all kinds of traffic.  Prevalent are the honking of car horns, vans and busses, motos buzzing, street vendors walking with carts yelling out their wares for purchase while pedestrians and bicyclists are vying for space on the busy streets.  There are many more cars and motorcycles (motos) than there were two years ago.  The city is more affluent and can be seen in the new buildings, and numbers of people eating and buying in western style establishments.  There are also many, many young people and pregnant women!  Approximately 80% of the people in this country are age 30 and under and 50% of the population is age 18 or under!!  There are only 3% over age 50.  Most of you already know how the Kymer Rouge decimated their own people in the civil war in the mid to late 70s so I don’t have to tell you how these numbers came about.  What is amazing is that so many are prospering.  It is good to see. 

However, we are in the largest city of the country – Phnom Penh.  Western influence has had quite an impact here although some things never change.  The smells (mostly not too good) and sounds are much the same and air pollution is worse.  It seems that everyone who has a home in the city also runs a small business out of it.  Most streets are fairly wide and the broken down sidewalks on the main streets are very wide.  Many sidewalks now are full of cars as that is the only place to park them leaving people to walk in the streets!  There are small restaurants with a couple of little tables or just an open wood fire set up on a stand next to the streets where a woman sells grilled bananas to those who stop by on their motos.  Another family next door has their doors wide open and you can see the scraps of fabric they have cut off a pattern to sew something custom made.  Next to that is someone selling phone cards and phone service off a cell phones – the equivalent to a phone booth!  Then, the small mom and pop shop with packages of noodle soup, snacks, shampoo, combs and the life being sold to anyone who happens along.  The corners sometimes have moto repair shops with grease draining into the sewers along with just about anything else you can think of.  There is just such a mix of anything and everything it is hard to describe accurately.

It rained just a little bit ago – a brief torrential downpour.  This, afterall, is the end of rainy season.  That makes the unpaved side streets a bit interesting to navigate, but I brought my moto helmet in case it rains and I need to hop a ride home. 

The students have been going through orientation to the country, preparing appropriate teachings and skits and are now learning all about how to examine a pregnant mom and what things to look for in case either the mom or baby are in distress.  Poor nutrition is what we expect to find in the remote villages, unfortunately, that is what causes the most problems for both mother and child.  Our speaker is a midwife from the US who lives in the Philippines and has opened 12 pregnancy/delivery centers for the very poor and needy – offering free service.  She has worked with our school for many years and we are blessed she was able to come to Cambodia this time.

Next week we will be learning more about HIV/Aids in Cambodia and putting on free medical clinics in the slum area of the city.  A little later they will be working in a hospital setting alongside doctors here who have agreed to take them on as kind of interns for a few days.  I was an intern in this hospital 5 years ago when I came here too.  It was very good experience. 

October 19-21 we will be traveling to one of the wonders of the world – Ankor Wat here in Cambodia.  It is a huge temple complex that is depicted on their flag and is a huge center for their Buddhist, Hindu and animistic worship.  We will be interceding there.

After the students get their feet wet in these environments, we will be going to a the remote northeast corner of Cambodia to Ratanikiri province for THREE weeks.  There we will work with small villages giving free clinics and teachings on healthcare while trying to understand what, why and how they get health care.  It will be an interesting bringing together of multiple cultures.  We will take three translators, but will have to have three more from the area as they speak a different dialect than most of Cambodia.  Pray for clarity of translation  PLEASE!   Also for our safety and that of our hosts and other Christians we will be working side-by-side with and pray for us to adjust to the environment there.  We are being spoiled here with western style bathrooms, great cooking and comfortable beds.  I have a feeling it will be VERY different there – already we have been told there are very few bathrooms of any kind so we are preparing mentally, emotionally, physically, practically and spiritually!   

I hope to update you when I return from Ratanikiri but may not be able to until we reach Thailand in November.  Don’t stop praying!  Prayer Requests

August 4, 2007 
 

Intro. To Primary Health Care School

Nancy helps fellow student, Jessica, load her syring while Freidhelm (school leader) helps Damaris prepare to give her orange a shot.

LECTURE PHASE

Even after all our prayers, two Africans, one Indian, and one Filipino could not make it due to tighter restrictions on visas, but we do have 10 students (Mary and Tommy are not students).  Those who could make it were surely called and anointed for this 6-month school.  Their ages run from 19 to 65 and they come from a variety of backgrounds – a nurse, a physician’s assistant, two pharmacists, college grads with some work experience and those with only high school under their belts --  but all with a heart to serve those who need basic healthcare.  Many have a heart for children and babies especially. 

These weeks are a rich time of learning and watching the students gain new insight – not just knowledge, but spiritual implications and correlations as well.  The students are gaining specific, practical applications to problems in the 8 key areas of Primary Health Care (see below) and tropical medicine. 

The students rise early for breakfast work duty which is from 5:30 to 7:30, class begins at 8 and goes until 3 PM.  Then we have evening meetings 2 to 3 times a week.  It is a hectic schedule that requires diligent study and text reading with an exam each week as well as book reports, journal assignments and a variety of homework assigned by the speakers/teachers.

Most of our speakers come from health care backgrounds and have been in the missions field in one way or another for many years.  One is a former student who is now a doctor and has come full circle to teach in the class he was inspired by.  Cool, huh?  And how they “talk story” (as we say in Hawaii)!  These speakers/teachers have many faith stories to tell, especially from those times when they came to the end of themselves medically and needed help and how God came through or revelation they received in those times.  The amazing thing is that several speakers come all the way to Hawaii to teach for a week and all they receive from us is airfare, meals and housing and a small honorarium – they don’t break even and often are teaching so much of the time, there isn’t much left over to just enjoy their surroundings.  BUT, they love doing this and it shows. 

As staff it is our job to disciple the students, make sure all the speakers have what they need, and to do some of the teaching on a multitude of health related subjects, monitor the student’s progress, prepare all the “behind the scenes” things such as finances, hospitality (this take a huge chunk of time), events and outings, small group meetings, individual meetings with students, outreach preparation, all the academics required, times of intercession and worship each week, and dealing with health problems as they arise. (We’ve already had one student in the emergency room this quarter).  The days get very long and sometimes I’m not home until after 9:00 at night with no stopping in between other than for meals but it is well worth the investment into these students and the calling God has on their lives. 

One student, Steph, wants to go back to her homeland of Honduras and give primary health care for free to the remote villagers.  The first week of school, we hold a community meeting where Hawaiians welcome everyone new on campus and the flags of the countries represented by students are paraded around the court.  She cried as she felt God was saying she was here to represent her country and to bring them hope.  Steph is the first Honduran to come to our campus! 

Two other students want to become nurses and go back into missions, some are not sure how God will use this school in their lives but know he called them here.  It is exciting to see what God is doing as He pours his compassion into their lives and shows them his heart for the hurting each week.  Thank you for partnering with me in this journey!  IT is so exciting – I wish you could all be here to work with them and see how their worldviews change and grow.

OUTREACH!

At this point, the ENTIRE class – 10 students plus a wife and son and 6 staff – are going on the outreach!  We are planning to go to Cambodia – one area is a remote north eastern corner to small villages – as well as Thailand and possibly Myanmar (was Burma) which is Communist and Christianity is not welcome.  So it can be tricky taking in a medical team, but where God says to go, we will go.  We are planning, but submit our plans to the Lord and allowing him to change them as he will. 

We will have one week of lecture phase on mother and child health, including midwifery, while in Cambodia.  The speaker is an awesome woman of God who has led schools of midwifery and has agreed to meet us in Cambodia.  In addition to that, two of our speakers will meet us for several weeks each while we are in Cambodia to get a fresh taste of health care in developing countries.  One trains paramedics in California and has been teaching a week of emergency care in our schools for many, many years.  It will be interesting to see what God shows him through that time in a land where in rural areas, emergency care is practically unheard of – partly due to the unavailability of it, but mostly due to their religious view of how suffering is expected in this world and that if the witch doctor cannot appease the “spirits”, they have no other options but to suffer and often to die.  The other is an emergency room PA and a YWAMer.  She has led this school in the past and has a heart for Cambodia.

NEEDS

PLEASE PRAY WITH US!!!   At this point, we have many needs but the most obvious is financial.  The students and staff have to raise their own funds for the outreach phase.  We are still working on details of the costs involved, but a ball park amount is approximately $3500 per person (staff pay a little less)  for 13 weeks in the field.  Our first deadline date is August 9^th for $1500.  I do not currently have this money and am praying for provision.  Also, since I live off campus, I have to either give up my room in the home I am staying at, sublease it or continue to pay rent while I’m away.  My desire is to be able to keep the room rather than have to leave it so your prayers for me in this area would be appreciated and if you would like to contribute to my finances, click here Donations or call me at 808.896.5142.   For other areas of prayer click  Prayer Requests.

8 Keys to Primary Health Care

This is a list put together by the largest health care organizations in the world and is what is considered basic health care needs for all people in the world.

1. sustained and appropriate Food Production for good nutrition

2. access to clean Water and Sanitation

3. access to Disease Control -- Immunizations

4. Mother & Child Health care – esp. for children under the age of 5

5. understandable Curative Care options & help

6. availability of Essential Drugs for common diseases and ailments

7. basic Health Education given and available for all

8. access to Community Resources for health care such as permanent and functioning village clinics

 DID YOU KNOW:   7 out of 10 deaths in the world under age 5 are attributed to:

—        Pneumonia,

—        Diarrhea/Dehydration,

—        Measles,

—        Malaria,

—        Malnutrition (not a direct cause of death)

A QUOTE . . .

from Dr. Paul Brand & Philip Yancey in Fearfully and Wonderfully Made.:   

“Think of the variety of stimuli your skin monitors each day: wind, particles, parasites, changes in pressure, temperature, humidity, light, radiation.  Skin is tough enough to withstand the rigorous pounding of jogging on asphalt, yet sensitive enough to have bare toes tickled by a light breeze.”  

Isn’t God good? 

June 26, 2007

Aloha friends!  A dream came true for me this month.  I have always wanted to work with Habitat for Humanity and finally, right on our island they had a 10-day house build planned.  I had been wanting to do this for a few years and was so excited to be released and blessed with a University vehicle to drive the 50+ miles each way at their expense!  Thank you Lord!  (Big Smile)  (Check out the wild hair day!) 

For the 4 days I worked, I mostly used a paint brush – painting inside and out and putting finishes on wood surfaces – doors, baseboards, bottoms of kitchen cabinets to deter the termites and roaches and humidity.  Below is a picture of the house and the family in front of the tree of blessing that was planted on dedication day.  This family who lived in a one-bedroom apartment for 2 years believes that God is calling them to start a Calvary Chapel church in their home.  They are a precious family and I hope to keep in touch with them.  I am also hoping to see the University interact on a regular basis with Habitat as they set up more builds and need more volunteers.  We are a perfect fit for sending in a group of volunteers and impacting something like this in a big way in our own community.  More pics below.

Now, I’m staffing full-time with the Intro. To Primary Health Care School.  We are still praying for students as they prepare to come.  Visa issues are still a special prayer point for the two guys from Africa and one girl from India.  It looks like I’ll be teaching the first week on Medical Terminology.  It’s not exactly an exciting topic, but one which is extremely important.  I’m looking for ways to make it interactive and fun for them.  Please pray for me for that, esp. since its been quite a while since I learned and used them myself. 

Our theme for the school comes from Ezekiel 37:9b and Zechariah 4:6:

“’This is what the Sovereign Lord says:  Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain that they may live.’”

“’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.”

As I write this I am reminded of what I felt God telling me a couple of weeks ago; maybe someone needs to hear this.  I had been reading Ecclesiastes 5:15 “Naked a man comes from his mother’s womb, and as he comes, so he departs.  He takes nothing from his labor that he can carry in his hand.”  As I was mulling this over I saw that the only thing that matters in the end is our relationship with God.  It is THE ONE thing we can take with us.  Why wouldn’t we want to spend our time on a lasting fruit? 

Then I remembered the story of Martha and Mary.  Martha was doing all the right things in the eyes of man yet what would it gain her in the end?  Mary had an eternal mindset and sat at the feet of the one with whom she would spend eternity – getting to know Him, His character, His ways, His voice.  Later as I reviewed the 17 values of YWAM, the first two are our motto:  “To Know God and to Make Him Known” and the third is To Hear His Voice.  If we don’t know his character and how to hear His voice, how can we make Him known?  How can we carry out the other 14 values effectively?  Everything comes from that relationship.  Now being very task oriented this has helped me to define my focus of my larger task in life -- pursuing a deeper relationship with the Lord.  It doesn’t feel as tangible as I would like it to be (and I love quick results), but relationships take time. 

On another side of life . . . my mom had her knee replacement replacement surgery last week.  The results seem to be painful but good so far.  It wasn’t an entire replacement and the surgeon aligned it properly so I’m continuing to pray for a super speedy and less painful recovery than the norm.  Please pray with me!  More Praises & Prayer Requests

A CHILLY ALOHA?

May 14, 2007

At right are my crazy roommates and I!   Another friend drove us up to the summit of Mauna Kea where the world renown observatories are located to celebrate Val's (in the middle) birthday on April 29th with a picnic dinner.  No snow but lots of cold at almost 14,000 feet  -- the sunset and star-gazing was worth it!  (More photos below.)

I'm excited to report that I'll be staffing the Introduction to Primary Health Care school here at the University of the Nations in Kona, Hawaii this summer.  Currently I'm working two days a week with the school leader, Friedhelm Metzger, but expect to be full-time school staff in about a month when we get closer to the start date.  This school concentrates on basic health care practices.  These students will learn the primary killers of children under age 5 and how to prevent them as well as various diseases including HIV/Aids.  They will also learn about nutrition, immunizations, mid-wifery, emergency care and how to teach all these things to the literate and illiterate.  Its a challenging course, but very effective and life-saving for our course grads.  You may recall that I took the school in 2000 and it was one of my favorite courses and even now, two of my classmates are in medical school to become doctors in the mission field. 

 We have 10 students accepted and only three are from the US.  The other 7 are from Ghana, Philippines, India, Honduras, Canada, Switzerland and Cameroon!   What a great mix of cultures for our small school.  Please pray they all get their visas and their school fees.  This is an expensive school for developing country nationals -- about $4300 for the 12-weeks of lecture phase or the outreach which is another three months!  Also please pray for more students to apply.  There is still time for applications to be accepted.

Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays for now, I'm staffing the Global Opportunity Center (or GO Center) which is our campus conference center.  I'm doing housekeeping, hospitality, and all around what-ever-is-needed.  Over the last week or so I have cleaned and pruned the landscaping around the pond in the courtyard of the GO Center, painted rooms, and powerwashed the tile floors of the three-tiered courtyard and all the outdoor furniture there as well.  It has been a busy time getting ready for a big three-week UNIQUIP conference for YWAMers around the world.  The conference begins tomorrow -- should be fun!  (See photo below.) 

In addition to this, I'm volunteering at a weekly "Meet 'N Eat" program which feeds people dinner once a week for free at one of the schools.  Some think this is for the homeless, but it is really for anyone and currently we are getting a lot of people from the government housing complex located next door.  Many are from the Marshall Islands.  They are some of those the US government relocated from the Bikini Island after making it a nuclear test site.  They have had to learn English and try to fit into our culture with its many challenges including our high cost of living.  I assume this is a difficult thing compared to the laid-back island culture they are all about.  Anyway, I am enjoying serving them and sitting down and getting to know some of them -- learning about thier lives and what they are facing.  I'm also trying to learn a little Marshallese and at the same time instill in them pride in their own language.  They get looked down upon a lot for being a foreigner and not having a good grasp of the English language.  Why aren't we more understanding in this area? 

While I know I am called to be a leader, I really enjoyed my time on leave (thank you to all!) and am having a good time not shouldering the intense responsibility I had over the past year as the Registrar.  I am making this a time of learning how to come under various leaders with a truly servant heart.  If you can't follow, you can't lead.  I've had some trouble in that area -- not trusting leaders.  I've been hurt by them as you probably have too.  I think my take away thought is that we will always have those times but it is what we do with them that keeps us afloat.  

Trying not become cynical is difficult but it erodes our faith and we begin to have a victim mentality and thinking that things will never change.  God is in the business of change -- He can be trusted and He's the one who puts us under the authority of leaders.  I can honestly say that I didn't trust God enough over the past year and grew very cynical of a few things here.  It has been a process of stepping back, taking a closer look at my own failings and drawing closer to the Lord through repentance, and working on how God can trust me (immediate obedience) and I can trust Him.  After all, its a two-way street but He has infinitely more patience and love.  God impressed upon me to find a mentor who is helping me to stay accountable -- that can be difficult here where people are in and out of the islands a lot but . . . God provided one for me.   Pray I will learn what God wants me to learn.  

Another prayer request . . . my neighbor, who actually owns the cat that likes to live around our house, is having surgery today on his thumb.  They are putting a pin in it.  He's in his 70's and has to have this done in Honolulu.  Please pray for perfect surgery, speedy healing and a heart open to the gospel.