Medical Missionary Training

August 3, 2010

Medical Missionary Training

“In returning and rest shall ye be saved.” “The Lord wants human beings to take time to rest, time to think of and appreciate heavenly things.  Those who do not value the things of heaven sufficiently to give time to them will at last lose all.”Letter 181, 1903

A class trip to the mountains and waterfalls!

Medical Missionary classes have been in session now for 3 weeks.  Our whole team is privileged to be here together.  The first week, Sebastian, a man from China, taught many wonderful natural remedies and ways that really work to detox people, and heal diseases. Of course all the things that we might use on someone else, is exactly what we do to ourselves, so we can help our patients understand more.  Though this class was quite rigorous, I must say that it works!  You end up feeling even better than when you thought you felt great!  You start out the whole program by drinking sea water at 4:30am.  The results of this “lovely” drink, is a fast and thorough way of scrubbing out your entire GI tract, if you know what that means! This episode is followed by 2 days of water fasting.   You guessed right, nothing taken by mouth except water.  For the faint and shaky soul there is lime juice or coconut milk to strengthen them up.  The next day there is a plain watermelon and water smoothie for breakfast and a variety of vegetables blended together for lunch.  During these 3 days we are doing a series of detox treatments.  A few of these are:  Clay baths,

Blet Jaw, not quite believing the condition he is in!

 (during this procedure we are relatives to the pigs!  But I must say after all the sticky goo is washed off and clean dry clothes put on, you feel on top of the world)!  There is also molasses rub, salt glow, honey massage, hot foot baths, foot massage, many kinds of poultices, infra red light and a special 1 hour body massage which can cure cancer and many other diseases.

Please note that fasting is not for everyone.  Only if God has placed a burden on your heart and you feel the need for His guidance and Holy Spirit etc.

After the first day of fasting we had a night of prayer.  Many prayer requests were listed and prayers were raised up to heaven along with songs, Bible readings and discussions.  We lasted until about 2 a.m. this particular night. This is a wonderful way to see the Saviour more clearly, love Him more completely and earnestly, pray for others and for your own personal battles and struggles, be braced for the duty ahead of you, plead for more Holy Spirit, claim His promises, beg for His guidance and find much spiritual food to nourish your soul.  I find that prayers done in this manner bring big results usually within 24 hours.  Oh in these last days let us live on the promise, “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me, and he shall make peace with Me.”  The peace He gives is real and very sweet!

We break our fast carefully, Sebastian now introduces us to parched grains!  We know very much about this food, because we made it and we ate it for one week!  Some thought they would die before taking another bite of it, but myself and most others were hooked on it and saw so many benefits.  We did have fruit with it and later vegetables.  I’ll tell you how to make this delicious treat.  It is simple.  First soak a variety of rice, red rice, brown rice and black rice for approximately 6 hours.  Next boil it until it is a little overcooked.  Drain well and place high over a fire, fan or in the sun until THOROUGHLY dried.  Using a heavy iron skillet, or large clay pot, heat up several cups of sea salt, then add small amounts of dried rice to it at a time.  Mix it well and keep it moving until you see the kernals parch, or turn white.  The trick is to know when to quickly remove it from the heat.  Scoope it all into a strainer and shake very well to remove all the salt.  Let it cool and then eat it, (but never in between meals)!  You can parch wheat berries, oats, rye or other grain, any kind of bean and corn also.  Eating parched grains will cause longer chewing time and perfect digestion.  The little bit of salt that lingers is tasty.  Eating parched grains is cheap, easy, stores well and is an excellent quick meal while traveling.  You avoid the stomach aches and other digestion problems.  For one of our examinations we had to list about 20 benefits of parched grains, massage and fasting. It is unbelievable how these 3 things can change peoples lives of sickness into vigor and good health.

We miss Sebastian after his week was up.  He is someone you might think hates you at first but you end up loving him.  The hate part is because if you are late to class you have to get up front and sing a solo, then stand in the corner for 5 minutes.  Others, he might have clean all the toilets in the morning, or do several pushups in front of the class.  If your cell phone rings, he will confiscate it for a very long time.  The result?  Every one is always on time, and there is quiet attention during each class.  The love part is because he puts his entire soul into his classes.  He focuses on the Bible stories of Jesus healing, and delves into the little details making it come alive and inspire you to care for others needs,  as Jesus did, no matter who it is.  Sebastian wants to hear from us after we leave to inform him of our success in our Medical Missionary work, and also to answer any questions we may have.

Worship begins at 6a.m. every morning, followed by exercise and then breakfast.  Classes are about 2-2 ½ hours each.  They are at 9a.m., 3p.m., and 7p.m. 

 In spite of all we’ve gone through, we started our class with 31 students and right now we have 30.  One had to leave for an emergency at home.  The next week Dr. A from Bangkok taught us anatomy and physiology.  She was a rare find!  Here was a doctor who practiced natural medicine and wove Jesus into every phase of her life. She taught many wonderful lessons on Bible topics and had us organize ourselves to teach the 8 natural remedies. These classes really made me feel I was back in nursing school again.  Even though the classes were too deep for non medical people, we all gleaned a better understanding of our bodies and the wonderful way God made us. 

We are half way through this training session and look forward to the rest.  We keep asking ourselves if we are getting spoiled with a variety of good food, a little house to live in with a shower, refrigerator and real beds with mattresses, but we miss our little village in the mountains and pray God keeps them in His hands and enables us to return better equipped to meet their needs.

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Our Telephone Booth

July 13, 2010

Our Telephone Booth

Some may call it a terrible inconvenience, others may complain of exhaustion and fatigue, while still others may long for a more civilized way of life.   I call it a blessing, a mountaintop experience, a gift from God!

You see, it is our telephone booth.  To connect with someone in the outside world you must first count the cost.  Is it worth it?  We leave our house, cross two small rivers, climb a mountain or two, then climb a tree!  The hike up the mountain may take quite a while on a good day.  Round trip, if an hour is spent on the telephone, you may have to calculate taking 3 hours. It is a very steep ascent.

  On the way the scenery is breathtaking if the weather is clear. You see many cleared mountainsides where rice is growing, distant mountains, valleys and one small village way off to the left.  It is best to go in the early morning because it is slightly cooler, but any time of day you must expect the sweat to pour!  We usually want to get our daily exercise anyway, and what better way than to climb a mountain?  This does your calves wonders, and your cardiovascular system is strengthened. At the summit we view the telephone booth.  The walls are white patches over brown.  The climb to the first limb is not too hard.  The climb to the next level is very tricky.  My short legs have to stretch past the limit and you hope the feet don’t slip on the smooth bark.  Once balanced in position the phone works very well.  You are defenseless from the ants, however, which are also always interested in climbing this same tree.  The bees are pesky also and easily sting you before you notice where they are lurking. 

The white patches on the tree bark is perfect to quickly jot telephone numbers on.  This type telephone book does not ruin in the rain.  Week after week the names and numbers are still clear. Think of the joy to actually be able to speak to the ones you love and miss, or connect with those you must do business with. 

One day on the way back down the mountain, a sudden tropical storm hit!  Instantly my pathway down became a rushing torment, the ugly brown water pulled hard at my feet and each step was uncertain and threatened to bring me down.  As I slipped and splashed all the way home I thought about the joy of actually talking to those I loved and missed.  Because of the effort in the journey, the joy of the conversation is all the sweeter, the connection is so much more appreciated, the words spoken and heard in the ear leave a greater impact, and the memory of these conversations stay so clear for so much longer!

Oh friends, isn’t this similar to our connection with the precious Saviour!  First you must count the cost.  Is it worth it to you to give up the favorite, darling ”little” sins that keep you away from Him,   to take up your cross and follow no matter what the cost.  It requires a struggle, an affliction of your soul before Him.  Sin tries to have dominion over you and fill you with doubt about this Christian journey.  It is hard.  Your feet slip sometimes, filling you with dread and fear.  But Jesus says He has enlarged your steps under you that your feet do not slip.  (See 2Samuel 22:37)The devil throws darts (the ants and bees) at you threatening to make you let go of the connection you have so longed  to receive.  You tend to still disbelieve, but Jesus is there, you hear His sweet voice saying, I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand…fear not I will help thee.”  Isaiah 41: 3.  The tiresome journey instantly looses its pain.  You have heard the voice of Jesus, you realize He has held you and walked with you all this time through the trouble, the pain, the discouragement, and even through your sins and terrible mistakes!  Your elation knows no bounds!!  In great joy and adoration the exclamation of Nicodemus comes, “How can these things be?”  It is far too wonderful to understand. No, you cannot understand it, you must just believe it is true and as you descend into the days and weeks that follow, some of them an overwhelming flood of sorrow, hardship and pain, the memory of your experience with Jesus on the mountaintop is ever sweeter and holds you tighter as the days go by. His love shines brighter and if you keep choosing Him, He will never leave you or forsake you.  The sweetness of His presence just grows better each day until that journey ends and we see Him face to face.

Take courage there is hope!  Mrs. White says:

“The Spirit furnishes the strength that sustains striving, wrestling souls in every emergency, amidst the hatred of the world, and the realization of their own failures and mistakes.  In sorrow and affliction, when the outlook seems dark and the future perplexing, and we feel helpless and alone, -these are the times when, in answer to the prayer of faith, the Holy Spirit brings comfort to  the heart.”  Acts of the Apostles 51

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Less Is More

July 1, 2010

 

 

Tears sting my eyes and threaten to spill down my cheeks as I sit on a rock in the middle of the creek, watching my oldest son scrubbing his jeans on a rock.  He is just 2 days short of 17 years old.  My! how he has grown and matured!  It was only 10 short months ago when wash day in America brought grumbles and groans.  But then, washing merely consisted of placing the clothes in a washing machine and pressing a button!  The same was true of the drier!  We had it all then!  –or did we?  Now those days are forgotten.  In a creek far out in the mountains of Thailand, we wash our clothes daily with a cheap cake of soap, a scrub brush and a rock.  Bradley whistles while he works.  A strong arm brings the deep dirt out of the knees and hems of his jeans quickly.  The flow of the stream rinses the soap suds just as fast. 

Four small Karen children have been watching him and playing in the leaves at the water’s edge.  As Bradley lifts the bucket of well rung out clothes and climbs up the rocky pathway, they scramble after him. Smiling in delight, they clutch his shirt tightly and fall in step close beside and behind him. The clothes are hung over a crude bamboo railing and left to dry. 

Yes, we have less now than ever before in our lives, in fact Bradley made the statement just the other day, not out of regret, just a statement that he never remembers being low on food before.  He never just existed on yellow beans and rice with a few tomatoes.  Our rooms are empty except for a mat to sleep on and a box or 2 of belongings.  We cook on an open fire outside.

Yes,  less is more!  More family unity.  More time together.  More need for God. More depth and meaning to life, with more longing for a future home with Jesus who is drawing us with cords of more love to Him!

Thank you so much Lord for less!

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Praise God For The Smell Of Burning Oil

July 1, 2010

April 21, 2010
It was a very hot day in BYT. Not a breath of air moved the banana tree leaves surrounding
our house. Micah and I had planned to investigate the area on his motorbike today and find
out where some of the surrounding villages are located. We need a mental map of the area,
noting the closer villages first then spreading out like ripples on the water to know where the
others are later. A motorbike ride is always a welcome relief from the heat, so it did not take
us long to be off. It is challenging driving around here to say the least. To exit BYT, you
make a steep descent, open a crude stick gate at the bottom, cross 2 rivers, and then dodge
as many deep ruts as possible as you weave around hairpin turns filled with rocks
sometimes and deep dust at other times. It seems the further you go the rougher it gets.
Micah says he loves to be the driver. He would never like to be the passenger on these
roads! I say we’re a good team because I love to be the passenger and never could I be the
driver over these unpredictable rugged trails. I felt sorry for the motorbike as we experienced
gut shaking rocks and some extremely steep places. (What will this be like in the rainy
season? I do not mind waiting to find out)! Three hours and 5 villages later we were nearing
home. Suddenly I felt alarmed and said, “Micah, you better stop and check your oil right
away. I smell burning oil!” I said this in an authoritative manner, and surprised myself at the
urgent way it came out of my mouth. Micah obediently stopped. As soon as the kick stand
went down, he spotted it, – a long bright shiny green snake stretching across the right side of
the road just in front of us! This green variety of pit viper is the fastest and most aggressive
snake in Thailand. They are extremely poisonous. Most snake bites here are from this
species of snake because they really must enjoy biting people! Micah grabbed his sling shot
and took 3 tries before he nailed him in the head. We didn’t see much of him after that, as
he tumbled down the steep embankment. Much subdued and totally forgetting the burning
smell of oil, we slowly and silently continued our journey. It was Micah who finally broke the
silence. “You know Mom; I don’t think you really smelled oil. God made you smell it
because I had just checked it. I didn’t think it made any sense to stop and check it right
then.” I took a deep breath; the true reality of the situation had dawned upon him first. Yes,
we could have run over him and he would instantly fling up and bite! God’s timing is always
perfect! Especially if you were to know that my personal devotions that morning was Luke
10. Verse 19 had specifically shone out to me and I had claimed it for each of us.
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. And over all the power
of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you!” Luke 10:19
Oh God, You are so good!

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Po Da Da

May 10, 2010
“Plead my cause and deliver me.”Psalm 119:154

His name is Po Da Da. He is 4 years old. As you see him standing here alive, happy and in very good health, you indeed are witnessing a great miracle.


It was a hot afternoon. I was still at the house where clinic duties had been finished for the day. I am not usually there at that time, but I was stocking and tidying supplies, when I heard voices on the porch. I stepped out to greet the visitors. I saw several people. A man carried a boy on his back, who seemed too large to carry that way. There was no interpreter, so in my own clumsy way of speaking their language, I discovered the boy fell approximately 20 feet out of a tree 30 minutes ago. Only now, as the father laid him on the porch did he regain consciousness. The boy’s color was pale, skin cool and dry. Head to toe examination found nothing abnormal except pain and guarding of the abdomen. It was soft, but on palpation I heard no bowel sounds. His pulse was bounding and he had grunting respirations. In true Karen style, he was not complaining, but sat up, and some thought him to be in no danger. However there was great danger! I quickly called my son, Bradley to drive us to the hospital, top speed! I prayed for this boy there on the porch with the family and friends sitting there wondering what prayer was all about. The boy’s life was in danger and only God could keep him 30 minutes to the small local hospital and then in an ambulance 2 hours further to Mae Sot where he would finally have surgery.

Once at the hospital an ultrasound proved so much blood in the abdomen that they could not tell where the ruptures were. It seemed to be a long time before the ambulance arrived. The Lord told me to go into the ER with the Father and pray for this child again. My first inner reaction shrank from this assignment. The Thai nurses are all around and they are so frivolous and laughing. It is not a good environment. But I rose, brought the Father in with me and offered a fervent prayer at the bedside for the life of this precious little boy to be restored by the loving touch of Jesus and for His glory. Soon the ambulance arrived and they were swept away.

Two days later the Adams family went to Mae Sot and I asked them to please visit Po Da Da and see how he was doing. They brought the report that the boy was sitting up in bed, but the hospital had done nothing for him, no surgery – NOTHING. I was upset! Anybody halfway medical could see from the ultrasound reports and their own examination that he needed surgery, the quicker the better.

Five days later the family returned to the front porch, and to my utter amazement and shock, there in perfect health sat Po Da Da! I could hardly believe my eyes! I asked, “Na o de sue clea?” (How do you feel)? Are you in pain? Do you eat well? Do you run and play? Do you have blood in your urine or stool? The answers were all good, he was smiling, happy, and jumping about! Slowly my shock turned into a deep gratitude and deeper understanding of God’s love and pity for these dear people that I also loved and pitied. He is there pleading their cause. Slowly it dawned upon me that God must have healed this child in the ambulance on the way to Mae Sot, otherwise they would have done immediate surgery.

The family are so happy to have their boy well. They made this shirt for me, and put it on me for the picture.

We cannot find words to describe our thankfulness to God for all His wonderful works. We are so slow to see His hand working out all things for good. Our worship to Him is so lifeless and cold compared to His wonderful life giving miracles and outstretched hand.

Oh Lord, I love You.

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