Participants: Dick Duerksen
Series Code: MMS
Program Code: MMS004152
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00:01 Hello, this is the Maranatha Minute.
00:02 A year ago a small group of volunteers 00:05 traveled to the country of Chad 00:06 to expand Bere Adventist Hospital. 00:09 While there volunteers built several patient wards 00:13 and operating room, housing and laboratories. 00:16 In January 2014 another group of volunteers 00:20 returned to continue the work. 00:22 For 10 days participants built a nursing school 00:25 at the Bere Adventist Hospital campus. 00:28 The medical facility is the only hospital 00:30 in a district of about 200,000 people. 00:33 The Maranatha projects have expanded the hospital 00:36 to provide better and increase space 00:38 for patients, surgery and recovery. 00:41 Watch more stories about these mission trips 00:43 and more by subscribing 00:45 to the Maranatha Mission Stories 00:47 you tube channel at youtube.com/missionstories. 00:51 Coming up, listen to a conversation 00:53 on how medical outreach on a project 00:55 is changing the way doctors and dentists 00:58 practice back at home. 01:17 Hello there, I'm Dick Duerksen, 01:19 your host on Maranatha Mission Stories. 01:21 Today's program comes from Panama. 01:23 A mission trip that include 01:24 a group of medical professionals 01:26 who came with their families to build a school, 01:29 their tools, trovis gloves, 01:31 safety glasses and helmets. 01:33 However, they couldn't come to Panama 01:36 without also using their medical skills. 01:39 After they came back from a clinic 01:41 I sat down with them around a table 01:43 and asked them how it went. 01:45 Come along and listen. 01:47 Okay, so you discovered 01:49 that you're gonna be able to do 01:50 a medical clinic on Sunday. 01:52 What were your expectations when you heard 01:55 you're gonna go to an indigenous tribe 01:58 who still dress in their way 02:02 and that you're gonna be able to do a medical clinic 02:03 and that the government 02:04 probably isn't really gonna care. 02:06 What were your expectations of what you were doing? 02:08 Who wants to answer me? Yes, sir. 02:11 Oh, flexibility was the name of the game. 02:14 We had plan to do this medical clinic 02:16 and it was on off, on off again. 02:20 In fact, the day we flew down here 02:22 it was probably not going to happen 02:24 because A, the medicines were gonna be too expensive, 02:28 if we were gonna get them at all. 02:30 So, we actually had decided 02:31 we probably shouldn't do it. 02:33 We came here and the locals said, you know, 02:35 it really would be nice if you did it after. 02:37 So we said, okay. 02:38 Then a local physician came and said, 02:41 you know, I'm not sure, 02:42 you really should have had the permit 02:44 for this that takes two months to get 02:47 but we of course, didn't get that. 02:49 She said she'd be willing to come 02:51 along with four of her colleagues 02:53 actually only she showed up 02:55 and it turned out to me being awesome experience. 02:58 We had originally 13 of us planed to go and ended up 03:02 that only four was supposed to see 03:05 medical patients and two dentists 03:07 but that was way too little 03:08 because we had such a big group of patients through out. 03:12 So we ended up having a chip in 03:13 and we saw over 300 03:15 rather than that 50 to 100 that she has estimated. 03:17 Wow! 03:18 So, it was really, really very nice. 03:19 Overwhelming even to the local doctor? 03:21 Yes. 03:22 You know, they are not accustoms of this. 03:24 They are not a custom to groups 03:25 coming and doing what you did it off 03:27 and so it just totally strange. 03:30 Tell me your experience? 03:31 For a dental team you know, 03:32 we're actually quiet honored 03:34 and actually privileged to have 03:35 actually a dental missionary 03:37 from Bangladesh, Dr. Toledo, 03:39 who was out there for four years. 03:41 So we were actually ready for anything. 03:44 If you've been a dentist in Bangladesh, 03:46 we're ready for anything. 03:47 We had about probably a good 100 instruments 03:49 for any type of surgeries 03:51 and we're able to do 03:53 some productive dental surgeries. 03:56 Lot to know we came, we still have probably 03:58 good friend of the 100 patients or so. 04:00 So-- 04:02 He saw how did, you know, what are the problems 04:03 that we've had everywhere in the world 04:05 is whatever you make or how you find a dental chair? 04:08 What did you use for dental chairs? 04:10 Well, I've learned 04:11 after practicing different procedures 04:12 that the best is to see the patient on the floor 04:15 and then they lay against our legs 04:17 and their head is on the leg. 04:19 And so we have a full access to all the teeth. 04:22 And though we have to bend a little bit, 04:24 I found that's the best procedure 04:25 and so that's what we are doing. 04:27 Well, that's a whole lot 04:28 for creating the two table chairs 04:29 leading against each other 04:31 or a soccer ball against a tree. 04:34 That really works comfortably? 04:35 Yeah. It is. 04:36 I did a patient is also cooperative 04:37 because if we stand behind the patient 04:40 sometimes somebody has to be holding their neck, 04:42 in this way they are resting fully against our legs 04:45 and so these as we put a pillow or something there 04:47 and so they just rest there and actually the last patient 04:50 we had he did, he had four molars. 04:53 One on each quarter and so he said, 04:54 let's do the two bottom ones. 04:56 And so he said well, do one more 04:58 and then the brother was sparking out 04:59 and say well, the bus us ready 05:01 and he say well, do the last one 05:02 and so we just did for him. 05:04 You got the last one out? Yeah, yes. 05:06 That was fine. 05:07 Is that what you are expected for a dental clinic too? 05:11 Well, you know, we really we were ready 05:13 and we had one patient 05:14 where her child had lot of queries. 05:18 Every single tooth was basically run out 05:21 and that we were just base it to care couple that, 05:24 you know, the worst her molars 05:27 and but you know, the patients 05:29 every single one on one were so cooperative, 05:31 so compliant, very appreciative-- 05:34 Have you ever done this sit down dental chair before? 05:36 You know, actually this was very first time 05:38 so I learned a new position myself. 05:41 You're gonna use this in your office? 05:46 What are you trying to get into, 05:47 medical care did you give? 05:49 What did you give? 05:51 I was able to give some medications to help kids, 05:55 and saw some ear infections, some with a pretty bad cough, 05:58 bronchitis type of that illness 06:00 so it's nice to do something to help them feel better. 06:05 Other kids were not as sick 06:07 may be just needed some reassurance 06:09 not sure how frequently 06:10 they are able to see a position 06:12 so sometimes a little bit of health guidance 06:14 for reassurance is all that's needed. 06:16 Do you speak Spanish? I do. 06:18 That's make it easier. 06:22 But you used it a lot. 06:23 Yes, I tried. 06:25 And parents, how did the parents 06:26 respond to you taking care of the kid? 06:28 I think they were all very grateful to have us there 06:32 and receptive to what we have said. 06:34 Cool. 06:35 Well, you know, we actually had several high school 06:38 and college kids helping us and I think some of them-- 06:40 From our volunteers. 06:41 From our volunteers, right and many of them, 06:44 I think have some interest in either medicine 06:46 or something in the medical field. 06:47 I want to be a missionary nurse. 06:49 Yeah, okay nurse or a physician or a dentist 06:52 and so I think this really gave them 06:54 a good opportunity to get a good understanding of that. 06:58 And then we actually had also one young lady 07:02 who was from the village came out, 07:05 she spoke English and Spanish. 07:06 She just said I want to come and help, 07:09 help you take care of my people and so-- 07:10 Did you put her in take or where did you put on? 07:12 So she was actually writing what we call a triage area 07:16 and so after Lilia would do the intake they would come here 07:20 and then myself and my brother we're both the physicians 07:24 and so we are sort of used to these mobs 07:26 if they are coming here 07:27 and we tried to send them the right direction 07:29 and then when they got overwhelmed 07:31 we tried to take care of some ourselves 07:34 and then sort of decrease it you know, the bottleneck. 07:37 In the area they were at you know, 07:39 there is essential and indigenous tribe, 07:41 various indigenous peoples 07:43 that we realized despite my broken English 07:46 I speak them for to keep as well 07:47 but despite our efforts 07:49 we realized that many of the seniors 07:53 and the senior sort of in that area 07:57 they are not really you know, speak Spanish. 07:59 So no English, no Spanish. 08:01 They spoke a specific dialect 08:03 that though it maybe, it's Noobe-Bugle. 08:06 Noobe-Bugle and so this young lady obviously, 08:10 actually she was sort of the bridge 08:12 and was able to speak to seniors 08:13 and she lot of issues that God sent. 08:16 That's your God sent true. 08:17 So she was there and just lot of you tug on us 08:20 on sort of said thank you 08:22 and she just, she thanked us and she just disappeared. 08:24 And disappeared, 08:25 so you don't really know that was your angel. 08:27 I was able to take a picture while we were in, you know, 08:30 and tried to you know, express our gratitude. 08:32 Hey, what about the picture is she's still there? 08:35 Good joke. 08:38 As you could tell we were having a good time. 08:42 We'll be right back. 08:44 I told a friend online today about 08:46 building a church for just $10. 08:49 He said for just 10 bucks 08:50 I could just buy a couple of smoothies. 08:53 Our friend Frank assumed 08:54 that a $10 church had to be a print back building. 08:59 I posted a picture, 09:00 one of these beautiful buildings in Buenos Aires. 09:03 He couldn't believe it. 09:05 Then my bud Jason joined in. 09:07 He's been a member of this club for 10 years. 09:10 He built a church every month 09:12 somewhere in the world for $10, 09:14 that's 120 churches. 09:18 Tina is also a member. 09:19 We found that by skipping 09:21 something a simple as a soda twice a week 09:23 we can pitch into building a church 09:26 'cause its just $10. 09:28 Go to marantaha.org and see for yourself 09:31 how easy it is to be part of mission. 09:34 Join us, be a member of the $10 church. 09:43 I spend an hour with the group of caregivers 09:45 after a clinic in Panama, 09:47 the conversation was wonderful. 09:50 Join us. 09:51 In all of ourselves I was so much surprised 09:53 that the actual sort of commonalities 09:56 that we have you know, sort of in North America, 10:01 literally we did see a lot of minor illnesses 10:04 and you know, coughs and colds 10:05 just like you could see back at home 10:07 but at the same time 10:08 then we see a lot of sort of conditions 10:12 that obviously rear or not 10:13 because of the same like parasitic disease 10:16 and some tropical diseases lots of different well, 10:18 certain maybe tropical rashes things that need to 10:20 we just are not really familiar with you know, 10:23 so we did sort of rely on the patients as well. 10:28 They, lot of them actually knew what the problem is 10:31 and so we sort of just referred 10:32 to their previous knowledge of what 10:35 and they come in and ask for specific medications 10:37 'cause they know exactly what they needed. 10:38 They said, all right, you know what-- 10:39 We got some of those. 10:40 Sometimes the best, you know, 10:42 the best sort of hint or the best advice 10:44 the physician is you know, get out of the way 10:47 and let the patients sort of let them talk 10:49 and let them tell you what the problem is. 10:51 As supposed to trying to impose your will 10:52 or impose your knowledge on them 10:55 and then they think that 10:56 that was really true as far as with these-- 10:58 I need to find it your is there some trick. 11:02 What did you experience out there? 11:04 Oh, I think the new thing 11:07 was just working with the native people 11:09 that were even different from the people 11:11 we are interacting with here. 11:12 They have their own culture, 11:14 they are still very retained 11:16 in their culture like you mentioned 11:18 they have their own language. 11:19 The language is-- Ngobe-Bugle. 11:21 Ngobe-Bugle. Yes. 11:23 Ngobe-Bugle, I never heard of that. 11:26 Okay, were they dressing completely different? 11:27 Yes, their native clothes that they all make at home. 11:30 A little about one there. 11:31 It was this like the special dress 11:33 they may come, 11:34 their end its all hand made with clothing 11:36 but they look really cute, different varied dry colors. 11:39 I brought one this is my bright color. 11:41 But all of these is all handmade with machine. 11:44 That's nice. 11:45 And they are little girls make them. 11:47 They teach, they were like 10 and 9 or 12 11:50 and they are the ones doing these things. 11:52 So you were learning all about 11:53 while you were helping patients? 11:55 Yeah. 11:56 We asked them to bring the stuff 11:57 if they had something to so. 11:59 It always works, doesn't it? 12:00 They always find something to bring. 12:01 You also explain that the peaks on here 12:04 represented the mountains 12:05 because they live up in the mountains 12:07 so that's why they put all the peaks. 12:09 Was this really a way up in the mountain experience? 12:11 Yes. Yes. 12:12 It really was. Wow! 12:13 One of the things I heard is that 12:15 you were able to do things at this clinic 12:20 without doing a lot of paper work. 12:25 You want to talk about that? 12:26 Yeah. Let me come in on that. 12:30 So, after I got back 12:33 I sent a couple of my colleagues an email 12:37 'cause they want to know how the clinic went. 12:39 And I told them we saw almost 350 people 12:43 in six hours and in my ER 12:46 which the very busy ER we don't even see 300. 12:50 The most routine is maybe 280 12:52 and that's in a 24 hour period. 12:54 And obviously some of the acuity plays a roll 12:57 but a lot of it is the paper work. 12:59 And so it was very refreshing 13:01 to be able to see someone, 13:03 diagnose your problem and check the box 13:07 and send them on their way. 13:09 And you know, I probably saw myself 13:12 30 or 40 patients during that period. 13:15 You really felt productive. I did. 13:17 I'm a very productive and it was great thing 13:19 able to help people you know, 13:21 you'd see families come together 13:23 and you could see everyone in their family and you know, 13:27 that would probably take an hour in the States. 13:29 That's true. 13:30 For you to able to see everybody in the family, 13:32 I mean, you come into New York 13:34 and there may be family standing around 13:36 but you basically trying to get them 13:37 out of the way a little bit. 13:38 Well, you know, in the ER 13:41 you almost spend more time 13:42 on the computers than with patients. 13:43 Yeah. 13:44 And this was reversed and it was really great. 13:46 That's the way medicine used to be 13:48 and so it was great to be able to do that again. 13:51 I was in the pharmacy and so, 13:54 I'm not a pharmacist I'm a nurse 13:56 and but it was like he was saying, please, 13:58 the patients would come through with their paper 14:01 and I was dispensing drugs left and right to them 14:05 and they'd see him a friend next to them 14:07 got a certain medication 14:09 specially the stomach, antacids 14:11 and there are like may I help, 14:13 they didn't say may I they just pointed. 14:15 Yeah, I have one of the pink with too. 14:16 Gastrogel, Gastrogel 14:18 I'm like okay, here you go. 14:20 I mean, how many in States 14:21 could I just be giving out the meds 14:23 everybody but they knew-- 14:24 Was that good or was that bad? 14:25 It was great 14:26 because they didn't have to go back and say 14:28 this patient would like to have Gastrogel 14:30 can you write a prescription for that? 14:32 And then they come back to the pharmacy 14:33 and get it filled and I was like, okay, 14:35 yes, you can have that one. 14:36 You were able to make that decision right on the spot? 14:38 So, Marcus Welbe, 14:43 in all fashioned Adventist physician now does it work? 14:48 I'd like you just go around here for a minute 14:50 and talk about the spiritual experience 14:54 you had and the spiritual experience 14:56 you gave for patients and their families 14:59 and include what you did with prayer. 15:01 Can you do that? Let's start here. 15:03 And just go around the circle clockwise. 15:07 So, I'm from Loma Linda 15:09 and they talk about whole procedure there 15:11 but I will say during this mission trip 15:14 I had far more effective and far more 15:19 connected pairs with the patients. 15:22 You know we can give the different 15:23 symptomatic medications and they may not be 15:25 that different from what we used up there 15:27 but very unlikely that we'll see that 15:30 patient ever, ever again 15:32 and if the last impression you give 15:34 is one that you have of a prayer, 15:37 of a thought, of a respectful God 15:40 that they might hear about, they might not hear about 15:44 is the only opportunity that we would've had 15:46 and I think that is little differentiated 15:49 between what we do in the building projects 15:51 because we're typically not praying with 15:53 people that we don't know 15:54 and that's one of the things we have and if you think about 15:57 we saw 350 plus patients 15:59 that means each one of them 16:00 had an opportunity to pray 16:02 with all of physicians who are here. 16:04 Sure. 16:07 I unfortunately didn't get to pray with anybody 16:09 as most of the physicians know 16:11 I had along line in the pharmacy 16:12 winding all way around 16:15 but it was amazing how many patients 16:17 said to me "God bless you." 16:19 So I'm going here trying to bless them 16:21 and they are saying to me as I'm running around 16:23 trying to get the medication together. 16:25 They were blessing me. How exciting is that? 16:28 That's such a detour. Please. 16:32 It's amazing how many people 16:35 just need somebody to talk to 16:37 and that's how I felt 16:39 seeing a lot of these patients. 16:42 They seem to have lot of needs 16:44 and probably a lot of them are not meant 16:47 and being able to spend some time with them, 16:49 listen to them you almost feel bad 16:51 if you didn't write something for them 16:53 to take home even it was just vitamins 16:55 they were looking for 16:56 but it was really neat experience 16:58 to be able to spend sometime with them 17:00 and few some of them respond that 17:03 we ought to from like Jesus did 17:05 when He was healing the people. 17:07 A lot of them may not have been 17:09 to medical or physical illness 17:13 there's that He would be healing 17:15 but true trying surely trying to heal the soul. 17:18 So I think a lot of the role 17:20 of that we had in this you know, 17:23 clinic was really trying to connect 17:26 with that person spiritually as well. 17:29 At this point the interview moves from the clinic 17:32 to how they prayed with their patients. 17:35 Well, let's just take a minute 17:36 and look at some of the projects 17:37 that are upcoming here at Maranatha 17:39 and then we'll come back to Panama. 17:43 What is your family doing this summer vacation? 17:46 Have you ever considered a mission trip? 17:48 Well, this summer Maranatha is offering 17:50 two family projects in two different locations. 17:53 The first one is in the Dominican Republic 17:55 from June 19 to 29. 17:57 We'll we need volunteers to build several churches 17:59 and help with outreach activities 18:01 in the local community 18:02 or you can chose to take your family to Brazil 18:05 to build a large educational 18:07 and evangelism center in Belem. 18:09 From July 2 to 13, 18:11 we'll need your help in building this school 18:13 and organizing outreach programs. 18:15 Family projects are the perfect mission trips for your family. 18:18 There are no age restrictions 18:20 and the mission trip is designed 18:21 to accommodate small children. 18:23 We'll have programs 18:24 for the little kids to help them 18:25 discover the joy of service in a country 18:28 and we'll also have plenty of opportunities 18:30 for them to even help on the construction site. 18:33 This is Maranatha's most popular project 18:35 and spaces fill up quick. 18:37 Sign up for the interest list toady 18:39 by going to Maranatha.org. 18:42 Our program today features a group of clinicians, 18:46 profession caregivers 18:47 who were with us in Panama and at this point 18:50 the conversation everything shifts 18:52 and you'll find prayer in the center of it. 18:54 Watch this. 18:56 You know, for me, I pray with my patients 18:59 from time to time in the States, 19:01 especially those before procedures. 19:03 In fact, here it was neat 19:05 because you could pray with every single one. 19:07 If I did that in the States 19:08 they probably think I'm pretty crazy 19:10 but here it was almost expected 19:12 so it's really, really nice experience. 19:14 Just refreshing, isn't it? 19:16 Yep, absolutely amazing. 19:18 Yes, you know, I did get to pray. 19:20 I have adopted it with pray with a few patients. 19:23 But honestly you know, I thought that I gave 19:26 than what I was able to offer to patients 19:29 and I really I do feel 19:30 you're searching for that opportunity. 19:33 It's amazing to me how many times 19:35 I hear that comment 19:36 from a physician on a mission trip. 19:39 May be it's the direct contact 19:41 that you've been talking about the ability to listen more 19:44 but it really is effective. 19:46 Please. 19:48 I had a little bit of change of my see of mind 19:52 part way through the clinic. 19:53 At first, I think I felt 19:56 the trappings of work back home 19:58 you see a long line of patients out the door and in triage 20:03 and my natural response is I need to speed up 20:07 and get and try to help as many of these people 20:10 as quickly as possible. 20:13 And after few patients I realized, 20:16 this is not my regular clinic, 20:18 I'm here not just to try to make them physically better 20:23 but spiritually as well 20:26 and so I kind of slow down a little bit, took more time, 20:30 try to pray in my room entry Spanish 20:33 and as a result I felt a much more peace 20:37 and I think I made the huge difference. 20:39 And if you felt that peace so did they. 20:42 Yeah. 20:44 I saw pediatric patients and-- 20:46 So you just met all the kids. 20:49 All the kids, between the two of us. 20:50 Yeah, how fun. I saw all the kids. 20:51 And like they mentioned before many of them 20:55 came for very basic things cough, fever, diarrhea, 20:58 stomach pain, headache 21:00 you know, typical things. 21:01 All the stuff that on the television 21:03 when it says you ought to take this, 21:04 oh, by the way the side effects are. 21:06 Right. All of those you saw. 21:08 That's right. Okay. 21:09 So, you know, maybe not terribly, 21:11 terribly sick or esoteric 21:14 but I felt like you know, they came to us 21:16 they wanted to see the American physicians, 21:18 they wanted big, have their kids 21:20 examined to be reassure 21:22 and then I think praying with them 21:24 just really gave them that sense of care. 21:28 Were these people Christians? 21:29 I don't know, honestly. 21:31 I don't think that they are because I heard that 21:34 and I'm not sure if I'm not good 21:35 but I heard that there is something's up there 21:37 with some worshippers and some-- 21:39 Lots of animism. Lots of animism. 21:41 Very different things from what we are accustomed to 21:43 but definitely nobody was offended 21:46 you know, I always ask 21:47 may I pray with you and nobody declined. 21:50 Nobody said, no, please. 21:51 Nobody said no and they did seem 21:53 very appreciative and I think again 21:55 seeing patients as something that you are doing 21:58 because you want to use your skills 22:00 not only to help them physically 22:01 but to nurture them spiritually, 22:04 there's so much more for you then seeing patients 22:06 when you are earning a paycheck. 22:09 When you are doing emergency room work at home, 22:11 you don't often pray with patients, do you? 22:13 No, its quiet difficult. 22:16 It's fast pace but actually I invite, 22:18 yes the question because what inspired me 22:20 the most about this clinic was actually seeing, 22:23 I guess my new colleagues here 22:26 you know, they took the time, 22:27 they prayed with that different patients 22:30 and I've sort of thought about that 22:33 you know, as an Adventist, as a Christian 22:36 you know you can give hope to your patients. 22:40 Lot of them you know, 22:41 I've met actually several Adventist 22:42 that have come to my ER 22:43 and one of them came on Saturday 22:45 and said you know I was at church 22:47 and I sort of felt passed out 22:49 and so you know, Saturday church. 22:51 And I said, well, are you Adventist? 22:52 And then right away 22:53 there is a connection of familiarity 22:55 and a comfort and so, you know, 22:57 what I gained most of this experience 22:59 was seeing that if there is you know, 23:05 if you can create some comfort through your religion, 23:08 through the love of God, through the love of Christ, 23:11 then you can put patience at ease. 23:13 And so I'm actually trying to in my mind 23:15 think of ways how I can incorporate 23:17 that in my practice when I get back home. 23:20 You get the last word. 23:23 Well, as the Loma Linda model says to make men home 23:26 well, its truly one of those experience 23:28 where we could touch the patient, 23:31 hug them, give them the emotion of healing, 23:35 attract the tooth, whatever the tooth ache, 23:37 the physical healing 23:38 and to be able to pray with them 23:39 the physical healing 23:40 and in fact, spiritual healing. 23:43 Dr. Alan's daughter was my translator, Rebecca. 23:46 And you know to see a youngster, 23:48 a teenager to hold patients hand 23:51 and just truly just with the caring my, 23:55 to pray and to see, witness that was really 23:59 a touching moment for me. 24:01 A question that we are often asked at Maranatha 24:03 is who provides the money for all the churches? 24:06 Most of the churches that Maranatha builds 24:08 are funded by individuals 24:09 who see a need and what to help. 24:11 People just like you. 24:13 In fact, one of the most important 24:15 fund raising programs that we have 24:16 is called that $10 church. 24:18 We ask for a commitment of $10 each month. 24:21 Now, $ 10 doesn't have a lot of buying power anymore 24:24 and by itself a $10 build 24:25 cannot fund an entire church 24:27 but when you combine your $10 with my $10 24:30 and her $10 and his $10 very quickly 24:34 we have enough money to build the church. 24:36 In 1878, the Seventh-day Adventist Community 24:38 Battle Creek, Michigan needed a church. 24:41 It would have to be a large building, 24:42 they gonna have to hold thousands of people. 24:45 The cost of such a church would be huge. 24:47 So Adventists around the world 24:48 dug deep into their pockets 24:50 and pulled out their dimes. 24:52 For one year everyone was encouraged to give 24:54 one dime a month to the building project. 24:56 A year later Battle Creek had a new church. 24:59 Nearly 4,000 people came to the dedication. 25:02 That church became known as the dime tabernacle 25:05 and it was the inspiration 25:06 for Maranatha's $10 church program. 25:08 In 2013, more than 40 churches 25:11 were funded by faithful contributions 25:13 from $10 church donors. 25:15 Imagine how many churches we could build in 2014 25:18 if everyone watching this program 25:20 give $10 a month. 25:21 Would you like to help build churches 25:23 all around the world? 25:24 You can with just $10 each month. 25:27 Contact us today to learn how you 25:29 can be part of the $10 church. 25:32 Several years ago my good friend Tom Warner, 25:34 president of Adventist Health Systems 25:36 handed me an article listing 10 reasons 25:39 to not do short term mission trips. 25:42 Read this, he said. 25:43 Come up with a strategy that answers the problems 25:45 and gets more of our hospital employees 25:47 involved in missions. 25:49 Well, the strategy we developed 25:51 the footprint plan for missions 25:53 as hundreds of employees 25:55 involved in footprint mission trips 25:57 all around the world every year. 25:59 One part of the footprint is the active involvement 26:02 of physicians, nurses and other caregivers. 26:05 In mission trips that have been planned 26:06 to bring a long term impact. 26:10 Something very similar happens at Maranatha. 26:12 When a Maranatha volunteer team 26:14 chooses to conduct medical clinics 26:16 my wife Brenda, helps organize the plans 26:19 and when the volunteers arrive 26:21 they are prepared to share medical skills in ways 26:23 that truly leave a meaningful, 26:27 long term footprint wherever they server. 26:30 However, another key aspect 26:33 of footprint medical missions 26:35 is that the caregivers themselves 26:37 will be changed in ways 26:38 that are transformative in clinical practices at home. 26:43 Beside listen to caregivers, 26:44 returning from mission trips around the world. 26:47 I heard many phrases like 26:49 I will never treat a patient as just a broken arm again 26:54 or these clinics have shown me 26:56 that every person I treat as a prince or princess. 26:59 A child of God deserving the very best I can give. 27:03 The footprint of long term transformation 27:07 in clinical practice, emergency room, 27:10 dental care, caregiver listening 27:13 it leads a trial of kindness, honor, value 27:16 and love in many lives all around the world. 27:20 There's an old Christian song comes to mind, 27:23 they will know we are Christians by our love. 27:28 Short term mission trips well planned are really 27:32 long term lessons in God's love. 27:37 Thanks for joining us today. 27:39 I'm Dick Duerksen, 27:40 your host of Maranatha Mission Stories, 27:42 looking forward to see you next week as together 27:45 we make footprints with God's love. |
Revised 2014-12-17