I am in awe of our great God . . .

We are now in Chiang Mai and are finished with our clinics. We saw over 1,000 people and have countless stories to tell tragic, encouraging, inspiring and comical. My family is arriving tomorrow and our team still has some activities yet to complete such as spending time with vulnerable children at an amazing place called Remember Nhu which works to protect girls from the s-x trade industry. I have only a few minutes to post before supper time. These two photos are of my last two days of clinic. This little boy was so delighted to see me. He grinned and giggled throughout our visit and even during my physical exam. This young woman broke my heart and I left the village crying for her. She is a 23 year old Hmong Christian, married to an abusive husband who has more than one wife. We connected in a deep way and even as I type this my eyes fill with tears for her situation. Her name is Tadarat,which means a child of the palace. I told her that she is a child of the palace, a child of the Great King. I gave her a picture of our team and told her that I would not forget to continue to lift her up in prayer. She asked me to pray that she would have a better life. Truly, if I had come all this way to minister only to her it would have been well worth it.

8 clinics down . . . . 2 more to go

We spent the last two nights in a remote Hmong village sans electricity. Some of us slept on the hard, bare floor while others of us listened to the cacaphony of roosters (who crow all night), pigs, chickens, dogs, birds and people snoring . . . . I was grateful for morning light because then I could get off the floor and out of the house/store. We saw 130 people at our clinic and I continue to be amazed at the great medical needs we see. We saw many people with burns, self or parent-inflicted to rid the body of "bad" blood or as signs of mourning. One little boy had long stripes of "coining" all around his neck. It saddens me to see such practices. Many people were willing to let us pray with them and several expressed a sincere interest in Christ. There is a lovely church in this community but no pastor as of yet. We will continue to pray for leadership for the small Christian group. We are off to another remote community and happened upon this internet cafe. I was last to the computer so that's it for this blog . . .

Remember me?

During supper at clinic yesterday one of our Thai team members told us to look in the faces of the chickens wandering around and remember their faces because by tomorrow they would be lunch. So here is our pharmacist Bob holding up a once familiar face . . . Today was our seventh clinic. We have now seen over 500 people. The old lady in this picture with Steph (a missionary from North Carolina) and I couldn't stop smiling. She thought we were so beautiful she said that she wanted to look at us all day. We gave her a team photo and she was so delighted she started to leave without her medication. Today was the coolest day, in the high 20s (Celsius) I would guess. We finished clinic just after lunch and headed back to the hotel for our first bit of FREE TIME!!!! Yipee!! I had a Thai massage in my room while my roommate Shelly laughed hysterically as my body was contorted into various forms. I will admit the massage was painful at times and I did have to cry "uncle" more than once. My back feels pretty good right now though. For supper we headed to the market and ate at the local stalls. I got some delicious som tam and sticky rice. We brought our food back to the hotel to eat together. The computer is a hot commodity right now so I will have to write more later . . .

P.S. HAPPY ALMOST BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET GIRL! I love you and can't wait to see my NINE YEAR OLD GIRL! I love you too Anson. I love you Tananya and of course I love you bunches Jess. I did think of you while eating my mangoes and sticky rice.

6 days, 6 clinics

Well, I missed a few days of clinic posting. The internet has been a bit sketchy at this hotel. These are photos from our sixth clinic day. This old woman has magnificent facial features. She was one of my patients. The little boy is her grandson and a naughty one at that! When his grandma went to sit down, he pulled the chair nearly out from under her. The little girl is the daughter of one of my patients. I didn't notice her extra thumb at first. I pray that she will not be rejected as she ages because of this difference. The third picture is of one of the homes in the village. The village is located high in the mountains and the people here walk up incredibly steep hills while carrying our their daily activities. This villages is located close to the Burmese border. If you look at the map on the website, we are between Sukothai and Mae Sot. We have to pass throught check points to reach this village as the Thai are checking for Burmese trying to sneak across the border. There are an estimated 130,000 Burmeses refugees living in nine camps along the Thai-Burmese border. Many have lived in the camps for over two decades. Tomorrow we will be returning to the same clinic.

Some things are universal

Here is a snapshot from our third clinic. On the left in this picture is Pui, one of our translators who used to work with my in-laws when they lived in Bangkok. In the middle is my patient. She has a history of kidney stones and her Thai doctor told her to drink lots of water but she told me that she doesn't like to drink lots of water. I told her that she needed to follow her Thai doctor's advice and that I had the same advice for her. She laughed and giggled. What do doctors and nurses know anyway? We saw 76 patients at our clinic on this day.

My first surgery . . .

Here our some pictures from our second day of clinic. We travelled to another remote and very dry area to set up our clinic. In this village we saw 97 patients and I did my first procedure. One of my patients was a 25 year old man who had a granuloma just below his knee that he requested be removed. As this appeared to be a good learning opportunity for me, I was provided instructions for helping to remove the mass and place my first set of sutures. Pretty cool . . . It was also an awesome experience to see the immediate effects of our care. After receiving a pair of reading glasses, one woman sat outside and worked on her cross stiching for the first time in many months.

Okay, here are some pictures. This is a Yao villager in our first clinic. She was one of my patients. The handiwork is all done by hand. This one shirt would have taken a year to complete. On our first clinic day we cared for 130 people in this very remote village. I was shocked to find a church in such a small community so far from any major centre. We were able to see everyone who came and had opportunity to pray with many people.

Hello from Tak

Yipee! Internet access. We just arrived at the hotel where we will be staying for the next four days. We will be leaving shortly for lunch and then will head out to our fourth day of clinic. I will be able to post for the next several days. Where to begin? We have had a wonderful time serving in very remote Hmong villages and I often feel as though I am in the pages of a National Geographic book. All the clinic locations have been better than I expected and all clinics have run smoothly. We have seen everyone who has come. On our first day we saw 130 patients, 97 the second day and 176 yesterday. The reading glasses are much loved. The people are so happy to receive them. I got the chance to do my first minor surgery and placed some stitches in a young man who had a granuloma that Tom helped me removed. It was pretty neat and I will post a picture of that later today.

I'm living in the future . . .

I am here at Seoul airport. It was a lovely flight. Korean Air did not disappoint. The entertainment system was the best I have ever seen; TV shows, movies, books on tape, games and more with your own remote control. I sat by a lovely lady from Seattle going to China for the Chinese new year. I feel remarkably awake as you can see in the picture. I only have a one hour wait here before boarding the flight to Bangkok. By the time I arrive there, I won't be able to see straight. I'll post again when I can.

Hello from Portland! My journey is just beginning but I thought I would take this chance to try out my new netbook. I fly from Portland to Seattle, 30 mins; Seattle to Seoul a mere 11 and 1/2 hours and then a piddly 5 and 1/2 hour flight to Bangkok. Piece of cake! I will try to post later from another airport. I love you Jess, Mikayla, Anson and Tananya. Thanks for the snuggly hugs this morning. XOXOXOXOXOXO

Two of our of team members have arrived safely in Thailand. Diane and Susan will spend the next week purchasing and packaging medications and various other tasks to prepare for the rest of our team's arrival. The ladies are enjoying mangoes, pineapple and durian - a crazy fruit that generates a love/hate response. I happen to be in the hate camp myself. Only 7 more days until the rest of team departs . . .

Introducing the 2010 Thai Medical Team

In the back we have Tom (MD), Bob (Pharm) and Dale (Pastor). In the middle row, Diane (RN), Me (RN) and Susan (Missions leader) and in the front row Shelly (RN). We are so excited to be following God on this great adventure! Diane and Susan are leaving tomorrow, Feb 1st and the rest of our team will be leaving on Feb 11th. I will try to post some updates while our team is in country so that you can share in our journey.