November 2007, SE Asia
"... that we might be fellow helpers to the truth." 3 John 8
We had made it through our first day of ministry and the following days fell into a routine of treating the school children. Our lab tech friend came each day and assisted Jack as he treated the young patients. Jennifer was feeling better from the initial side effects of the Azithromycin but stuck with the task of sterilizing instruments, in case the stomach issues returned. It was so sad to see the condition of the children’s oral health. Child after child had decay in every tooth in their mouth and many teeth were abscessed. With so many students to treat there was no way to take care of all of their needs. But when would these poverty-stricken children receive any additional treatment? We had to just treat the abscessed teeth because those could be more life threatening and hope that someone would be able to take care of the decayed ones before they became abscessed as well. The kids were compliant for the most part, though frightened. It helped tremendously that the anesthesia could be administered with little to no pain. As a result, they were calm and we could remove all the teeth relatively easily. There were just so many to be removed! It became a marathon – necessary but pretty amazing in its extent. There was no more talk of all of the students being seen in one morning. Each student returned to class with multiples pieces of gauze, silently telling the story of their many extractions.
Soon our time in the mountain area was completed. The Officials announced a luncheon they would be giving in our honor for our service to the kids. Our driver would be included and the other Officials who kept an eye on us all week. Sam was always extra friendly to our driver and when asked about his status Sam said he was a capital “C”, referring to his code in case anyone overheard us. Since Sam had said that “c” meant Christian, we made it a point to be friendly and polite with this man as he was apparently a Christian leader of some sort. Although he never responded to our friendliness (we thought to not give away his relationship with the Lord) we wanted to encourage him as we knew it couldn’t be easy to work with Official leaders who despised and persecuted Christians.
Our luncheon was quite an affair. It was more like a banquet than a luncheon. The people of this country pride themselves on eating anything that is alive, which isn’t all that encouraging for visitors when you think of the implications of that! There was quite a variety of unrecognizable foods. We were each given a bowl of rice and the Officials served us. In every situation they exhibited what seemed like total control. There was no asking us if we would like this or that in our bowl. For Jennifer’s still queasy stomach this was not good news. How could she manage to not eat the questionable food that she just couldn’t swallow, without offending the Official hosts? She prayed a short “help!” prayer and the thought came to push the scary looking item under the rice with her chopstick and just eat the rice. The rice was better for her stomach anyway. On a future trip when faced with a similar situation, a major discovery would help for many years to come: if you cut it small and swallow it whole, you don’t taste it!
There were also “fried flowers” at this banquet – lily-like flowers stuffed with pork or fish and deep fried. We had never eaten flowers before but deep fried anything turned out to be pretty good.
Meanwhile the Officials were getting rip roaring drunk at the luncheon, including our driver. It was awkward and disappointing to see the driver participating to this extent. When we asked Sam about this later he told us that a capital “C” meant an important Official. So much for understanding the code.
The Officials were using the occasion of our appreciation luncheon as an excuse for a drunken party. We were happy to be on our way to the airport to leave. Sam had an English class to teach that night at the University so we flew to the capital instead of taking the bus. His teaching English was part of his official reason for being in the country as well as the philanthropic aspect of the foundation he was now overseeing. Sam used his class to teach his students the English language, using Christian literature and even Bible passages. When any student asked for more teaching than the introductory college course they were involved in, Sam would invite them to his home for further teaching using Moody Science Videos to show how God has marvelously worked in creation. This class is given free of charge but requires memorization of Bible verses and passages referred to in the videos. This particular evening, he had asked Jack to be his guest English speaker, illustrating a New England accent as one of many accents of English speakers. Jack was also to share how he became a dentist who travels the world giving free care in mostly third world countries. This would give the opportunity to share his salvation testimony. But first we had to get there!
As we waited for our flight the sky became filled with black clouds. Sam was fretful about missing the class because we were sure we would be delayed. But as bad as it looked outside we boarded on time. We were happy to be heading back but a little nervous about what might be ahead.
We had brought some new blood pressure medication for Sam when we arrived in the country. He had asked his doctor in the States to send it to us and we would transport it to him instead of it possibly getting lost if sent directly. He had started on the medication that day and also some cold medicine as he was coming down with a bad cold. Apparently one or the combination of both medicines was effecting him in a bad way. He began to perspire profusely and his face was bright red. As we took off the storm hit and we struggled in the small plane to get airborne in the midst of lightening, thunder and fierce winds. We have never flown in such a storm before or since. The plane was being tossed around the sky like a toy! Our stewardess was thrown to the floor of the plane and Sam was looking like his head would explode! We were praying for him with all our might! We didn’t want him to have a stroke!
It was a relatively short flight back to the capital and we were in the storm the whole way. It felt like the pilot sort of crash landed the plane at the airport in the midst of the pouring rain but we were just happy to be on the ground again! We got our luggage and were planning to go back to our hotel but to our shock, Sam insisted on dropping Jennifer at the hotel and he and Jack would go to his class! He wasn’t doing well but didn’t want to miss the opportunity for Jack to share the gospel with his students. These types of opportunities are few and far between in a restricted access country. He was willing to chance a high blood pressure episode for this opportunity not to be missed. We were so convicted by his perseverance. So off we went, Jennifer to the hotel and Jack & Sam to class. Afterwards some of the students asked many questions of Jack about his testimony, some challenging his belief in God fiercely, some wanting to know more. Sam sat joyfully listening and was just so pleased that it had played out as he had hoped. It was a night for all of us to remember for sure!
The words of 3 John 8, that we might be fellow helpers to the truth, so aptly describe our role in missions. As a dental/medical team, we are tools in God’s tool box that can be used in different places in the world to open up opportunities for resident missionaries to share the gospel with the national people they are trying to reach. Who knew that God could use a dentist to bring unsaved people into contact with the gospel, the good news! God knew, and it is He who gives the increase.