Personal Testimonies are Awesome!

On Tuesday of this week we asked all the students of the Barefoot Doctor school to get up front and tell us three important things about themselves.  We asked them to tell us (1) if they were raised in a Christian family, (2) how and when they became a Christian, and (3) why they want to be a Barefoot Doctor.
I have finally found time to type up a summary of what each of them said, and it is awesome stuff! It would have been too much for us to have everything they said translated into English, so Timothy waited until the end of their testimonies and summarized what they said for Jim Winter and me.  Most of their testimonies confirmed for us the great value this ministry has in Burma. Others had unusual and sometimes shocking stories of things that have happened where they live or minister.

I'll give you a couple of samples, but I won't mention the students' names.  Just read them over and let them have whatever impact they may have on your heart.

Student #1

Her parents are Christians, but they forced all of their children to become Christians too.

Their area has not heard the Gospel.  The area is thoroughly Buddhist and very critical of Christians.

She was ashamed to become a Christian, but she was afraid of her parents so she got baptized.

She learned later that God is an amazing God and she learned to love Him.

Timothy influenced her to come to the BFD school.

Here she understands God is calling her into this ministry.  She was encouraged by the lesson on Abraham here.She knows now why God is calling her.

Student #2

He grew up in a Christian family and became a Christian at 14 years old, but he did not really understand what he was doing.  He made a full commitment to Jesus Christ many years later when he went to Bible Seminary and became closer to God.

He serves in a remote area where there is no medical assistance available.

His father and two brothers died from gastric problems (like ulcers) that are easily treatable.  He was very sad that he could not help them.

In 2009 he applied for the BFD program but he did not get accepted until this year. 

He is SO HAPPY!  God is good!

 

Student #3

He grew up in a Christian family, and he became a Christian at 13 years old.

He lives in a Refugee Camp because of the civil war in northern Burma.  His village was burned down, so now he lives near Myitkyina along with 69 other families.  They have no jobs and no medical help!

Other NGOs support them sometimes, but they are very crowded in the camp and all the sicknesses pass along from family to family.

He met a BFD from the class of 2006 and saw what a difference a BFD could make.  The BFD suggested he come to the school, and he was glad to be selected.

Student #4

He takes 10-day trips to do ministry in a remote area.  When they go, they have to carry everything they need in order to stay there 20 days.

In that ministry location, he teaches basic education (ABCs) and a little bit about health from a Red Cross course he took 5 years ago. 

** One time they tried to give the Buddhist villagers worm medicine because they were full of worms.  They refused the medicine because the Buddhist monk told them the worms help keep them warm!  He said when the worms breathe the hot air helps keep their bodies warm!

It is so cold there that the people live on the ice in some kind of an ice building. The people there are very dirty because they only take a bath once a year.  Their animals live inside with them.  They don’t know about hygiene.  When you eat there, flies are all around your drinking cup and dishes.

They go to that area every year to teach the people about Jesus.  The old people welcome them and the change they will make for their children, but the old people will not leave Buddhism.

They really need a BFD there.  The villagers’ health is so poor that they are skin and bone. You see this when they take off their coats, which they rarely do.

When he graduates he wants to go there and stay there.  It is near Tibet.

 Are you as moved as I was? I sat there amazed the entire afternoon.

Jon

Where There is No Doctor by Dr. David Werner

While I am typing up the reports from two different days, I want to share a few more pictures from the day the students received their copies of Where There is No Doctor.
They were very excited to get these books!  The book will serve as their main textbook this year, and it will be the handbook/manual they will always carry with them for their work as Barefoot Doctors.  This manual and the Bible are very important to Barefoot Doctors because they are their guides medically and spiritually.
Enjoy the pictures. 

In the next blog, I will start sharing some samples from the testimonies and reports we heard from the students on Tuesday and Friday. 
The first was a more personal testimony day in which they told us when and how they became a Christian and why they want to be a Barefoot Doctor.  In the second, a student from each of the nine tribes in our student body gave us a summary report of how Christianity was introduced to their tribe and what God is doing in their tribe today.  I think you will find these reports very interesting, once I find time to type them up.
Please tell others about the blog and encourage them to keep up with the posts.  Thanks again for your prayers.  It is obvious God is working!
Jon

Friday Hike to the Mountain and More

Friday at the Barefoot Doctors School was a wonderful day!  We started off with a beautiful hike together to the top of the mountain that overlooks the Kalnin Learning Center.  The outcropping of that mountain has a covered pavilion that looks down on the valley directly above the KLC.  This is the view of our facilities from up there.

Everyone had fun talking and laughing together as we hiked up the mountain, and then we sang a few songs together on the mountain top before Jon gave a lesson on Abraham and his Journey of Faith.  We thought together about how Abraham went to sacrifice his son, Isaac, on Mt. Moriah and how God provided a substitute sacrifice so that Isaac could be set free.  On that same mountain the city of Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple were later built, and on a hill outside Jerusalem God required of Himself what He did not require of Abraham.  On Mt. Calvary God sacrificed His Son for the sins of the whole world!

Here is a picture of Jon teaching and another picture of everyone at the pavilion.

Dr. Jim Winter spoke twice again today, and we appreciate so much the contribution he has made to this Orientation and Bible Week.  He has brought some very interesting lessons and helped lay the foundation for our students as they enter the medical training next week.  We hope he will be able to return again next year.  Thanks, Jim, for your devotion to our students.  They love you!

We spent most of the afternoon hearing some very fascinating reports from the students. We asked them to choose a representative of each of the nine tribes we have in this group of students.  The representatives got up to tell about their respective tribes and how God had introduced Jesus to their tribe and what God is doing in their tribe today.  These reports not only gave us a lot of special information about each of the tribes but also helped us to see the Big Picture of what God is doing in Burma right now.  I took nine pages of notes this afternoon, and I can't wait to get them typed up so others can read what the students said.

We are going to take tomorrow off.  We are all tired, so we have nothing on the schedule.  All in all, it was a great first week for the Barefoot Doctors School!  Sunday we will have church together at the KLC, and we are excited that the children and staff of the Abundant Life Center will be coming to join us for worship.  Check back tomorrow for additional information and pictures from this week. Thank you so much for your continued prayers.  Jon

Laying the Foundation

Mingalaba!
That's the Burmese greeting I learned this morning as we started the new day. Since all of our students are Burmese, the traditional Thai greetings don't work.  So Mingalaba it is!

I thought I would begin this post with the picture Jung took of the whole group yesterday.  It is good to see everyone in one picture!  Everyone is excited to be here at the Kalnin Learning Center.

We had a good day of Bible study today as we continued Laying the Foundation for our new Barefoot Doctor candidates.  Jim taught from I Corinthians 9:22 where Paul talks about being All Things to All People.  I taught from Luke 9:23 where Jesus says, "If anyone wants to come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me."
Jim was talking about the cross-cultural work our Barefoot Doctors do as they try to understand, and not offend, those they are trying to reach for Jesus Christ.  I asked whether we are true disciples of Jesus or not, whether we are willing to follow Jesus all the way or not.  Both sessions went well, and we are happy that we are getting the students to participate and ask questions more and more. The open-discussion learning style we use here is virtually unknown in Burma, so it is important that the students learn it is okay to raise their hands and ask questions any time they don't understand something.

 This afternoon we continued with two more classes,  Loving Those Who are Difficult to Love, and Mountains and Valleys from the end of Luke 9. At the end of the afternoon, we brought out their new copies of the wonderful Barefoot Doctor manual we use, Where There is No Doctor.  It is a fascinating book written by Dr. David Werner which helps people in remote locations know what to do about a great variety of medical needs that may arise.  We use it as our main medical text in the first year of the school, and Dr. Nilson encouraged us to get the book into the students' hands as soon as possible.  As you can tell, they were very glad to receive these books!

I'll conclude today's post with two other pictures you may enjoy seeing.  In the first, Jim and I are weighing in.  We were showing the students what we wanted them all to do.  Since they don't eat as well at home as they do here, we check their weight at the beginning of each year and then again in March before they go home.  The other picture is when I was showing them where Virginia is on the map, right after Jim showed them where the United Kingdom is.  I think they were a little amazed.

Thanks for keeping up with our blog. And thanks for your prayers.  God is doing an amazing work as He brings us all together here at the Barefoot Doctor School!
Jon