One More Post Before I Leave Thailand

We just finished up the CHE training a few minutes ago by handing out certificates to the students.  They were very pleased to receive them, and they said this training opened their minds to many new things.  Here are some pictures of them receiving the certificates from Rick Astone and David Crist.

After the short certificate ceremony we wrapped things up by encouraging the students to implement some of the things they learned when they go home.  David promised to drop off additional lesson materials in Burmese for them to use. We also talked about using some of the CHE learning methods as we continue the medical training.  The students were encouraged to keep practicing what they have learned this week.
At the end we had a prayer circle and asked for God's blessing upon these fine young people as they continue their studies at the Barefoot Doctor School.   Then I asked Rick to snap some pictures of me with all of the students individually, and here are some of those shots. 

It is going to be very difficult to say goodbye to these students knowing that I may not see them again until their graduation in March of 2016, if then.  May the Lord watch over them here and back in Burma!  Jon

An Emotional Evening with the Students

Thursday night was my final time to preach to the students on this trip to Thailand. I had so many things I wanted to say to them but I finally settled on preaching from 1 Thessalonians 2:6-12 in which Paul told his friends at Thessalonica that he felt like a father to them.

I told the students that, in just two weeks time with them, I am feeling like a spiritual father to them also.  Paul says that, as their father, he tried to set a good example for them.  He said that, as a good father, he encouraged them, comforted them, and urged them to live their lives to God's glory.  I realized that is what I have been trying to do these past two weeks with this group of wonderful students.

When we first met, I gave them some arm bands that say "Barefoot Doctors" on them.  You may have noticed the blue bands we all are wearing.  Jim and I promised them we will pray for them whenever we notice our arm bands, and we asked them to pray for us also.

Last night I also gave them bookmarks I had made in America.  They say in Burmese, "As you preach the Gospel and heal the sick, I will be praying for you.  Luke 9:6   Pastor Jon Ulm."  I promised them again that I will keep praying for them long after they go home to Burma.

They were very appreciative of the gifts and my words of encouragement. After the service they sang me two of their favorite worship songs.  I am glad Jung recorded them on video so I can look at them again when I get back home to America.

When a group of us walked back to the dormitory together, the students in the computer class went in the computer lab to start their class again.  One of the male students was just hanging around in the hallway while Jung and I talked about a couple of things.

Jung went to his room and I asked the student if he was going to the computer class.  He said "No" and kind of led me into my room.  Then in the doorway of my room he gave me a very big hug and said in the best English he could muster, "Thank you.  Thank you for your words!"  He was crying and then with difficulty said, “Pray for me!  Don't forget me!”

He hugged me again. I wasn’t sure he was going to let go. I told him thanks and assured him I will keep praying for him. Then he left in a hurry and I said, "See you tomorrow."  Afterwards, I just stood there shell-shocked.

That particular student lives in a very remote area of Burma on the border of China.  He is about 10 miles away from a student we graduated in 2012, so I know the conditions are very extreme by our standards.  The young man that is here now has been an Evangelist for 7 years, and he is very anxious to receive his medical training.  His area is so remote that he had to walk for one week across the mountains  just to get to the road that would take him to Yangon where the students applied for their visas.

Their devotion to Christ humbles me.  I am so honored to work with them even for a short time.  My church is honored to support this ministry.  And we are honored to pray for them as often as we can.  I told them last night that God is bringing Revival to Burma in the midst of the many changes their country is going through.  I told them they are a vital part of what God is doing.  Will you pray for them also?

One other thing. There is a group of people I must recognize and honor.  Without them and their daily sacrifices, the Barefoot Doctor School would come to a screeching halt.  They are the cooks!  They are the workers who fix our meals, wash our clothes, keep our rooms clean, and serve us in many other ways.  I don't have all of their pictures, but I will post the ones I have.  We are so grateful for the wonderful meals we have been eating.  These brothers and sisters go out of their way to take care of us, and they are some of the most important people in God's Kingdom.  We honor them one and all!

Today is the day that I hand things off to Rick Astone, the Dean for the Barefoot Doctor School. A few minutes ago I officially introduced him to the students, and today we are discussing everything that has happened up to this point so there is a smooth transition.  This weekend Dr. Nilson will also arrive.  Next week the doctors and nurses who will be doing the rest of the medical training will arrive week by week. All of them are coming at their own expense.  God is good!
Thanks for following our blog, and thanks for your prayers.
Jon

CHE CHARTS

Today the CHE (Community Health Evangelism) Training got much more specific to the Barefoot Doctor ministry.  The CHE trainers, David Crist and Joanna Geiger, customized their lessons for today and tomorrow so that our Barefoot Doctor students could get as much from them as possible.
Since they are already part of the villages they come from, some of the CHE methodology doesn't apply to them.  They may use it in the future when they go to new villages, but for now the scope of their ministry is pretty much limited to the medical expertise and care they will bring to the villages they live in.
CHE spends a lot of time in the TOT 1 program teaching the students how to go to villages they have never entered before in order to establish a new relationship with that village, then eventually help that village improve itself.  Here is a picture of the basic tenets of the CHE program.  Our students have been given a good overview of the CHE strategy.

This afternoon, the students started working together on the medical model of CHE only, and so they began listing then discussing the kinds of medical problems they have seen in their respective villages.  They had been asked to bring an item to class this morning that symbolizes one of the problems their village deals with all the time.  Here are two pictures of the things they brought in.  It was a great variety of things.

Then this afternoon they isolated the medical issues in their villages. They talked about preventive measures they could take to address these issues, and then they learned to use a chart that helps them figure out which issue they should address first.  As Barefoot Doctors they do both preventive and curative medicine, and the more they can do to prevent illnesses and injuries the less time and resources will be needed to address medical issues later.  Here are a number of pictures of the groups trying to figure out which issues tackle first.

The final pictures are two group pictures we took first thing this morning.  Please note the banner for the CHE program.

We finish the CHE training tomorrow, and Rick Astone will arrive to serve as Dean of the medical portion of our training.  Dr. Nilson will arrive this weekend, and he will serve as the Medical Director.  I will be heading back to the States tomorrow night.  Thanks for keeping up with our blog.  Please keep praying for these wonderful students!
Jon

Tribal Reports and Pictures from Barefoot Doctors in the Field

Hi, everyone.
Thanks for praying for us here at the KLC near Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The Barefoot Doctor School is going well as the CHE training continues this week.

I don't have a lot of new things to report except for some samples of the Tribal Reports we heard last Friday.  We also received some new pictures from some of our current Barefoot Doctors who are ministering in various places. If you follow the link for these pictures you can see what their work looks like.  I hope the pictures are not too graphic for you.  Here is the link:

https://picasaweb.google.com/103965642637493653595/TeamMedicalMinistryTrip2013

These pictures show the work of four of the Barefoot Doctors from our most recent graduating class plus two others.  It is exciting to see them doing the spiritual and medical work they were trained here to do. We are very proud of them!

As far as the Tribal Reports, I will just give a few samples.  They were very interesting to listen to, and they helped us all get the Big Picture of the things God is doing in Burma.  Please realize these are summaries of the things the students actually said.

The Wa’s have traditionally been spirit-worshipers.  They didn’t have any formal education in the past. In the beginning, they tried buying rice from China, but the rice they were sold was worthless.  China had boiled the rice seeds and they wouldn’t grow.  They went back to China and the people told them that, in order to get their rice to grow, they must make human sacrifices.  That’s how that custom started.  Amazingly, after they started making human sacrifices, their rice seeds worked!  That wicked practice continued for a long time. Everyone in their area became afraid of the Wa’s because of this practice.

Later on their prince adopted Buddhism, so for a long time the Wa’s had two religions, Buddhism and Animism.  But then an American missionary named William Marcus came and preached the Gospel.  He first started by teaching people to read, using the Shan script system. An important Buddhist monk learned how to read by reading the Bible.  Marcus shared the Gospel with that monk, and he became the first convert.  He was baptized in 1908.  After that, many other people listened to Marcus’ teaching and repented. Eventually William Marcus created a Wa writing system.  About 60% of the Wa’s are Christians now, and in 2008 they celebrated 100 years of Christianity.

The Lahus are lake people who migrated from China.  They are spread all over Shan State and northern Thailand. They originally had their own country in China called Lancha (spelling?).

They were always Animists.  There are many Lahus in Thailand and other countries.

There is a legend that every Lahu knows:

The legend is that the Lahus all came from a gourd.  According to the folk tale, the Lahu people came out of the gourd when a mouse bit a hole in it.  The legend goes on to say that there would one day be a white man on a white horse holding a large book that would come into their community.

Because of this widely-known legend, the Lahus believed an American missionary who came to introduce them to Christ was that man. He was a white man on a white horse and he was holding a Bible.  This missionary and some Karen evangelists were the first ones to tell the Lahus about Jesus.

Almost 70% of the Lahus in Burma are Christians.

The Rawangs have six main sub-groups.  Traditionally, they are Animists, but now it is rare to see an Animist Rawang.

The Rawangs live together in multi-generations in very long houses.  They just keep adding on to them as the family grows.  They like to be united.  Traditionally they take care of themselves by slash-and-burn agriculture and hunting.  Whenever any Rawang kills an animal for food, the animal is shared with the whole village even if each person only gets a little bit.  If someone buys a big container of rice, he will share some of it with everyone in the village.

Today the Rawangs have migrated many different places and there are many dialects.

Here are some of the Blessings God has given the Rawang people:  1. People educated in the Bible.  2. Medical doctors who are Rawang.  3. Evangelism - They share their blessings by reaching out to other groups. 

Rawang evangelists are going out throughout the whole country.  They cannot support all of them as well as they would like to.

Missionaries from the West first brought Christianity to the Rawang.  Now missionaries from Burma feel the need to go to America and other countries to evangelize!  They have a burden for the whole world!  Please pray for our vision.

Well, what do you think?  Did you find that interesting?

Jon