The Medical Mission took place at Victoria, Tarlac on the 23rd to the 25th of February. The events, along with the Revival Series, were sponsored by Operation Hope International. It is a group of dedicated and altruistic Christians whose members are mostly medical and dental professionals. For them, HOPE stands for Healthy Options for People Everywhere. I like their slogan which says, 'Health Ministry for Body and Soul' inspired by 3 John 2.
We Praise God for this group and the members who are so humble, unstinting with the material blessings that God has blessed them, and for their dedication in investing time and effort for God's work by serving the people. I just love the passion they have not just to help the less fortunate but also blending the health ministry with gospel ministry. It was so inspiring and a blessing to have worked with the team and to have a first-hand experience of how they go about their mission, which cites:
1) To preach and share the love of God.
2) To teach people how to obtain and maintain a healthy lifestyle through Health Seminars.
3) To offer healing through prayer, lifestyle changes, medical, dental, and surgical services.
Truly, I can attest that their greatest concern is the spiritual health of their recipients and they desire to help people prepare for the soon coming of Jesus. This is why in addition to physical healing, they also provide spiritual healing and nurturing through preaching and Bible studies presented by their dynamic preachers and Bible workers.
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| With my co-missionaries from PAFCOE and LIGHT |
The healthy options, i.e. the services offered, were Minor Surgery, Circumcision, Blood Sugar Test, OB which includes Pap Smear and Pregnant Consultation, Pedia, Optometry, Internal Medicine, and Dental. These were effected by the first-rate and dedicated doctors, nurses, and other medical practitioners from Loma Linda University in California and Adventist Health Care, Pasay City. People were also taught about the long-term remedies that they can take home --- NEWSTART and other beneficial Health Lectures.
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| At the registration tables on the first day --- looks at ease? |
We, the missionaries, were assigned in the registration and the rest of the church members and volunteers assisted in different service areas. During the three-day medical mission, we too have to bear three things in mind. Pagkakaisa, Pagkakaunawaan, at Pagtutulungan. That is to say, Unity, Understanding, and Helping each other. These character traits placed everything in order as God is a God of order. I admire the way they had planned and set up things and processes in order. Like the color-coded stub/gate pass for each service, the numbering of the people with colored stickers, the flow of the people from the registration to the BP, weight, and blood sugar testing area, proceeding to the three health lectures section, then splits from there to the specific services they are registered where chairs are provided so they can comfortably eat, chat, and sit while waiting for their turn to be served.
Everything went under God's supervision through our systematic and wise head coordinator. The instructions were simple and simple obedience is what is only required of us to avoid unlikely things to happen. We also learned something interesting from him. He said, 'A genius man makes simple things complicated while a wise man makes complicated things simple.' Makes sense, right? That is why as we tried to achieve the three character traits to excellently minister to the people, we have to be wise. We did and the enemy of disorder was defeated!
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| The registration area on the 3rd day --- people flocked and the milieu was not at ease anymore! |
It was my first time to be involved in a big medical mission as such and being in the registration was not easy. We faced around 900 people on the first day, about 1,300 on the 2nd day, and roughly 1,800 on the third day. It was a lot of people! Some were kind and obedient whereas others were complaining, insisting, and disobedient. But as God sends the sunshine and the rain to both groups; so we have to deal with all of them in a Christlike manner --- kindly, patiently, with a cheerful countenance, and with gentle and loving words. Thus, their hearts were won ---- they listened, obeyed, and were able to avail of the free services, joyfully and satisfied.
As a result, we Praise God for almost 5,000 services offered to approximately 4,000 people around Victoria, Tarlac.
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| Dental services lined next to Optometry with the most number of people served |
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| Almost no space for new comers... |
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| A merry heart is a good stress-relief! |
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| Cooking demonstration with Dra. Lilieth Ancheta-Garcia |
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| The medical team and volunteers |
"Medical missions should be opened as pioneer agencies for the proclamation of the third angel's message. How great is the need off means to do this line of work! Gospel medical missions cannot be established without financial aid. Every such enterprise calls for our sympathy and for our means, that facilities may be provided to make the work successful." {CH 500.3}
We Praise God for the success of the medical mission. Everyone had sacrificed something and the efforts were immensely blessed! The means for it to be realized was surely great but Praise God for the instruments that God used to sponsor 90% of the expenses; plus the unity, understanding, and helping one another have played a great role in showing the people of Victoria that God's children are bearing the character of Jesus.
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