Let me share with you the efforts of the Bukang Liwayway (BL) team…they contribute so much to our mission. The two main players are Apple and Melanie, who are their nursing staff. Apple starts liaising with Betty months before we arrive in the Philippines and helps with buying medication and various medical and dental supplies, and these 2 are responsible for the entire set up of our clinics. This involves much planning with many tables and chairs and screens to separate the waiting area from the treatment area. Throughout the clinical sessions Apple becomes Betty’s interpreter and Melanie becomes the dental sterilisation queen! They then delegate various duties to many members- some are involved in triaging and registration of patients ( the patients start lining up at 4am every morning!)
Others prepare a testimony and a Christian talk in small groups with the patients whilst they are being registered. Some are assigned to be interpreters for the dentists and Carrie. There is a lovely German missionary (Helga) who is Leo’s interpreter. An electrician sets up power supply for our dental motor and Leo’s suction machine. 3 ladies work tirelessly inside a tiny kitchen to prepare lunch and dinner for us and many volunteers (youths from their church) help load and unload our many boxes of equipment daily from storage.
We are all so thankful that God has placed us together again and feel humbled to witness their cheerful and energetic servant attitude to glorify God through helping the needy (they really don’t have much themselves!)
Every night after dinner, we gather for a bible study under Betty’s leadership. This time we are reading James and tonight we read James 2:1-13 and discussed treating everyone fairly and lovingly without favouritism, as we express God’s mercy for us towards others. We also discussed why there are those who are rich and yet others who are so poor in this world, and does this imply that God is unfair? One BL member spoke out emotionally and honestly and exclaimed that it does feel unfair! At that moment we all felt for her, but as we went further into the discussion, we realise that material wealth is only a measure of importance set by man, not God, and that wealth does not guarantee happiness or even reduce our problems in life. But the poor by virtue of their greater dependence on God for their daily needs, enables them to be more spiritually rich, and we indeed see this in their group. What an encouraging fellowship to end the day!
Leander