This is our last day of Clinic. We start out the day in the border town of Poipet. This town is the Sodom of Southeast Asia. It is a border town of casinos, brothels and tourists. It is a busy border crossing where large trucks filled with all sorts of goods are being shipped into Cambodia from Thailand. Cambodia and Thailand do not have the best of relations and there is a great deal of enmity between these two nations for many reasons dating back for centuries.
We start the day with an excellent devotional from Dr. George. He speaks about devotion to God as not being just intention to be Godly or going about the doingness of Christianity. Based on Titus 2:11 George shares the beingness of devotion and the three elements of fear of God, Love for God and desire for God. It is a moving start of the day..
After breakfast we head off to our Poipet clinic location. This is in a small village outside of the main city of poipet that is located right on the border. It is a village that was settled for military purposes as a means of denying the Thai army easy access into Cambodia. As such it is run by an army General who is a friend of Transform Asia. We meet the general and his staff. We are instantly aware that the general has lost both of his legs to a landmine. Landmines are still prevalent in this area. Millions of landmines were buried in the 70s and 80s and remain in many fields today. While some fields have been cleared, all have not been cleared. Even today farmers and children are maimed and killed on a daily basis. It is bad enough when an innocent farmer is maimed in this way, but when a child is maimed as a result of wandering into the wrong field, it is a human tragedy. Where once Princess Diana led the cause toward cleaning up the mine fields, this issue has become a non headline over the last few years.
The general tells us that there are 3200 folks in the village at this time. Many of them work in the fields and some cross in to Thailand each day to work there. He is very happy that we are here and asks us a lot of questions about Jesus. He asks us why we do what we do and expect nothing in return. Pastor Setan explains to him that Christ only asks us to love him and his people and that we demonstrate that love by serving the people of his village. He comment ts on how strange it is that we expect nothing for our efforts and our love. Leading some folks to Christ in this culture is a slow step by step process and the general is no exception. Pastor Setan believes that he will eventually make a commitment to Christ.
Clinic today is a real challenge for me. One of my early cases is an 11 month old child who weighs no more than 8 pounds! She is feverish, mal nourished, plagued by parasites and non responsive to stimuli. As I assess this infant my soul weeps. All I can do is check neurological status and advise the mom on how important it is that she use the pediatric electrolytes and vitamins that we give her for her baby. She is obviously distraught over her child’s future and is looking for some sign of hope. I tell her that the only hope I can give is the Hope of Christ. I carry the infant over to Pastor Ron in the prayer station. She is like a rag doll in my arms. Pastor Ron immediately sees the tremendous need for this child and mother and begins a pleading prayer to God that this child be spared. I have many of other patients so I am not able to spend more time with this infant who by no fault of her own will likely not see me next year when I return to this village. I am plagued for the rest of the day over this child and pray all day that she be spared and her health restored.
By the end of clinic today we have seen about 375 patients. It is strange to say that this clinic and this past two weeks clinics were a success. I would much rather that circumstances were different and that our success would not be measured in terms of the poor and disadvantaged who we have treated, prayed for and become friends with. But, as a measure of what God can do for these people we have seen physical conditions improved and healed, we have seen people come to know Christ, we have seen Christian communities strengthened and we have seen ourselves come close to God and learn more of his love for us.
Tomorrow we will be visiting the Transform Asia farm and children’s feeding center in the rice paddies. After that it is the long drive back to the capital and then home.
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