THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF MEDICAL AMBASSADORS PHILIPPINES, INC.
MAPLINE OCTOBER 2016 VOL. XXVIII NO. 3
photos from operation samaria 2016: pamhod credits to zeyn afuang, rn
How far can you go? consider joining CAMA inspite of the risk involved.
The surgical residency training I had in the 90’s was also a time of impossibilities and fears, when convictions sometimes had to be compromised, budget was limited for sustenance, and involvement in missions continued while unour dead ends are only his der training. These concerns had beginnings- dr. jun garcia, map president no basis at all. I only needed to be firm in my convictions and my walk with God. It was also totally unknown to y involvement in the medical mis- me that this surgical residency training prosion started way back during my first year gram would later lead me to meet the very in the medical school. Joining medical/ sur- person that also influenced my going into gical missions was further heightened after mission, and that was Dr. Eleazar Sarmiena brief but productive exposure in a mission to. I only had few encounters with him as hospital. Seeing patients at the hospital one of our surgical consultants, but I knew were not enough. Follow-up and sharing then that God already started working in the gospel in their homes became the cen- our midst. ter stage of our work. And it has become a way of life. Serving God through Medical Ambassadors Philippines has opened a lot of opportuniDoing missions in other parts of the globe ties to expand and attain greater things for was, I thought, going to be easy and the greater glory of our Lord. For Dr. Allan smooth-sailing. My work then with CAMA Melicor to tag me along as an unworthy (Christian and Missionary Alliance) under servant to join and work alongside with him the auspices of United Nations Border Re- inside Cambodia with the MMI (Medical lief Operation at the Thai-Cambodian bor- Ministry International) in partnership with der was to oversee a medical ward in the Bileg Foundation, has been a great privihospital and later, take charge of the whole lege. A monument now stands as a memoTB program of the refugee camp with more rial of God’s faithfulness, and I thank God than 40 thousand population. The fear of for being part of that history, a part in buildgetting infected never got into my mind but ing His Kingdom. Another history is in the the terror and almost daily bombardment making, I believe. Just this year and still in of our camp got to our nerves. Tensions partnership with MMI and Mission to Heal, ran high during the night while we were an ambulance and a mobile medical-surginot around and when shelling normally oc- cal unit(MSU) was brought into the country cured. People lost lives and limbs because by Dr. Glenn Geelhoed and his team for its of this bombardment. They lived in fear and use here. How did this MSU end up here in sometimes feared for our lives too. Genesis the Philippines? I say, it’s a miracle, a work 28:15 was the verse I claimed when I did in progress and God willing, 5-10 years from
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Every year, MAP conducts a missions exposure program called Operation Samaria that challenges young people, students, and church volunteers to be involved in missions. Last June 8-16, 2016, we held our Operation Samaria in Aguinaldo, Ifugao with the theme, Pamhod, an Ifugao word meaning “Love”. 14 volunteers from different schools and churches were divided and deployed in Brgy. Monggayang, Halag, and Jacmal sharing the love of Christ. We praise the Lord for the community people and the friends who supported this missions exposure. ‘Til the next OS!
now, a hospital will also be built in Ifugao thru this partnership. . Joining His mission can be physically, mentally, emotionally, and even financially draining. But knowing Him as our Good Shepherd, He will supply all our needs.
how much we have in our pockets, but with thanksgiving, offering to Him what is readily available in our hands. God’s responsibility is to multiply this for His Glory and Honor. Once we do that, I believe we will be at our precise destination in His perfect time. “ Then they willingly received Him into the Our impossibilities, our fears, our dead boat, and immediately the boat was at the ends…are only His beginnings. All He wants land where they were going”- John 6:21 us to do is to take the initiative, take the step of faith. Not focusing and counting
the other side of nursing - yelli rio, rn, volunteer “
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big mismatch!” –this was how people viewed me and MAP when they first learned that I decided to be a full-time volunteer. I wasn’t “missionary-nurse-material”. I had different interests. I was being educated to do something else. No one saw this season in my life coming except God. I first dreamed of joining Operation Samaria when I was a junior in nursing school. At that time, I was an IVCF student leader and OS was popular among students pursuing medical and para-medical degrees. However, our class schedules during summer did not allow me to be in OS. After graduation, I started working and forgot about OS. These all happened circa 2004-2006. Fast forward to 2014, eight years after I graduated, I saw a promotional video of OS and the longing to be part of it never left me. I joined Operation Samaria 2014 in Mindoro and my life was never the same since then. It was followed by one more OS in Aurora, then a visit to Ifugao which was apart from OS. Every trip was different, every community was different, but they had one thing in common- they made me see life like I never did! I have been regularly joining medical missions of my local church in the past 10 or 12 years but these were just different. Since then I’ve always prayed that I would spend my first year after graduation serving God through the ministry of MAP full time.
medambassadors.org (02) 415-9068 102 Scout Rallos St., Diliman, Quezon City Philippines 1101 P.O. Box 3656 Modesto, CA, USA 95352
God must have different plans for me after graduation which only He knows. In September 2015, more than a year before my comprehensive exam, He led me to serve Him through MAP. In the bat of an eyelash, my life drastically changed. I left the comforts of home, turned my back from a job that afforded me so much prestige all these years, and embraced the life I know so little about. I remember scribbling this down after I lead a Balaro (Bibliya at Laro) session with some children: “…I know I’m not a kind of nurse who really takes time to interact with patients. I must say I am one of those ‘robots dressed in white’. I am more into the science side than the art side of nursing. I don’t know why I am where I am now, doing the things I’m doing, but I’m pretty sure God knows and that should be enough to quiet my heart.” Living with the community made me realize so much about my life as nurse and as a Christian. I saw the reality of spiritual warfare and how much people rely on practices detestable in the sight of God, without even realizing it. There I realized that people are not healed by medicines alone. In August 2016, I wrote “The issue of health and quality of life are more than just issues of logistics and health policies. I have seen people refuse medical care, despite its availability because they trust their traditional ways, some of which are pagan, more than they trust health workers. Situations such as this reveal a far greater need among these people –the need to experience the love, grace and redemption of Christ.” I know my MAP experience is shaping me for other tasks that God has for me in the future. I praise Him for this season of being blessed and being a blessing, experiencing His grace as I grow into His likeness, testing His provision and realizing that He is more than enough, and simply allowing Him to mold me into becoming the person He designed me to be.
Pray with us We PRAISE and THANK God for your never-ending prayers for us for the sake of seeing transformed lives in Christ. Would you join us again to pray without ceasing? // For the Ambang believers undergoing very difficult and challenging “adultery” issues inside the church. In view of this situation, MAP workers will continue to assist the church especially the leaders and members towards spiritual maturity, purity, and passion to study God’s Word. // Wisdom and favor from the Lord, financial support, and active community participation for the installation of water system to provide water for the Iraya Mangyan families. // The Family Health Workers in Abra de Ilog to be more challenged in bringing holistic transformation to their remote outreach areas where most of the residents are Mangyans. // For the new team- Dahlia and Selbert (couple), and Isabel (from Ifugao), for God’s empowering and enabling in setting up a training center for health education, student ministry, and special medical services in Aguinaldo and neighboring municipalities. // Ifugao churches to be mobilized in reaching out to other tribes for salvation and discipleship. // The Magbangon Aeta FHWs in Limay for their sincere commitment and confidence to continue serving their own people toward good health and for the church to disciple the new believers. // A community partnership with LGUs in Batang, Hernani for another installation of potable water system, complete attendance and continued enthusiasm of FHWs from 6 churches in the last phase of CB-HELP training in Eastern Samar.
For your donations, please be informed of MAP Inc.’s Bank accounts: PNB Account (Dollar): Account Name: Medical Ambassadors Phil. Inc. Dollar Savings Account: 399344200016
China Bank Corp Account (Peso): Account Name: Medical Ambassadors Phil. Inc. Peso Savings Account: 105-004024-2