Trip companion

I just found out a friend and sister of mine has joined my mission. The team will consist of both medical and non medical personel this time and she is going as a non medical personel. I was so surprised and very excited when she told me she was accepted on the team. WOOHOO!! Not to mention she is a blast to be around, so we'll have fun and laughs for sure!

Thanksgiving

The last 2 weeks have been busy, long, crazy, humbling, and the chance to reflect for me. I got a letter about my upcoming Haiti mission trip. Not only am I excited about going, my husband is excited about the opportunity for me to go back to this country. He was with there also with me in 1994 and 1995, and although he prefers not to go back, he is so supportive and encouraging of me going and what this new totally different mission will bring. In the letter it lists stuff recommended to bring to help the people... Reading and Sun Glasses were at the top. What a blessing the 300 pairs donated will be to all those we serve.

It's flu shot time around here so it's been craziness at work. The kids are starting new extracurricular activities. Just when I think I have a moment to catch my breath, I'm reminded not to think, but rather thank. A loved one passed away recently. I'm thankful I had the opportunity to know such a wonderful person and am grateful to have the fun and loving memories to reflect on. I'm thankful for the future opportunities to make memories with my husband and children that maybe they will reflect back on and smile.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving and many blessings.

God of Justice

I got home from the CMS last nite. Once again it was more than anything I had anticipated. This song really spoke to my heart. It's a reminder to Christians everywhere that it is not enough just to say you are a Child of God, and that we need put those words into action.

Christian Musician Summit

Tomorrow I'm off, heading up towards Seattle to where the Christian Musician Summit is going to be held this weekend. I've been looking forward to this summit since I attended last year. Words can't describe the experience. I went alone, nervous, and left, filled, inspired, and met some awesome people!!

The worship was indescribable - we were truly at the throne of God. The instructors were generous with their knowledge which they had tons - providing it as if they were talking to friends - if that makes sense.

Improving Skill/Inspiring Talent.


3000 Registrants
140+ Workshops
90 Exhibitors
65+ Presenters
2 Days
1 God of All

Bull Slapping

Making sure your life isn't controlled by fear.....

Another mission......

probably the most difficult and most challenging yet to date. I think I need to start drinking water, taking my vitamins regularly to gather strength, setting aside alone time for prayer and mind clearing. I can hear the Rocky theme song playing. I'm waiting for Ashton Kutcher to come bounding in the back door yelling "You just got punked!!!".. But I think he may have gotten lost trying to find our little cozy town.

Yes, this mission is going to take everything I got, physically, mentally, emotionally. I feel like I should apologize already to my 'team'. This could get ugly.

Yes, that is right, crafts. I'm not crafty, look for shortcuts every chance I can. The mission?? Our church annual craft fair.

His Pleasure

What is peace? I had a glimpse of it tonight that left me in tears… I don't remember the last time that I was able to just sit and be… to not have my mind going to a million other tasks at once. To just sit and think of nothing.

To feel God's pleasure, one of my favorite quotes of all times is from the movie "Chariots of Fire"… (it's about a missionary to China and also a great runner) well long story short, his sister is pushing him and asking why he runs all the time, and his answer is "WHEN I RUN… I FEEL HIS PLEASURE". Although I had really no clue to the depth of this statement, it has been a quote that has stuck with me ever since I was younger…

But one thing that I felt tonight was HIS pleasure when I was doing nothing but sitting at my dinner table, worshipping HIM. That's strange for me to sit down and do nothing, to not be thinking about a million other things, but to just sit and worship HIM… to let HIM come to me and fill me. Doing good things in life is important… but if there is no time to WORSHIP HIM, to have relationship with HIM… then what am I really living for?

Supplies

Since my last post, word has gotten out about my next trip. About a week ago I had a HUGE box of supplies donated from a hospital from a nearby community. And then yesterday I had another box of wound care supplies donated as well. This just blesses my heart as I know what a blessing it will bring to those we serve in Haiti. Amazing.

Haiti

Well I've signed on a new mission team for a 10 day mission to Haiti. Never in a million years did I ever think I would return to this country, or even have the opportunity to return. I'm excited to see what's to come in the planning and preparation for this trip. We've had a great start. A local business called me yesterday and said they had a bunch of reading glasses they were going to throw out and one of the employees remembered me and my mission trips. Almost 300 pairs!!! What a blessing!

Support

"Call to me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know" Jeremiah 33:3 Each and everyday I wake up with one goal. That goal is to successfully accomplish what God has for me that day. My relationship with my savior is the number one in my life. Without Him I dont know where I would be and I can never repay Him for the sacrifice He made. The best I can do is live out the life He has blessed me with. Which at times is a challenge and I stumble and fall but He is always there to pick me up when I do! I try every second to be an example and a shining light for the Lord through the actions I make and the words I say. I have been blessed with the best husband, family and friends a girl could ever ask for. They are my support system day in and day out. They are always there for me and they know I am always there for them. I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Team Reunion

Last month we had a team reunion over in Cannon Beach OR with all of our families. It was so awesome and it was great to reunite and just visit with the rest of the team, play at beach, meet each other's families.

Reflecting

Well I am done with my slide show on my trip and made a dvd to hopefully be able to share it with my community. To share a message. I joined Medical Teams International, a long term goal of mine which partially guided my decision to become a nurse in the first place. My first trip with MTI was to Cambodia. Life changing. These photos and stories cannot do it justice, but I must try.

A Day of Clinic

Ok, so in thinking back to all the clinic days over there. I just wanted to give an idea of what we saw, experienced.
We'd get up and leave where we were staying at 6:30am usually. As soon as we got to the orphanage, the Toul Serey orphan home, there'd be a mass of people waiting for the clinic to start. Foursquare did such an amazing job in setting this up and organizing. Their awesome organization is the ONLY way we were able to see as many people as we did.
Each of us had a table. On it we had pediatric and adult bp cuffs, otoscope, thermometers, some would supplies, etc. I had a book on there called Where there is no doctor, which we all used as a reference. Awesome!! I recommend it to anyone doing missionary work.
The Foursquare staff ran the registration, so as people needed to be seen, they were given "tickets" (registration from with a number). Our clinic was set up on the bottom floor of the orphanage, (the sanctuary), and we had a room we used as a pharmacy, and another room (we'll call this our trauma room where sick of the sickest went to). Cambodians would come in 20 at a time and sit in chairs, where they would wait for an open station (one of us). We each were assigned an interpreter or two. We talk to them, get their complaint, do our complete assessment, diagnose and prescribe the necessary meds. No person left our clinic empty handed. If nothing was wrong (which was rarely the case) then they would get multivitamins.
Alot of what we saw: Typhoid Fever (scary especially in children!!) lot of skin infections, UTI's, malaria, dehydration, etc, and typical stuff you'd see here in clinics, URIs, ear infections. Alot of wounds and alot of malnutrition in children.
After we saw a pt, we'd give them their "ticket" back with the diagnosis and prescription on it and they would take it to our pharmacy. Anna, and another Foursquare staff ran the pharmacy and did an AMAZING job!!!!

Follow Up

I'm adding some more stuff to the slide show so its in the production room right now. :o) I will put it back up as soon as I finish. Well it's been 2 wks since I've been home. I think I'm finally over this jet lag, which has been the absolute worst. I've had the opportunity to share my experiences with a group and am excited to hopefully be able to share with my community. I've been stressing as to not how many pictures I can show everyone, but how can I show everyone that the four of us were only the vehicle used for this mission, ambassadors of our communities. We took EVERYTHING over there with us. All the medicine, supplies (wound, equipment, etc). There was nothing in place for us to use. And everything we took over was either donated or given to us at cost. I can't tell you how many times I looked at our pharmacy and had to hold the tears back as I think about we could not do this without our friends and families. More on this later.

Overall this mission was a huge success. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better group of people to experience it with. I feel like I've known Eric, Tim and Margo all my life. And I hope we are able to do another one soon. Speaking of which, I've been asked about doing another trip possibly next year. Location still unknown yet, however I will go in a heartbeat.

I just realized I haven't put much on here about things we saw over there. Unless you've talked to me in person you really wouldn't know what all happened. So I will post more on that. To everyone who has supported this mission, whether by donation, prayers, thoughts, financially, whatever THANK YOU, and God Bless You in all you do!!!

The crowd would begin as early as 5:30 am...

Home

Well, so much for blogging while in country...I was able to get on once the other times I tried to get on, it wouldn't let me post. I flew back tonite. My husband and children met me up at the airport. It's been an amazing 2 weeks. I have tons of pictures and will post more about what went on during the mission. As for my team, I feel like I've known them forever. What a great group of people and we worked so well together. Talk of doing another medical mission is in the works... Woohoo!!!! Off to download pictures... I will post pictures, stories during next couple days as I'm adjusting back to the Pacific Northwest time. It's 3:41 am and I'm wide awake... I'm going to be hurting in the morning. It's all good though.

Tuesday May 1st here in Cambodia

And boy is it hot and humid!!! We finally made it here!! Margo and I met in Portland, flew to Seattle Sunday nite where we picked up Tim, our doc, and then flew 14 1/2 hrs to Taipai China and then another 4 hrs down here to Phnom Penh where we met up with Eric. So we our whole team is together. It started out with quite an adventure on our flight from Seattle to Taipai. About 6 hrs into the flight, I was awakened by a flight attendent who said over intercom, there is someone in need of medical assistance and the pilot said there is a medical team on board can we help???
I'm really like my teammates. We are staying here in the capital tonite and then getting up to drive early down to the Kompong Speu province to the Toul Serey orphan home. We toured the Foursquare Children of Promise Training Center, and the orphan home here. And we also toured the Toul Sleng Genocide Museum.... We were speechless. The weather is hot and very humid (did I already mention that?)... We have been driven around by Anna Blake from Foursquare, a missionary who's been here in the country for 5 years. She is the medical teams coordinator but will be returning to the states this September to finish school to be a nurse. The traffic here cracks me up. And it reminds me so much of Haiti...No lights, no rules or laws, pass on sidewalks, etc. So far I've seen 4 Cambodians fit on a moped at once...Anna said she's seen 7....dang. We has Fish Amok for lunch, spicy with some sort of curry sauce with things in it...probably best I didn't know what they were, but I liked it. Ok, not sure when I'll be able to post next..... Many blessings to you all!!! ~Mel

Today

Today I leave to head up to Portland which is where I will fly out tomorrow. I can't believe this is it. The trip is here. My bags are all packed... I think I have everything. I'm excited to see what the Lord has planned for us.
My prayer is that I will allow God to keep refining myself as a person. That He would work out my life to His glorious plan and that He would use me in any way that He sees fit. To make Jesus Christ known among the unreached, the poor, and the sick.

Those who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles.- Isaiah 40:31

One thing I have been reminded of again in preparing for ths trip is to continue pressing through into the Lord. I can expect Him to radically change my life. I can expect New Life in Him... a Life which will be full of prosperity and hope.

John 15:5-8
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

God Bless each and every one of you and the Lord keep you in His breath!! I will post updates whenever I get a chance to get on a computer. Many Blessings, ~M

Plans.....

What do you do when God asks you to do something real big? What if that plan does not fit into your plans?



:o) Have a great week!!! ~M

Quote from Real.Life. Exhibit

I was looking through some papers and found some of the information that I got from the Real.Life. Exhibit at the MTI headquarters. I saw this quote in the exhibit and wrote it down on one of my papers. Having found it again, I want to share it with everyone. Have a blessed day!! ~M

Pray as if everything depends on God. Work as if everything depends on you. -Saint Augustine

Enter His Gates with Thanksgiving

I saw this written recently in huge bold letters above the doorway into a church sanctuary. As I stood there, I thought about how profound this was and a good reminder. I've come across this scripture numerous times this year. I'm starting to see a pattern :o) So I stood in that church hallway and asked myself, "What AM I thankful for??".

I am thankful for a God who loves, protects, guides and frees me from bondage. I am thankful for the Throne of Grace that is open 24/7. I am thankful for my beautiful kids and great soulmate of a husband that continues to light my way. I am thankful for the people God's place in my life.

I am thankful for friends to laugh with, cry with and just hang out with! Who support and encourage me, and who aren't afraid to correct me. I'm thankful for my husband's family. I am thankful for each and every member of my church family. For fellowship and relationships. I am thankful for music.

I am thankful to belong to a community who has done nothing but shown support and encouragement in all aspects of this mission trip.

Reflecting on this question, I see I could be here a long time, telling you everything I'm thankful for. And thats a good thing. :o) What are you thankful for?

Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise: give thanks to him, and bless his name. Psalm 100:4

Packing

3 weeks until we leave. The requested supply/meds lists are done and turned in. Now I'm working on packing the supplies/meds I have. 6 boxes into 3 bags. It's gonna be a challenge but I'm confident we'll get them all. A good friend came and got a bunch of stuff this week to start packing it. I am go grateful. With many of the supplies we have been able to take them out of the boxes and put them in food saver packages. It allows us to put more into a bag.
Little by little we are getting there. It seems as our leave date gets closer and closer my to-do list gets longer. It's neat watching my children get excited for this trip. Although they are staying home with my husband they realize they are so much a part of this journey.

Countdown

What a busy week this has been!! We are four weeks away from leaving, and it seems there is still alot to do. As a team we are responsible for getting and bringing ALL medicines and supplies. As you can see from the picture in the previous post, it's been a success. My office looks like a warehouse threw up in it. Seriously. :o) But it's all good. Keeping track of everything is a whole different issue. I finally came up with a list of what is needed, what we've acquired thus far, and what is still needed. I spent oodles of time working on it only to have the stinkin program screw up and mix up ALL the numbers in the "Quantity" column. So instead of having 600 4x4's, it said I had 600 catheters. Nice. I could have been the poster child for anger management during the "recount" of everything.

Last week a hospital in another town called me and said they put together a box of "stuff' for me. It was awesome. A huge box of wound care supplies and dressings...good stuff!! And all of it we'll use I'm sure.

Anxiousness and excitement of what is to come is setting in as we take this journey and make our way to the Toul Serey Orphan Home. :o) Have a great weekend!!! ~M

Kindness of Strangers

I came to work this morning and one of our distributors brought me a HUGE box full of donated supplies... I'm sitting here at my desk, can't see over it, and am just amazed, overwhelmed, and humbled at his kindness. He didn't hesitate a minute about donating to a cause he knows little about. All he heard was "there are people in need".

Isn't it amazing how often we can touch someone's life, and enrich our own, by a very simple act? Kindness, pass it on...what a wonderful way in which to pattern our lives! I love seeing how God will use the giftings of strangers in our own lives to accomplish His plan. :o)

Have a good week!! Many Blessings! ~M

And then there were 4...........

s

I received my in country itinerary today. Everything is starting to come together. Unfortunately our team is now 4, one doctor and 3 nurses. But everything is a go. We leave the states on April 29th, and arrive in Phnom Penh on May 1st. The next day we will be driven down to southeastern border of the Kompong Speu Province where we will be setting up clinic in the morning and opening in afternoon. The Kompong Speu province is very poor, and poverty is a major problem in the region. AIDS, childbirth complications, malaria and poor health care facilities have led to a large population of orphan children. This area has also never had a medical clinic and is very rural. The first orphan home we are going to is in a central location there and is surrounding by 8 villages, so we'll be able to serve more people.

I also received the supplies/medicine list from the in-country partner (FCOP). As a medical brigade team, we are responsible for acquiring all medicine/supplies/needed equipment to take over. So in the next couple weeks, as supply/medicine coordinator, I'm going to be busy. But it's all good. As a friend said recently, "Sink or swim".... :o)

Many Blessings ~M

Your thoughts

I read this in a book and it spoke greatly to me.

Your thoughts are inseparable from your body. Your thoughts both reflect and direct what you do with your eyes, your ears, and your mouth.

Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2Corinthians 10:5

One way to take captive every thought to Christ is to develop the habit of turning self-talk into God-talk. You know what self talk is-it is the silent and secret conversations you have with yourself. But turning self-talk into God-talk can actually be a method of praying without ceasing.

So the question is what am I doing with my thought-life? Am I taking my thoughts captive to Christ or are my thoughts imprisoning me? I say this again. Am I taking my thoughts captive to Christ or are my thoughts imprisoning me? Do I dwell on hurtful memories or grievances? Am I keeping a record of wrongs committed against me? Do I let my mind wander into mine fields of anger or vengeance? Do I allow my imagination to run wild after elaborate schemes and selfish ambitions? Are my aspirations driven by human will or are they in pursuit of God's will??

Real.Life.

I went up to Portland yesterday for a team meeting at Medical Teams International. My medical team of 5 is a month away from leaving for Cambodia. We got our airline tickets 2 wks ago and everything is a go. At our meeting at the headquarters building, we went thru the Real.Life. exhibit. It's in a portion of the big warehouse building and consists of about 15 different rooms. Everyroom is different and set up depicting different parts of a world where MTI has sent teams. By room 3 I was an emotional mess. Everything depicted was spot on to reality. The only thing missing was "smells". There are certain smells that always remind of when I was in Haiti, like burning garbage. We started out in Tsunami room, where they had built what looked exactly like a 25 ft wave and all around you on the walls are lifesize real actual photos of the devastation that took place. I just stood there and looked up at this wave (the actual one was 30 ft), in disbelief. Another room was on Hurricane Katrina, an actual med center was set up, with again, the walls being life size actual photos...you feel like you are really there. There was about 50 people (from approx, 6 different teams who are traveling in the next 6 months) in this group of volunteers, and there wasn't a dry eye in the place. The silence and sounds of sobbing is something I'll never forget. Strangers going up one another comforting each other. The group of strangers putting a hand on the nurse who broke down in the Tsunami room, because not only was she affected by devastation/tragedy she was seeing, she was on one of the first teams MTI sent down for disaster relief. She said this was the second time she's gone thru the exhibit and the pain is refreshed each time, the memories of all the bodies. Other rooms, Cambodia, Africa, Mongolia, and numberous countries, each left me speechless. During our meeting one of the main topics discussed is the need when we get back to grieve, mourn, and how important it is to have a trusted support system you can talk to, debrief, sort through all these feelings .
I have never gone through an exhibit such as this, and it's been on my mind ever since I left there yesterday. We were in there a good hour and half. I didn't know MTI had something like this, it's open to the public, its free, and it's life changing. I walked out with so many feelings going thru my heart. Guilt, humble, humility, and thankfulness. WOW. http://www.medicalteams.org/exhibit

Itinerary.....Again!!

I received my itinerary today. We will be leaving Portland April 29th, arriving in Cambodia around 10 am May 1st.....Thats a lot of flying and a whole lotta chemical assistance.....

Team Meeting

March 10th we will be having a team meeting up in Portland so that we can meet each other and learn a little more about this mission we are about to embark on. :o)

Name Change

Northwest Medical Teams, the Portland-based organization that provides free medical care throughout the world, primarily in emergency conditions, is now call Medical Teams International.

Bas Vanderzalm, president of the organization, said in a statement the name change reflects the fact "we are becoming a national and global organization. People from all 50 states and many other countries now contribute to our work and serve as volunteers in our programs. The use of 'Northwest' in our current name often confuses people in areas where we work and limits our ability to attract support from those who live outside the Pacific Northwest."
"We considered many other names but selected Medical Teams International because it clearly expresses what we do and communicates that we are not changing our programs, our values or our mission to those affected by disaster, conflict and poverty," he added.

Spring Team!

The team has been put together! We are tentatively scheduled to leave April 28th so that way we can be in country there and start the clinic on the 1st of May. Let the countdown begin. Many Blessings ~M