Greetings from Taipei!

Hellow everybody, I've made it safely to Taipei. We are on a 4 hour layover between here and Cambodia. The flight wasn't bad at all, I got a window seat but nobody in the seat next to me. I got to spread out a bit and get some good sleep and still had some time to relax and read a good book. (In His Image by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey).

Right before I boarded the plane I turned to one of my teammates and said, “What am I doing?” “Following Jesus,” she answered. I must admit that I never really had any special interest to work in Asia. When I was asked to consider going on this trip my first thought was ‘no’. Now I find myself in a foreign airport with a team I don’t know, totally “pumped” for the unknown that lies ahead. How did I get here, well I hope my new friend was right, by following Jesus.

This is going to be a very different sort of trip. Not only is it a new place with a team that I don’t know at all, but I’m not in any way shape or form in charge! I never thought of myself as a control freak but I must admit that it is quite different to be placed in this position. I have a lot to learn and I have a feeling that this whole experience is going to be an exercise in listening and being prompted. Praise the Lord for situations such as these where I have no control, no idea what’s going on, don’t know the language and the only thing I can do is listen, wait upon the Lord and following His prompting.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

Well folks, at this time tomorrow I'll be on plane headed for Cambodia. We'll land in Phnom Penh, spend one night in a guest house, and then head out to our final destination of Rotanakiri. We will be setting up a clinic at an orphanage which will serve the people of the surrounding area. We anticipate seeing 4000 patients during our six clinical days. The team consists of 31 people, 12 of us "practitioners" and 19 support staff.
Last weekend we had a "pill packing" party where 68 suitcases where strategically filled with medications and basic medical supplies. It was a rather huge production which took over 100 people about 7 hours to complete.
Fear not faithful readers, I am happy report that I was able to contribute several boxes of medical supplies from "the stash." Yay for finally sending some stuff out! However, it appears as though the team had way too much of certain other supplies. We ended up pulling off a supply exchange and I came home with more than I had sent out... But in my defense, the stuff I brought home were items that I had very little of that I think would be very useful in Mexico City. I'm not sure if I will have any Internet access at all while I am away, so I might not be able to update until after July 31.