Terimah Kasih Tuhan!

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Wow! Around the world and back in 15 days. What a whirlwind of God's faithfulness, help and mighty hand in the trip to Indonesia and back.

On July 27th I started the long journey to Papua (formerly Irian Jaya), Indonesia with my North American team. Our team consisted of 4 medical students, 1 resident, 1 physician and 2 nurses – 8 team members in all.  I arrived on the island 54 hours after leaving Portland (yes, I was exhausted) and it was then that the real adventure began. We met our Indonesian partner physician, Dr. S. and his family as well as another Indonesian physician. The next day we were flown into the mountains of Papua to begin our medical ministry to three remote villages.  When we arrived in the first village we had the privilege of meeting the tribal evangelists that would also serve as our translators from Indonesian to the local dialects.

      We started in the first village by doing clinic for one day there and treated 77 people (throughout the trip I trained both local evangelists and the medical students in basic wound care and injections, and I provided wound care, injections and assisted with treatments and minor surgery). The next day we flew via helicopter to the second village which was our most important village. The second village had been somewhat hostile to the gospel when Dr. S. had visited three years ago. However, since that time a pastor came to the village and began sharing the gospel with them for the first time. When we arrived the people of the village welcomed us and we had great rewards there. We provided the first, non-indigenous health care the people of this village had ever had and in two days of clinic we treated over 111 people including the chief and one of his children. During our five day stay in this village 53 people made a decision to follow Christ for the first time and the pastor there was eager to disciple them. The chief of the village was so favorably impressed that he asked Dr. S. to build a home there so he would return more often. We enjoyed every minute with these precious people and we pray that God continues to work among them to advance His kingdom there and in the neighboring villages.

     

     After we left the second village we were flown to the third and final village to provide another three days of clinic. We treated 21 people our first day of clinic and 149 the next day including the chief's wife. On our third day in this village we were preparing to go to start clinic when we realized that our North American physician had fallen very ill and needed to be transported out of the village for medical care. Miraculously we were able to contact a pilot via satellite phone and send our physician to a coastal town with a hospital but we had to send 3 of our medical students with him.  We also had some of the young people of the village spreading rumors about our team that almost prevented our team from holding clinic that day.  We began to pray and praise God. An hour later we found out we could hold clinic after all. With half of our team and several setbacks God multiplied our limited resources to allow us to treated 79 patients in clinic that day. We were amazed at the faithfulness of God and the response of the people. The next day we bid farewell to the people of village, the pastors and evangelist team and flew out of the mountains to begin the trek back to North America.

     While in Indonesia I was especially struck with the Bible verse phrase that Dr. S.'s wife brought to my mind at the beginning of the trip and that continued to ring in my heart throughout the trip: God has set eternity in the hearts of the people of the world (Ecclesiastes 3:11). I could see it. I could see that God had revealed himself to the precious people of the three villages in which we had worked. I could see God's heart for the nations -- for all tribes, peoples and tongues -- to come into relationship with Him. I was overwhelmed and humbled by this thought. God does not need me but He includes me in his work to reveal His glory to all people and to draw all people to Himself. Because of your support and prayer, you and I have had the awesome privilege of touching the eternal destiny of the people of Papua. Thank you for joining with me in this work and I challenge you, as a fellow worker, in Christ to continue to pray for the people of Papua. Please pray that God would continue to advance His kingdom and bless the work of the local evangelists and Dr. S. Together, we can see every tribe of Papua before the throne of God!

 

Terimah kasih Tuhan (Thank you God)!

Christ Follower,

Megan Reed, RN

P.S.

Keep checking back for info on my next, and more permanent, steps toward Northern Asia. God did some incredible things in confirming His call on my life during this trip and made clear that Asia is where He has for me to go. Thank you for helping me go on this trip. It allowed me to see a glimpse of God’s perfect plan for me in medical missions and it encouraged my heart to continue to pursue God’s call on my heart toward long term missions in Asia.