August 2006

In Brokenness You Shine

-- Partial quotes from Somewhere Between, Steve Green & Doug McKelvey, Birdwing Music, Sparrow Records, Brentwood, TN, 2005

In the past month Face the Challenge (FTC) was asked to help with people who need to know the nearness of our Lord: One is an infant female, Feruza, born with a facial cleft who was nursed by her mother for nine months. Without hope for facial reconstructive surgery, her despairing mother relinquished her to an orphanage in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Also soon after her birth, Feruza's father chose to leave her and her mother; insult to injury, greater needs and despair.

The other is a woman who was shot in the face by her boyfriend three years ago. Her life shattered, friends rallied around her, raised $10,000, and asked FTC to provide her reconstructive surgery and an artificial eye. The surgeons' fees will be waived, freeing these funds for personal costs. Virtually every patient presented to FTC with needs for reconstructive surgery has an account of brokenness and pain. Our desire remains to minister His mercy and healing during the deepest hours of need for many.

We are thankful for each of you who have supported FTC through your donations, prayer, and friendship. The summary and pictures for FTC's 14th trip to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam since 1994 are posted at: www.facethechallenge.org . In brief, the team of eleven was led by Dr. Randy Robinson. They used the motto offered by former FTC patient, Ms. Thu Ha Ngo, and her Vietnamese friends: "Nu cuoi nhan ai," or "Smiles from our hearts". After the surgeries came profound gratitude from the depths of the patients' hearts.

As a result of the Vietnamese surgeons' requests, the team focused on 13 demonstration orthognathic (jaw) surgeries, each ~3-8 hours long. Early in 2006 Dr. Robinson and his wife, Ginger, prepared a 77-page text, Introduction to Orthognathic Surgery, and gave these texts to the Vietnamese surgeons who attended the seminar on 10 April by Dr. Robinson, Dr. Hieu Pham, and Mrs. Leslie Turner, BSN, RN.

On 24 November -3 December Dr. Robinson, Dr. Steve Pugh, Denver-area anesthesiologist, and a few other team members will return to Ho Chi Minh City to do follow-up consultations on the patients who received surgeries last April. And they will do additional orthognathic and cleft surgeries on patients at the National Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology (NHOS), directed by Dr. Lam Hoai Phuong, and the Odonto-Maxillo-Facial Hospital (OMFH), directed by Dr. Huynh Hai and Dr. Le Thi Viet, Dept. Dir.

FTC began purchasing its equipment in 1995. It remains operational and safe. As funds allow, we would like to replace some of our equipment with more portable and reliable models. Below is our EQUIPMENT WISH LIST:

• 2 Halogen surgical headlights with light sources, ~$3,500.00 each
• 2 Monitors (heart rate, rhythm, blood pressure, CO2, etc.), ~$11,000.00 each [biggest need]
• 2 Electrocautery units, ~$3,000.00
• 2 Portable anesthesia machines, ~$9,000.00
• 2 Stryker Total Power System (TPS) surgical saws and drills, ~$20,000.00 each
• 1 Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) projector, cost to be determined

We welcome your generosity, if you are led to help fund any of these purchases. Also, we will establish a secure PayPal system through our website, if you desire to make a tax-deductible donation on-line.

Tribute to Dr. Ted W. Engstrom

We are saddened with the news of the passing of one of our Advisory Board Members, Dr. Ted Engstrom, President Emeritus of World Vision. As one who made his years count, Dr. Engstrom (90), authored 50 books and lived life well. He maintained:

"We need to be salt and light. The only way you can do that is deliberately to be involved. . . I've always believed there are enough hours in the day for each one of us to do the complete will of God. If we obey Him, we can get done what God wants us to get done. In his 60 years of service he ministered in 136 countries. And in one of his letters to FTC, he expressed a "keen interest in China", trusting "that God will wonderfully open doors and supply needs" for FTC.

May God use each of us to steady a trembling hand and catch a falling tear — making comfort a "living thing" — that renews hope and pours His shining light into the hearts of the needy. Psalm 147:3,5,6 says:

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. . . .Great is our Lord and mighty in power; His understanding has no limit. The Lord sustains the humble."

Please join us by "praying in faith" for those who are wounded and in need of healing. God heals. And our prayers in His name are part of the healing process. God waits for such prayers. In brokenness Jehovah Rapha — God the Healer — shines.

Randy and Ginger, along with the Face the Challenge Board members
Randolph C. Robinson, MD, DDS, Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgeon
Ginger H. Robinson, BSN, RN, Cardiac/Critical Care Nurse, President