"When Dr. Robinson told me about his Face the Challenge trip to China, I wondered how I could help. When I grow up, I want to be a surgeon and I think it would be exciting to help people in other countries who are less fortunate. Dr. Robinson invited me to help his team pack for the trip. I learned about all of the tools and supplies that would be used during surgery. It was fascinating to see all of the equipment. We packed more than 26 huge duffel bags. Even though I am pretty young (4th grade) and don't have a medical background, I was excited to be included in the preparations for this trip. I hope that as I get older, I can make a bigger contribution to Face the Challenge."

"The interaction I had with families was wonderful. When possible, I brought parents or significant family members to be with the patients in the post-anesthesia recovery unit. What a difference [it made] in recovery wake-up for the small ones. This is not commonly done there [China], but I believe it gave a new insight on the care post-operatively when all are included in the care of the patients. Oxygen, patient, and TLC are great keys for post-op. recovery. . . .Wonderful, heart-rendering experience!"

". . . a chance to do the type of nursing I've always wanted to do! . . .
Okay, let's get the cases going. Two patients in an OR, only one cautery machine, switch the grounding plate from patient to patient as the surgeon needs to cauterize. An old US Army anesthesia machine--heavens, the soda-lime is black!! Next time we'll bring some fresh. No [not much] charting, no insurance forms, no charge sheets, no JCAHO, no OSHA; holy cow, none of the OR tables have safety belts. How quickly we have melded into a team--what fun! What great nurses these Vietnamese women are--quick, helpful, intelligent, interested, concerned. . . .Oh my gosh, the nurses are going through the trash and saving our discards: suction tubing, ET tubes, clean sponges, gloves, cautery pencils, wrappers--all to be re-sterilized and used again and again. . . .I've had my fair share of life' meaningful experiences. . .FTC-Vietnam ranks right up there with these. "

"Unless there is an element of risk in our exploits for God, there is no need for faith "

"We should leave now. But wait. What about all those kids screened. . . ? A woman who speaks no English grabs my arm. There are tears in her eyes. No words are spoken. . . .[Turn to go.] "

"Do not be sad for me. I tried to seek proper help until the time you could return, but my country and I are too poor. The help I need is just not available. It remains my most sincere hope that you will soon be able to return to Vietnam. It may be too late for you to help me, but there are many others here who are in need of the magical science you are able to perform and teach to others. "

"'You will no longer be called 'Forsaken'.'"
--Isaiah 62:4

Like ice on bare skin, 'forsaken' chills to the core. It is the state of the sharpest of sorrows and unspeakable tragedy. It means others turn away, cast off, and spurn another. No one wants to experience it. Contrast such coldness with the inviting warmth of the eternal promise,



'Do not be afraid. . . , for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.'
--Deuteronomy 31:8

Never. Once realized, heart-swelling hope, eye-rolling delight, and muscle-relaxing security pour forth. Not forsaken. "

"We'll warmly welcome you and your surgical team back to my hospital. . . . We prefer to prepare for the serious [in need and degree] patients for surgery for this trip, such as the cases with the developmental deformities of the jaw. Would you? "

"Looking in the whole of South America, there is no place to get the job done [bone marrow transplantation for a woman in need]. . . .This family has put a lot of trust in me. Although my first recommendations were not to put all their hope in me, but in the Lord, . . . I see the desperation of the family and I promised to do what I could to help them out of this dark valley. . . . "

"In demonstrating what it meant to be a good neighbor, the Samaritan defined the meaning of love. Love doesn't look away. And it doesn't walk away. It involves itself. It inconveniences itself. It indebts itself."

"Next to Guyana, Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. . . ."

RE: Retired Vietnamese Gen. Vo Nguyen Giap: "Giap seldom appears in public or grants interviews, though he is the most prominent Vietnamese figure still living from the war era. His only battle now, he said, is 'to win the difficult war against poverty and backwardness'. "

"It is difficult to comprehend and make a coherent sentence concerning what we experienced in Bolivia with Rik and Sabine [Celie]. After thinking about it some, I come to a one-word sentence. Sacrifice. God can be found in sacrifice. . . ."

"Repeatedly we are asked, 'Why are there so many deformities, and especially tumors in Vietnam?' We wonder, too. As FTC teams go to different regions of the world, a common denominator is poverty, evidenced by poor health care provision, poor nutrition (as many as 2/3 of our patients have protein-deficient anemias and have low levels of folic acid, which predispose infants to retardation and deformities), high levels of maternal stress, and exposure to tobacco smoke and air pollution, etc. We are also following closely the impact of Agent Orange (dioxin), a defoliant used during the Vietnam War, that is now found in ground water and river mud, and thus in the tissues of those whoes diets are high in fish. The rate of congenital deformities among the offspring of Vietnamese soldiers exposed to AO is reported to be as high as 20%. "