Second Clinic - Tuesday, Nov. 30

We conducted our second medical clinic today in a public primary school in a village about 15 kilometers from Kampong Chnang.  We had devotions first during which Dr. Nelson shared his ministry in India.  Then we ate and headed off to the clinic arriving around 10:00 AM.  The drama team presented their drama first while we set up the pharmacy tables and triage centers.  We were able to use the classrooms for our clinic which really help move things along quite a bit. We set up the chiropractors' tables and the triage center in one school room building, then right beside it was the pharmacy table, then in a room beside that we wet up the prayer line.  Everything flowed smoothly, I believe we saw a lot of patients although I do not know the count.  The pharmacy was well organized and we had plenty of help, we were able to keep up filling the orders.   The prayer line needed help from time to time and I helped in the prayer line along with John Clark.  We all saw God move in the lives of the people in the prayer line, and what a blessing to see God work and touch the lives of these needy people!
I want to be able to post some more information and photos on the Team but there is not enough time.  I ill post some photos of the clinic today on the "photos" tab.  Then, I must prepare for devotions (it is my turn to lead the devotions in the morning) and go to bed. Each day is draining and after we eat in the evening many are very ready for bed (including me)!

First Medical Clinic near Kampong Chnang - Monday, Nov. 29

Logistics
We left Phnom Penh today around 8:00 AM and drove for 2 hours (100 kilometers) to Kampong Chnang.  We dropped off our luggage at the Sovann Phum Hotel and drove another hour (58 kilometers) to our first medical clinic around 11:35 AM.  It was conducted at a Church founded by TransformAsia, the pastor is Ps Sarom and the name of the village is Kdol village.  When we arrived at the medical clinic the drama team conducted their drama. We ate lunch while they did that. Then we had our medical clinic.  It started around 1:00 PM and ended at 6:00 PM. I was exhausted.  We rode back to our hotel, one hour drive (58 kilometers), my head drooped and napped all the way back.  I skipped dinner to go to my room and shower and post to the blog. I will get to bed early tonight.  Tomorrow morning we have devotions at 7:00 AM, breakfast at 7:45 AM and then off to the clinic.  I will post as many photos as I can of the day on the tab "Photos."  The internet was slow yesterday and does not allow time to upload photos and videos.  We'll see what happens.
Fruit
The clinic went well.  All aspects went well, from the triage by the medical doctors, to the pharmacy table to the prayer line.  I worked in the pharmacy from 1:00 to 3:30 and then from 3:30 until 6:00 serving in the prayer line.  Many individuals for whom I prayed stated that the pain or problem they were experiencing was gone after prayer.  I am glad that the Lord Jesus touched their lives and pray that many will come to know Jesus as their  personal Lord and Savior.  Many who came through the prayer line were attendees or members of the pastor Ps Sarom's church and stated they were believers in Jesus.  I hope and pray that many truly did know the Lord Jesus, and if they did not that their lives were impacted by Jesus today.  Many came through the prayer line of course who did not know about Jesus Christ. Many of them were touched by the Lord.  The Team worked well together today and it was a blessing!
Photos
Look on the Photo page.

Sunday 27 NOV

Dr. Nelson David fell on his motor scooter just before he left to come on the trip.  When he arrived he was walking very slowly and was in pain.  After the Sunday morning worship he requested prayer for his knees.  Sam Hopper and Ron Cole prayed for healing for Dr. Nelson.  He reported that he was healed.  I asked Dr. Nelson to share what happened on this video, he was glad to do so.

Setan Lee thanks the Children

Dr. Setan Lee wanted to thank the children for his prayer card and the cross.
The children in the Children's Church at Missionary Alliance Church gave Setan a card and a cross for this mission trip indicating that they will be praying for him and the mission team.  Setan really appreciated it and I had the opportunity to take a video of him thanking the children.  

Safe Arrival

The Team met in Seoul, South Korea and took the flight out to Phnom Penh as planned.  There were no problems with the rendezvous and everyone had good flights.  There were folks traveling from Florida, Illinois, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.

We arrived in the Asian Palace Hotel in Phnom Penh safely!  Praise God! Thanks to all who prayed for safe travels.

The time has come to leave

Steph and I left the house this morning at 4:15AM, she dropped me off at the Asheville airport at 5:30AM.  Ready to roll!

Thanksgiving

It is Thanksgiving Day.
I am thankful for many things, mostly for my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That He has redeemed me and brought me into a personal relationship with Him.  I am thankful for my dear wife of 33 years and best friend Stephanie. I am thankful for the 10 children that God has blessed Stephanie and I with.  I am thankful for the spouses of the ones that are married.  I am thankful today that many of my children will be here in the house today to celebrate thanksgiving.
Am I am thankful for this mission trip to Cambodia. I believe it is God's will for me to go, and so I go under His direction and authority looking for God to do His work through me and the members of the Team.  I go with expectations, expecting God to work and bring healing and salvation to many lives that we come to touch on this trip.
But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7 New American Standard Version)
..."Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6 New American Standard Version)

Cambodia and North Carolina

I thought I would show a picture of the relationship between where I live (North Carolina) and Cambodia.  From this vantage point of the globe you can just barely make out Cambodia, but you cannot see North Carolina.  The total amount of time I will spend in airplanes actually flying to Cambodia (does not include layover time) is 22 hours.  The three flights are Asheville - Atlanta - Seoul - Phnom Penh.

North Korea has attacked a South Korean island - we fly in to Seoul on Saturday morning

All the Team members are to rendezvous in Seoul, South Korea on Saturday morning Eastern Standard Time (Saturday evening Seoul time).  I wonder what impact this event will have on flights in to and out of Seoul.  Please pray for leading, guidance and protection for the Team in regards to these recent events in the region.
Thank you!

Trusting God - preparations

There is much to do.  Today is Saturday, I have many things on my plate before I go to Cambodia. I am trusting God that He will enable me to be prepared for this trip (Philippians 4:6,7).
There's a little thought that whispers "It would be so much easier to just stay at home! Why are you going?!"  And as I bring that thought to the Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 10:5) the Holy Spirit impresses on me that I am going because He wants me to!  That's enough for me!

Just a note regarding the man who was stooped over with back pain...

I wanted to add something to the video post of the man who came for prayer who was stooped over with back pain.  I wanted to let you know that I took that video well into the day, I don't really remember the time but I do remember that I had been working hard on the pharmacy for a long time.  You see, last year I was pretty much responsible for the pharmacy table. When we pulled up to the site for the clinic it was my job to get the pharmacy table set up.  Needless to say, when the clinics began I was busy as a bee!  But on the day I took that video I realized all of a sudden, "This clinic is going by so fast and you haven't taken enough pictures yet!"

What I wanted to add to the story about the man who was stooped over is that I remember seeing him throughout the day walking around like that.    When we show up at a clinic the people are already there, they have been expecting us.  When we show up we give each person a card with a number on it.  Then they come through the line getting treatment from the Doctors, medicines from the pharmacy and then prayer according to their number.  This man had been at the clinic for a while, I remember seeing him here and there walking around stooped over like that. I just wanted to add that part to the story.  I am very glad he was healed of his back problem!

Answer to Prayer - Medicine Money!

Several people who have been praying for this mission trip were praying that God would provide $1,500 in cash that we can take with us in order to purchase medicines and vitamins in Cambodia (they are much cheaper there than in the USA).  Just now, as of 9:22 PM November 15, I received an email from our Mission Team Leader that God has provided $2,500!
Praise God for this provision!

We will have a well stocked pharmacy table! Hallelujah!
A great big "Thank you" to all of you who prayed for this need!  :)

Please Pray

For those of you who feel led by the Lord to do so, I would ask you to please put this mission trip on your daily prayer list. Please pray.  I believe in prayer.  The thing that I desire most in preparation for this trip is prayer. The thing that I desire most during this trip is prayer.  There is power in prayer and I know that God delights in the prayers of His people.

Please pray for the people that we will be ministering to at these medical clinics.  Pray that God's mighty hand will be at work among these people. That their lives will be touched by Jesus Christ. That those who have physical ailments will be healed.  And that many will be saved, born again by the Spirit of God, freed from the power of darkness and brought into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus! (Colossians 1:13)

Years of severe back pain - healed by Jesus!

Here is another video of an event during the 2009 Medical Mission trip to Cambodia.
In this event a man came for prayer who was stooped over with back pain which he had for years.  He was healed of this back pain and was able to stand up straight.  When I think back on the 2009 trip this scene often is played back in my mind.

Hearing loss for 20 years - healed by Jesus!

I am posting videos of events that occurred during the December 2009 Medical Mission and Evangelism trip to Cambodia.  I recently discovered that my new laptop makes it much easier to create movies.  These videos are posted on this blog to give you an idea of what happened last year and what we expect on this trip.  

This man was healed of hearing loss that he had suffered for 20 years!

Nearly Blind - healed by Jesus!

I am posting videos of events that occurred during the December 2009 Medical Mission and Evangelism trip to Cambodia.  I recently discovered that my new laptop makes it much easier to create movies.  These videos are posted on this blog to give you an idea of what happened last year and what we expect on this trip. 

The lady in this video lost most of her eyesight and was nearly blind, she also had severe headaches.  She was healed of both at one of the medical clinics.

He knows

The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble,
And He knows those who take refuge in Him.
Nahum 1:7 (New American Standard Version)

Crosses †

Bob Cadwell made 1,070 crosses to be handed out at the medical clinics we will be conducting in Cambodia.  What a wonderful idea!  Bob and I attend the same church, Missionary Alliance Church, Marion, NC. 

The crosses will serve as a tangible reminder of Who touched their lives.  My many thanks to brother Bob who has served the Lord Jesus by laboring over these crosses with love! 

I believe God will take brother Bob’s gift and multiply it a thousand times.  Last year it is estimated that we touched the lives of about 8,000 people.  So, I will have to use discretion on handing out these crosses.  

Right now I am thinking about the many children who come to the Medical Clinics. Some of them come with their parent or guardian.  I believe many do not have a parent or guardian and come on their own.  I believe I may focus on giving these crosses to the children.   If you are led by the Lord to pray, when the image of these crosses and the children come to your mind please pray that God would use these crosses to point whomever has received it to Jesus Christ.

I will watch expectantly for the Lord

But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God will hear me. (Micah 7:7 New American Standard Version)
..."Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit," says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 4:6 New American Standard Version)
These verses have come to mind in the last several days.  I will prepare my heart to watch expectantly for the Lord in that which He plans to do both prior to and during this trip.  I will watch for God to work.  
I believe every member of this Team wants to get out of the way and let God do the work.  We have the privilege to be used by the Lord Jesus and see Him at work!

Anticipation

I can tell you that I am very excited about going on this Mission Trip!  Last year was my first trip and I did not know what to expect.  Reese Hurley invited me to join the 2009 Mission Team last October, and Stephanie and I prayed about it.  We felt strongly that God wanted me to go, so I accepted.  Since I did not know what to expect, my anticipation was blind so to speak.  Now, my anticipation is different!  I know what happened last year.  I  can still see the faces of those whose lives were touched miraculously by Jesus.  For example, I am thinking right now of those six Buddhist monks who, after sitting in the temple all day watching the medical clinics and the prayer line, came in single file to the  prayer line to receive a blessing from the only one true God.  To understand the tremendous implications of this, you need to realize that these monks were the spiritual leaders that the people were coming to for help.  These monks were watching people whom they had tried to help with their religion, get miraculously healed and some converted to Jesus Christ.  They knew there was power here, real power.  And they decided to come for spiritual help themselves.  So, I am anticipating seeing human beings who are in need, who have physical and spiritual needs, touched by the living Lord Jesus Christ.  This is very exciting!

Setan and Randa Lee

Our mission team will be operating under the auspices of TransformAsia, founded by Dr. Setan Lee and his wife Randa.  I want to provide you with some background information on Dr. Lee in this post.  

Setan (pronounced: see TAWN) joined us on the mission trip last year and I got to spend a good bit of time with him.  He gave me a book and a dramatized video about his life and his wife Randa.  As I read the book I could hardly believe it was about the person who was riding in the van with me and serving at the various medical clinics our Team was conducting!  They described how God miraculously delivered him from being killed by the Khmer Rouge army in the 1970s and how his life was transformed by Jesus Christ.  I was truly amazed by the story of how God saved Setan and Randa Lee to serve Jesus Christ in Cambodia.  I extracted some information from his book and have written it in this blog post (some of it has been paraphrased) to give you a little background on how God miraculously worked in his life. 

In 1975 the Khmer Rouge, led by Pol Pot, ended the five year Cambodian civil war only to unleash a reign of terror.  Following Marxist Leninism Doctrine, Pol Pot attempted to transform Cambodia to a pure agrarian society.  It was a reign of madness, evil, and terror.  Anyone who was educated, anyone who lived in or was exposed to “city” life was considered an enemy of the state. They were either summarily executed or saved to work mercilessly in the rice fields until they died either by starvation, exhaustion or sickness. There were three rules as a prisoner of the Khmer Rouge: don’t ask questions, don’t show any emotion, do either and you die.  Millions were killed by the Khmer Rouge, so many millions that much of the land in Cambodia became known as the “Killing Fields.” It is estimated that one quarter of the population was killed by the Khmer Rouge.  Even now, I understand if you go out into just about any rice field and start digging you will soon uncover human bones.

Setan Lee’s father was a wealthy, well connected business man with many children. Setan, as a young teenager was well on his way to an education in the medical field in Paris along with his brother Monty. In April 1975 that all ended. Setan was rounded up with several other youth and ordered to work in the rice fields from 4:00 AM until Midnight every day with only soup to eat. Of the 1,000 youth in his particular group only 300 were left due to the harsh conditions. Then one day the guards found a student identification card in his pocket, this meant certain death. Setan was raised in a Buddhist family and had never been exposed to any form of Christianity whatsoever. He had never heard of the name of Jesus Christ, never knew there was a Bible, and never heard the word “Christianity.” As he was prepared for his execution he heard those beside them crying out to Buddha to save them. It was not working; one by one they were executed and he was the last in line. Out of shear desperation he cried out, “Lord of the universe, whoever you are, please spare my life.” As the guard lifted the bamboo rod to strike him on the back of the neck to break his spinal cord a loud voice screamed out, “Stop! We must investigate this man further!” They took Setan back to the concentration camp. He instantly knew that whoever he had screamed out to moments before had spared him. Eventually Setan was able to break free from the guards and decided to attempt an escape to Thailand. He would have to make a trek on foot that would take him over a month, across a land torn by war, with enemies on every side. To be captured meant certain death, he had no food, and the territory was filled with land mines, poisonous snakes and hungry tigers. He saw many on his trek that were killed by land mines, killed by snake bites, and mutilated by tigers. For his food he ate the leaves and whatever fruit he could find and drank water from the hollow of trees or from ditches. As he approached the Thailand border a wild man suddenly jumped out of the jungle and grabbed his arm. I’ll quote from the book now (in blue):
The man was dressed very poorly and seemed to be barely alive. After Setan gained his composure from being scared half to death, the man mumbled something that echoed peculiarly in his ears, “Do you believe in the Lord of the universe? Do you believe in the Lord of the universe?” As Setan searched his mind as to why these words rang so clear, he remembered what he had prayed before being spared from his execution. He had prayed for salvation from death to “the Lord of the universe.” As the man kept repeating “do you believe in the Lord of the universe?” Setan looked into his eyes and exclaimed, “Yes. I do believe in the Lord of the universe.” Then the man said to Setan, “his name is Jesus Christ.” And then almost as quickly as he had appeared, the tattered prophet disappeared. “I sincerely believe that that man was a messenger from God,” Setan explained. “I had never heard of Christianity, but that day I became a Christian. That was the moment of my conversion to Christianity.”

Since that time God has done amazing things through Setan and Randa’s lives.  They started TransformAsia for the purpose of reaching Cambodia for Christ.  You can find more information about TransformAsia at their web site www.transformasia.us.  You can also order the book about the Lees from Amazon.com, Miracles in the Forgotten Land and Beyond, by Setan and Randa Lee and Shelba Hammond.  It is truly amazing what God has done through the lives of Setan and Randa Lee! 

I'm Going Back to Cambodia

I am planning to go back to Cambodia this year, God willing.  The dates for the trip are November 26 through December 11, 2010.  I will be serving as a member of a Medical Evangelism Mission team sponsored by TransformAsia (www.transformasia.us).  Our trip will be facilitated by Partnership International (www.partnershipinternational.org).  The plane ticket is in hand and all the costs have been paid, Praise the Lord!  

Repeat Trip

This will be a repeat trip for me.  I went on a similar trip last year about this same time.  The trip was a wonderful blessing for me as I was able to serve the Lord in some small way in helping the poor and needy in Cambodia.  I saw the Lord Jesus touch many lives!  When I say this, I want to go on and on about the mighty things I saw the Lord Jesus do!  I want to brag on the Lord!  But, I have to be patient and relay these things a bit at a time.  The background photo for this Blog was taken at one of the medical clinics from the 2009 trip.  If you have some interest in last year’s trip go to kurtincambodia.blogspot.com

TransformAsia

TransformAsia was founded by Dr. Setan Lee, who survived the terrible “Killing Fields” of dictator Pol Pot in the late 1970s.  Several Mission Teams provide various ministries for Transform Asia each year.  I will provide more information on Setan Lee in a subsequent Blog Post.

Prayer

The success of the trip will be greatly enhanced by preparatory prayer.  So, to those of you whom the Holy Spirit is tapping on the shoulder please pray for me and the members of the Team as we serve the Lord together.  Pray for the salvation of the individuals we will be ministering to at the medical clinics.  Last year about 8,000 people came through our clinics.  If you desire to be included on the email list for prayer updates please send me an email at kurtdwright@earthlink.net.  A great big Thank You to all who will be partnering with me in prayer!  Prayer changes things!