Feature on Nan Kee, One of our Barefoot Doctor Students

This is Nan Kee, a brother in the Lord. 

He describes himself before Christ as, “I was a very bad guy.  I smoked a lot, drank a lot, and was a thief.”     

One night when a theft operation went sour, he was badly injured.  The injury was a wakeup call for him, and that is when he gave his life to Christ.  He still carries the wound of his injury which is a reminder of what God has called him out of.   

Nan Kee went on to attend Bible College and is now an evangelist.  He lives in a very remote area of Myanmar where there are no doctors, hospitals, or clinics.

When someone needs medical help, Nan Kee takes them to a hospital far away on his motorcycle.   He says, “Now, as a Barefoot Doctor,  I can help them right here in my village and my medical skills will help me when I share the gospel.”

Nan Kee is an inspiration to me and an example of a life committed to the Lord and to the spread of the Gospel of Christ.  God is surely good!!
Bruce

First Week Medical Training Continued ...

The first week of medical training is going well.  As usual, the students are learning a variety of things.

Here is Lynda Audia RN PHN, from Canada, talking with the students about The Precautions that the Healthcare Worker needs to take to prevent spread of disease from the patient to themselves and others.

These Universal Precaution guidelines help prevent transmission of air borne diseases and infections from body fluids and/or blood from patient to health care worker, patient to patient, and or health care worker to patient.

Here is Dr. Susan Parker teaching diabetes: risk factors for diabetes, symptoms to watch for, complications of diabetes, how to help diabetics in their areas: change life-style, change eating habits to lower sugar to normal levels to make the patient feel better and prevent long term damage.

Finally, here is Dr. Bruce Gross giving assignments to the students.

Bruce says, "The students are asking great questions, indicating that they understand what is being taught and are beginning to think like a true healthcare provider.  I’m impressed by how much the students love the Lord and want to serve Him.  It is so refreshing to interact with them."

 

More News from First Week Medical Training

Hi, Everyone.

Here is some more news from various people.

Dr. Bjorn Nilson teaching before the students taking a test

Drug Assignment: Each barefoot doctor is assigned to present a specific medication.  

Here Nan Kee, a barefoot doctor from Chin State, Myanmar, is teaching on Amoxicillin. He explains how it's used to treat infections caused by certain types of bacteria and different forms and concentrations that it comes in.  He also explains that the dosage, drug form, and how often the patient should take depends on the patient’s age and reaction to the first dose. He also educates his classmates about common side-effects to be aware of from taking Amoxicillin.

Dr. Bruce Gross, our administrative dean of school, having a time of bonding and fellowship with the students (although his Burmese squat leaves a little to be desired).

Dr. Jove Graham teaching an approach to patients with abdominal pain. He covered various causes of abdominal pain, and how the location, character and duration of pain within the abdomen can be a clue as to its cause.

Miscellaneous photos.

Students singing before evening prayer time.

Tea break.

2nd Day of Medical Training

Dr. Susan Parker taught the signs and symptoms, management of ischemic heart disease and heart failure, life-style treatment and prevention. Dr. Bjorn Nilson discussed goiters and their management, rheumatic fever and heart disease.

Dr. Jove Graham teaching medical problems associated with neurological problems including stroke, seizure, the differential diagnosis of headaches, how to help relieve headache with dispensing analgesics, and how to administer drugs properly esp. with pregnant women and small children.

Lynda Audia taught the role of the village health worker and suggestions on approaching their patients.

Thank you for your prayers,

Jung

More pictures from First Day Medical Training

Here are a few more pictures from the first day of medical training.  These were provided by Jung Dangshing, Executive Director of Frontier Labourers for Christ.

Dr. Bjorn Nilson, our Medical Director, welcoming the students. Timothy is translating.

Nin Mang, a Barefoot Doctor, presenting medical problems she saw and a number of cases.

After presenting their reports, the students had their first test to see how much they remember.

Thank you for your prayers.

Jung

First Day of Medical Training

Five of our medical instructors are now at the Barefoot Doctors School:  Bjorn Nilson, Bruce Gross, Jove Graham, Susan Parker, and Lynda Audia.  Please pray for them.

The following was written by Dr. Bruce Gross, the Dean of the school this year.

The Barefoot Doctors have returned for their second year of training.  This was the first day of medical instruction, and it went just as anticipated, chaotic.  But in spite of the usual snafus, all went well.  

It was great to see the students again.  As I listened to them sing a worship song, it was very apparent that they love the Lord, deeply.  They love to sing and worship God. They sing with such emotion and admiration of God.  Oh, that I could learn from them how to worship with such enthusiasm and without inhibition. 

  

At the end of last year each student was asked to see at least 10 patients during the year.  One of my fears was that we would return this year and find that they had not been using their knowledge learned last year to reach out to patients and to practice what they had learned.  I was glad to be proven wrong.  

They all had been very active with patient encounters.  Some filled their log books with patients, and they then continued to see patients and keep track of patients on separate sheets of paper.  My heart leapt with joy.  But the icing on the cake was to hear them tell of how they were using their medical knowledge as a spring board to share the Gospel of Christ.   

I’m confident that there is no better investment of your missions’ dollars than with the Barefoot Doctors.  I can hardly wait to see how they grow over the next 5 weeks.  God is certainly good!!
Bruce Gross

Dr. Jove Graham teaching 

CHE finishing up, Doctors arriving, and one more Student Testimony

The CHE training finished today (Friday the 25th).  We are so grateful to Eric and Shannon Wiederholt (and their co-worker, April) for coming back to teach our students.  They are dearly loved and appreciated.  They are part of the Global CHE Network.  If you want to find out more about their ministry, check out their website at www.abridgetothetable.org.

This week has also begun the arrival of the doctors and nurses who will teach the next five weeks of medical classes and sessions.  Dr. Bjorn Nilson, our Medical Director, has been in Thailand for two days now.  Dr. Bruce Gross, who will be Academic Dean this year in Rick Astone's absence, is just now arriving in country.

Please pray for our medical instructors as they travel to Thailand and then engage with our students.  Everyone knows each other already, so they will be able to pick up right where they left off last March.  This is going to be a great year for the Barefoot Doctors School.

Last week Paul Bergquam shared the short testimonies of about a dozen students in posts 3-6.  We now have one more testimony to share from Simon Arso.

I'm going to write my testimony short, to the point. Firstly, I give my greeting to all of the FLC faculty members and BD students.  I am thankful how God has showed me the way to share His good news by sending me to here.

Medical knowledge is also a part of and very helpful in sharing the gospel, because when we go on outreach trips. People don't want to allow us to share the gospel (in the villages), but there is no one healthy so they allow what we say about the medical care.

We told them medical curing is for free and they're very excited. Then we shared good news too at the same time. We went twice last year on gospel trips to the villages among the Akha people. We went to the many of people. They're worshiping the spirits. (Note: worshiping the spirits means, all the Akha people worship the spirits of their grandfathers and grandmothers). And the leaders of some villages said, ''We've never heard about this good news."

In the village there's a special man who is religious leader and also Shaman. He invited us to his home and then he said to us, ''Some kind of white insects were coming out from inside of my body and cured many of traditional medicine but never ran away. So if you can, help me.'' But he said that the white insects no one can see, but only himself.

Then we shared about Jesus Christ and Who can help him to chase away the white insects. And he said, ''If the insects run away, I believe what you told me about the One named Jesus.''

Day 4 of CHE Training Week

In this post, we want to share some of the pictures Abraham sent from the fourth day of CHE training at the Barefoot Doctors School in Doi Saket, Thailand (near Chiang Mai).

On this day, Eric, Shannon and Kelli taught the students about "What is Menstruation?"

Because of the sensitivity of this topic, the class was separated into two groups: a Women's group and Men's group.  They also practiced the lessons learned in pairs: Women's pairs and Men's pairs.

CHE learning is always hands-on learning.  We find the students learn much better this way, and they also retain what they learn when they learn by doing.

The Women's group was lead by Shannon and Kelli with Abraham translating.  The Men's group was lead by Eric with Timothy translating.

CHE Training with the Wiederholts

All of this week the Barefoot Doctors have been in CHE training with Eric and Shannon Wiederholt.

They have such a good time together, and this training is very important for the Barefoot Doctors' work in the villages.

CHE is Community Health Education (also known sometimes as Community Health Evangelism).  It is a process for working WITH the leaders and people of a village to bring improvements to THEIR village.  It is not someone coming in from the outside as the "expert" taking over the leadership of a village. CHE is developing the leaders and ideas of the people in the village themselves, so they take ownership of the improvements and have a hand in it from start to finish.

In this post, I will just share some pictures Timothy shared with us.  In the next, I will share pictures from Abraham. These are our two main translators, and they are both Barefoot Doctors themselves.

Student Testimonies to Share, Round 3

Here are four more testimonies of the Barefoot Doctors and the work they did the first year home.

Paul Berguam shares,  "We continue to hear exciting testimonies!"

Marangdong Ning Sai, who lives in the far north of Burma, tells of an elderly lady who walked for 1/2 day seeking medical assistance.  The lady was experiencing severe back pain.  Ning Sai shared the love of Christ with the lady and sent her home with a weeks supply of medication.  Sometime later she saw this lady again who said, “My pain is gone!”  Ning Sai is thankful for the donors who provide these medications.

Du Si Heh returned to her home village following the 2018 BFD training.  People from the community and the local church came to her with a variety of medical needs - headaches, back and stomach problems, etc.  She also had requests from students at a nearby Bible school with medical needs.  She feels blessed knowing that God is using her to share His love with so many people.

Mai Lal Em Par says that God has done many great things in her life this past year.  For example, while visiting one of her former students, the girl told Mai that her mother had recently delivered another child.  Mai met the mom and noticed that the newborn had a small lump on his head.  Mai had the opportunity to share the gospel with the family and then asked if she could pray for the infant.  The mother agreed.  She and her friend laid hands on the child and prayed.  Three days later the lump was gone.  Coincidence?

Pung Ram Sann comes from a largely Buddhist community.  Using his medical knowledge, he has helped both Christians and Buddhists.  He notes that the Buddhists are now more open to the gospel.  He says, “I serve the Lord as a humble and simple person.”

God answered my prayer!

Hello, my name is Aungkyaw Oo. I am an evangelist from the Mro tribe from the Rakhine State, Myanmar (Burma). I am one of the barefoot doctors returning again to receive more Bible and medical training this year. 

In 2018, I was able to finish one week of Bible, one week of CHE, and five weeks of medical training run by the Frontier Labourers for Christ in Chiang Mai.  Since then, after returning to the Rakhine State, God has opened the door for me in amazing ways to serve the people in my area.

Last year in December, I was on a medical-evangelistic trip to the unreached Mro tribe. The people in my area were blessed to receive medical help and to hear the story of Jesus.

One request the people made was to have something of the story of Jesus that they can see and hear in their own language. I asked the people to pray that God will provide something in the Mro language.

I am so thankful God answered our prayers. This year God provided me a mini-projector donated by Del and Lynne Giddings to show the Jesus Film in the Mro language. I am very happy to receive the mini-projector. God is so good and thanks to the Giddings!

EDITOR'S NOTE:  Four of these projectors were donated to the school which then gave them to the students who needed them most, given their ministry areas.

Student Testimonies to Share, Round 2

We heard four more testimonies today.  The first comes from Nan Kee.  Nan Kee is thankful for his 2018 BFD training.  This past year he encountered a young boy with what he describes as a skin disease that included a rash over all his body.  He wasn’t sure about treatment.  He prayed, cleaned the skin and applied topical medicine to the skin for a week.  The rash persisted so he continued treatment for a second week.  Finally the rash went away.  Nan Kee was thankful!

Aung Kyaw Oo encountered a child with severe breathing problems, probably asthma.  The boy’s parents were non-Christian so Aung Kyam Oo asked them if he could pray for the child.  They agreed.  He prayed and gave the child medicine.  Within a couple of days the boy slept through the night.  Aung Kyam Oo is thankful for the way God used him to help this child.

Phong Bur Nin Mang served with an evangelistic/outreach team last April.  In their travels, she met an elderly lady with breathing problems that required the use of oxygen.  She asked the lady if she could pray for her and give her some medication.  The lady agreed.  Within three days the lady was breathing better.  She loves being able to help people both physically and spiritually.

Lar Khin Hla (Rachel) took part in a water festival and Bible seminar that was organized by three churches.  When she arrived she met several people with ongoing headaches.  She suspected that the headaches might be caused by blood pressure issues.  She found that some of the people had high blood pressure while others had low blood pressure.  She remembered her instructors saying drinking lime juice helps reduce high blood pressure while a mixture of salt and sugar in water can improve low blood pressure.  It worked.  She says the BFD school has been a blessing to her.

Student Testimonies to Share, Round 1

From Jon:  I am sorry, but I think this earlier post never got put up on the blog.  I found it in the draft folder.  Sorry about that.  I has some interesting information to share...


In this post we begin sharing brief testimonies from the Barefoot Doctor students and the impact they have had this past year.  These are simple vignettes of the good they do in Jesus' name wherever they live and work in Burma.

Tin San describes working with very poor people with various ailments.  The medicines he has used have proved very helpful.  Often the people respond with tears and gratitude!

Shan Pan Deezi used his training to take care of medical needs at a short-term youth camp.  He has also worked with graduates of the BFD program to minister to people.  God has opened a number of doors for him.

Nan Sar met a non-Christian lady with severe pain in her knee.  She prayed with the lady and then gave her medicine.  After three days the lady was much improved and very thankful.  Before giving patients medicine she prays with them and when possible she shares the gospel.

Tin Hnin Nwe treated a lady with a severe headache.  The lady recovered and asked about the medicine.  Hnin said that it came to her as a blessing from God.  She also talks about holding a Christmas service in a non-Christian village.  An evangelist shared the gospel, she treated villagers needing medical care and then they fed the people.  Between 80 and 90 people attended the service.

Jung Dangshing and Staff Welcome Students Back to the Kalnin Center

Dear Friends and Prayer Partners:.

The barefoot doctors and Abraham, one of our translators, arrived in Chiang Mai, Thailand from Myanmar (Burma) on Saturday to continue Bible and medical training. It is so wonderful to see them again.

The students will have one week of Bible training starting from Monday January 14 - 18 with Bible teachers Paul Bergquam and Dan Radke from the US and Simon Percy from the UK getting them ready for more advanced medical training they are about to receive in coming weeks.

What a tremendous joy it was to welcome the students and Bible teachers to the Kalnin Center. The students come from seven different states/divisions and 10 different language groups in Burma. Most of them live in villages with inadequate medical care.

The idea and theme for this ministry is taken directly from Luke 9:6 where Jesus’ disciples were sent out “from village to village preaching the Gospel and healing people everywhere.”  Frontier Labourers for Christ (FLC) now has many Barefoot Doctors scattered around in villages in the most remote parts of Burma and also in some of the towns and cities.

Thank you very much for your prayers,

Bible Instruction Starts in a Few Hours!

From Paul Bergquam, one of this year's Bible instructors:

In just a few hours, the 2019 Bible classes for the Barefoot Doctors will begin. However, as of 9 pm Sunday evening Timothy, one of the translators, and Isaac, a student, had not yet arrived. Join us in praying for their safe arrival.

As you might imagine, we are all excited and a bit anxious as we anticipate starting classes. Please pray for Simon, Paul and Dan, the instructors, that we may communicate God’s truth accurately in the power of God’s Spirit. 

Pray for Abraham and Timothy, the translators, as they translate the lessons from English into Burmese. And pray for the students as they have so recently left their homes and families that their minds and hearts may be open to hearing God’s Word that they may “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

To Him be the glory in all things! 

Also, pray for Jung, the staff and the cooks that we may work together for the glory of God.

May the Lord be with you,

Paul Bergquam 


EDITOR'S NOTE:  Since Paul wrote this Timothy and Isaac have arrived safely. The first day of Bible teaching went very well, ending with a worship time in the evening with Paul Bergquam preaching.

Students Return to School for Year 2!

The Barefoot Doctor students have now returned to The Grove for their second year of classes.  The past year seems to have gone very quickly.  They have been using the medical and teaching skills they learned in 2018, and they are now ready to add to their knowledge and skills.

These students come from many parts of Burma/Myanmar, and it takes a while for some of them even to get to Timothy's house in Tachileik.  Many of them traveled by bus and airplane, as you can see from the pictures.

Over a couple of days last week they gathered at Timothy's house. It must be a lot of work to feed and accommodate so many people in their 2-bedroom house. Timothy and his wife, Nin Sar, are happy, however, to do this (along with help from some of their church people and the students themselves).

On Saturday the 12th the group drove for 5-6 hours from Tachileik to Doi Saket, Thailand which is about 20 minutes northeast of Chiang Mai. They arrived safely about 3 p.m. and immediately got settled into their dormitory rooms in the Jones Building.  Jung Dangshing welcomed them and gave their orientation, then they had their first meal together.

Bible classes will begin Monday morning with teachers Simon Percy, Paul Bergquam, and Dan Radke doing most of the teaching. They are the first of many volunteers who will come to teach our students over the next 8 weeks.  Doctors and nurses will begin arriving early next week.  Abraham and Timothy will be doing the bulk of the translating, and that's a big responsibility.

Please pray for our students and their teachers, as well as the FLC staff who is translating and taking care of everyone.  Please continue to come back to the blog as often as you can, so you can receive updates.