INTERNATIONAL FRIENDS OF COMPASSION

AUGUST 2009 UPDATE

Kate’s Experience

Kate is from Alaska and is in the second year of college. She has a good combination of toughness and compassion. When she inquired about the chances of going to our base for the summer I was struck by the intense look she had--I could see determination mixed with kindness in her eyes. She is in that season of her life where she is deciding her future profession. Three months at our base experiencing the daily life at a remote medical base was something she wanted to do. She wanted to serve the poor and I admire her perspective. Here is one of her stories.

Hello!

This past Tuesday night I got to see my first baby being born!!!!!! It was incredible! Of all the things I really wanted to see it was that and God allowed me to. The mother came in Tuesday morning and was having irregular contractions. We were leaving the next day to go to Ternate (a town four hours away) to get our visas renewed so I was really, really worried I wasn't going to see her give birth. I prayed all day that God would allow me to see it. At 6:30 that night I was in our room and I got a phone call from the hospital saying she was in labor and to come right up. I ran as fast as I could up to the hospital. Within a half an hour she had given birth to a beautiful baby boy! We cut the umbilical cord and cleaned the baby off and wrapped him in a sheet. I got to hold him and prayed over him and said verses I had memorized over him. What an incredible experience! All the staff outside the room wanted to see him, so I got to show him off like I was the proud parent lol. The mother was 18 years old and has no desire to keep her baby. So he will be staying with us and hopefully one of the staff members will adopt him. Within this week alone we have had three new babies given to us. Two have been adopted by staff members but not this baby boy yet. For the rest of the night I could not stop smiling. Everyone was laughing at me because it is a very common thing lol and to see someone so excited over it was funny to them :)

Everyday is a new adventure with God and every day I learn so much. I want to serve wholeheartedly for the rest of the time that I am here and daily learn what it means to die to myself. God is good! May He bless all of you as we journey together in seeking Him.

Love, Kate

Kate is experiencing the joy of giving herself to serve the poorest of the poor. I love the way she writes her experiences. We have over 40 children in our care—some are new born babies who are unwanted while others are older children who have come out of horrific situations.

Several volunteers have come to serve this year already. Joe and Collette Hand came for a two month stay and lovingly worked with the staff of the Children’s Home. Beth Houghton, a pharmacist, came to reorganize our pharmacy and train our medical staff. Kori Smith is teaching English language to the Indonesian staff. She plans on spending a year at the base. Kelly O’Sullivan from the U.K. came as a nurse and friend to the poor and needy. We appreciate the investments of all these volunteers and several from Australia.

Les Chapman from Australia is coordinating mechanics to come to our base. They will be asked to train and get our mechanics shop in order. If you are interested in spending two weeks to two months at our base, please contact me.

Thanks to Our Partners

We have been working with refugees, former refugees and the poor for nine years in remote Indonesia. We serve Christian and Muslim with the same compassion and quality of care. We have seen miracle after miracle over those years. The faithfulness and loving support of our partners has been our life-line. The programs in the refugee camps, resettlement centers, development of our medical base, care of children, lepers, the treatment to the injured and suffering and much, much more are because of the donations and prayers of all our friends. These are difficult days and we are like everyone else—we are facing challenging financial times. I am very hopeful for the future and thankful to all those who have stood with us.

Dental Teams

In April, a dentist and his team came to our base to train and do as much dentistry as possible in the time they were there. Liz Wood wrote about the experiences and work of the first dental team led by Dr. Greg Johnson from Fairbanks, Alaska. Liz wrote:

”As for the dental trip, it was a total success. We did not treat the numbers of kids we had expected to treat but we did as many appointments as we could squeeze into a day. There are over 50 kids that live on the base camp there either, children of workers or children that live in the orphanage. We treated them all and most had more then 2 and as many as 4 appointments to get there treatment completed. We also went in to the closest village school and distributed toothbrushes and gave dental hygiene education. At the end Dr. Johnson asked how many kids had had toothaches in their lives and seriously most kids raised there hands. We invited anyone that had a problem and wanted to see the dentist to stay behind and there were an overwhelming number of kids that stayed of their own accord to show him their toothaches. We have enough oral exams now to keep the dentist who is coming in August busy his entire time there, just from that one school visit. It was humbling.”

Dr. Paul Silveira will lead a team in August. He will take over where the April team left off. Dr. Silveira will be working with our dental students and dental nurses. The dental needs are great in this region. Short-term teams are very valuable to our efforts. They bring their skills and train our staff. The improved skills for our staff continue to serve the poor for years to come.

Billy Needed a Hero

If you had a child who was going to die without medical help—you would pray for a miracle. That is exactly what Billy Ponto of Manado needed. Billy came to the U.S. for surgery for a imperforate anus when he was less than two years old. Liz Wood, a nurse from Fairbanks, Alaska led the effort--she coordinated all the travel, funding and surgeries. Billy was operated on by Dr. David Bliss of Emanuel Hospital in Portland Oregon. The professional skills and compassion of Dr. Bliss gave Billy a future. He did very well following these surgeries. He went back to Indonesia where he started a normal life.

Liz got word from his family in March that Billy was having problems with an obstruction in the small bowl. She advised them to get him into surgery. He had a successful six hour surgery in Indonesia. He had a rough recovery following this surgery but has fully recovered.

She would resist this title but she is a real hero. Liz was the answer to the prayers of this family. She stood in the gap for this child. I admire the heart and efforts of Liz as she has remained committed to Billy and his future. We need more “ordinary heroes”. We do need more of those with compassion in action. Liz got to see Billy in April. He was recovering and doing much better.

A Good Man

Peter Scarborough is the Field Director in charge of almost everything but especially development and staff at the base in Kusuri. He and his wife, Esther, are the real heroes in the successes of the medical base. It is their vision and hard work that has made the work possible. They are respected and loved by so many, including all of us here in the states, who know them. They are friends and co-founders in this effort.

Peter wrote to me about the failing health of his father over the last months. He was concerned and wanted to be near his family if his father got worse. Peter and Esther went to Australia for medical check-ups and personal leave time. Peter saw his family and it wasn't long before he knew his father was slipping physically. His Dad died on April 20 with his family near. Peter got to be there to comfort his father and to say the final words that have eternal meaning from the lips of a son. He told his father that he was loved and thanks for being a great father. These words are what every father desires to here from his children.

Peter is a man of character and integrity--it was modeled in the life of his father. The Scarborough family is thankful for the support and prayers for them these last months. The one comfort in these days is the assurance this father is in eternity with his Father. He was a man who lived his faith and raised his family to love God.

New Leper Home

The stories the lepers share about their rejection and suffering will grab your hearts. Our teams have been a part of rescuing these rejected souls. I recall a story that our team told about a group of seven lepers who were banished from their village. These cast-aways went deep into the jungle to find a place to survive and live separated from others. They lived for more than 30 years in their remote camp. A local pastor heard the story of their plight and asked our team to join him and try to find these seven lepers. It was a three day walk and finally they came to the settlement of the lepers. It was shocking and the team said their dwellings looked like dog houses. The next shock they had was the fact that only one woman had survived. This was a miracle to see this woman who was over 90 years old. She was taken out and came to our leper treatment center. She was treated for her leprosy and got a negative status in a couple months. This is good news for her but if we could have treated the others they also could have been cured of their leprosy. This old woman absolutely loved our team. They cared for her and showed her respect and kindness.

Thanks to the gifts from several donors we have been able to build a leper rehabilitation center. The third building was funded by First Presbyterian Church in Fairbanks, Alaska and Jacob’s Well Foundation in Texas. The three buildings have four living units. We have a full-time resident who I call the mayor. Hendrik is a leper who came to our base two years ago. He has his own story of rejection and abandonment. He was cast away from his village for 15 years before Anis (pronounced an-eeez), one of our staff, met him on a jungle trail. Anis brought Hendrik to our base and he too was treated for his leprosy. He is a delightful man with a warm personality. He has suffered a lot but he is kind and thankful. He calls his little unit “heaven”. He watches the affairs of this group of rejected souls. The Leper’s are joined by those with T.B. They both are rejected and just need skilled treatment and regular monitoring.

Yulce 2009

I have had a number of inquiries about Yulce. She went back to Indonesia following her year of treatment at the Grossman Burn Center. She came back to L.A. and is now in orthopedic care for the curvature of her spine. Dr. Grossman has done some finishing touches on her burns but the surgeries to straighten her spine will continue for about another year. She is doing very well. She has had more than 20 surgeries at this point. The documentary about her life (A Face for Yulce) is being shown in the U.K. She was also recently interviewed by Fuji Network for a primetime program in Japan. Her story of hope and courage is still reaching people around the world.

Fino is Home

Fino followed Yulce to be treated at the Grossman Burn Center in Sherman Oaks California. He was burned in a kerosene accident when he was eight years old. He was playing with a stick in a smoldering fire and flashed it over an open container of kerosene. It exploded and he was left with a burn on his chest, face, right hand and right arm. He was brought to our clinic and the rest is history. He was accepted as a candidate to receive care by Dr. Peter Grossman. Fino and his father came to Los Angles where he received more than a dozen surgeries. He was in the U.S. for four years as he went from surgery to surgery. He is a fun young man and his family was grateful for the help. He completed his treatment in January 2009 and went back to Indonesia. He looks happy and the treatment he received was the best in the world. He is challenged with the Indonesian language because he can speak English fluently and now Bahasa Indonesia is his second language.

Blessings—Carl Cady U.S. Director for IFC

International Friends of Compassion P.O. Box 81823 Fairbanks, Alaska 99708 www.ifcus.org