We call him a prince because he seems to have a domain of his own–he has a northern and southern kingdom. He was six years old when I first saw him. He came in the back of a pick-up truck. He had just had a very bad burn injury and was in a lot of pain. I remember him crying that first day and threatening to have his uncle, a police man, come a shoot the nurse who was treating his burn wounds. He needed urgent care and was in for a couple...

It was raining hard and then the skies cleared so I walked to the leper treatment center. I wanted to see Hendrik who was the first leper in our care. He was sitting in front of his unit. I called out his name and heard his call back to me. He inspired the building of these units to help other lepers. He was rejected by his village and lived like a dog for 15 years. He is now happy and loved by everyone.Hendrik was not alone at the Tamariska...

Tison (pronounced Tee-sone) is seven years old and is so full of life and is always smiling. He runs and plays with his friends. He is a kid who will grab your heart very fast. He is normal in every way except is he badly burned over a big part of his body. He was standing a few feet away from his father who was holding a container of kerosene when it exploded in flames. His life changed in a moment. This little boy who has the beautiful smile...

It is time to see if after fours years of growth we can start harvesting coffee from our base in Northeast Indonesia. Jim and Cindy Aldrich set out to get some of those precious beans. It was not as easy as it would been and believe me every cup of coffee I drink now I savor it. It is a tremendous amount of work when you consider the experimentation to get the beans off the husks and the drying process. Jim studied about the process of...

Who would think 15 seconds would make the difference between making a flight or spending the day organizing new flights. We knew it would be close but when our flight from Alaska was delayed 40 minutes we had only 20 minutes to get to our international flight to Tokyo. We landed and just ran from the North Satellite with three train rides and a run up the escalator in the South Satellite. I was out of breath when I reached the top of the...

It was a long trip back from remote East Indonesia but an awesome experience. The team went via Tokyo–Bangkok–Jakarta–Manado. The return trip was Manado–Jakarta–Seoul–Tokyo. We heard about the problems in Bangkok and were thankful we did not return to Bangkok on our return trip. The Bangkok Airport was closed and we would have been stranded somewhere in Asia.We accomplished everything we planned as a team....

37 hours from home to Manado (Indonesia). I have made this trip over 20 times in the last seven years. I can’t say I am used to the long hours of travel. I arrive at the airport at 5 a.m. and then the journey begins. I will be joined by a team that is traveling with me. We are excited about going but I remember how long the trip really is. The international flights have movies and seem to be more aware of the sleep we passengers need....

It just amazes me how some people catch a vision of our work. Katherine and her husband have been to Indonesia and helped in the medical work. Katherine’s husband is a medical doctor from New Zealand. Katherine is a talented photographer and took some amazing photos of daily life in Halmahera. She has selected eight photos and put them on cards. She is giving them as a promotion of the medical work of IFC. We are offering them for $ 10...

Cat 5e cable, crimping tools, switches, plugs and much more–these are the parts we need to build a computer network at our clinic in Halmahera. This will greatly increase our ability to keep records of all of the patients that come to the clinic. Last year there were over 10,000 who came to our clinic for help. The intake form was done hard copy. That is a lot of records and sometimes difficult to find needed information. This network...

I met Leroy and Mary this week. Leroy is 74 years old and is drilling water wells in Kenya. He has been there for 20 years now. The youthful look in his eye covers the fact that most people are retired by his age. No retirement for him–he sold his home and he and his sweetheart are going for it in these golden years of their lives. He had lots of meetings and seemed to be fueled with his passion for helping the people of Kenya.I have...