|
DAKILANG PAGIBIG “DIADEM” MINISTRIES, INC. Baguio City MISSION REPORT LOCATION: Tolega Sur, Moncada, Tarlac DATE: June 14, 2009 HOST CHURCH: Word of Life Church, Tolega Sur, Moncada FUNDED BY: Dakilang Pag-Ibig DIADEM Ministries STATISTICS: | TOTAL PATIENTS | 346 | | Medical | 267 | | Dental | 105 | | Circumcision | 27 | | Minor Surgery | 2 | | Prayed to Receive Christ | 140 | | Seeking Home Bible Study | 44 | BACKGROUND: DPDM first became aware of Tolega Sur, Moncada, through ministry partners, Gerry and Christine Escobar. We have worked with both before, and Christine is a trainer with Divine Love Kids Club, a ministry partner of DPDM. They made us aware of the needs and opportunities in Tolega Sur. Tolega Sur is a small agrarian community 2-3 kilometers away from the business center of Moncada. It is a quietly beautiful place surrounded by rice fields. Most of the medical mission was held in the elementary school there, but the pharmacy was at Word of Life Church, perhaps 3 minutes walk away from the school. The trip was a wonderful for all, with good support from the church, local barangay leadership, as well as medical personnel and pastors from other parts of Tarlac. LESSON LEARNED: 1. The major event that diverged from our normal routine was one minor surgery that went in an unexpected direction. A minor cyst removal on the back of a head of a man proved not to be a cyst but a hematoma. The result was that we had a blood vessel that we could not completely stop from bleeding. After considerable prayer and work to control the bleeding, the man (along with Dr. Rene and two of our nurses) were transported to the hospital to complete the medical work. Happily everything worked out well, with the patient recovering will. Howeverr, this has led us to consider changes that should be made in the future. Two of these: A. We need to do better medical histories on patients (particularly, but not exclusively) with surgery. This is a failing in most medical missions world-wide. This is noted by Michael and Anita Dohn in “Short-term Medical Missions: Some Quality of Care Issues” (Printed in Missiology: An International Review, October 2003, and in Crossnetwork Journal, November 18, 2005.) B. We need to expand our capabilities… especially in dealing with the unexpected. A major component in this is a cauterizer. We have found a cauterizer to be an item that is highly valuable for minor surgery. In the past we have borrowed from partnering physicians. However, owning one would allow us to have it available on all of our trips. We need to evaluate other possible acquisitions as well… such as an EKG monitor, and generator and air compressor for various other equipment we would like to use in remote locations. 2. We have learned, through research, as well as work we have done in places like Bayambang, that a medical mission has only a limited role in transformational development, unless it is tied to longer-term training and structures. With this in mind, we are presently discussing possible future training work with Word of Life Church and the surrounding community. Some presently being discussed are: - Project formulation and implementation training (especially medical missions)
- Children’s ministry training (partnering with Divine Love Kids Club)
- “Shepherd in Every Pew” seminar (Partnering with Asia-Pacific Institute of Pastoral Care)
It is our hope to be part of at least one of these training projects in the community in the coming months. OUR GRATITUDE: We would like to thank Ptr. Jun Blancaflor and Word of Life Church for doing such a great job as host. The same is true for the barangay captain and the local government of Tolega Sur. Thanks also to Gerry and Christine Escobar for working to bring this mission together. We also are glad of their commitment to continue working with people in the community with future projects/programs. Additionally, it great to see the support of medical staff and other pastors in the Tarlac area. It is also wonderful to see people in the community and beyond coming together for God’s work. For our medical, dental, pharmacy, surgery, training, registration, vital signs, counseling, and crowd control teams… well, we simply could not do anything without them. No amount of planning, or finances can overcome lack of committed volunteers. May God richly bless both those who served and those who came to be served. As always, we want to thank our prayer partners and financial supporters in the United States and in the Philippines. Together we continue to reach out to the lost souls for God’s glory and honor.
|
