Of New Experiences

what a week. on thursday i had my first taste of serving during care group, and over the weekend i had a chance to venture to a place i've never seen before - batam. here's the photo journal of the experience:

first glimpse of the village

the chaos before we begin

things settle down with the help of the army doctor

the pharmacy


the idyllic fishing village...


...where there are flimsy boardwalks instead of footpaths...


...and kids play goli on hot afternoons


the scene at the second village. notice the queue snaking out the door


the kid named power


praise and worhip during sunday service


kids at sunday school!


both teams saw nearly 700 patients in one day. they were more a blessing to us then we to them. even though i didn't get to interact much with the local folk since i was assigned to the dispensary, it was apparent that we were doing something useful for them. the fishing village at barelang was our first stop, a place where the kids flew kites and played the traditional game of goli after lunch, and goats coming to sniff at our medication box. the adults mostly had high blood pressure from eating salted fish so medication and advice was given regarding that. this seems to be one of the most rural places this mission has visited, so rural that there are no roads only dirt tracks, and you have to close all the windows in the van to prevent yourself from being coated with a fine layer of brown sand.

the next village was not as rural but had a huge turn out, much more than was anticipated. not surprising though, since each mother came with three to four children in tow, all sick. soon, the lot of us were very deft at counting pills, writing out labels and diluting antibiotics! haha.

sunday service and the mission clinic was held at the bible school which is our contact in batam. it was an uplifting service, not to say the least when they opened with a new crea p&w song! amazing where the grace preaching can reach huh? even more amazing was that the kids in sunday school were learning it too, with actions included! that really made my day.

it's back to the wards again tomorrow, but i'm certain this won't be my last trip to batam. heh.