Increasing Asian Poverty

With the recent journey of President Bush to Asia, many news stories have focused on the problems that affect this area of the world. South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun brought to light some of the issues during Bush’s visit. “By the numbers, Asia is home to 7 in 10 of humanity's poor—about 700 million people—who subsist on $1 a day or less. Even more people dangle one rung up the socioeconomic ladder, earning just $2 a day per capita. In all, about 1.9 billion Asians live at or below that global poverty line. Put another way, Asia's impoverished masses now exceed the region's total population at the end of World War II."

With the inability to maintain subsistence farming in rural areas, many Filipinos are moving toward the larger, more industrialized cities. This rural flight leads to another region-wide phenomenon linked to poverty: unchecked urbanization. Statistically, migrants out-earn their brethren in the fields. But first they must enter an urban milieu that can be openly hostile and filled with uncertainty. Many of those who move into the cities find themselves trapped in a cycle of occasional work and increasing drug and alcohol dependence. Many of our patients, especially men, are being treated for problems that are directly related to drugs and alcohol, compounded by miserable living conditions and a poor diet.

Some of the information above was obtained from an online Newsweek article at:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10019829/site/newsweek/

Painting project

While we are busy here in ministry, it seems as if this blog mainly tells you about the everyday-ness of our life in the tropics. I hope it is fun and you are enjoying it. Allan often blogs about things going on in the clinic and our newsletter is usually ministry related, but here is where I get to tell you about how we live. Adjusting to a new culture is... well...for lack of a better word, an adjustment. Since we arrived one of the things I have wanted to do is get the inside of the house painted. They haven't been painted since the house was built and being white and having many children living here over the last few years plus the windows open at all times they looked a little dirty and dingy. This is also our new home and so I wanted it to reflect us and our style and taste. So we have embarked upon having some painting done. My first obstacle in this project is that we can't just go down to our local Home Depot and gather up all the paint samples we think we might like to choose from. The only place I have seen paint chips is at the ACE Hardware in the big mall by church. Those samples are bound together and bolted to the counter top so there is no taking them home to check them out or even see them in natural light. Being very indecisive in most things, paint colors included, I knew this would never work. In came my best friend, Amy to save the day. She went down to her local Lowe's and mailed me about 150 chips in the colors she knew I was interested in. Who knew there were so many choices in kaki's, golds, and yellows! The next step of the process involved finding a painter. We had a recommendation from another missionary and so we contacted a painter. He agreed to come work for us beginning the following week. But "that week" never really materialized as we were pushed off again and again. OK so far hiring a painter is not much different from hiring a contractor in the States----except he spoke English about as well as we speak Tagalog so having a conversation was a laborious process. Our next painter recommendation, never really panned out. Finally we had a recommendation for a Filipino pastor. Currently, he and 2 others are here painting the walls. The next obstacle was actually buying the paint. As I said ACE was the only place with paint chips and also the only place with color matched paints similar to the states. Unfortunately their prices reflect this and when painting a whole house we decided to go with a cheaper option...the local paint store. We have now been to this store 3 times getting colors mixed. It is always a very interesting experience. We have a great opportunity to use our Tagalog since there is very little English spoken in the paint industry. We also get to watch them take our paint chip and mix the paint by hand. He pours a little red, adds a little yellow, now a little black or green or whatever and then stir, stir, stir, muscles bulging. It is amazing how close he gets to the color. The problem with this method is, there is no going back for another gallon of that color - so get all you need now! We had them mix up 10 gallons of our main wall paint. They did it in the back in a big bathtub. Mixing all at once. It has been an experience watching the artistry of paint mixing. So far I love all the colors!

More International Week Photos!

This week's theme:
Go "GLOBAL" for Jesus
Gods love overcomes
boundaries and languages









Emily marching in the parade







Will by the Flags of Nations
in the Elementary School




Some of Will's 3rd grade friends from New Zealand the US and Australia

We enjoyed an international party in Will's class. Everyone brought a food from their home country. We enjoyed Australia's vegimite (I didn't like it), 3 dishes from Korea (2 of them I really liked. The other Kim Bop is a little like Sushi and I could live without it), something from India, and from America Ritz crackers and lots of desserts. The kids got to choose what they wanted to bring during class last week. Will's choice: As it says on the package "America's favorite cookie!" and he should know since it is also his----Oreos!

International Week

This week is the highlight of the elementary school year at Faith Academy. It is International Week. The kids have spent the last 2 weeks in school gearing up and preparing for this week. On Monday, the kids had to come to school dressed in the colors of the flag of their passport country. Kind of a strange way to word it I know, but some of these kids have lived more years overseas in the Philippines and else where than in their "home" country and some don't consider their home country "home". The kids began the day as they normally do by lining on by class on the elementary covered playground for announcements and the beginning of their day. They then called alphabetically each of the 14 countries represented by students in the Elementary school. The chosen flag bearer and citizens of each country marched around the playground to their national anthem. It was neat to see the countries like India, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Norway who only had one student from that country and the others with 2 to 6 and then to see South Korea and the US with many students from those countries. I felt choked up as the countries ended their procession one by one, lining up at the end of the covered basketball court. So many nationalities and cultures joining together in one common purpose--to reach the Philippines for Christ. It was then that they called the last nation in the alphabetical listing--the USA. It was the first time I have heard our national anthem since we left the states. I felt emotional as I saw the multitude of nationalities within our own country proudly walk single file behind our flag.
The rest of our week has been filled with fun filled non-uniform wearing school days. Each grade has been studying a different continent and today they had to dress like someone from their continent would. If you can't tell from the pictures-- Will studied Europe and is dressed like a medieval knight. Emily studies Asia and is wearing a Chinese outfit. Friday will be another parade and that time they can dress from any country they would like. Emily is going as a prairie girl and Will as an Auburn football player. (His other idea was an army guy, but I didn't know if that was the image he needed to project at school)




Emily's best friends at school
Keisha from the Philippines
and Jaina from the US











Brave Knight Will

This weeks Lunch!

We have gotten so many comments about the lunch on the lanaii post below that I thought I would share with you this week's menu. Cindy was in charge this week and Scott decided they should serve a fish that Allan and I hadn't tried yet. It's a small fish commonly referred to as "gg". It was a little disconcerting when after the prayer Scott said, "Ahh, I love the head! It's just like potato chips." and then proceeded to crunch right into it. The fish itself was good although there is very little meat and teeny tiny bones. I gave my head to Scott who I think appreciated it more than I ever could. I realize it is a psychological thing, but I just couldn't gear myself up to eat it. Maybe next time. Allan on the other hand had no such qualms and ate 2 whole fish.
Tonight we are having another Filipino dish recommended by our helper Dhel. We are having Siomai (pronounced Shou My). If you have ever had potstickers (one of our favorites) at a Chinese restaurant, I think these are very similar. They are steamed in the top of our rice cooker. I snuck one as Dhel took them out of the steamer a few minutes ago and they were fantastic! We are also having fresh pineapple. Pineapples, Mangos, and Bananas are amazing here. We may be spoiled for life for eating fruit in the US. Tonight the pineapple will be so sweet you would think we had sprinkled it with sugar. YUM!


Joey eating gg

Lunch on the Lanaii

Each Wednesday Cindy and I take turns hosting lunch on our lanaiis (screen porch) for those working at the clinic. We usually prepare lunch for 11 to 13 people. This meal is usually Filipino fare and I rely totally on Dhel, our Filipino helper to help me out. When it is our week to host I always ask for her recommendations for the menu. Today we had fish called Talapia that was fried and then wrapped in petchay leaves and cooked in coconut milk and of course a meal wouldn't be complete without rice. Dhel and the Nelsen's helper, Elena are responsible for doing the bulk of this cooking. I usually take care of the dessert which is never Filipino. Filipino desserts have not become one of Allan and my favorites. While we have tried many different sticky rice desserts, we have yet to try a Filipino specialty called "Halo-halo" meaning mix mix. It is basically a mixture of sweet preserved beans(red beans, chick peas), coconut meat, jackfruit, pounded dried rice, ube (a root crop like a sweet yam that is purple in color), cream flan, and banana, filled with crushed ice, milk (or coconut milk) and topped with ice cream. There are different variations to the filling. The halo-halo basically is sweet and creamy, but I can't seem to get excited about a dessert with beans. We keep promising the kids we will go try one at Chowking- a Filipino fast food restaurant that supposedly has a good halo-halo. The kids for some reason are not looking forward to this. For now those brownies we had for dinner filled our sweet tooth. Thanks for the recipe Laura Lawrence!
Ginger

Prayer Request

Recently, our clinic had a substantial amount of supplies and equipment donated from a hospital that was closing in the U.S. During a trip home, Scott (our partner here) arranged for some of those supplies to be shipped "door-to-door" from the States to the Philippines. (This was the same method we used to get our personal belongings here. This method is supposed to have customs and fees arranged prior to arrival.) The first 3 boxes of supplies were held up at the shipping company here in the Philippines. This company stated that our supplies were subject to customs charges, despite the fact that we were a Filipino non-profit organization. They have demanded thousands of U.S. dollars to retrieve our boxes. However, they will not give us the contact information to the Philippines customs in order to verify the charges. In the meantime, we have many more boxes that were shipped just prior to this problem, headed this way. Please pray that this needed equipment and supplies will be released without incurring a "fee" and that the future boxes will not be held up.

Araw ng mga Patay--All Saints Day

While American children were busy getting dressed up as their favorite character and going door to door "Trick or Treating" on the evening of October 31, we were waking up to one of the biggest Filipino holidays- All Saints Day. During the Araw ng mga Patay (literally- day of the many dead), Filipinos go to the cemetery to remember their dead, clean the graves, and decorate them with flowers, balloons, and candles. While the purpose is somber, the effect is a picnic or a tailgate atmosphere, full of merrymaking and laughter and so we've heard lots of alcohol. Crowds flock to the cemetery, and some even stay overnight. It is a party like atmosphere with family reunions among the tombs. This custom which in parts of the world is a Catholic holiday is actually thought to predate the Spanish introduction of Catholicism in the 16th century. Asian cultures are generally known for a great reverence, love and respect toward their ancestors. It is thought that Catholic missionaries encouraged them to move this day to November 1st or 2nd so it would coincide with the Roman Catholic feasts of All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It is not really a Christian holiday, but one steeped in tribal spiritism. It is also a day of large crowds. We opted to just stay home. There is a large cemetery just down the hill from us and we didn't want to get caught up in the traffic surrounding it. That road is crowded enough on a regular day. This is a picture of a cemetery here in Manila. You can see the tents set up in the background getting ready for the big event.

From the October 20th PM News . . .

As I mentioned in the most recent PM News, the clinic faced a major hurdle in October. While applying for a renewal of the clinic’s business/medical license and my Philippine Medical license, we came under close governmental scrutiny. This kind of scrutiny is not a judgement of how well you treat patients or a measure of the quality of care given; rather, it is often whether one person finds you favorable (or willing to pay to be found favorable). Our "roadblock" person was one of the local medical officials (the equivalent of a County medical society). She had previously indicated that she was very concerned that we were “foreigners” treating Filipino patients who would be better served by Filipino doctors. She was particularly concerned about any surgical procedures and the amount of follow-up that occurs after procedures. After much prayer, that official finally visited our clinic and was favorably impressed. Of course, the fact that we had a mutual physician friend who spoke with her prior to her visit helped, also. Not only did she give her approval but she offered to build cooperation between her Filipino indigent care and our clinic. She is a plastic surgeon and offers to repair cleft palates for the cost of the hospital supplies/fees. The total for an adult cleft palate repair being around $150 - 200. I view this as a positive event since I had hoped to build some types of relationship within the Filipino medical community.
You can alway download current and past issues of "The PM News" at:
http://philippinemission.com/services.html

A Few Days of Fun!

The kids are off from school for 13 days for fall break! While a lot of missionaries take this time to leave the smog and pollution of Metro Manila, we decided to stay home and do some things around here. Because the kids are used to being home for school I think they have actually enjoyed a few days of doing nothing but relaxing at home. Monday we went bowling. They love to bowl and we rarely did that in the states. Here it is very cheap--30 cents for shoe rental and about $1.05 per game. The alley was very nice and updated. We had a great time despite being in a fish bowl. We were the center of attention as many Filipinos sat at the tall tables behind us and watched the white people bowl. I am sure we provided a few laughs, especially me. I bowled the worst game of my adult life. Both kids beat me(of course they did have gutter guards and I did not). It was really pitiful and a little humiliating. I really just didn't want Will to feel he was the worst bowler in the family. At least that's my excuse and I am sticking to it. We rounded out our afternoon with lunch at Shakey's pizza. Remember that old chain? It is alive and well here in the Philippines along with Kenny Rodger's Roasters; another American flop.
Yesterday, we went to a "resort" near our home. There are many of these type places here. Developers build amenities to attract wealthy people to buy homes in their subdivisions. After a while they open these places up to the public to use for a daily fee. This resort, Club Manila East, actually has Cabanas and Cottages so you can stay over night. I am not really sure who wants to stay in TayTay Philippines, but maybe men on business. The kids had heard about this place when we were here last fall and have been wanting to go there since then. It was a lot of fun. They have 2 large pools, a big slide, a shallow pool with kidsplayground, and another larger pool with 1 person kayaks. One of the larger pools had a sun shade over it and that was a nice break from the sun for us pasty white people. The Filipinos like it too because they don't want to get darker. The kids had a blast. It was worth the wait. Emily invited Keisha, a Filipino girl friend from school, to go along with us. The only downside is somewhere along the way a few of us got a touch of food poisoning. Emily had it the worst. This is only the second incidence of this for us since we have been here as far as we know. Not too bad. Next time we will pack a picnic, although we could have gotten sick from our own dinner last night.
In case you are wondering about the above pictures, we seem to have a problem. We never remember to take our camera anywhere. The bowling picture is from Greenwood last January. We (except for Will)haven't really worn long sleeves and long pants here. The picture of Club Mania East was taken from their websight. I thought you might like to see what it looks like. The pools come together to form the shape of Laguna de Bay (a big lake near TayTay that we can see from our house) including Talim Island.
Ginger

It's beginning to look a lot like.....Christmas???

This afternoon I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few things. When I drove up, the store had been decked out for Christmas--It is a "ber" month after all and that is when you begin celebrating Christmas in the Philippines. Over that last month, we had already heard a Christmas song or two and seen some stores selling decorations, but even Wal-mart usually starts selling Christmas stuff just after they get rid of school supplies. This on the other hand is a whole other ball game. The outside of the store had big plastic decorations mounted on the building. Pink glittery ribbons with cute animals in Santa hats and big lime green stars. (OK so not your traditional Christmas colors) It looks like the whole thing will glow from the inside at night. The kids and I will have to go check it out. The grocery stores at home might put up a wreath or 2, but this is like the outside of a mall would be in the States.
I was greeted with a "Merry Christmas, M'am!" when I entered into a Christmas wonderland. Glowing 3 foot stars and the same cute critters hung from the ceiling about every 10 feet. Christmas displays of food and decorations abounded. Blaring over the store's PA system were classic American Christmas songs. I found myself humming and singing along to the 12 days of Christmas, Rudolph, and It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I got into the spirit of things and returned my cashiers greeting of "Merry Christmas!" I walked from the cool airconditioned winter wonderland feeling the spirit of Christmas and into the 90 degree humidity of the Philippines. I stepped quickly back into the reality that it is only October and it feels like July! We are supposed to have cooler weather as we move towards the month of December, but Im not sure the low80s will feel much different. I guess if you live in Florida this is what Christmas feels like, not that it's much cooler in S. Carolina,Georgia or Alabama either. It will be fun to see all the decorations as the Philippines prepares for the biggest holiday of the year.
Ginger

a strange talisman

In most 3rd world countries with a history of tribal religions, often some of those old superstitions and beliefs remain in modern life. Each Wednesday Cindy Nelsen and I take turns having the clinic staff in for lunch at our houses. One Wednesday a few weeks back, we all giggled as our Filipino friends poked a little bit of fun at themselves by sharing some of what I guess we would call "old wives tales" that are still prevalent. One belief is that hurrying just after eating causes appendicitis. You should also never shower or get wet with cold water when you are hot or just after exercising or it will cause a Filipino word I think might best be translated as malaise. This is something to be avoided at all costs and also a little hard to do since it is always hot here. The rituals surrounding new borns and children are of course numerous. New mothers often squirt breast milk in their baby's eyes to prevent eye infections.
Well Friday at the clinic I was introduced to another strange superstition. While Scott was examining a 3 year old boy, Cindy and I were busy goo-gooing at his 4 month old brother. He was a strong baby and big for a Filipino baby his age. Pinned to his little yellow outfit was a little red pouch. Scott turned to me and said it was a talisman to ward off evil spirits. He then wanted me to feel the pouch and guess what was inside. I felt something smooth about the thickness of a AA battery with a point at one end. Surely they didn't have pinned to this baby what I thought I felt. I felt again and Scott asked what I thought it was. I was afraid to give my answer--"a bullet?". Unfortunately I was correct. Pinned to this little guy was a live 38 caliber bullet. I guess that is one way to ward off evil spirits. Scott then told me of another common practice that maybe I wish I had known when my own kids were little (OK so not really). People are really the same the world over and in the Philippines, just as in America, when you take your baby out in public, people, often strangers, will bend over your baby and touch his little face. I remember my sister-in-law, Chris and I discussing how we hated taking Emily and Laura out to Wal-mart for fear they were going to catch something from all the hands that touched them. A solution to that here in the Philippines is to use red lipstick or other such substance to draw a cross on the baby's forehead. This will keep the bad germs and evil spirits away when people touch him. As humorous as this sounds, it is also tragic that these beliefs are so common. It helps us to remember our main purpose in being here is not to heal the many illnesses that abound or to educate about some of these misconceptions, although we do these things. Our main purpose is to share with them the True One who can keep away all of the evil that abounds in this world. Our prayer is that they will see This One living in us as they come to the clinic and meet us in the community.
Ginger

We live in the Philippines!??!

When thinking of a typical missionary it is often not the sharing of the gospel that seems to hallmark them as such in my mind. Rather I think of the stereotypical living conditions that seem typical of those living in the rural third world--no electricity, phones, or technology, dirt roads, little running water, and beautiful vistas unspoiled by urban development. While we do experience these things on an occasion they are not an everyday occurence in the urban area bordering metro Manila. You will remember that we have had a couple power and phone outages. We have lost contact with the outside and inside worlds on 2 somewhat long occasions. Our backyard is a beautiful oasis in an otherwise concrete jungle, and daily I get to drive on a unpaved road filed with pot hole as I drive the kids to school. While these make me realize that I live in a place far different from the US they haven't made me think--"Oh you're finally a missionary!" Until now....
Unfortunately, we have woken up to the 4th day without water. There seems to be no apparent reason except that we live in the Philippines and that seems reason enough. If we are lucky it seems to come back in the evening though. I skipped a shower the first day because I had taken one the night before, but on day 2 I took my first bucket bath. There is nothing more refreshing than standing in the bathtub dumping a bucket of cold water over your head to rinse out shampoo. bbbuurrrr! Did I say I haven't been cold here?? Well here is the way to cool off! We have even had to teach the children how to do this. That was an experience.
Ginger

It's a small world after all! Part 2

Early on in our time here, I posted a blog about Will's teacher having gone to Auburn. The coincidences keep growing the more we get to know them. First off, She is from Birmingham and so is Allan. Secondly her husband Dan grew up in Pensacola and lived there at the same time we did. Ok so these aren't such odd things--just wait. At Auburn Dan and Ellen met through the ministry of the BSU(Baptist Student Union now called BCM- Baptist Campus Ministries) Same as Allan and myself. We all attended the same church, and Allan and Dan both went to a class led by the pastor on Thursday mornings for guys interested in full time ministry. Commonly refered to as the preacher boy class. Ok so all these things could very well be said of many students to pass through the hallowed gates of Auburn in the last 20 years. Here is where the similarites begin to get bizarre. It turns out that on a campus of 25,000 in which 80% live off campus mainly in some hundreds of apartment complexes that Ellen and I lived in the same complex. Not only did we live in the same complex, but the same unit, and....not only the same unit, but the same bedroom. Just 11 years apart(boy do I feel old) Kind of freaky huh that here we would meet on the other side of the world. We are enjoying having our WarEagle Club Mainla branch with the 3 AU familes. Friday night we got together to watch the AU Miss. State game. It takes a while for the games to arrive so we are seriously delayed. In fact the first game against GA Tech has been floating out there for over a month now and no sign of it arriving. My sister-in-law said the big loss is painful to watch and it may be for the best if it never arrives!
War Eagle! Ginger

Our new car!

The van above is our new mode of transportation. You can see part of our house in the background and the kids in their school uniforms. While this van is new to us, it isn't new to our mission. The ministry bought 2 matching vans in 2002. This one we inherited along with our house and furnishings from the Holmes(the Doctor we replaced). The Nelsen's drive a van exactly like it. We did have to add an Auburn sticker to the rear window so it would truly be "our car". The only thing it lacks is an AU license plate because we have a tag in front and back here. This is the first time since I began driving that I haven't had a AU tag on the front of my car.
I mentioned in an earlier blog that driving has taken some getting used to. One reason is because this car is so very long. It makes our old mini-van look short. Think narrow suburban. There are 4 rows of seats with seat belts for either 10 or 11(sorry Dad I was wrong about how many rows we had). Although this doesn't mean we are limited to that # of passengers. The rule of thumb seems to be if they can fit they can ride. Having a big car is almost a necessity here not only because of the teams that come in, but also because of the amount of carpooling we do. We carpool with 2 other families to school everyday. This morning we had 8 in our van and no sat on the last row of seats.
Here is a funny thing about driving here--we don't go very fast. I remember one day early on that I came home from the morning school run and I had gotten up to 40 kilometers per hour. This was the fastest I had driven at this point(I have hit 70 KPH now). My friend, Amy, from the states called shortly after I walked in the door. She was calling me on her cell phone while driving. I asked her how fast 40 kph is. I almost fell down when she said, "it's almost right on 25 mph." I felt like I had been flying along when in actual fact I was traveling at a speed I found hard to go in my neighborhood in Greenwood. This explains why it took us an hour to drive only 20 miles to the place we got our driver's license.
We are becoming very adept at swerving--ok not swerving because that's illegal--maneuvering around the obstacle course more commonly called the road. I am dodging people, trikes, Jeepneys, other motorists, a multitude of stray dogs, basket ball games, chickens, goats, and cows without flinching. I did learn the second time I drove what the mirror on the rear window is for when I backed into a low concrete pole. So far no major accidents. Keep praying!
Ginger

Our Old Car!

To be fair, I had to add a picture of my "baby" back home. My brother graciously bought my Woody to keep it in the family. I know it's wrong to love an inanimate object, but I still LOVE that car!

Malinaw na ba? (Is it clear now?)

Our clinic regularly has short-term teams visit to provide specialty care, particularly in ophthalmology and dentistry. The optho team visited just before we arrived in July. During their stay, they obtained the measurements to fit some of our patients with new glasses. These new glasses arrived a couple of weeks ago and we have had fun passing them out to their respective new owners. It's strange how different people react to receiving their new spectacles. Some are very excited and show it with much joy. Others treat them as treasured items to remain stored in the transport bag - too valued to be brought out and worn. (They might get scratched!, one exclaimed) Sometimes very small things can make a big difference in a person's life. These donated glasses from the States are such a small thing, however, they can make an eternal difference when they are given in the name of Christ . . . To show His hope in a people who are constantly barraged with feelings of hopelessness.

Ginger's addition-- Ok so I have to put my 2 cents in on Allan's blog about glasses. This has become my favorite part of my clinic time. I love to see the older ladies get their glasses. It is so fun to watch them as they smile big, some of them bashfully some almost giddy. It has been great fun being there for the end result. I wish the optho. team could be here to see it. The lady in the picture above was too embarrassed to smile for the picture, but she was so cute when she got her new specs.

Huh? you don't say.

When American GIs returned from Asia at the close of World War II, besides Victory they brought home a new word to add to the lexicon -- "boondocks". It is derived from bundok the word for mountain in most Philippine dialects, including Tagalog. "Bundok" was used by the GI's to decribe a place that is remote and inaccessible.

Feeling a little guilty

What would you do if every time your doctor ordered a test it would cost you 3 to 5 days wages? It would certainly make you concerned when your doctor suggested a test be done. This is the situation for most of our patients. I don’t order many tests in our clinic and when I do, I feel a certain amount of guilt about doing so. I know that each test ordered will impose a hardship for the family involved. For some it may even mean choosing between eating and getting the test done. You can imagine the look of disappointment and pain on each face when I mention the need for a test. From an American perspective, the tests are a bargain. A Complete Blood Count is about $4 (compared to $80 in the US). A Chest Xray is $5 (compared to $30 or so in the US). However, when our patients make only $1 - $4 per day these can be a burden. I pray for wisdom and discernment when choosing to do any tests. Wouldn’t it be nice if physicians in America had the freedom to use wisdom and discernment when choosing tests rather than choosing them to defend against legal suit?

War Eagle

This past weekend we had the first meeting of the Auburn fan club (Far East Manila section). If you have read earlier entries, you know that Will's 3rd grade teacher and her husband are fellow Auburn grads also. There is also one other teacher at faith who recently graduated from Auburn. So in all, we have 8 members total. We had hoped to have a VHS tape of the first game of the year against Georgia Tech arrive here by Saturday so that we could watch the game together. But as with many things on the mission field, a delay somewhere in route prevented the tape from arriving on time. All was not lost though, using the internet we were able to listen to last week's game against Ball State. The game was not that exciting with AU scoring some 60 or so points against Ball's 3, but it gave us a chance to meet some fellow missionaries. We found out that we attended the same church in Auburn. We enjoyed talking about our time in Auburn and making new friends. Maybe the tape will arrive by next Saturday? War Eagle! Allan