As I sought to understand the God of Uganda, I found myself thinking a lot about the God of Genesis. The slower paced environment in Africa seemed to point back to a simpler way of living; people eat whole foods from their own gardens and locals hang around outside socializing, face to face conversations still being the main mode of communication. I felt that the lack of distractions made it easier to see the stark contrast between the beauty of God’s creation and the curse of Adam’s sin. When I witnessed the sacrificial lives of the missionaries and the shepherd hearts of the native leaders I thought about the God who proclaimed that it was good. I can’t forget some of the personal stories and testimonies they shared about their journeys of faith; they reminded me that man was created in the image of God, equipped with an amazing capacity to love. At the same time the curse of sin was sobering. I was reminded of it each time the buzz of a mosquito struck fear in my heart. We spent time in Dr. Luke Lim’s clinic and visited a few local hospitals and orphanages. The sicknesses and poverty we encountered were heart-wrenching and even revolting at times. In addition, Ugandan brothers and sisters were very frank about the less obvious spiritual sicknesses that afflicted many young people. For example, despite the fact that Uganda is predominantly Christian, the pursuit of false idols cause many to attend church merely as a vehicle for their own personal gain. In this way, Bible teachers there are often burned and taken advantage of by self-seeking students. It is a difficult labor of love.

At times I felt burdened by the reality of mission, and I was thankful to receive new hope from the God of Genesis through the study of the call of Abram. The Makerere University chapter was beginning the study of the life of Abraham, and through our study I feel so blessed to understand more deeply our gracious God who calls things that are not as though they were. Surely, Abraham’s human reality was that he was an ordinary man full of weaknesses, born into an idol worshiping family, getting old, and married to a barren woman to boot. However, God challenged Abraham to claim a new reality by faith. In a fallen world, the God of Abraham sees life where there is death, hope where there is fatalism, and a new creation in the midst of the old sinful one; God’s reality reflects the victory of Christ.

I was so moved by the God who called an ordinary man to be blessed with unbelievable promises, and I was inspired by an ordinary man who claimed those unbelievable promises by faith and obedience. This forced me to think about my own doubt and human thinking, especially in regards to the responsibilities of being passed the torch of the ministry as a second gen. Having been raised in the church, I have had plenty of time to develop idealistic views about what it means to live a life of faith. Accordingly, I have also had enough time to watch each ideal become jaded by the human experience. I wondered how it was possible to become unjaded and to think like a child again when it’s impossible to unlearn the reality of the world and the reality of my own weaknesses. This has been a recurring source of frustration, and sometimes I wondered whether spiritual hopes were fairytales, no different than human dreams. But through the faith of Abraham, I was deeply convicted of my sin of allowing my faith be dictated by human reality rather than the reality of Christ. I can see clearly that faith in Christ can never be jaded by this world because Christ has overcome the reality of this world. I pray for the simple and transcendent faith of Abraham, so that I may believe that no matter how many promises God has made, they are all "Yes" in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God that He also sees me as worthy of bearing His reality in Jesus. I thank Him for calling me to be his own child, to lead a life of love, faith, and obedience. I pray that God may fix my heart in His kingdom, beyond the realm of this world. May God enable me to become a powerful mother of prayer who has a shepherd heart after Jesus so that I can be an effective Bible teacher for world mission.

ONE WORD: May the eyes of my heart be enlightened to see Jesus

Dr. Kim studied complications associated with diabetes. She proposed a new prescription, ‘KIOM-79,’ and its derivatives. She published more than 70 articles, registered several patents, and discovered excellent effects of herbal medication.

Dr. Kim presented her research paper about diabetic retinopathy effects of ‘KIOM-79′ at the American diabetic association conference and the European diabetic association conference this year.

On September 2008, she presented her research paper entitled, "KIOM-79 long term treatment inhibits the development of diabetic retinopathy and AGEs accumulation in retinal tissue" in Rome at the European diabetic association conference.

Earlier this year, she was chosen to be one of the top "2000 outstanding scientists in 2008-2009" and one of the "great minds of the 21st century" by ABI (American Biographical Institute).

She was named "Who’s who" in the science and engineering departments at MarQuis. She was also listed in the three most famous name list dictionaries and received the ‘Triple Crown’ honor.

The Bethesda Medical Foundation Committee Meeting was held on February 2 (Saturday), 2008 at Bethesda Clinic in Kampala, Uganda. Attendants were Samuel Yoo (Uganda), Maria Yoo (Uganda), Luke Lim (Uganda), Rebekah Lim (Uganda), Sam Zun ( USA), David Park (Korea), Jin Bo Kim (Korea), and Jin Hyun Kim (Korea).

They first reviewed the by-laws. They also planned to make Bethesda Clinic a for-profit clinic. For this, they decided to build a new 4-story building from June 2008 to June 2009 in the backyard of the present clinic. They will set up sister relationship with Jeongup Hospital in Korea.
 

I praise and thank God who gave us new life through our Lord Jesus Christ and enabled us to serve the flock of sheep in our respective mission fields. I want to share what God has done recently in Uganda through a Kwangju III medical mission team. They visited Uganda with the compassionate heart and love of Jesus. The Kwangju III medical mission team was composed of 20 members, two surgeons, two dentists, one pediatrician, one clinical laboratory professor, one family doctor, two general practitioners, two pharmacists, three medical students, one nursing school student, three shepherds, one high school student, and one primary school pupil.

They practiced in Lyantonde district which has been devastated by HIV infections. Lyantonde is known as a source of HIV infections because it is located on the way to Rwanda, Brundi, and Congo. Many truck drivers are stop there and prostitution is prevalent. There are many HIV orphans who lost their parents because of AIDS. We treated 1,930 patients in Lyantonde hospital and 80 patients in the village. Among 1,930 patients 20 people had an operation performed on them and bout 200 patients received dental treatments. There are no dental clinic facilities in the hospital. The UBF medical team brought two dental treatment sets and many patients received proper dental treatments. Our two surgeons performed operations on burn scars, hernias, tumors, abscess, etc. A boy had burn scar on his one leg and he was not able to stretch his knee joint properly. After the operation he was able to stretch his leg and walk well. It was so dramatic – it was like a miracle to him. His life problem was solved by our medical team.

After our medical service the political leaders and district medical officer invited us to a small party in appreciation of our medical work in their district. Many people were grateful for our UBF medical mission team’s sacrificial work and treatment. They were so interested in UBF and they asked what UBF meant. They requested us to visit them again next year. While many people were treated in the hospital, some of the medical team members visited remote villages because the village people could not come to the hospital due to a lack of transportation. We could see how miserable their village life was. We visited a few orphans’ houses. Their parents had died of AIDS and many young children were left alone. A 13 year old girl took care of six younger brothers and sisters. The last born was 6 months old, because her mom died just last year. Their house was worse than my dog house. We contributed some money to her by buying handicrafts. They were desperately in need. We are looking for a way to help them through the local NGO, PARDI.

Through UBF medical mission work we could learn the compassionate heart of Jesus and the great need for medical mission work in mission field, especially in the third world. All medical mission team members were filled with world mission vision and Jesus’ compassionate heart for the sick, both physically and spiritually. It is my prayer that God may use our medical skills, knowledge, and talents so that we may treat the poor and the sick with Jesus’ love and heart. May God continue to use us for his world salvation work through campus discipleship ministry.
 

I. The Jubilee
The hundred year jubilee anniversary (Dec 15-17, 2006) of AONOKPU BAPTIST CHURCH in Nagaland was attended by more than 2000 people. The reading of the Scriptures and prayer was the main emphasis of the program. The theme of the jubilee was "Jesus Christ, the Lord of all ages." Rev. Dr. Frederick S. Downs, who presently lives in Massachusetts but was born in India, was the main speaker. Dr. Downs spoke on the theme 3 times, carefully following the scriptures. He emphasized the fact that the gospel of Jesus Christ delivered the Nagas from the religion of animism. They were liberated from the empty traditional ways of life and were made from headhunters to soul hunters. This salvation we owe it all to Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord. The American Baptist mission was responsible for bringing the gospel message. But salvation grace was wrought into the human soul by the work of the Holy Spirit. Rev. Downs challenged all the jubilee attendants to not go back to the old Naga headhunting culture; to be yoked again with their old ways of life. Instead the Nagas must arm themselves with the gospel of Jesus Christ and go forward to carry the torch of the gospel to the world. Dr. Edward Clarke and a band of American Baptist missionaries brought the gospel to "a corner in India." 100 years after, it is their turn to spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.

Aonokpu Baptist Church was one of the earliest Christian churches in Nagaland. On the second day of the jubilee a monolith was unveiled. On the monolith there were nineteen names written. They were the first converts who received water baptism from the church. The 20 foot tall stone which was erected in a prominent place in the village was to declare the faithfulness of our God to the future generations to come. This Ebenezer stone (1Sam 7:12) stands as a witness that God who has been faithful for the last 100 years to this church will be faithful to their children if they obey his word. This blessed gospel came in twofold: Firstly, the church grew to send pastors to neighboring villages and beyond. There were 4 young pastors who have gone out from Aonokpu Baptist church, including Pastor Abraham Lincoln in the USA. They were the grandchildren of one of the first converts, Makenshilu, who eventually became the first pastor from that church in 1906. Secondly, there was at least one college graduate from each household in the village. This new found faith in Christ Jesus give us a very contrasting picture from the headhunting culture for the glory of God.

On the last day of the jubilee, I spoke for 15 minutes on two subjects. Firstly, Mark 13:10 "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." In this ever increasing busy world, the followers of Jesus Christ must have priority. Our priority must be first to preach the gospel. If He comes to Aonokpu village today, what would Jesus do first? Secondly, we must actively engage to improve the quality of education. While I emphasized to acquire a university degree, just getting a degree does not automatically qualify us to be an educated person. Quality education changes a person’s outlook and world view. I took full advantage of the jubilee celebration to emphasize the need of quality education for the entire society.

II. The medical mission
The US medical team was lead by Dr. Liz Lincoln. Four medical students, an assistant professor from Public Health, and a registered nurse (Audrey Luchayco) formed the Yale University team. Dr. Marc Brodsky from UCLA, Dr. Sam Yoon from LA, and Dr. Augustine Sohn from the University of Illinois, in Chicago, were the other team members. Along with the US team there were 12 local translators. These local translators’ excellent support was vitally important for the successful running of the clinic. Dr. Temsu, the WHO representative from Northeast India and his wife Dr. Amenla were also there for one day and supported our team. In two and a half days of clinic, the team treated 412 patients. There were several serious cases. A 43 year old man suffering from malaria and an elderly woman from a kidney infection were lives threatening. Dr. Liz Lincoln personally attended them and they were saved. The medical student assisting Dr. Lincoln was thrilled to see a malaria patient for the first time in his life. Nagaland has the second highest rate of AIDS/HIV infection in India. Dr. A. Sohn gave a special lecture on AIDS/HIV. About 30 young people attended Dr. Sohn’s lecture. Dr. Annette Molinaro, assistant professor of Public Health, a certified pharmacy techinician, dispensed all the medication. Dr. Marc Brodsky, assistant professor, east-west medicine, UCLA, was very popular to treat all kinds of pain with acupuncture medicine. Dr. Sam Yoon from LA, specialist in family medicine, brought a huge amount of medication for children from his own practice in LA. He treated children with good care. We brought 70 eye glasses that were donated. Louvonia Boone, a 4th year medical student, was thrilled to see that the eyeglasses fit so perfectly for many of the patients. My children Susanna, Sarah, Sharon and Samuel Lincoln collected over 100 pieces of stuffed animals and toy cars by making a little money by doing chores around the house and gave them out to the sick children. Those children were so pleased to receive their medication plus a toy. All those who came to clinic were given 2 weeks supply of multi-vitamins and a complete supply of their medication. They were so moved by the medical care they received that they thought the reason for the success of the jubilee celebration was due to the US medical team. The team members worked so hard. Every minute of our time was put to use while we were there.

The Yale student team proved to be excellent. Alex Diaz De Villalvilla, a 5th year student (research) said the cases he handled were so interesting that his five years of medical school studies equaled his two and a half day clinical experience during this trip. For him every minute was a learning experience. All other students’ experience was the same.

In the end, Jonathan Chen, a 3rd year medical student realized that the American Baptist missionaries who came to this remote corner in India must have had a very important message to tell to the people. Indeed, the gospel message was the most important message for the Nagas. One of the students was playing "Monster" game with my 4 year old son who was annoying at times. My son said, "I don’t believe in monster or anything, only JESUS." We did not make any deliberate attempt, but my hyper-active son delivered the message. Four medical students were not necessarily Bible students. But we prayed for them that somehow they may see God’s work and turn their heart to God and embrace his love for them personally. Through this trip we wanted to make a relationship with each one of them one by one. Jill Garland (PA student) was moved by how well we and the Aonokpu Church cared for them.

We are thankful for the support of Mother Barry and Missionary David Baik, Yale University Health Service physicians and clinicians led by Dr Daniel Geisser, and the YUHS pharmacy director Peter Steere, who contributed all necessary medicines and supplies.

The journey to Nagaland was an adventurous one. On December 13, our team was in two different locations. My family was in Kolkota airport, and the rest of the team members were in Delhi airport. About midnight, we learned that all flights to Dimapur in Nagaland on December 14 (the day we were supposed to fly) were cancelled. That day Indian Airline workers went on strike. For about five hours we were at a loss. By God’s providence we bought fresh tickets for another small airline and took off at 5:00 Am just to return back to Kolkota. Due to heavy fog in Gawahati airport, the plane could not land there. However, three parties managed to land in Gawahati airport at 1:00 Pm and were rushed to the train station and we were heading for Dimapur. After 8 hours of train ride we arrived in Dimapur at 9:00 Pm; and were welcomed by the church people. The next morning we were on our way to Aonokpu village, another 8 hours bus ride. At 5:30 pm, just at the neck of time, we arrived at the jubilee hall. Jimmy Lee in Delhi, and India UBF leader Robert stayed with the team through the night when the team members were stranded at the Delhi airport and had nowhere to go. When we were in Delhi, Dr. Joseph, one of the leaders of India UBF took care of our hotel accommodations and the sightseeing tour with their own resources. In the end I feel like India UBF was part of this medical mission. All the US team members were very appreciative of Jimmy Lee and India UBF support. Aonokpu Baptist Church provided a mini bus for the medical team. They also provided a guest house for us. The hosts and all the servers were kind; they made every effort to make our stay comfortable. On the whole, this trip was a memorable one, and a life time experience for all of us. We encountered some hardship in Kolkota on our return journey, but this time it was nothing compared to the earlier one. Now we are back home and safe. My feeling is it is good to be back at home. Throughout the journey, Apostle Paul was my Bible teacher when he said, "We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God."

III. Observation
1. Rev. Dr. Takatemjen, principal of Clarke Theological College in Aolichen, senior advisor to the Jubilee planning committee; Imyulangba Longchar, Chairman, Imkongsangba Longkumer, Secretary, and Longri Imsong, Treasurer, were lay workers along with many others whose names are not mentioned here that poured out their lives, money, time and all their resources for jubilee planning for the last five years. Their hard work and "labor in the Lord" is appreciated. Now they must balance lay leadership with the spiritual leadership. The leadership must have vision beyond the Jubilee celebration. God has been faithful for 100 years. They must find what God wants them to do after the Jubilee.
2. The US medical team found that the need for medical service is acute in that part of the world. To provide medical service in such a place we don’t need a sophisticated American style of clinical setting. A simple touch by a clinician or a pain reliever will perform a modern day miracle with the people we are dealing with! In this context, a warm heart with a smile is proved to be good medicine.
3. "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." Our jubilee was the celebration of the gospel. The gospel is the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. "Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name." May God’s name be praised and honored. Amen!

Dr. Elizabeth Lincoln, of Yale University Health Services and Pastor Abraham Lincoln of Yale UBF are organizing a medical service trip to Nagaland, a state in the far reaches of Northeast India from December 15-17, 2006.

The American medical team is comprised of physicians, nurses, and students from Yale, the University of Illinois, and UCLA. They are: Dr Annette Molinaro ( Asst Prof, Yale School of Public Health), Alex Diaz De Villalvilla, Jonathan Chen, Louvonia Boone (med students, Yale U), Jill Garland ( P.A. student, Yale U), Audrey Luchayco (RN, Yale U), Dr Augustine Sohn ( UIC), Dr Marc Brodsky ( UCLA), Dr Samuel Yoon, and Thresiamma Thomas ( RN). We will be working in conjunction with Nagaland health workers Dr Temsu ( WHO representative for NE India), Dr. Amenla, and Dr. Pangjong ( pharmacist) along with ten translators to run a medical clinic for 3 days. 2500 people are expected to attend the celebration of 100 years of Christianity in AONOKPU BAPTIST CHURCH. The American Baptist Mission pioneered this part of India at the foothills of the great Himalayas in the mid-19th century. What opportunity is provided for us to reach out to those who are less privileged than many of us here in America!

Nagaland’s Health Service is still in its ABC stage. The basic need of health service is acute; for example, to buy Tylenol, villagers have to travel up to 3 hours to the nearest town where the meager pharmacy is located. The poor villagers who find it difficult to buy Tylenol or other medication rather decide to live with their problem. The lone health provider, the state health infrastructure is at the minimum level. Proper diagnosis is difficult because of no equipment. Even if they are able to properly diagnosis, the sky-high travel cost and medical expenses to come to mainland India make villagers live with their problem as long as they live. Malaria is a common problem. Water-borne and air-borne diseases are also very common. There are just 500 doctors for 2 million people of Nagaland.