Andrew Kim, MD
Miracle in the Philippines
What a privilege to join AMEN, along with Guam Adventist Clinic, to provide medical relief to typhoon victims in the Philippines last November. Our team was humbled and amazed as we saw God leading in this medical missionary endeavor.
It wasn’t an easy decision for me to go, at least not at first. On one hand, the largest typhoon to hit land had just occurred and I was being asked to help victims. How could I say no? But my family had planned a special 60th birthday party for me over the holidays. Family members were flying in from all over to attend. I would miss it if I decided to go. However, sometimes God places a need to serve on your heart and so after much prayer and consulting with my family, I decided to go to the Philippines. My son Jonathan, an ER doctor, decided to join me.
We arrived in Cebu City, Philippines, with a team of 22 volunteers, several bags of medical supplies, and countless questions. Which city should we set up our clinic in? What supplies do we need? Where will we stay? How can we best minister to these people?
We sensed God’s guidance from the start. The way He built our team was nothing short of a miracle. Many of us had never met before, but immediately bonded like brothers and sisters for one purpose, and that was to serve. ER physicians, a general surgeon, an OBGYN, a wound care specialist, nurses, a physician’s assistant, a pharmacist, dentists, and so forth. In just a week of recruiting, God had placed a burden on numerous hearts. Schedules were miraculously cleared and resources provided. The result was a fantastic, almost completely comprehensive, medical and dental team.
Not only did God send people; He also provided supplies. Many volunteers donated their own medical equipment or brought donated supplies from their workplaces. Loma Linda University’s Global Health Institute generously donated eight large boxes of important medications, medical supplies, and equipment. We purchased additional supplies in the Philippines from donations given by generous AMEN donors.
We flew from Cebu to the city of Tacloban, in the province of Leyte. This region was hit hardest. The broken Tacloban airport was like a war zone. Military planes and helicopters flew in and out. We were greeted by total devastation: miles and miles of rubble, body bags in the road, homes and lives destroyed. We saw the people who lost so much. It was surreal, the sight of this loss and devastation.
We were eager to help, but didn’t know where to start. Should we divide into several small groups to cover multiple locations, or should we find one location to focus on and fully concentrate all our resources? We needed wisdom from above. Our team earnestly prayed for guidance and direction, asking the Lord to make it clear where He wanted us to serve.
We prayed with the Governor and also the Health Minister of the province, hoping they could provide us direction. After discussing various options, one city seemed to stand out. An arrow was drawn on the map, showing the path of the typhoon. It went right over the city of Dulag.
“What about Dulag?” we asked. As we were discussing this very question, the mayor of Dulag came into the office and confirmed that they needed help. The timing was incredible and we decided it was in the Lord’s providence that we go there.
Dulag was the perfect place to serve. This coastal city of 50,000 had a government clinic available for our use. Even though the roof was leaking, and there was no electricity or running water, the clinic was still functional. We were the first outside medical team to arrive after the storm. We found just one local doctor who had worked himself to exhaustion.
By God’s grace, our team treated over 2,000 patients in one week. Medical services included wound care, surgeries, deliveries, respiratory treatment, dental care, tetanus vaccinations, and a variety of primary care services. We partnered with a team of 12 from Guam Adventist Clinic. Local Filipino nurses and translators were also essential to the work.
As the week progressed, we continued to pray that God would open up opportunities for us to reach the patients spiritually. We were interested in holding meetings, but long days at the clinic left no time to spare.
God, though, had a plan. Half of our team stayed at a church member’s home in Tacloban, commuting to the clinic each day. The other half camped on site – some inside the clinic and others in a refugee came right next to it. One evening, those of us staying on site started singing songs in the clinic as we waited for our meal to arrive. One of the nurses, Grace, remembered a man she met from the refugee camp next door. She wanted to invite him to sing with us. Not only did this man come, but he also brought a group of children. Soon the clinic was full of young beaming faces, learning new songs and Bible stories.
This was the beginning of our impromptu, Spirit-led Vacation Bible School. We continued the worships each night, sharing Bible stories, singing songs, and building friendships with these adorable and resilient kids. These spontaneous evening meetings were a tremendous blessing.
On Thanksgiving evening, we shared a special dinner and celebration with the kids and the local clinic staff. We sang songs, shared Bible stories, and counted our blessings. The kids loved every minute of it. Not only was this the best Thanksgiving I’ve ever had, it was also the best birthday. The children blew out the candles on my makeshift Dunkin Donuts birthday cake, which consisted of stale donuts purchased days earlier from the airport in Cebu. After this special celebration, we invited everyone to come to church on Sabbath.
In the meantime, God opened the door for us to connect with Joseph Penticase, a Filipino Bible worker who was praying for an area in which to serve. After visiting our team in Dulag and realizing that there was no Adventist church, Joseph felt a special burden to work there. Before we knew it, AMEN, Guam Clinic, and even some of our missionaries volunteered to sponsor Joseph and one other Bible worker for the next six months!
Sabbath morning, our refugee church was full of 150 curious kids, parents, and onlookers. We shared short health lectures on the eight natural remedies. For the last remedy, “Trust in God,” Joseph shared a short sermon. It was a message of hope and restoration for those who had lost everything.
After the service, we distributed relief food packs, 800 pounds of nails (the people desperately needed nails to rebuild their homes. Philippine Adventist Medical Aviation Service airdropped them for us), 200 copies of The Great Hope, 300 pairs of children’s sandals (many people lost their shoes during the storm surge), and 400 coloring books with crayons. We left our generator and some medicine with the clinic, and most of our leftover medical supplies with PAMAS and ACTS World Relief.
We left Dulag humbled and awed by what we had witnessed. Not only did God open the doors for us to minister to the physical needs of the people, He also set in motion a series of events to reach their hearts. This experience strengthened our faith in God’s ability to provide for His work if we just step forward in faith and take action. We saw the people who lost so much, and it was a special privilege that we could be there with them in their experience of horror and loss. Witnessing such tragedy reminds us of the fragility of man, and it directs our hearts to yearn for the divine presence. I could sense that everyone involved in this trip believed that God’s intervening hand was with us.
This mission trip was, I think, God’s wonderful birthday gift to me.
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