Where

Well this post is long overdue! February was a busy month with lots of travel, projects, etc. I had fun spending time with friends and fellow missionaries at Partner Development Training in Colorado. We learned a lot and spent some long hours putting together our presentations. Then two weeks ago I spent a long weekend in Boise, Idaho at a training session on Midwifery Volunteerism in the Developing World. This training was sponsored by Mercy in Action which runs several birth centers in the Philippians, so they had lots of practical real-world advice that was a great addition to my previous education. My brain is full of ideas, dreams, and plans!

So one of the frequent questions I get is... where are you going? I am headed to Indonesia. Sometime in the near future I will spend some time telling you a bit more about Indonesia as a country but for this post I want to share a bit about Bethesda Hospital, which is where my ministry will be focused. One of the reasons for this is that February is when the hospital celebrates its birthday, so it seems appropriate. Course it would have been more appropriate had I actually gotten this published in February but hey it is close :)

Bethesda Hospital is located in the jungles of West Kalimantan (Borneo). It was started by WorldVenture (previously CBFMS) missionaries in 1965 as a simple general hospital. It moved 7 miles down the road to its current location in the village of Serukam in 1974. This allowed for a good source of water, electricity, an air strip, and future expansion.

The buildings and landing strip of Bethesda Hospital

In the early 1980s the hospital was officially turned over to an Indonesian foundation which runs the hospital and its ministries. This has allowed the Indonesians to take the lead and responsibility for the daily operations and plans for the hospital. Today the majority of staff are Indonesians with support from two American physicians (one internist and one eye doctor) and when possible at least one American nurse (although it has been almost 5 years since the last one left now). The original doctor and nurse (Wendell and Marge Geary) who helped to start the hospital are also still actively involved, spending several months of the year there.

Doctors at Bethesda Hospital - 2009

The ministries of Bethesda Hospital include a 100-bed hospital that admits and cares for an average of 5,000 inpatients a year. In addition, the outpatient department (clinic and ER) treats an average of 25,000 patients a year.

The ministries of the hospital also include a Nursing Academy. The Academy currently has three classes of 50 students each enrolled. These students study theory and do practicum at the hospital. Some will graduate and work in the hospital, others will work in other hospitals in the area, and some will return to their villages and provide health care there.

The hospital also has a Community Health Outreach program called PKMD. PKMD serves over 60 villages scattered in remote areas of the rainforest where government service is scarce to nonexistent. Working with the New Tribes Flight Program and previously Missionary Aviation Fellowship, four satellite clinics have been established to serve the Dyak tribal people.The focus of this program is on the high rate of mortality of kids under the age of 5 and maternal mortality.

Measles Immunization

I am excited about how the Lord is leading me to return to serve at Bethesda Hospital. In a previous post I shared a bit about how I will be involved in each of the different ministries (read previous blog post - What). It will be amazing to see how the Lord continues to use the ministries of Bethesda Hospital to provide care and share the gospel with the Indonesian people.

Happy Birthday Bethesda Hospital!