(Nov. 20, 2014 - by Penelope Hughes)  After traveling across rough roads, sometimes stopped by huge herds of animals crossing the road and being delayed while debris was being cleared by dynamite, the mobile medical clinic finally arrived in a remote valley in Central Asia.

This was the second time a medical caravan team from Reach Beyond (formerly HCJB Global) was able to make the tough journey to the distant location. This year’s team was able to expand the outreach, setting up two clinics and seeing more than 700 patients in just seven working days.

Not only were team members able to reach out to people in the area, but they had opportunities to minister to some of their translators who came from larger cities.

“Several of the translators are thinking more seriously about how to reach their own people in the rural sector,” said Martin, the team leader. “One has already moved away from [her home] with her pastor husband to live in a particularly difficult and resistant, unreached area.”

Water Project Operational

One of the first things the group did was check up on the clean water system that had been installed by last year’s team in response to an urgent need for safe water in the community.

“We found that the community had taken good care of their new water supply,” Martin noted. “My biggest concern was how a water system would survive the extreme temperature swings of 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in summer to minus 40 degrees in winter. However, despite the harsh weather conditions, we found the water system to be fully operational and providing a continuous supply of safe drinking water to the village.”

Martin was also glad to hear from some community members who had recently attended a wedding banquet in a nearby village. “They spoke with great pride about their new water system,” he said. “As a result, people from other villages in the valley have begun asking how they might get a water system.”

The water project and the medical clinics opened doors into the community, and the team was able to do more than just provide a physical check-up.

“On numerous occasions the doctors, nurses and translators had opportunities to share on a spiritual level with the patients,” reported Martin. “Sometimes, knowing that we were Christians, the patients would ask for prayer. Several of them took steps to follow Jesus or come closer to Him during the time we were there.”

Testimony of Faith

“Elina (not her real name) came back the day after we first saw her,” explained Steve, one of the physicians on the team. “Perhaps it was the prayer … perhaps it was the headache that brought her back. She sat down, responded to a couple of questions about her mother-in -law and started talking to us about her headaches.”

The previous day she had come in with her family. Upon realizing there were no more treatment options available for her mother-in-law, the team prayed briefly with her.

As Steve began asking about the things that might be triggers for a headache, he learned about some hard issues within Elina’s family.

“Then I started to explain about physical hearts and emotional, spiritual hearts,” he continued. “As I ventured nearer the possibly forbidden themes for a visitor from outside—in a valley with 25,000 followers of Muhammad and nary a one of Jesus—it became harder and harder for me to try to explain how badly I would love for her to know Jesus.”

“Elina said that as a child she had heard of Isa (Jesus) and had begun to follow Him. She came from a town that had a few believers … but later she married a man from another valley where nobody knew [the Lord].”

“She said she even had a copy of the New Testament … and sometimes read parts of it, but she had a hard time understanding it,” Steve recounted. “I asked the Father to help her understand the Word and welcome Jesus into her heart. I prayed that He might bring her peace in the middle of her troubles.”

“[My translator] prayed, and then I asked Elina to pray, to ask Jesus to come to her and help her understand. She prayed a faltering but purpose-driven prayer. Certainly my desire for her was to have the strength to stand as the only [believer] in the valley.”

Challenges Remain

The next day was even more challenging than the previous one because, in a creative-access country, some people in the community had already begun to complain about the mentions of Jesus, so the doctors had to be careful about what they said.

But even in that environment, more opportunities to pray for burdens and peace were presented to members of the team. They all came away realizing that the Holy Spirit had truly been with them during their visit, and He continues to work in their hearts.

Pray that all of those who expressed an interest in knowing Jesus would be strengthened and find fellowship so they can grow in the knowledge of the truth. And thank the Lord for a team of professionals willing to give of their time and talents to be instruments of His grace.

Source: Reach Beyond