Medical Mission

It was a special day in the community of Cuatro, Philippines on July 2, when over 150 volunteers gathered at the JCCV to offer a free medical and dental clinic, as well as the opportunity to hear God’s Word, to the members of the village. The clinic, sponsored by the First Filipino Baptist Church out of Bayonne, NJ, in the United States, is a continuation of a ministry that was started in 1997 by Pastor Ulysses Marino, known as the ‘Blessed to Bless Medical Mission’. During the day, 460 adults and children of the Cuatro community were served and 218 made a decision to follow Christ.

The FFBC ‘B2B Medical Mission’, which served several Filipino communities from June 27- July 4, started with a vision. Pastor Uly, as he is known to his congregation, and a native-born Filipino, took a suitcase full of medical supplies up into the mountains of Mindanao in 1997 and came back home with a few stories to tell and plans for future visits. The subsequent trip, which occurred two years later, included 16 members of the church he serves in New Jersey. And today, nearly half of his church membership comes to the Philippines to offer medical supplies and care every other year. “We are part of a foundation of four organization and I am so encouraged every time I come back,’ said Medino. ‘We have already far surpassed any goal we set out for ourselves this trip. Our first day we served over 1000 people and over 600 were saved.”

“It has been a real blessing to work with Jeff Long and all the volunteers at the Kids International Ministry here in Cuatro,” said Pastor Uly. “I am always so moved to see people from all walks of life come together for a greater purpose – to reflect God’s love for all. And it has been such a blessing to witness first-hand God’s own hand in so many seemingly random coincidences, but are really no coincidences at all,” he said with a smile. “One day, I was sitting in the local mall waiting to meet Steve Mirpuri, the local pastor in Cuatro, when a young girl approached me asking if I would like to buy the street magazine, Jeepney. I told her I was very interested in the magazine, bought a copy and put it aside. When Steve joined me, he told me of all the amazing work that God was doing in and through the Kids International Ministry, including sponsoring and homing the Jeepney Magazine. The minute he said it, he looked over and saw the copy that I had purchased and hollered, that’s it, that’s the magazine I’m talking about. I love those kinds of ‘coincidences’ because you realize God’s reach is far and all-encompassing!”

Accompanied by a team of doctors, nurses, dentists, spiritual counselors and other volunteers, the medical mission goes into some of the most desperate of communities here in the Philippines. On July 1, they went into the slum known as Payatas, in Quezon City, a place where over 300,000 people live and fight over the trash that serves as the foundation for the shanties they have erected for their families. These shanties are built in and around the trash ‘mountain’ where nearly 6000 garbage trucks dump their haul each and every day. Eva Medalla, a registered nurse with the mission saw the reality of the last trip and her life was forever changed by what she saw. “I am burdened by the desperation around me here and I can no longer live without telling everyone I know what is happening. This is awful to recount, but I saw a little boy who, when he coughed, coughed up a worm. I couldn’t believe it. It broke my heart. This reality must change,” said Medalla. Nay Santa Ana, a first-time volunteer to this mission echoes Medalla, “After seeing the conditions in Payatas, I am convinced that if we do not give to missions, we are sinning. I can never again complain about anything. Whenever there is a chance to help, I will challenge others, with all my heart,” she added.

Melody Del Rosario, the church’s music director, came with her whole family. Even her youngest of her 3 children had roles to fulfill during the mission, helping out in the pharmacy. “Our church’s heartbeat is missions,” said Del Rosario, “everyone takes part. We have a membership of 90 and yet we serve over 100 missions and seminary students. More missions are supported than we have members.”

It takes 2 years for FFBC and its other partners to raise the funds for the mission, but everyone takes part in the fundraising and they organize many fundraising events such as the ‘Sacrificial Dinner’ where a dinner, accompanied by skits, music and a special program presented by the children of the church is offered.

The next mission is scheduled to take place in 2011 when they will again visit Cuatro with their offers of medicine, care, love and God’s Word. You can find out more by visiting the First Filipino Baptist Church website at http://www.ffbcnj.com/. There you will find a link with all the information pertaining to the “Blessed to Bless Medical Mission”, including how many were served as well as the number of people who came to know Christ’s love for them and made decisions to follow Him.
by: Pamela Arzel