Mercy Trucks Ukraine

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Or, "How to Build a Tooth From Spare Parts"

When God called our family to serve as missionaries in Ukraine we had many questions. Perhaps the biggest question was "Why us?" God knew our hearts for children, particularly orphans in Eastern Europe, but we had no specific answer to "Why?" So when this young Ukrainian stepped into the Mercy Truck recently and said he knew why we are here, he got my attention.

We were outside Mukachevo in Western Ukraine, working along side YWAM Ternopil and a local Ukrainian church to reach the families of this Gypsy camp. I first visited with Gypsies in the village of Sabatano two years ago. I was moved by their plight and was thrilled to be serving this particular people group of Ukraine where such a big part of my heart is.

"So, WHY are we here?" we asked through our translator. "You are here to give me a tooth," he said, smiling to reveal a gap where one front tooth had rotted to the root. Then he told us he was getting married in less than a month! Dr. Richard and I just looked at each other with knowing glances. This year I have learned enough about dentistry and what we can and can not do, to know we did not have the tools or a lab to produce a false tooth. I've seen God perform miracles and our dentists do amazing things, but create a tooth? I think Dr. Richard was thinking the same thing! But, we also knew this young man who leads worship in his church, writes and performs his own songs of worship to God, had been praying and asking God for that tooth for his wedding day. We don't always know the ways of God, but I do know that we operate on His direction and leading and that we were there because God wanted us to be. It is possible that this was His plan and purpose. He could simply be answering the prayer of one of His own. The Marine Reach/Mercy Trucks motto is "Our Hands, God's Heart". It was God?s heart; all we had to do was be His hands?. Easier said than done!

We have chosen to not display all the photos of this dental procedure because they are very graphic. If you would like to view them, please follow the link at the end of this post.

Where to start? With prayer of course! And pray we did, that God would guide us and show Richard the very things he would need to know to build the tooth. Next was to find what parts we had lying around the Truck that could be used to build a tooth. I was reminded of the movie, Apollo 13, when the scientists at NASA had to build a CO2 filter out of spare parts floating around inside the Apollo spacecraft. We considered everything we could lay our hands on, even the contents of the truck tool box! It was agreed that a root post (support base) could be made out of a burr (a dental drill bit), kind of like rebar in the building of a foundation. To build the tooth we would use a photopolymer material used for fillings. Dr. Richard used the dental drill with diamond filling bits to cut and shape the burr into a root post to build the tooth on. Over the next couple hours, adding layer upon layer, the tooth emerged where there was none before. After shaping, sanding and polishing, the tooth was indistinguishable from its neighbor. With His creativity and leading and our hands, God answered a prayer. We knew this was not a long term solution. We told Sergey not to open Coke bottles with his new tooth, and he agreed. It may last months or even years...we just don't know. But we know Sergey will be smiling a on his wedding day!

Through this procedure God was glorified that day. He revealed himself to be a God who loves us so very much that not only did He give His one and only son, but He hears and answers our prayers and still performs miracles, even in 2007 in Mukachevo Ukraine!

PHOTOS OF PROCEDURE CLICK HERE

Anyone who has ever been involved in Christian rehabilitation centers and ministry, knows the reality of the awesome work of God in changing lives of people bound by addiction. I first saw the work of God in the rehabilitation of broken lives during our work with Good Samaritan Ministries of Zhitomir in one of their centers last year. For our most recent outreach we were partnered with "Life" Center, a Christian rehabilitation center for men on the outskirts of Kyiv.

During their time in rehabilitation the men of the center reside in a beautiful, brand new building. Though many of the rooms are not completed, and there is still much work to be done, it's a beautiful facility. Some of the funding for the center is generated by an onsite CTO (auto service center). The service center has two complete bays, one with a hydraulic lift, and another with a modern bay reminiscent of my Jiffy Lube back home. Their location on a major Kyiv highway insures a constant stream of clients, not to mention word of mouth. Work at the service center is part of the rehabilitation process and teaches the program participants a trade. While on location at the center we were treated to wonderful meals and fellowship with the men in residence. They gave us the one gift they could for our time caring for their dental needs?they serviced the engine and performed maintenance on the Mercy Truck. They blessed us immensely and refused to accept a single Kopec (cent) for parts or for their hours of work.


The men themselves were a blessing to us, and told us the most amazing stories of God's healing them of drug and alcohol abuse and disease, restoring their broken families and turning them from lives of crime. Combined with the realities of their difficult lives were the added pressures of living in a post Soviet country with a depressed economy, corrupt government and no social services or help for chemically dependent men and women. These men who were saved and healed by the work of God, exhibit a light that shines through their scared faces and bodies. A light that shines through eyes that have seen too much of the darker side of life and have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. What a blessing to be able to see the life changing power of God.

But as titled, this blog is more about God changing hearts. Not only the hearts of those we serve, but also the hearts of the servants. One of the things I have come to appreciate most about ministry work over the past two years in Ukraine is seeing God work in those who serve. I was blessed once again to see his hand at work in one of our own. Though our main focus of Mercy Trucks Ukraine is to serve the most needy children, God has presented us with unique opportunities to stretch beyond that focused calling into other parts of society here. Such was the case when we were approached by the ministry of "Life" Center. As we met to discuss and prepare for the outreach it became obvious that Dr. Ina was less than excited about the upcoming trip. Who could blame her? This is not our regular type of outreach. It comes with some unique and very difficult dental needs and dangerous risks to the team's health.

Unfortunately drug abuse takes its toll directly on bones and teeth causing the dental situation to deteriorate significantly. Extractions become time consuming and difficult searches for tooth shards as the teeth seemingly just crumble during extraction. In addition, some of these men have contracted some of the scariest contagious diseases known. Herpes, hepatitis, TB and HIV are potential risks for us all. As a team we take extra precautions to protect ourselves, including double gloving, double masking and added wet and dry suction. Above all we operate with the protection of the Lord over our work and us.

However, Dr. Ina made it clear that she would prefer to leave this outreach to Dr. Richard and me and she would be happy when we returned to the orphanages. But despite her fears, Dr. Ina was there the first morning ready to begin. As our work progressed, I noticed her conversations with the patients getting lengthier and more emotional. Then after a short period I could hear the obvious Russian words for "God" and "Jesus." Soon Dr. Ina was handing out Russian copies from our book cabinet of Loren Cunningham?s Is That Really You God?. Between the patients Dr. Ina would share with Dr. Richard and me bits and pieces of her conversations with these former addicts and her amazement at their openness of their love of the Lord. After all, these men have been saved from almost certain death and are very obviously new creations. Hearing them speak of the Lord is such an open and convicted manner had a huge impact on Dr Ina. She went through a heart changing time during outreach. She was instrumental in pushing for getting the guys into the Opperation Blessing CBN Clinic for additional and ongoing work. This is huge, because like Mercy Trucks Ukraine, the CBN Clinics focus is children. They had made an exception in their policy to accept these men. Dr. Ina now has a heart for these men and seeing that their dental needs continue to be met between Mercy Truck visits. Indeed, God has once again changed a heart.

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