At the Dentist

Last Sunday (August 4th) Mercy Trucks rolled into town. Mercy Trucks is a Christian ministry that is a mobile dentistry clinic providing basic dental care to those who would not otherwise be able to go to the dentist. Here in Ukraine many dentists and doctors will not treat people from the disabled homes or people with HIV so this was filling a huge need. Natalie arranged for them to set up shop at Boorie Ooglie where they provided dental care for the residents. The residents of Green Pastures (the women's version of Boorie Ooglie) and some children from the baby orphanage were brought in for care as well. For more information about Mercy Trucks you can visit www.mercytrucksukraine.org. We were extremely busy and all hands were on deck putting in 12 hour days. It is a very large operation where each day there would be about 25 volunteers, including 5 to 6 doctors, plus other volunteers providing lunch, running errands and whatever else was needed. Because of my lack of Russian I was not able to communicate with most of the doctors or patients so I was given the job of cleaning and sterilizing the tools.

I haven't heard the final numbers but I think we saw between 400 and 500 people from Monday to Saturday. The day that the children came they also got a visit from Doctor Clown. Doctor Clown is a programme of the Shelter Plus Centre where people dress up as clowns and go to entertain children in the hospitals around the city. My friend Igor is one of the clowns in the programme so he came to help out so that the children wouldn't be scared of the dentists. I think he was a hit with some of the Boorie Ooglie men as well.

This week I hope to catch up on some much needed sleep. Adding to the 12 hour days I had a flood in the kitchen one night. It seemed like I had to wake up half of Krivoy Rog in the middle of the night to get assistance with it - translator, plumber, land lady, building staff, etc. The upstairs neighbour must have left something running and it all came down into my kitchen. But thankfully it was clear water and the only damage was wall paper peeling off of the wall which can be re-glued once the wall is completely dry. One advantage of having brick walls everywhere is that water won't ruin it like it ruins gyp-rock. So needless to say after this past week I badly need to catch up with myself.

I can hardly believe that I'll be in Kyrgyzstan in 3 weeks. The time is fast approaching for me to be on the move again. I'll talk more in another blog entry of my hopes and plans for when I am there.

Again, If you would like to help me to provide some activities, to fill needs, or to help with my own support please consider sending a gift. I am not able to do what I do without your help which is greatly appreciated. On the right side of the blog is a "donate now" button where you can make an on line donation through LinK 127. You can also click the "ways to donate" tab at the top of the page for more giving options. Please remember to specify that your donation is for me and advise what you would like me to use your gift for. Every dollar counts towards showing love to those who really need to see God's love in action.

I really appreciate your continued prayers and support. Thank you for seeing my heart. Till next time… Я люблю тебя!

It was the biggest show in town.  People would line up to watch what was going on.

On his back says Doctor Clown

Busy as it was there was always time for a tickle break

Again watching what was going on

Just a few of the volunteers