bajmission.com

china
outreach
          2007

June 10, 2007

Hello friends & supporters,

I’ve just returned from two weeks on ministering in China and thought you would enjoy hearing
some highlights.

The outreach trip was part of the on-going work in the Yunnan province of China by the U.S.-based
group Health Yunnan. For a number of years, they have been partnering with national Chinese
doctors to provide health services and education to this struggling area of the country.

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The China trip was awesome but exhausting! Having focused a significant amount of our 16 years in
full-time missions on childhood survival, I thought you would enjoy hearing about a “Big Win” on
this trip.  My main responsibility while in China’s Yunnan Province was to teach on Oral
Rehydration to a variety of healthcare professionals.

The first presentation was to doctors and nurses on the pediatric floor of an 800-bed hospital in
Kunming. I was quite nervous about how to connect with these professionals especially through the
language and cultural barriers. The Lord gave me several ideas on how to bridge the gap, create “felt
need” and even communicate my silly sense of humor. What a blessings to have translators
transferring not just information but also the passion I feel to lowering dehydrational deaths across
the world. (3000 children under the age of 5 die in the world every day due to simple dehydration).
My first hands-on workshop was well received with about 25 hospital staff in attendance. I was
surprised to find that few knew how to prepare homemade Oral Rehydration Drink and that ORD
packets were not readily available.














The “Big Win” started the next evening when we shared dinner with the medical residents and head
nurses. I queried about presentations that they found most helpful and about topics they would find
beneficial when we returned. Several responded how much they enjoyed my class and that they
would hope I would return next year with a willingness to teach the parents of the children on the
pediatric ward. There was some flexibility in the next morning’s schedule, so I quickly volunteered,
“Why wait till next year? I have time tomorrow.” But, then I began thinking; I’ve just trained some
of them. So, I asked, “How about one or two of you teaching as I stand by to assist and answer
questions?” The fingers went in all directions as they kept volunteering fellow staff members, until
two of the head nurses agreed to present the next morning.

It was thrilling to find that the floor nurses had gone room to room to invite the parents and there
were several lingering in the hall anxiously waiting to learn. Lots of giggles poured out as 45+ people
jammed into the conference room to learn from head nurse, Zheng Jin Ping, how to mix the life
saving drink, by sharing containers of water, salt, sugar, and oranges. Some came with toddlers in
their arms and found just how easy it was to give to their child. One Mom was elated and said she
planned on showing her friends just how easy it was to make. After such a successful demonstration,
it was easy to get a positive response to, “Do you think that this is something that the nurses could
teach each week to the parents?”

Lori teaching village doctors in Mengzi                              See-Do-Teach: yesterday’s students of ORT
                                                                                                become today’s new village teachers

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It was a privilege to work alongside of Dr. Diarra Bobacar and to view
his dedication to providing primary health education to rural areas of
China. Our team was invited to teach for two days, the 30 village
doctors who had arrived from outlying communities for a month of
intensive training in Mengzi. Since rural areas of the Yunnan
Providence suffer from the highest infant mortality rate in China, the
ministry group focused on communicating infant CPR, new baby care,
Oral Rehydration, and infectious disease control.

The last day with the rural docs, we joined forces to minister in a
mountain top community. It was a white-knuckled 1½-hour ride as we
traversed the cliffside road. Two of the students were excited to
demonstrate how to mix the homemade Oral Rehydration solution.
They prepared an ORT area, then animatedly shared among the
countryside’s people.

On our last evening with the students, we
experienced a wonderful cross-cultural
exchange. Several of our “New Friends”
arrived in ethnic garb, and entertained us
with their traditional songs and dances while
we humored them with renditions from the
“Sound of Music”. As we were leaving, I was
thrilled to receive two special gifts from one
of my extraordinary students; an ornamental
accent from her elaborate costume and a
long embrace. How exciting it will be to meet
again in heaven, to once again set eyes on her
beautiful smile, and to converse without
language barriers on how great our God is!

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Seven years ago the “Health Yunnan” group was conceived to minister to the hearing-impaired of
China. Much of the organization’s energy has revolved around education on the prevention of
aminoglycoside-induced hearing loss, the fitting of hearing aids and surgical insertion of cochlear
implants. Even though much of the 2007 outreach energy was directed elsewhere there still was a
component concentrated on the deaf community. Firstly, some individuals were fitted with hearing aids.
Secondly, others were screened for potential cochlear implants. Thirdly, I assisted with “Hands and
Hearts” ministry. This work trains and employs deaf citizens in micro-enterprises. They have a
productive woodworking and wonderful sewing business. One of my days in Kunming was spent helping
at the small store they run and teaching a new employee how to paint fabric bags. Back home, my
friend Pat had joined me in sewing tote bags to take to China, and now I was blessed to train Luo Lei
Yun in a new skill. His big smile says it all as he also signs “Good”.

A very grateful Luo Lei Yun learns tote bag painting from Lori

Pray that the Oral Rehydration teaching will continue to spread and save many lives in China.

Feel free to check out the outreach site at  http://healthyunnan.org

Blessings and thank you for your prayers,
Lori Bajkiewicz

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