Sowing by Grace Demonstrating and proclaiming the Truth with compassion Volume 6, Number 1
features 3 Volume 6 Number 1 US Address: GDMMissions 150 Cross Street Methuen, MA 01844 Phone: 978.454.6710 E-mail: office@gdmmissions.org www.gdmmissions.org 4 6 8 10 11 President: Jack Mitchell Executive Director: Bryan Bell Editor: Michael Vetter Design/Layout: Bryan Bell, Ray Toomey On the Web Sowing by Grace is available online at www.gdmmissions.org/ sowing.html Permissions & Rights We encourage GDMMissions supporters to use material from Sowing by Grace to mobilize churches and individuals for missions. Permission is granted to copy or excerpt material as published without photos for non-commercial purposes as long as this publication is credited as the source. All other rights are reserved by GDMMissions, and permission for other commercial or non-commercial use requires written permission. by Grace Dental and Medical Missions, Inc.
What A Year! by Michael Vetter, Editor And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles. (Acts 14:27, AV) The New Testament church at Antioch must have rejoiced for days after they heard Paul and his friends recount the wonderful things that God did through them among the Gentiles in Asia in their missionary journey. When we reflect on what God has done through GDMMissions during this past year of our missionary journey, we praise God as well for His great provision and faithfulness. Hundreds, even thousands, around the world heard of Jesus love for them preached at dental and medical clinics. GDMMissions is eager to see even greater works by our wonderful God in the coming years. First, we re thankful to God for the outpouring of gifts for Philippines disaster relief in early 2014 that resulted in many supplies and two medical missions to the islands. Today, a Bible preacher and his wife are ministering in Samar with a view toward starting one or more small local churches from among people saved after the typhoon. The Benin clinic building in Boiffo is taking shape to be completed by the end of 2015. An article in this issue on building progress shows the shape and size of the structure for the first time and we praise God for raising all the funds needed for construction. As contributions of medical supplies and equipment continue to fill storage facilities in the U.S., we prepare to send a shipping container to Benin later this summer. Not only did God graciously provide for clinic facilities, but He also called a full-time medical missionary couple to set up operations and lead the medical evangelism outreach in Benin. Dr. Steve Boutrus and his wife Kat are uniquely qualified for this task after years of medical training and short-term missionary experience. Be sure to read Dr. Steve s article about their goals for this new ministry. We are also happy that Tracy Boutrus, RN, joined GDMMissions as an Associate Missionary. She brings us a wealth of crosscultural experience in short-term medical missions. Tracy has a full-time job at a regional hospital and is also an indispensable part of our home office overseeing our medical supply inventory. Read more about Tracy in this issue. A final praise is for the recent purchase of our international headquarters office building which we had rented for the past three years. This wonderful provision allows us to make modifications and expansions to the facility as God allows us to grow. A separate article by Dr. Jack Mitchell explains how God graciously brought us this blessing. Little did believers in Antioch realize at the time that the Apostle Paul s missionary journey rehearsed in Acts 14 was only the first of many outreaches for Christ into the known world. Could they have imagined all the wonderful things that God would do for His name in the years ahead? Our God is still at work preparing and sending His servants into the far reaches of the world with the Gospel. What will He do next with GDMMissions? s Sowing by Grace 3
Raisi An update on Before June, the roof will go on the Benin Clinic building. The roof is a major milestone and marks a transition from laying cement blocks to focusing on finishing the building (plastering, windows and doors installed, floors finished, etc.) But first, installing the roof has its own unique challenges: the roof support system (trusses) is being built by hand using steel angle iron. An erratic power supply in the nearby town of Malanville, where roof trusses are being built, delayed the welding process. Once welded, the next challenge will be transporting the 38 ft. metal skeletons to the work site in the village of Boiffo. Hoisting these metal props on top of the building walls without machinery won t be easy either. We are trusting God for the ingenuity and enough manpower to see the roof completed. As the building moves forward we are also praying for the salvation of workmen from the village engaged in the building process. by Bryan Bell, Executive Director Seeing the clinic structure move from concept to concrete to enclosure has been an exciting testament to the kindness and goodness of our God. God s providence is also evident in the people He has been preparing to work at the clinic. For most of the medical professionals who we anticipate will be part of the staff, the Lord began preparing their hearts for this ministry long before the Benin Clinic was conceived in our minds. Dr. Steve (MD) and Katrina (RN) Boutrus are examples of this divine activity. For over a decade now, God was preparing their lives through education, parental example, local church and missions engagement; now they stand on the threshold to lead a Gospel charge using their skills and energies. Another example of God s wonderful providence is seen in Zakari. This national believer is studying Nursing at a college in the 4 Sowing by Grace
ng the Roof the building of a Gospel tool neighboring country of Niger. His passion is for pastoral ministry and he recognized that serving the Lord full-time in Northern Benin meant that he needed to be bi-vocational. Working at the clinic will provide Zakari with an income while allowing him to engage in a pastoral ministry to patients. Imagine what kind of providence it takes for God to call him and other nationals out from a 99% Muslim environment and direct them to serve in a Gospel-focused ministry. After the clinic building is completed there is still much work to be done. Equipping the clinic is a reality that will soon be upon us. Exam room tables, baby scales, stethoscopes, and weird-sounding instruments like a hemocytometer (for counting cells) are all needed to provide the level of medical care that reflects the God we serve. Already the Lord has provided us with a number of hospital beds and an ultrasound machine, to name a few of the items contributed. You can find a complete list of other equipment and supplies needed at beninclinic.com. Navigate to the top of the home page and click on CLINIC NEEDS. By God s grace we hope to finish the main clinic building by the end of this summer. Within the next couple of months after that, construction will begin on a covered evangelism center building to shelter patients and their families from the sun while they wait to be seen in the clinic. Once the evangelism center is completed we hope to begin clinic operations. A final project will be construction of a house for Dr. Steve and Katrina Boutrus. This was something we hadn t anticipate this soon, but having to build housing for a fulltime missionary doctor and his family is a great problem to have! s Sowing by Grace 5
Medical Missionary Couple to Lead Benin Clinic The Lord first impressed on my heart a desire to use medicine in His service as a means of ministry when I neared the end of high school, after I heard how He had used medicine throughout the history of missions. For that reason, I enrolled in medical school after completing my engineering studies and began to travel on mission trips with the goal of using medicine to reach people with the Gospel. In 2011, while serving on a GDMMissions trip to the Philippines, the Lord led me to my future wife, Katrina, who had studied nursing and also began to travel on frequent medical mission trips. She too felt that the Lord was directing her to use medicine to serve Him in missions. Since our wedding in October, 2013, we ve been praying daily that the Lord would show us whether He would have us to serve Him in overseas missions or in the U.S. In the meantime, I had been working as an emergency medicine physician and we continued to travel frequently on shortterm mission trips. We have served mainly with GDMMissions because we appreciated the emphasis that the mission places on evangelism and discipleship. A few months ago, we agreed that if the Lord showed us a place with significant spiritual need, significant medical need, a pastor or missionary with whom we could work, and the assurance of follow up and discipleship of those who came to know the Lord through the ministry, we would seriously consider whether the Lord was directing us to serve there. by Dr. Steve Boutrus, Missionary In December, 2014, we traveled with GDMMissions on a short-term medical trip to minister to the Dendi people in Northern Benin. While there, we were moved by the immense medical needs which surpassed any we had ever seen, and the great spiritual darkness of people who practice a hybrid of Islam and animism. The local church in the village of Boiffo has encountered many obstacles in attempting to share the Gospel with their neighbors and they have found that medicine is one of the most effective tools for evangelism. Some national believers from the church have subsequently begun nursing school or become medical technicians with the goal of reaching out to their neighbors; but there is still a need for leadership to get the clinic started. Katrina and I both believe that this was God s answer to our prayers about whether and where He would have us to serve Him on the foreign mission field, and it has been exciting to watch God at work. Goals for our ministry are: to establish a mission clinic in Northern Benin that provides every patient the opportunity to hear the Gospel and medical care that is superior to what is locally available; to train local Christians to minister in the clinic; to equip the church to take over the clinic after a couple of years; and to establish a model by which the church can reach out to other villages through mobile medical teams and smaller, remote clinics. s 6 Sowing by Grace
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The of a Dental I by Kalen Hipke, Dental Hygienist am so privileged to have a little corner of this publication to share my story with you! I enjoy reflecting on how God puts all the pieces of our lives together so perfectly. When considering my college options as a high school junior I can honestly say Dental Hygiene hadn t ever crossed my mind. It was my mom who suggested I apply for a short-term trip with GDMMissions, and just see what the Lord would do with the experience. I was accepted on the trip and flew off to Hermosillo, Mexico on a short-term missions trip as part of a team of seven. My official title was Hygiene Assistant (also affectionately known as the Spit Bucket Holder ). I assisted on a wonderful team of fellow believers who love the Lord and wanted to share the Gospel. 8 Sowing by Grace
Making Hygienist I quickly realized that I wanted to be a part of this ministry: using health care to open the door to share the Gospel with those who needed to hear it. There are many people with hurting mouths, but more importantly, there are hurting souls. Upon my return home, I began pursuing a dental hygiene degree. I ve been excited to return to Mexico three more times since graduation. This time, I could actually work with my hands! If I felt my first trip was an eye opener, each year since then has been more so. As I said earlier, there are hurting mouths, but there are hurting souls too. While I am working on a patient s teeth, a friend in Christ is able to share the Gospel with them in Spanish. There is something incredible to someone who only speaks English about hearing the Good News shared in another tongue. I love listening to it, even though I don t understand more than a word here or there. God s Word does not return void, no matter what language, and when someone then makes a profession of faith in Christ, it s even more awesome! Each year that I ve returned to Hermosillo, I ve been so encouraged to see how the local body of believers in that city has grown. New churches are being planted, filled, and built up in Christ. One year we ministered where there was an empty lot and the next year there was a church building! Services are now held regularly, and when our team arrived last time for a clinic, they eagerly invite people in the neighborhood to come hear the Gospel. People are always attracted by novelty of a dental clinic in their neighborhood, but I love to see how the local church members eagerly share truth one-on-one with waiting patients. One of Jesus ministries was healing. He spent time in close proximity to those who had physical needs, touched them, and showed them love. Many of the people He healed also trusted Him as their Savior. I certainly can t heal people, but I can touch them, and I can show them His love. So, while I help their hurting mouths, Jesus can heal their hurting souls. And that s the coolest part! s Sowing by Grace 9
New Mission Office Recounting God s Faithful Provision over 18 Years As I sit in my office today at the mission, it is hard to believe what God has done in just 18 years! It was back in October of 1996 when we had our first Board of Directors meeting gathered around the table in the dining room of our home. The mission had nowhere to call home so our home became home to GDMMissions. We used a rather small area on the first floor of our split level home as headquarters and for the first several years it was very adequate, along with the dining room table for board meetings! However, the mission grew and more space became a necessity, but with little money available for rent, the next best thing became our garage. With the help of many of God s people our garage and adjacent room were renovated and became our expanded mission headquarters. We were then able to keep the dining room table reserved for food as we had adequate room in the new space for our board meetings. by Dr. Jack Mitchell, President However, storage space for all of our needed medical/dental supplies and equipment was becoming a problem and we began to pray that God would help us find more suitable office space. God answered that prayer in 2012 when we were able to rent a former daycare building in a nearby town. At first, we thought we would never be able to fill so much space, but as the Lord has seen fit to continue to grow the mission, we have grown comfortably into our new home. The next prayer request was that we might be able to purchase the rented building rather than renew the expiring lease, at a significant increase in monthly rent. To say God was faithful in answering that request would be an understatement! He burdened a faithful mission friend to finance the purchase and today, as I sit in my office, I am sitting in a building that God has wonderfully provided for our mission, a place we can call our own. We are trusting that God will continue to bless and answer our current prayer that we can pay off our mortgage quickly so that we can be ready for God s next phase of expansion. To God be the glory, great things He has done and continues to do! 10 Sowing by Grace
WelcomingTracy as Associate Missionary GDMMissions is pleased to introduce Tracy Boutrus as our newest Associate Missionary. She was saved at a young age, raised by godly parents, and attends a fundamental, Bibleteaching church. Tracy studied Nursing at UMass Lowell and is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse at Elliot Hospital in Manchester, NH. She has participated in short-term medical mission trips to the Philippines, Micronesia, the Middle East, Africa, and India. In recent years her desire to serve the Lord in medical missions has increased with an interest in using medical clinics to introduce people to the Gospel in different cultures. Tracy is a joy to have on mission trips because she consistently demonstrates a gentleness and compassion for those she is serving, and has shown that she is willing to endure great difficulty for the advance of the Gospel. At GDMMissions home offices, she handles the ordering of medicine and supplies for all GDMMissions trips, a role that she has faithfully carried out for the last three years. She inventories shipment cases after a trip, restocks supplies, and prepares cases for the next trip. She is also GDMMissions point person for the development of an optometry program for our long-term and short-term clinics. Tracy also spends time with people new to the U.S. who wish to learn and practice their English. With her outgoing personality and love for the Lord, she has found that this is an open door to talk about God and the Bible with those who are open to the truth. We are blessed to have Tracy join GDMMissions in our medical evangelism ministry. Her ultimate desire is to serve and glorify the Lord wherever He chooses. Sowing by Grace 11
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