Scott Lang, an emergency medical technician, and his wife, Robyn, a nurse, treat a child at the Chhuk clinic in Cambodia during a 2007 medical mission from New Life Center Foursquare Church.
A team from New Life Foursquare Church, including medical professionals and support staff, recently met to prepare for a trip to Cambodia to work at a medical outreach clinic through Aug. 15. Pictured from left, back row, are: Jeff Beardsley, Peggy Beardsley, Scott Lang, Robyn Lang, Patrick Garrity, Jennifer Palmer, Mike Mosman, Fred Davis, David Swale, Fred Hawley, Linda Mattoon, Kari Smith and Greg Betts. Front row from left are: Jannae Epp, Calley Yeadon, Brielle Hibma, Katie Fannin, Ariel Higuera, Susan Bearce, Jamie Hatleberg, Louida Brown and team leader Rick Sawczuk. MiChelle Moore and Van Phan, who joined the team late, are not pictured.Herald Net
By Leita Crossfield
Herald Writer
EVERETT -- Some people just jump right in.
That's what MiChelle Moore and Van Phan did.
Early Friday morning, the two Everett nurses boarded a plane together and headed to Cambodia.
For Moore and Pham, getting on the plane was nothing short of a miracle. Until Wednesday, neither woman knew she was going to the southeastern Asian country.
But then, miracles are the point.
Phan and Moore were headed to Cambodia as part of a missions team made up of 32 medical professionals and support staff that New Life Foursquare Church was sending to Pursat, Cambodia. The team plans to work at a medical outreach clinic from Monday to Aug. 15.
Moore, who had never traveled overseas, didn't get her passport until 11 a.m. Wednesday. Somehow, she was able to get the document at the Seattle Passport Agency at the Jackson Federal Building in Seattle within a day; the process can sometimes take weeks.
Both women also managed to get their airline tickets -- the trip cost $3,000 apiece -- within days of the departure date.
It was a trip where everything fell into place, Moore said.
This time she couldn't back out.
"I thought about it last year but I don't do hot, I don't do bugs and I don't do planes," she said.
So she didn't go.
"I felt really called last year and I was really disappointed that I backed out," Moore said.
So after finding out about the trip on Sunday, Moore, 42, a registered nurse, had all her shots, a passport and plane tickets -- all within a few days.
"I was so scared," she said. "I have never felt the presence of God in such a tangible way. Honestly when I got off the phone with Rick, I thought, 'No way.' I was so scared, so I said, 'OK, God, seriously it's going to have to be so stinking easy for me -- truly, God.'
"Then, Rick Sawczuk, New Life's outreach pastor, and the trip's team leader, called to tell her she was on the same flight as the rest of the team. That sealed the deal.
About the bugs? On Thursday afternoon, Moore was dipping the clothes she planned to take in a mosquito repellent, hoping they'd dry in time for the trip.
Phan, 68, decided to go on the missions trip after Moore called her to tell her she was going. Phan and Moore had worked together at Physicians Eye Center in Everett.
Phan spent the first 17 years of her life in Cambodia. Now, she'll celebrate her 69th birthday there. Thirty-three years ago, Phan escaped to Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and eventually ended up in America, where she raised her five daughters alone. Her husband was murdered by the communists the night her family was trying to leave the country. At the time, her oldest child was 14, her youngest just 20 months, Phan said.
"I'm Christian," Phan said. "I told MiChelle when my kids can take care of themselves, I'll go help others."Phan went to the bank on Thursday to have money changed into small bills so she could buy items from the children she knew she would see on the streets, she said.
Fred Hawley, a medical doctor in private practice in Arlington, is going on the trip. Now that his two children are older, he said, it's time.
Hawley expects to be treating myriad conditions, he said.
"I've spoken at length with others. You don't know exactly what you'll treat before you go," he said from his office in Arlington on Thursday. "Infections and wounds are common problems -- and injuries."
Hawley said he expects to treat malaria and other illnesses.
When the team arrives in Pursat, at the tent city that has been temporarily set up for the two-week clinic, they will be working with members of Warm Blankets International and Foursquare Children of Promise, nongovernmental organizations that work with orphans and are part of the Foursquare Cambodia outreach. The team expects to treat anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people, some who will arrive by donkey cart from 40 miles away, and most who have never seen a doctor, especially not a Western doctor, Sawczuk said.
They plan to give everyone they see a month's supply of multivitamins and de-worming pills.
On Thursday, Sawczuk was rushing around, making last-minute preparations -- including helping to load trucks with some of the 130 suitcases, filled with medicines, including 400,000 multivitamins, his team planned to take to Cambodia.
Sawczuk organized the trip to give medical professionals an opportunity to use their skills in missions work, he said.
Other than a few groups such as Doctors Without Borders, there are not enough organized trips specifically for medical professionals where they can go to serve countries in need, he said.
Next year, Sawczuk hopes his team will include 35 to 40 people. Hopefully, they won't wait until the last minute to decide to go.
If they do, Sawczuk will be ready.
"There's never a dull moment, I have to make room for the unexpected," he said.
Herald Writer
EVERETT -- Some people just jump right in.
That's what MiChelle Moore and Van Phan did.
Early Friday morning, the two Everett nurses boarded a plane together and headed to Cambodia.
For Moore and Pham, getting on the plane was nothing short of a miracle. Until Wednesday, neither woman knew she was going to the southeastern Asian country.
But then, miracles are the point.
Phan and Moore were headed to Cambodia as part of a missions team made up of 32 medical professionals and support staff that New Life Foursquare Church was sending to Pursat, Cambodia. The team plans to work at a medical outreach clinic from Monday to Aug. 15.
Moore, who had never traveled overseas, didn't get her passport until 11 a.m. Wednesday. Somehow, she was able to get the document at the Seattle Passport Agency at the Jackson Federal Building in Seattle within a day; the process can sometimes take weeks.
Both women also managed to get their airline tickets -- the trip cost $3,000 apiece -- within days of the departure date.
It was a trip where everything fell into place, Moore said.
This time she couldn't back out.
"I thought about it last year but I don't do hot, I don't do bugs and I don't do planes," she said.
So she didn't go.
"I felt really called last year and I was really disappointed that I backed out," Moore said.
So after finding out about the trip on Sunday, Moore, 42, a registered nurse, had all her shots, a passport and plane tickets -- all within a few days.
"I was so scared," she said. "I have never felt the presence of God in such a tangible way. Honestly when I got off the phone with Rick, I thought, 'No way.' I was so scared, so I said, 'OK, God, seriously it's going to have to be so stinking easy for me -- truly, God.'
"Then, Rick Sawczuk, New Life's outreach pastor, and the trip's team leader, called to tell her she was on the same flight as the rest of the team. That sealed the deal.
About the bugs? On Thursday afternoon, Moore was dipping the clothes she planned to take in a mosquito repellent, hoping they'd dry in time for the trip.
Phan, 68, decided to go on the missions trip after Moore called her to tell her she was going. Phan and Moore had worked together at Physicians Eye Center in Everett.
Phan spent the first 17 years of her life in Cambodia. Now, she'll celebrate her 69th birthday there. Thirty-three years ago, Phan escaped to Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and eventually ended up in America, where she raised her five daughters alone. Her husband was murdered by the communists the night her family was trying to leave the country. At the time, her oldest child was 14, her youngest just 20 months, Phan said.
"I'm Christian," Phan said. "I told MiChelle when my kids can take care of themselves, I'll go help others."Phan went to the bank on Thursday to have money changed into small bills so she could buy items from the children she knew she would see on the streets, she said.
Fred Hawley, a medical doctor in private practice in Arlington, is going on the trip. Now that his two children are older, he said, it's time.
Hawley expects to be treating myriad conditions, he said.
"I've spoken at length with others. You don't know exactly what you'll treat before you go," he said from his office in Arlington on Thursday. "Infections and wounds are common problems -- and injuries."
Hawley said he expects to treat malaria and other illnesses.
When the team arrives in Pursat, at the tent city that has been temporarily set up for the two-week clinic, they will be working with members of Warm Blankets International and Foursquare Children of Promise, nongovernmental organizations that work with orphans and are part of the Foursquare Cambodia outreach. The team expects to treat anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 people, some who will arrive by donkey cart from 40 miles away, and most who have never seen a doctor, especially not a Western doctor, Sawczuk said.
They plan to give everyone they see a month's supply of multivitamins and de-worming pills.
On Thursday, Sawczuk was rushing around, making last-minute preparations -- including helping to load trucks with some of the 130 suitcases, filled with medicines, including 400,000 multivitamins, his team planned to take to Cambodia.
Sawczuk organized the trip to give medical professionals an opportunity to use their skills in missions work, he said.
Other than a few groups such as Doctors Without Borders, there are not enough organized trips specifically for medical professionals where they can go to serve countries in need, he said.
Next year, Sawczuk hopes his team will include 35 to 40 people. Hopefully, they won't wait until the last minute to decide to go.
If they do, Sawczuk will be ready.
"There's never a dull moment, I have to make room for the unexpected," he said.
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