Feature

by Lisa Hezmalhalch

Youngman...was nervous from the pressure of holding people's lives in her hands.

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They Skipped Missions
Conference to Serve

Between seizures, a sick baby hangs limp in Jenni Youngman's hands. Anthony Hellerstedt was emotionally overwhelmed and had to leave the room
after praying for the baby. --Jenni Youngman, photo

During Multnomah Bible College's missions conference, 10 Multnomah Bible College students voyaged to five countries to learn missions experientially, not just academically. Below is a glimpse into lessons learned, memories made and sicknesses salved.

Jenni Youngman, Anthony Hellerstedt and Stephanie Davison stepped off their plane into the severe heat of Sierra Leone, West Africa. The three were there to participate in a medical clinic along with a group from Jefferson Baptist in Jefferson, Ore. While on the trip, Youngman, a registered nurse, played the part of a clinician, diagnosing everything from malaria to ear infections and prescribing medication.

Youngman had never had those responsibilities before and was nervous from the pressure of holding people's lives in her hands.

While there. Youngman set and cast her first broken arm. The injured man had fallen out of a palm tree a month prior. The bone was protruding from his forearm, causing an infection. Youngman cleaned and dressed the wound and gave the man a shot for the infection.

Youngman had another first that day -- performing surgery. She removed a cyst from a man's leg. "I don't know if a lot of people would qualify that as fun, but it was a blast for me," Youngman said.

But not everything that day was as exciting as surgery and fractures. She saw a 9-month-old baby with malnutrition.

The baby weighed 9 pounds and, according to Youngman, is now probably dead.

Another baby Youngman encountered was so sick her little body was wracked with seizures. When the baby wasn't seizing, she hung limp in Youngman's arms.

Youngman said the Lord strengthened her during this time as she learned to rely on him. "Each day felt like going into a battle field," she said.

"I was strengthened, but my heart hurt because of the people."

Paul Pastor, Patrick Sellin and Tim Lopez embarked on a ministry tour of what Josiah Venture missionaries are doing in Slovenia and Croatia in Eastern Europe.

While there, Pastor, Sellin and Lopez had three goals. They wanted to learn everything that they could about Josiah Venture, support the missionaries they met and see if the Lord might be leading them into missions work.

Pastor was struck by the religious culture of Slovenia where people are culturally Catholic but atheistic in practice.

However, when they do commit their lives fully to Christ, Pastor said, it is an important decision. Pastor met one teen on a youth retreat in the Alps. The young man was not a believer but was learning Bible study methods from his youth pastor. His recent assignment was to study Christ's claim to rebuild the temple in three days. After studying the passage, he came to the realization that Christ was referring to his body, not the temple.

"It's important for Slovenians to get to know Christ before coming to Christ," Pastor said.

"They treat it as seriously as they would a marriage."

On the way back to the United States, Sellin was stuck at the airport because he lost his passport. He spent two extra days in Slovenia before being issued an emergency passport from the U.S. Consulate.

Rob Hildebrand and his wife, Leslie, escorted Steve Day, Melissa Morris, Angelina Jones and Tim Elliot across the Atlantic Ocean to Germany. The team led the worship and teaching programs during a youth retreat for Malachi Ministries.

"We were there to put on a retreat and to give the youth leaders time with the kids," Day said.

While on the trip, Day led worship, helped with games and taught two seminars, Passion of Pursuit and Theology 101.

Day tried to make theology interesting for the teen-agers in his seminars. He taught on the image of God found in man, the love of God and the transformation and the brokenness of the Christian life.

"The biggest thing I learned is that there's power in programming," Day said. "I think God can move much better in your ministry if you prepare well."

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