mPower Approach recently partnered with Barefoot Doctors in Myanmar. The following includes excerpts from their newsletter. We thought it was a great representation of who we are and what we do, so, we wanted to share it with you.
Some might wonder why we need medicine to preach the Gospel. Myanmar, formerly Burma, recently opened up to Western eyes. The people there suffer from political turmoil, decades-long battles between rebel and government forces, as well as ranking lowest globally for medical care. With such desperate conditions, the Barefoot Doctors, who have been trained medically and spiritually, are able to help people in need. They become doctors for entire communities. When individuals receive healing, the whole community respects the Barefoot Doctor and listens to what they have to say. This opens tremendous doors for them to share the Gospel message.
The Barefoot Doctors are able to penetrate areas where others cannot go. Outsiders are forbidden to go into villages in restricted areas. However, through the local leaders’ requests, Barefoot Doctors are allowed into sensitive areas and are able to treat the sick and share the good news of Jesus Christ. At the same time, they are able to encourage and spiritually revive the Christians who live in these difficult and remote areas.
An mPower Approach team of dentists recently trained eight Barefoot Doctors. The students learned the concepts of preventive dentistry, how to give injections and extract teeth. They began with basic dental anatomy, basic terminology, the four parts of a tooth, tooth identification and numbering. After a day and a half of lectures, the instructors have the students give each other injections. The next day they began extracting teeth under close supervision. The next three days the students saw over 100 patients and extracted 145 teeth. Many of these patients were non-Christians who had the opportunity to hear the Gospel for the first time.
