It’s a sunny day in Thailand, and a silver Toyota truck pulls into a village. A man working in the fields notices this unfamiliar truck. The driver greets him in Burmese. The man is startled, but a huge smile comes across his face when he recognizes a husband-and-wife doctor and nurse team*, whom he had seen running a clinic in another village. The man had run out of medication, and he knew the arrival of this couple meant he could get the medication he needed.
Fast forward to a week later in that same small village. There’s excitement because The Crumpton-Delaware Mobile Clinic (TCDMC) is there. TCDMC is a project supported by the Delaware Avenue church and Bottles 4 Life (B4L) Inc., a nonprofit run by one of the church elders. The residents are very happy that now their village is a regular stop on TCDMC’s route.
TCDMC began operating in March 2023 and stops in various villages three days a week. The doctor and nurse are from Myanmar; they fled to Thailand after the military coup in 2021. When the doctor heard about an opportunity to work for an unconventional clinic, he and his wife decided to take a risk to help those in need. For them, this is a way of supporting the efforts of the people who are fighting to regain a democracy in Myanmar. Working with Sabbath-keepers is new for them, but they have joined in Sabbath worships since they have started.
“The clinic is a great help to the people, as access to proper medical care is hard to come by due to the risk and financial loss associated with going to a hospital or clinic in town,” said Fedly Bonneau, founder of B4L. “Most of the patients are undocumented, working on farms to earn a living. They lose a day’s wages traveling to the nearest clinic, plus they pay a day’s wages in transportation cost.”
TCDMC has seen more than 600 patients, with almost 50% being seen 4-5 times. Many patients are seen for things like severe hypertension, diabetes keto acidosis, valvular heart disease, cirrhosis of the liver, and hepatocellular carcinoma.
“We share health education to all patients in every visit, including tips from NEWSTART,” Bonneau said, “because prevention is key to a healthy life.”
One patient with a leg ulcer could barely walk when she visited TCDMC for the first time. For five months after the ulcer first developed, she wasn’t planning to seek medical help because of difficulties with transportation to a clinic. TCDMC was able to get her to the general hospital for an operation.
TCDMC’s impact in Thailand is a result of the “Greater to Global” initiative of the Greater Los Angeles Region (GLAR) of the Southern California Conference. In 2019, Royal Harrison, GLAR director, traveled to Thailand to establish the initiative, which has inspired churches like Delaware Avenue to support mission work in Thailand and other parts of the world.
The local pastor, Nelson Po, sometimes drives the doctor and nurse to the villages and does evangelism in those same villages. A few of the patients have been baptized due to his efforts. “We see God working,” Po said, “and we pray the work can continue and more people can be baptized and live healthier lives.”
*The names of the doctor and nurse have been omitted and their photos obscured for their safety.
