Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
This past Sunday continued in the mission emphasis with Dr. Steve Ayers, a welding engineering professor at LeTourneau University in Longview, TX, giving a presentation about his recent trip to Bangaladesh. The purpose of the trip was the LEGS (LeTourneau Engineering Global Solutions) project. The mission of the LEGS project is to design and bring low cost prothetics to patients in developing areas.
Steve mentioned that although Bangaladesh is a very beautiful country, the poverty is extreme. Cities are very congested and run down. The country of Bangaladesh is 83% Muslim and 16% Hindu. Christians are a very small minority and viewed as second class citizens.
The arrival in Bangaladesh went fairly smooth. One customs inspector asked to x-ray their tool chest and passed them over to another inspector for a detailed inspection. However, the chest of tools was placed at the bottom and a crate full of empty water bottles was the first opened and the inspector decided to let them go. Steve said that when the first inspector saw them being let go, he started to head their way, but the team grabbed their bags and were gone!
They arrived at a Memorial Christian Hospital in Malumghat that was started by some Baptists a number of years ago. Steve was told a story that at one time, the Muslims wanted to get rid of the hospital and managed to get a crowd riled up across the street. As they started across the street to burn the hospital down, a bus careened through the crowd, killing seven and injuring numerous others. The hopital staff immediately came out to tend to the very men who were set on destroying them. Since that time, there has never been any additional problems with the Muslims.
The team worked on six patients. Each had their own story, but one that sticks out in my mind was the story of Shimul Dhar, age 17. He had slipped on a banana peel and cut his foot. The injury had become infected and the doctors decided to amputate his leg. That is truly third world surgery, folks.
The team managed to locate all the materials needed to complete six prothetics. Part of the project is working closely with local doctors to convey the technology for things like the knee joint and techniques to fine tune the prothetics to each patient.
Overall, it was a very interesting presentation. You can read more about the LEGS project by clicking on the link above.
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