Joel Bender, a dentist(real one with degree and all) came to visit his old friend, Matt here in Davao. Now Matt thought it good to ask him to train me to be a "guy that extract teeth". Let me tell you guys, this guy is good. Such skill is hard to find and now I had to learn this. I will try to demonstrate to you how to do this. See you first need to inject the guy so that the tooth/teeth can be num. Well see that is easier said than done. You need to put that small needle just in the right spot. Now for adults that is fine but if you need to do that with children is a skill. I was so shaky/scary and really had to concentrate very hard to get it right. First time lucky and from then on I did not looked back. Then you wait for a couple of minutes. Then the fun starts.
Now there is many tools/instruments and everyone have a different function. It is like eating in a 5 star hotel and they give you all the cutlery and you do not know what to take first. Seems that you rather can eat with your hands. Luckily the extractors/forceps looks like pliers and that is easy to recognize. Now you put them over the tooth and you apply pressure. Not so fast , take your time. Let me tell you, your hand is paining and still the tooth is there, as if you did nothing. Pressure to the side change to the other side and back and front. Keep holding the pressure. All of a sudden there is a wonderful sound like something breaking and all of a sudden the tooth is loose. Wow, just as you think you are not making it the tooth comes out. Not allowed to pull, the tooth need to roll out. Jajajajajajajaja, so many things to remember, tuck that elbow in the side otherwise the hand slip and you slam out another good tooth.
Well , just as you think you have it the "humbler" come knocking at your door. You think this is going to be an easy one, ha, never say that. You brake it of at the top and the roots are still stuck in the bottom. Just blood and blood. Then you need to get that diggers/elevators out and start digging. Good thing the tooth is dead and the patient feel nothing. Sooo good if that roots come out. Well if it stay with one or two teeth per mouth it's fine. We had a lady with 25 teeth that we removed. Lucky for her we did first the bottom and she had to come back for the top in the afternoon. Well her gums was so happy you could hear them scream of joy to get rid of those rotten teeth.
The last day, Joel let me do everything and that was so cool. I had to do all the injections and extract the teeth. Now I just need to practice and hope to start soon. Joel gave me a lot of instruments and blessed me so much with all the dentist things that he left me.
Yes, we finished again a week and what a week this was. I am hanging out with a dentist from the States and he is trying to teach me to extract teeth. What a job. We went on a outreach with Scott of House of Joy to some Muslims , that he is ministering to. That was a wonderful time to proclaim God's love over a people that need Him so much. Yesterday I had to look at couple of bad mouths. Ranging from brushed today to never been brushed EVER. Yummy. Well, Joel, the dentist, took no nonsense with the teeth and was pulling teeth from 10am till 4pm. Wow. Well , as for me, I had the opportunity to start of with 4 extractions. Man was I shaky. Holding a pair of "pliers" and hanging on a tooth is something else. Never thought that a dentist have such a tough job. Please have mercy on them next time you visit them.
Looking back many years down the line when I started with Joel, I can see God’s hand in this ministry. After 6 years in the Philippines I pulled more than 30 000 teeth and I can say for sure that is the Lord that was helping me. For anyone who are interested, the record for one days work is as follows. Start at 9am and finish at 6pm. Break for only 30min for lunch. Patient 87 people and extract 316 teeth. Man this is hard work but so rewarding. Many times I had to pull 28 teeth from one person. To pull 20 teeth from a young person is very common here ion the Philippines. The people were so pleased that we could help them that some of them even travel along with me to completely help them out. They ask where I have me following outreach and they will be there then. On top of that we had a friend who will make a pair of dentures for a fraction of the prize for anyone who I pulled their teeth.
We pulled teeth in small clinics, under the sun, in small barangay halls, way up into the mountains with the best views possible. Our outreaches brought us over mountains deep into remote areas where we met the most beautiful people ever imagine. Everywhere we could see the benefit of this ministry. To see someone with bad teeth is no good thing. To know they cannot afford to pull teeth is another. We saw people regain their health by pulling all that rotten teeth out.
Our little adventure took a turn as we moved from Philippines to Cambodia. Here we will try again to build it up. What we need is a good foundation of trust amongst the people. I must first proof myself worthy to pull their teeth. God willing we will be going strong soon. I putting out my fingers to feel people about the possibilities of doing dentistry amongst the people of Cambodia.
Already we had a small breakthrough when Ester from Kmer Homestay said she would love for me to come and pull teeth in their village. I met her through Angela my friend from Malaysia. We went there to visit and while talking about Health Care I mention to her about me pulling teeth. I said if she need someone to call me. She said she was already praying for 4 years for a dentist to come and here I was. God is good. Keep looking for this growing ministry.
One day the well known Dr. David Livingstone received a letter from an enthusiastic congregation in England: Have you found a good road by this time along which we can travel with safety to the place where you are working? If so, we have here a couple of men who would like to join you.
Livingstone knew that prospective workers who were not absolutely dedicated would never be able to stand up against what they would meet along the way in Africa. Therefore he reported back in all seriousness:
If there are men who are prepared to come only if there are safe roads here, they should rather stay. I need people who want to come, even if there are no roads at all. People who want to keep their eyes only on the beaten track before them, instead of on Him, who is the Way, will not survive here.
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