Esther And More Disciples

The director of the IFC medical work is Esther Scarborough. She is a wife, mother of five children, and a mercy worker among the sick refugees in East Indonesia. I have written about her in the past but I couldn't resist another chance to tell all of you about this wonderful woman. She is greatly loved by the refugees and her staff. The first two years she treated between 80-100 refugees twice a week at the clinic in Manado. But has an endless flow of the sick in the clinic on any day at any hour during those days. She operated this clinic with stretched resources. The medicines may be low but she finds a way to treat the sick. At lunch it is not uncommon to have 40 refugees eating with them. Some refer to her as "mother Esther". She has loved some of the most unlovely and will not give up on them.

Last year a team from Taree, Australia came to pray for one of the men that others had given up on. Yopie has a urinary tract infection that went untreated and had by then infected his kidneys. He was sent home from the hospital to prepare to die. He was a refugee and has no home. Esther made a place for him and even with his stomach distended and feet swollen she knew there was little she could do medically but she could do something spiritually. She joined the team in prayer and in a couple week this man who was told to prepare to die was now improving and is now fully healed.

Esther and her staff of Al and Ruth McKeown trained 14 Indonesian refugee health care workers in 2002. Esther is so proud of them when she talks about what they are doing and how they have gone into some of the more dangerous regions of North Maluku to bring medical care to those in need. Esther told about one of her students who went to a village on the Island of Halmahera where she saw over 200 patients a day. They lines up and waited to see her. She worked until 2:30 a.m. and got up at 6 a.m. to start over. This 20 year old health care worker said, "How can I stop treating them, if they are willing to wait, I am willing to keep treating them." I wonder where she got that philosophy?

A new group of student have been selected and Esther will begin to train this new group. Al and Ruth McKeown who were such a help have finished the year and are back in Australia. There is another nurse coming to help her with the training and the clinic. The prospects of new aid working is in Esther's heart--more hands and more trained help.

Please pray for these new workers. They need sponsors at $ 120 USD per month.