What an inspiration!!!!

Wasted Years?
After half a century, we learned my family's work bore fruit in Burma's Golden Triangle
by Robert H. Buker

As medical missionaries who'd spent years in some of the most troubled areas of the world, my mother and father were, in my estimation, true heroes. Both were "always abounding in the work of the Lord," and lived well into their 90s. Mother died in 1997 at age 97, and Father died three years earlier. Their gravestone in Turner Village, Maine, where my mother's parents lived, proclaims them "Servants of God."

However, in the last years of her life, my mother spoke despairingly of the family's first missionary assignment in Burma. Often, as we ended discussions about those pioneering days, she would say, "There is nothing left of our work in Burma. It was wasted effort, wasted years, all in vain." This surprised and troubled me, especially in light of Scripture, which gives us confidence that our work for the Lord is not in vain (1 Cor. 15:58).

Blazing a trail in Burma
Our time in Burma began in 1926, two years before my birth. That year my doctor-father, Richard S. Buker, Sr., took my mother, Minola, a nurse, and my older brother, Richard, Jr., to the border area of China and Burma.

A recent graduate of Harvard Medical School, my father had completed an internship at Walter Reed Army General Hospital before he moved the family overseas.

After taking a train to just north of Mandalay in Burma, the family traveled two weeks (300 miles) by pony through jungles, over mountains, and across the dangerous Salween River to a mission station in Yunan Province, China. They stayed there about 18 months and then recrossed the border to the Shan States of Burma, where they worked, along with my father's twin brother Ray and his wife Dorothy (both now deceased), until 1940 when World War II closed the area.

While in Burma, the family worked with the Shan, Lahu, and Wa tribes, as well as with lepers. Destitute, hurting, and unwanted (no village would allow them to live anywhere near), the first leprosy patients who came to my parents for long-term treatment ended up living under our stilt-supported house.

My father had no budget or money to undertake such an enormous burden—his salary was approximately $25 a week—but the family could not turn these people away. The patients were fed out of our rice bin. Years later, Father would often remind us that though the leprosy work grew to more than 1,000 patients, "the rice bin never went empty."

The lost years
A few years after World War II, Burma essentially closed itself to missionary work. Nevertheless, Father and Mother returned to southeast Asia in 1949 to work among leprosy patients in Chiang Mai, Thailand, with outreach into Vietnam and Laos. They left in 1955, but returned again to work in Khon Kaen, Thailand, from 1964 to 1967.

They kept up with news from Burma as much as they could, but the reports were never good. During the war, under Japanese occupation, many in the Shan and Lahu churches had renounced their faith.


The situation further deteriorated when the Japanese left, and opium warlords, rebel armies, and thugs took over the countryside of northeastern Burma between the Salween and Mekong Rivers. This area, where my parents had worked, became known as the "Golden Triangle," source of 60 percent of the world's illegal opium and heroin trade. Only in 1997 did rebels sign peace treaties with the Myanmar (Burma) government.

With the signing of these treaties, the Myanmar (Burma) government finally opened the Golden Triangle to outsiders, 57 years after my family left. In November 1997, just months after Mother's death, 15 family members—including my wife Ethel, my two brothers and their wives, two of their daughters, my son and his wife, and Uncle Ray's son and his wife, and their daughter—and five friends made a "roots" trip to the Shan States. There, we found our parents' work had produced results they could never have imagined.

What we found
First, we stopped in Taunggyi, the hill city capital of the Shan States. After being flattened by Japanese bombing, the school for missionary children had been rebuilt and was now the Shan Theological Seminary, thriving and active.

Then we traveled to Keng Tung, unofficial capital of the Golden Triangle. The morning after we arrived, some of us walked up to the old mission compound and hospital. We were drawn to a choir signing "He Leadeth Me" in a language we didn't recognize. We entered the open-air building to sit and listen.

I am not an emotional person and have cried only once or twice in my adult life, but the tears rolled down my face as I realized it was an Akha choir practicing. The Akha were an unreached tribe before World War II, but since that time have been evangelized by the Shan and Lahu churches, without any foreign mission presence.

Also in Keng Tung, we met a Shan pastor who'd learned his first Bible lessons and catechism from Uncle Ray; he walked two days from his village just to see us. His church today has more than 1,000 members, one of 70 Shan churches.

On Sunday we visited the little nearby village of Kung Na, which had about 25 bamboo-and-thatch houses in 1940 but now boasted more than 250 well-built wood homes.

More significantly, a large brick-and-mortar church had been built and was packed out for Sunday services. They had a lively Sunday school program, and two choirs filled the front of the church. This had been my first church home, where I had been baptized in a nearby river. What an emotional experience this was for me to return 57 years later!

Many of the church leaders remembered my parents and my uncle's family. One of these was Ruta. I remembered her as a starving, nearly dead infant that my mother took in and eventually found a home for. She was now a strong pillar of the Kung Na congregation and with the women's fellowship committee put on a big rice and curry meal for us after church.

Late-blooming seeds
Also on our trip we found the Lahu church strong and growing. An active seminary was sending out church leaders to their own people as well as other tribes, like the Wa, former headhunters.

What about the church among the leprosy patients? This church, spurned by the non-lepers and with virtually no trained leadership, remained strong during the Japanese occupation. The number of new leprosy cases in the Golden Triangle has decreased significantly thanks to the health programs started by my father. When we visited the main colony in the area, only 11 patients were under treatment.

Sadly, 176 orphans, victims of a new scourge, are living in the colony now. Young women from the hill country are recruited across the border as sex workers in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, Thailand. They return with aids and children. Over 40 people a month are dying from aids in Keng Tung. The government has no capability or plan to deal with the epidemic. There is still hope. We met a Burmese doctor in Keng Tung working for World Vision, a Christian relief agency, who was helping the local government develop a plan of action.

Mother and Father never knew the rest of their story, but now in glory they do. And their children and grandchildren have seen it with their own eyes to tell others. A strong, growing, indigenous church—self-supporting, self-educating, and evangelizing, even under difficult circumstances—has blossomed from seed planted long ago.

By God's blessing, the work in the Golden Triangle was not in vain.

A Christian Reader original article.

Copyright © 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine (formerly Christian Reader).

Grace AOG Year 2011 Declaration

We are a fellowship!

We declare that we are the most privileged of all people!
We have fellowship with God, and that fellowship affects all
our other relationships.

As sinners saved by grace we serve with an attitude of gratitude.
As saints we are set apart to represent Christ as His ambassadors.
As pilgrims we live and long for the heavenly city.
Everything on earth is temporary; success, riches, trials, failures.
As a pilgrim I am free to enjoy God through all this!

As a family we are interdependent. We have many brothers and sisters.
We are one body. We must minister to one another.

We are part of the fellowship of His suffering.
We rejoice with those who rejoice. We weep with those who weep.
We know Christ will redeem our suffering for His divine purpose!

As visionaries we are heavenly minded.
By seeing God's eternal puprose, we rise above our problems and seek to bless others.

We commit to seeing the kingdom of God advanced.
We commit to letting God change us, so we can best touch this generation.
We commit to pray for Grace Assembly regularly, so that she will fulfil her destiny.
We commit to fighting the real enemy- satan, and to protect one another from his tactics.
We ask God to cleanse us of a wrong spirit, gossip, or divisiveness.
We ask God to make us ministers to one another in the power of the Spirit,

We declare: we shall positively, unitedly and aggressively face every future challenge.

To God be all the glory!!!

Amen indeed!!!

Paper Sorting!!!

Sigh...it's 11pm already and I am just almost done with sorting out the papers.....papers? what papers? all those ward lists that I have accumulated for the last 2 years!!! It's a mountainful....and the worst part is having to go through all that and just pick a handful of patients to record in my logbook......what a waste of time!
Do these administrative people think that we only see so few patients? We just don't have time to record all of them down!!! We are busy working....like 'duh'!!!! ( in a typical Homer Simpson fashion).....
Anyway, I am glad that I managed to fill up most blanks....now, I just have to get the signatures on all those papers!!! Sheeshh....I really think its a great big wast of time!!!!
Oh, and getting back to the topic of the last 2 posts.....I was glad to speak to a dear friend and sister in Christ, EM, and told her the lastest that's been happening....and she was like - WTH!!! Are you even thinking of going out with a non Christian?!? Don't you even think about it! Are you mad?!? Put a wall around your heart! I know that she is right..and I just need someone to just smack me in the face and shake me up to reality....I told her that I know all that...but at the age past 30 and still single....any dating options seems pretty attractive, if you know what I mean....besides, does going out for lunch/ dinner with a colleague count as dating? It's just having a meal with a person that I get along with at work, right? Ok, mebbe I'm just kidding myself! But I know what she means....and I also know that I don't wanna sound rude and just decline to go out with people! ( just because they are non Christians?!?).....mebbe its the best evangelistic tool I may ever have!
Anyway, I got her to promise that she will pray for me....and I did mention to her how I find others dishing out all these well meaning advice rather hypocritical coz these people are all attached/ married...I hope she got the drift.....but I do appreciate her concern.....
And then the conversation degenerated to me telling her about my Grave's disease and she telling me that she had pulmonary TB ( from all the stress of her pHD year!)....sheesh...we are all getting old and creaky already!
It was just a great time of catching up over MSN.......and I'm glad that she took the time to chat........So Lord, you know that I need Your hedge around my heart, mind and soul...please guard it for I know that it is my wellspring of life! Amen!

Thank God for friends!

Today was a rather busy day at work...yes, on a Saturday!!! Was rather upset that the rest of my colleagues decided to take the day off and let me do the ward rounds alone, with an intern that just started work and was really inefficient and non functional.
Anyway, was hoping that Mr X would surprise me at work and come help with the rounds.....and when I saw him at the meeting room , I was relieved to say the least.....when your ward list runs into 18 patients with only 1 registrar, 1 medical officer and 1 intern, its really quite tough...not too mention we had a few sick patients who needed urgent things to be done ( including a patient who required a chest drain inserted on a Saturday morning!!!)
So yeah, I was truly truly grateful for him! What would I do without such a good friend and colleague!!!! Was running around like a mad ding dong trying to see all my cases...clerk the new cases that came in periodically , discharge patients and supervise the intern all at once!!! Madness!!!
So at 2pm when finally most things were done....we decided to go and grab lunch together.... I was like uh -oh.....I promised God that I would not go out alone with this guy....but I was so grateful for his help that I agreed anyway....sigh.....since he was so insistent, we went to Chilis at Tanglin Mall.....and spent 2 hours having lunch!! I was rather happy that he wanted to order a triple play since it's one of my favourite dish at Chilis!!!! He looked rather surprised at how happy I was when he suggested ordering that! ;O) so we ended up chatting again, mainly about work...with a few awkward silences here and there...but since I had to rush off to church and he had to go back to work on call, we left about quarter to 5pm!!!!!!!
So what's the conclusion? I still have no idea! I only know that I am grateful for his friendship and kindness at work....and that he spurs me on to be a better doctor than I already am.......

A New Year......means New Opportunities?!?

Its been an interesting few days into the new year........
For one , I've made 7 new year resolutions that I hope I can achieve by the end of the year.....
For another, I've made it 4 days into the new year without any contact with Mr. X....which in my opinion, is a good thing coz I see him at work 24/7...excluding being on call together!!!!
Well, I was rather surprised when one of my bossess invited me to his house for dinner on the 1st day of 2011.....and he tried to do it rather discreetly....but he also invited the acute medicine team registrars as well.....I was a 'dungu' because I did not realise that I was the only person invited apart from the registrars! And then it was only much later that I realised that not everyone was invited......I think because I was so dense at that, he ended up having to invite Mr X as well, and I could sense a relief over him when Mr X said that he could not attend coz his family was in town.......thought that something fishy was going on...but din entertain that thought too much!
So when 1st Jan arrived, I decided to go for the dinner with another registrar, Mdm T and her daughter. The other 2 registrars could not make it. So we went together....and when we arrived, some medical students were already there. I saw another guy, lets call him Mr Y, whom I have not met before, and he was introduced as a respiratory registrar in another hospital. I was like, okay.....strange that my boss would have invited someone from another hospital, but I did not think too much about it!
However, I was rather uncomfortable that this Mr Y was sitting very close to me after dinner...we chatted briefly over dinner...then I went to sit on the steps to watch the kids play...and he came and set next to me...but not talking much! After that, when I moved to the sofa, he sat next to me as well!!! He was sitting rather too close for my personal space....but I did not want to sound rude and step away...so I just pretended that I din notice it!
When we got up to leave about 9pm....he got up and came as well! He even hitched a ride from one of my consultants car, although he never met this guy before!!! Even stranger.....
I was thinking about it the entire night....and decided that my boss was trying to matchmake me with this guy....but it was really just my conjecture at this point.....until, Monday arrived.....and Mdm T came by the ward and said, Can I ask you a direct question?....the exchange went as follows:

Mdm T: Can I ask you a direct question?
Me : Huh? What do you mean?
Mdm T: *Giggles* Oh, Mr N ( our boss) wanted me to ask you in a roundabout way, about
what you thought of Mr Y at the dinner yesterday?!?
Me : Huh?
Mdm T: Okaylah, I be frank, Mr N is trying to set you up with Mr Y. So he wanted me
to find out what you felt about this fellow!
Me : *Almost faint* Hahaha....oh ok.....(just I suspected!).....He's okay...we din
talk much...but he seems decent. A bit quiet, but mebbe coz he doesn't know
me enough.....I am rather open to any help! Hahaha.....
Mdm T: Hmm....ok......I think he's a good catch!!!

At this point, I was feeling rather incredulous! What was my boss thinking?!? Should I get angry, that he thought I needed his help in my love life; or should I be grateful for him being kind and wanting me to be happily married?!? ...I dunno.....its rather strange....especially when I see myself as a rather private person who does not talk about these things with others easily, especially when my boss is from the opposite gender!!!!

Anyway, we shall see what happens...am still waiting for a text/ phone call from Mr Y....if he is interested...and I'm praying that he is a Christian already......who know, God's ways are higher than mine! ;)

A New Year demands new resolutions!!!!

Welcome 2011!!!!! Its the 1st day of a new year........and so, I have decided to pen some thoughts on what the resolutions should be this year.......

So, resolutions so far-

1) Spend more time with God and His word - have kinda neglected this aspect of my life for a while now......mainly coz of work and early starts....mainly because I was so zonked out with the thyroid thingy....so yes, will definitely need to dig deep and drink freely from the fountain of life this year!!!!

2) Spend more time with my family- my parents, my brother, my sister and her family....my grandparents.......always so little time.....always....but that is never a good excuse!

3) Work/ Study - time to buckle up and start 'studying' for my haematology training.....but first of all, I need to fill up my log book and ace the interview!!! Have been procrastinating for the loooongest time!!!!

4) Health - being diagnosed with Grave's Disease has been tough...I hate taking pills....and I always forget!!! yes, I know, I know.....I am the world's worst patient!!!! But I will try.....and take care of myself more this year - which means health eating, good sleep hygiened, REGULAR EXERCISE ( I know, I know!).......

5) Friendships/ Relationships - looking forward to forging new friendships, strengthening the pre-existing ones....mebbe mend old friendship gone sour......mebbe.....and then of course the all consuming and perennial question of my 'love life'.......I think this single status has always bugged me.....more than I care to admit....but I also know how scared I am to be in any relationship....so for this year, I am going to hand the reins to God, sit back and enjoy the ride...and have decided to love the best I can , whoever God provides and sets in my path.......of course, that does not mean throwing my caution into the wind....its just means being open to people and not being overly judgmental at the 1st impression.....

6) Finance - have to definitely learn to be a good steward of my finances this year.....been spending wayyy too much money.....so will need to learn more constraints this year and to tighten the belt a little........also have pledged to contribute a sum to YX's education here....so hopefully I will be able to repay what my parents have given me!

7) Missions - definitely will have to get on another medical missions trip this year...so Lord, I pray for oppportunities and grace to get my leave approved......in Your time, and in Your will!!!!

Guess 7 resolutions is a good and perfect start for a new year.......

Here's wishing everyone a good and happy new 2011!!!! God bless!!!!

Happy New Year! Welcome 2011!!!

Wow! What a year it has been! All the ups and downs!! Bittersweet moments - was just reflecting on this word 'bittersweet'.....wondered why it was bitter , and then sweet rather than sweet and then bitter???? Why not call it sweetbitter? Why call it bittersweet???

Guess it was not just a play of words, it was in fact, a very apt description of life - at least for me, this word sums up the whole entire 2010!

Bitter in many areas of my life.....but tinged with the sweetness in the most improbable places at the most ridiculous times! But sweet nevertheless..... would have countless stories to tell, but it would have been recorded along the way on this blog......you could just flip the whole entire collection and come to the same conjecture as me!!!!

Since 2010 has passed, and my resolution for 2010 was for overflowing joy.....I guess in a way it was fulfilled.......not without hard work...not without brokenness....not without God! Joy can only come when you truly allow Him to work in your life.....and I am glad that I did.....mebbe not total submission, but submission and obedience nevertheless.....with pockets of rebellion here and there! ;P

Work has gone pretty smooth sailing...nothing major this year...except 1 or 2 incidents.....studies/ exams has been a major struggle this year, but I made it with God's help and mercy! ...friendships went through a pretty rough patch...but most remained intact, except for that 1 infamous one of course!!!! ....financially - tight this year, but I made it somehow by God's grace.....family - managed to spend more time with my brother this year ( unfortunately this did not extend to the rest of the extended family/ nuclear family)......a home I can call my own - the greatest privelege to date.........church - still the same, CG-less....but now a new member of AH CF!!!....relationships - still stuck in 1st gear ( shucks, don't think I ever made it to 2nd gear!!!!).....

So yeah - 2010 in a nutshell!!!

So what's in store for 2011????

Am not sure....have been too tired these days to think/ pray about it....I blame it on the thyroid problem ...and those darn anti-thyroid pills I have to take....just messes up with the energy levels ( as one friends aptly puts it)........but I know what I want/ need for 2011 - more love, more power , more of You, O Lord in my life! More grace and more mercy....both for myself and also to others around me......more patience with people - be they my juniors/ seniors/ patients/ relatives/ etc etc......more energy and more drive at work - to excel in all that I do/ work at, for the glory of God.....and last but not least, a good church and a great cell group......PLUS of course- an EQUALLY YOKED relationship....... ;)

So here's wishing everyone a very blessed and meaningful 2011!!!! God Bless!!!