MTA partnered with Cedar Mill Bible Church to hold the first small scale Compassion Beaverton Clinic.

A Compassion Clinic provides dental, medical and foot care at no charge, plus free immunizations. Appoinments were required, but part of the plan included a ten person waiting list to allow for the possibility of no-shows.

MTA assisted with the outreach portion of the clinic.

At this clinc seven people began trusting in Jesus Christ as their savior. Here are two of the stories:

Yolanda

Yolanda is a Hispanic who came for dental work. She didn’t have an appoinment, but she made it onto the ten person waiting list and received the dental treatment she needed.

As Yolanda was waiting in the discharge area I asked a translator to join me. I offered Yolanda a gospel tract and started a conversation. We talked a little about her visit to the compassion clinic, then I shared the gospel with her. We went through
several of the Ten Commandments so she could see her need for a savior. But, she had a Catholic background and was putting her trust in purgatory. We talked about scripture and I answered her questions. Then we talked about trusting Jesus as being the only way. The conversation was quite long. In the back of my mind I kept expecting her to get called in for her discharge consultation. People around us were called in, but her name was never called. We continued to talk and Yolanda repented and put her trust in Christ as her savior. We prayed together thanking the Lord for His grace and love. As soon as we finished praying, Yolanda’s name was called. We had been talking for about 25 minutes.

A short time later one of the staff from the discharge room stepped out of the room for a break. We began chatting. She happened to mention that some of the folders had been mixed up and she apologized for an extra long delay in seeing two people. Yolanda apparently was one of those two. Her folder being put in the wrong order had resulted in her hearing the gospel and accepting Christ as her savior.

 

James

Listening to James talk I could tell he was in pain. He was trying not to use the left side of his mouth and his words were slightly blurred.

James had left home very early in the morning, well before the buses were running. He had walked for 2-1/2 hours in the rain, all of the way from Tigard, in order to arrive at the clinic early.

His feet were soaked and he was cold. He did not know that appointments were required. Although he arrived early, he was #15 in line. Only ten people were being accepted on the waiting list.

I met James shortly after the doors opened and he came into the building. He explained his situation and a prayer request went immediately to the prayer room. Others who did not make it onto the waiting list left, but James decided to hang around. Maybe something would happen.

Chris and Melody are Christians who live in Morrow, Oregon, east of the Dalles. It is a 3-1/2 drive to Beaverton, but Chris needed dental work. So Chris and Melody left Morrow early Friday evening and arrived at the church at about 11 PM Friday night, securing the #3 spot in the line. They waited at the church through the night. When the doors opened Saturday morning, Chris was in the #3 position on the ten person waiting list. It looked like he had a good chance to receive the dental care he needed.

But, Chris overheard a conversation about James's predicament and could see the pain on his face. So Chris volunteered to give up his #3 position to James, moving himself to the uncertainty of the end of the line..

That afternoon I spoke with James again. He had seen a dentist and his tooth had been taken care of. He was told that if he had not seen a dentist soon, he probably would have lost the tooth.

A short time later I met Chris and his wife Melody. Although he was at the end of the line, Chris had also seen a dentist and received the treatment he needed.

A few days later I received an email. James had filled out a contact form while at the church. John from the church had contacted him, shared the Gospel, amd James began trusting in Christ.

Praise the Lord for the many wonderful things He did on Saturday!

(James is the person in green, wearing a baseball cap, in the photo to the right.)