Saint Luke Society Treated 400 Local Residents in a Single Day During Medical Mission Trip in Philippines

Saint Luke Society (SLS), an evangelical medical ministry made up of professional doctors and nurses which is affiliated with the World Olivet Assembly, conducted its medical missionary work project called 'Healing Hands' in the Philippines. Starting from February 4th the work has been carried out in Bulacan Pandi, north of Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

The opening ceremony was hosted by the local JWMC church and among attendees were representatives of local barangays, doctors from local hospitals, officials from City Hall and Urban Development Corporation. Warm greetings were exchanged during this time.

Shin Myeong-Seop, representative of SLS shared in his greeting, "Korea used to be poorer than the Philippines, but numerous medical missionaries came to help. I came here to spread hope to the poor neighbors without forgetting that grace." Following this, Dr. Shin signed MOUs for SLS and EMAK between Bulacan Pandi Barangay and JWMC, respectively, and promised to continue to cooperate in medical missionary work.

The Pandi area is considered to be economically underprivileged, with some of the poorest people who were in the past relocated here from other parts of the Philippines. Most of the residents do not have free access to medical care or hospitals. Numerous residents came to visit the team and received the treatment from doctors and nurses.

This medical mission was divided into internal medicine, dentistry, dermatology, oriental medicine, and pharmacy. Dentist Shin Myeong-seop and Dr. Park Min-hwan of the SLS Korea, and doctors, dentists, oriental doctors, nurses, and pharmacists recruited for this trip to accompany SLS staff took charge of each department along with 20 Medical University students from Korea as well as members of several local Filipino churches participated in the medical mission as volunteers.

About 400 patients were treated on a single day. Doctors and medical staff of the Healing Hands project worked united in treating numerous local residents sometimes in hot weather conditions. The local pastor told Dr. Shin this was a rare event where people received treatments in many different medical areas on a large scale like this, and expressed his desire to continue such collaborative medical mission work in the future.

The annual medical mission trips such as this one called 'Healing Hands' focus on disadvantaged people who cannot otherwise access medical help for various reasons, be it limited access to medical services or poor medical infrastructure. St. Luke Society brings them the care that they need and serves them with the heart of Jesus.