|
When Missionary Kim and his family first arrived in Sao Gabriel
da Cachoeira as missionaries, he invited a group of doctors
to join him as he immediately started evangelizing to Indian
villagers in the rainforest.
Between 1995 and 1999, a 6 meter 30hp motorboat was used
for transportation. Most of the time, Missionary Kim was accompanied
by doctors from Sao Gabriel Military Hospital, except when
doctors from the U.S., Korea, or Sao Paulo (Brazil) came as
short-term missionaries, which occurred twice a year. When
they arrived, medical examinations took place during the day.
After, they all participated in Sunday school as teachers
for the Children Ministry. After dinner, a sermon was given,
and everyone watched a movie about Jesus Christ (an effective
tool for evangelism).
As years passed going up and down the Rio Negro River with
the 6 meter speedboat, in the year 2000, with much prayer
and anticipation, God provided a new 8 meter 90hp motor speedboat.
In March 2003, Doctor Seok Lyeol Park, who is a yearly dental
short-term missionary to Sao Gabriel, donated enough money
for the construction of a medical/dental office to Igreja
Presbiteriana, with fully supplied dental equipment. Furthermore,
God provided a 3rd generation Japanese dental missionary,
Joel Key Hayashi, with the support of San Diego's Sam Il Church
(Pastor Chan Shik Son) to be a dentist for Igreja Presbiteriana
in Sao Gabriel.
The grand vision to procure a hospital ship gradually came
about as Missionary Kim and his crew sacrificed their time
on a monthly basis ministering to the towns and villages of
Sao Gabriel, sharing the Gospel and providing medical aid.
The effectiveness of the hospital ship ministry:
1) Long-term and long-distance trips into the rainforest
become possible.
As difficult and painful it is to make long trips to villages
along the Rio Negro, Missionary Kim's dream is to step even
further into remotely situated villages where it is deemed
virtually impossible with their present means of transportation.
The speedboat Missionary Kim obtained in the year 2000 has
limited capacity to carry only a certain amount of gasoline.
So, every time the crew embarked on a long-distance trip,
gallons of gasoline were left to some of the villages ahead
of time to make refueling possible for future trips. However,
with the hospital ship, boating directly to remote areas without
worrying about running out of gas has now become a reality.
2) The possibility of even retired doctors and dentists to
become involved in missionary work
From September 20, 2003 to September 24, 2003, Missionary
Kim purposely visited other mission associations in Manaus
to get a chance to observe and survey hospital ships owned
and managed by them. He observed that majority of the ships
were 24 meters - 26 meters long and 7 meters wide made up
of thousand pounds of wood, steel, and aluminum. Additionally,
Missionary Kim visited lumber mills and factories to inquire
upon how to purchase a ship, and methods on how to remodel
a commercial ship into a hospital ship.
The following are Missionary Kim's constructive observations
on how raw materials are used in building a ship:
First, ships made out of wood are a lot less expensive than
ships made of other material. But because it adds on weight,
the ship would moderately plunge into the river giving a huge
disadvantage to speed. Moreover, wooden ships require annual
maintenance in order for it to be used for longer duration.
Wooden ships would have to be hauled to shore every year,
decomposed wooden boards would be replaced with new ones,
and bitumen fluids would have to be painted in between the
boards. The biggest set-back with this is that in the town
of Sao Gabriel, there is no automated mechanism that can haul
a wooden ship onto shore for maintenance. The task involved
in managing a wooden ship is the reason why it is not a choice
material when purchasing a ship.
Steel is more costly than wood but favorable because it is
light in weight compared to the wood. However, even steel-made
boats need occasional maintenance off-shore for repairs and
new paint-job on rusted parts.
Aluminum-built ships are most advantageous when it comes
to offering a floatable, lightweight frame. Of all the raw
materials that can be used to build a ship, aluminum allows
a ship to float proficiently and travel quickly. Additionally,
unless explicitly damaged, aluminum ships do not require off-shore
maintenance. Because of these advantageous features, this
material is highest-priced in stock.
After much consideration, Missionary Kim decided to go with
the aluminum or as an alternative, buy a used commercial ship
and refurbish it with aluminum to complete a 18m X 5m hospital
ship for both travel and medical purposes. The cost was around
$250,000, so he asked God on how he can achieve this vision.
The project to obtain a hospital ship unofficially commenced
in February 2004 as Missionary Kim's family and some of his
executive leaders in Igreja Presbiteriana and Rio Negro Seminary
visited Seoul, Korea. During one of GRAMIN's mission debriefing
at Shin Chon Church, Deaconess Tae Soon Yoon donated $50,000
as offering for the project, money that was saved up by her
children as a gift for her 70th birthday. Also, from Wool
San Han Maum Church (Pastor Yong Nam Moon), an offering of
$16,300 was sent from Wool San, Korea to the project treasury.
Missionary Kim would like to request prayer from the readers
for the $250,000 hospital ship project as means of outreach
to many unreached tribal groups in the Amazon Rainforest.
|
