THE MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTRE and BEYOND

Every 3 weeks we welcome in a new group of missionaries from various parts of the world.  Some come totally exhausted from hours of travel and perhaps several plane changes to those who commute from within the country.  They arrive anxious and excited to serve the Lord for 18 months to 2 years sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We presently have a group of 50+ young Elders and Sisters from all over the world: Chili, South Africa, Czech Republic, identical twins from Malaysia, Germany, Sweden, Italy, France, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Georgia, Ireland, England and the USA.  Our next group will have 6 sets of Senior Missionary couples (about the age of Walt and me) plus nearly 50 young missionaries.  This will mark the largest group we've worked with to date.
All missionaries wear a badge that identifies the name of our Church and the individual's last name. If we were to use full names the badge for the missionary from New Zealand would read: Elder Mare Whakamau Mahara Te Whetu Marama PairamaKararoaRiki!  Instead his badge shows Elder Riki.
The past month has been brim full of new experiences serving the medical/health needs of the missionaries young and not-so-young.  We were saddened by the news that one of our Senior sisters was diagnosed with recurrent cancer.  She and her husband returned home to the USA last week.  Another Senior Elder suffered a cardiac arrest but is now stable after having a defibrillator implanted in his heart. He and his wife are so grateful they can stay and finish their missionary work here in England.
We've seen a large number of orthopaedic problems among the young Elders and Sisters.  Besides the many sprained ankles, there have been tibia fractures, radial head fractures in the elbow, shoulder, wrist and hand problems.  Several have required surgery.  In the past 13 months Elder Hales has become much more knowledgeable on back problems, ingrown toenails, tumors of the ear and mental health issues.  He will be accompanying an Elder back to the USA with a major medical problem in the near future.  Considering we oversee nearly 1000 missionaries we're grateful that most of them have only minor medical concerns during their time of service.  Though we play a background part in sharing the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we are grateful for our involvement in trying to help the full-time missionaries stay healthy and fully engaged in the work of the Lord.