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Message to Academy Members from Elder Brent and Sister Charlene Lee

Charlene and I arrived in Indonesia in November, 2002, having accepted a two year call as humanitarian missionaries assigned to the dental school of a major public university. This was to fill 50 percent of our time, and we had sizable humanitarian service funds already in place to finish ongoing projects that included purchasing dental equipment and teaching English. The other half of our time was to seek out other humanitarian projects. Some of our preconceived ideas have been modified to the reality of this particular school and city, but this in no way lessens the joy we have in giving service. In fact, we have greatly broadened our view of the service we can render here. Week to week it becomes more a question of whom to seek out, e.g., orphans, the sick, the poor, the under-educated—persons who have no concept of the comfort and security that we took for granted at home. Our bigger challenge is to make a meaningful improvement in their lives, not just give them a fish.

There have been wonderful friendships made with professional people and local church members. We have solid in-country Church leadership giving direction and feedback. It is not so much the amount of dental service given (i.e. Charlene is not a dentist), but that we serve as the opportunities open to us. Three of the five humanitarian couples in Indonesia are dentists. All of us are having a varied experience, but the service being rendered has the common denominator of unselfish giving, lifting —Matthew. 25:40- and blessing our lives.

From Manila to Mongolia in One Mission:

Double your pleasure, double your fun, with two different missions rolled into one!

People are always asking us to compare our two assignments, to say which one we liked the best, etc. This is like asking a mother which child she loves the most. She loves them all; their differences just make them more interesting and more lovable in different ways.

With one phone call in July we were transferred midmission from one of the hottest areas in the world to one of the coldest, one of the most densely populated areas to one of the most sparsely populated. Both countries have some of the highest levels of poverty in the world. In the Philippines people live on the sidewalk; in Mongolia they live in the underground where the communal water, heat, and sewer lines run. Both countries are struggling to take their place in the world.

We have seen the Church in its infancy. Missionary work began in the Philippines 40 years ago and in Mongolia 10 years ago.

Our assignments were quite different. In the Philippines we facilitated a traveling health fair. The main objectives of the health fair were awareness, education, and screening. We traveled the countryside, visiting remote barrios that had, although densely populated, limited electrical and water resources and little contact with the outside world. One of our most poignant memories is watching students meticulously copy down all the information on the health panels because of their lack of educational materials.

Our assignment in Mongolia was to take care of a backlog of prospective missionaries, most of whom had never seen a dentist, and to find avenues to help upgrade the skills of the Mongolian dentists. We have developed a working relationship with the local dental school and are also working with local dentists in upgrading their skills. It has been an eye opener to see how difficult it is to obtain needed supplies and equipment that one takes so for granted in the U.S.

We have loved the people in both places, both the local members and nonmembers, as well as the missionaries we have served with. We will take home with us fond memories of both our experiences.

Sincerely,

Brent and Charlene, as in the Elder-Lees

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