The DENTIST

You lay back, open your mouth wide, and try not to move as the dentist prods around in your mouth. He digs and scrapes for a little while before declaring.... "Praise the Lord!" 

Well this is not typically heard in dentist offices across North America, but it is pretty much what my dentist said last weekend. The exact wording was "Gan xie Zhu, ni de ya chi hen hao." (感謝主，你的牙齒很好） Once ascertaining that it had been awhile (aka never) since my last checkup in Taiwan, Dr. Su looked at my teeth, and after giving me a clean bill of health, he did a (somewhat painful) scaling treatment. Dr. Su is part of the Christian Dentist's Association in Taiwan, and they do some pretty cool stuff. He regularly goes on short term missions to poor countries and provides free dental work and education for children. In the time I've known him, he's been to both Kenya and Nepal. 

Last weekend, I went back to Yuli for a visit. I got to see some of my favorite people and places, and I got to visit the dentist (not on that list of favorites, but it was time).  Dr. Su, and his wife Peggy (pictured above) took us in when we were in Yuli that first year, having us over for dinner, teaching us Chinese, and generally helping us out.  

Incidentially, as I was telling Dr. Su about the Franklin Graham Festival, he shared that he had gone to Billy Graham's festival as a college student in the 70s, and it significantly affected his life. At that point he'd already believed in Jesus, but hadn't told anyone yet. After going forward at Billy Graham's alter call, he went on to join a local church.