Giving Health
Retired surgeon Toh-Bin Lim '58 volunteers
around the world as a missionary doctor

It’s the middle of the night at a rudimentary hospital compound in rural Guatemala. Toh-Bin Lim ’58 rises off his army cot, peels back the mosquito net, and heads to the surgery area. His day, like most days here, started at 6:30 a.m. and involved some ten hours of exacting surgery, in addition to several hours of clinic work. However, someone who has been gored by a bull has traveled for hours along mountain roads, and is in desperate need of help.

To Toh-Bin, this sort of thing is to be expected. As he says it, in this place there is “no such thing as punch in, punch out.” Since he retired as a general surgeon and UCLA assistant professor in 1995, he has been volunteering as a missionary doctor in needy countries around the world. To him, it’s a way of giving a little back for all he has received.

The Mission Field
Health care in America brings many things to mind. Phenomenal medical procedures happen every day, against a backdrop of spiraling health care costs, cosmetic surgery, and Prozac for preschoolers – not to mention HMO’s and PPO’s and EPO’s and all those other O’s, whatever they are.

There is, however, a side to health care that you might not be seeing. This country stands in stark contrast to many places around the world, where even the most basic health care is hard or impossible to come by. Except, that is, for the volunteer doctors who might go there once or twice a year. Toh-Bin has worked with several medical missions organizations, including World Medical Mission, part of a ministry by Billy Graham’s son Franklin, as well as Luke Services International, of which Toh-Bin is on the board of trustees. These organizations coordinate and mobilize doctors to help the needy.

So far, Toh-Bin has volunteered in Peru, Mexico, Nepal, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, East Africa, Taiwan, China and Guatemala. Conditions have varied at each place. China was more advanced, so his main job was to teach local doctors how to use advanced technology. However, in many places he works directly with patients.

“Every day, there are hundreds of patients lined up at the gate to come in,” Toh-Bin said.

The doctors pay their own travel and living expenses, and often use their annual vacation time of two or three weeks. Most often, they also bring their own equipment.

“The places where we go to are not the capital cities, or well-to-do areas of the country, but rather remote, very poor parts,” Toh-Bin said. “Even simple antibiotics are difficult to obtain and they’re not available most of the time. Hence, we have to bring our own medications. Fortunately, we have hospitals and drug companies that are willing to donate some,” he said.

The condition of the hospitals also varies. In some cases, such as in East Africa, there is an organized hospital system. In other cases, such as in a July trip to Guatemala, there was nothing but an unused building.

“We have an advance team to clean up the place, and we bring our anesthesia equipment, our needed equipment, and we go there as a team of 50 people or more,” Toh-Bin said. “There are pediatricians, family doctors, surgeons, anesthesiologists, obstetricians, plastic surgeons, ophthalmologists—doctors of different specialties—as well as nurses, technicians.”

In some cases, it is possible for Toh-Bin to stay at one place for as long as three months, allowing him to get used to the hospital and local culture, and to follow the progress of his patients. However, when only shorter trips are possible, patients are prepped by local doctors before Toh-Bin’s team arrives, who then take over again after they leave.

Giving Back
Missions work is not new to Toh-Bin, since he grew up on the missions field. His father, a native of China, was a Christian missionary from China to Burma (now Myanmar). One of the big reasons Toh-Bin chooses to volunteer as a medical doctor is that it helps him share his faith.

“Medical assistance, the surgical field, is a good way to bring the gospel of Christ to third world countries, to bring people to know the Christian faith. That, in my experience, has been quite effective,” Toh-Bin said. “I do not hold revival meetings or anything like that. I do take care of patients, and discuss the medical care with the local doctors, and after I am more familiar with them, and get to know them more, I tell them, ‘The reason I’m here is because I’m a Christian. I bring the love of Christ to these people, because they need this kind of help.”

Medical missions is also a way for him to express his gratitude. He is thankful for his career, for his education at Adrian and beyond, and for all the people who helped him along the way. He made special mention of several from Adrian College: John Dawson, president; Miles Peelle, biology professor; Dorothy Shipman, librarian; Hope Lowry, languages professor; and Al Halverson, maintenance director. But he gives the real credit to God.

“My faith is my basis for my missionary work. I’m very thankful that I’ve been blessed with many opportunities, in education, including at Adrian, and in various aspects of life. God has been so wonderful to me that I need to return things that I’ve received,” he said.

After a quick trip to Turkey in September, Toh-Bin Lim plans to be in Adrian for Homecoming Oct. 10-12. He is this year’s recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award.

*Photos provided by Dr. Lim