Medical Missionary Work in Korea by Riley Russell

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 16, 1909

Medical Missionary Work in Korea

By Riley Russell

I HAVE just made a visit to all our churches. We traveled on horseback, on foot, and by boat, and had many interesting experiences. At one place I had one hundred patients after sundown Saturday night, and as I had talked almost all day, and had not been alone for one minute, I was very thankful for the privilege of lying down on the floor for the night, even if there were two families in the room, which was eight by sixteen feet in size and five feet high. I have a small Korean house now for a dispensary. It is eight by sixteen feet and five and one-half feet high. I see patients only once a day.

We have a boys' school of twenty-five students, also a church-school. I now have my work better arranged than at any time since coming. I study Korean about four hours a day and Chinese about two hours a day, so am quite well satisfied. This month I had about five hundred fifty patients. Altogether this year I have had 4,435 patients. I have given only three general anesthetics, but have had many cases of cocain surgery. I never believed that individuals could have such abscesses as some of these people have, and live.

There is a very large field here for eye work, and I hope, in a year or two, to be able to take some special work along that line. Specific diseases are everywhere, with their attendant ills—foul ulcers, bad teeth, and blind eyes. The poor women and babies are certainly in great need. When the babies have convulsions, which are common, the native doctor burns a spot on the top of the head with a hot rod to let out the foul spirit. Pneumonia carries off thousands of children every year. These people respond very readily to treatment—much better than do the American people.

We try to interest all of our patients in the true God, and endeavor to get a tract into the hands of each one, and many are interested and studying. We have very many warm friends in all the villages round about us, and the magistrate here is very kind to us. We appreciate the work our people are doing in America to help the foreign fields; but O, they can not realize how white the harvest is, and the immense amount of work that must be done quickly! We have calls from every direction for work to be done. In the last company I visited, quite a number had just come into the truth, partly from reading. We are very busy, and are very happy, and we love these people. Remember us in your prayers, that God will help us to be true ministers for him.

RILEY RUSSELL, M. D.