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BY CHRISTINE KUMAR
UMCONNECTION STAFF

She lived under basic conditions - a house built of straw and mud, no running water but a well in the middle of the yard, kerosene heaters, solar electricity and no refrigerator - all, she said, for the love of God.

Sue Porter, who answered an altar call at annual conference a few years ago to work as a missionary, is one of nine missionaries from the Baltimore-Washington Conference.

'I have learned to live with a lot and with a little,' she said. 'I have been called to do this by God; he puts you where he needs you.'

Porter, a pediatric nurse and member of Reisterstown UMC in Baltimore, recently worked in a village in Central Asia for a community health and development program. She lived in a rural, isolated area far from the city and from commodities that are taken for granted. The people of the village were secluded because they were the ethnic minority in their own country and were often threatened by the majority.

'They were stripped of education, resources and supplies,' Porter said. Many of them were farmers and herdsmen. The crops that they grew were not enough to satisfy their hunger, but they were able to survive on the resources she and the team provided.

'My greatest reward was being able to train nurses and workers on how to function in a hospital setting and be familiar with basic health practices,' she said. 'Seeing their confidence soar as they achieved new skills made me feel proud of our work in Central Asia.'

Porter?s incentive as a nurse was seeing the satisfaction on the people?s faces as they learned new skills and felt a sense of accomplishment. 'They were receptive and appreciative of what we were doing to help them and they liked taking ownership,' she said.

She proudly spoke of a woman who was a cook and, with training, became a nurse trainer.

Porter, who once worked in an adolescent clinic in Baltimore City, is grateful for the close relationships she formed with the people. She made many friends and ministered to some. 'Leaving the country was a very difficult thing to do,' she said. She was emotionally vested in the project and the people.

This month, she was assigned to Liberia, where 40 percent of the people are Christians. She will be there for the next three years.

In a country where much has been destroyed by a horrific civil war, Porter plans to teach, develop curriculum and train the faculty in the school of nursing which has recently been re-built.

'I am looking forward to it and I am pretty flexible in adjusting to different cultures and environments,' she said.