MSIA Ministers, David Morton and Holly Engelman, have been volunteering for Wheels for Humanity since 1997. Wheels for Humanity collects wheelchairs and equipment for the disabled poor of the world and distributes it in developing countries. David and Holly lead teams into those countries for hands on distributions to the disabled, usually with the help of volunteer physical therapists and occupational therapists as part of the teams. They have worked multiple times in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Vietnam, Mongolia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. They have also brought children to the U.S. from Mongolia to have surgeries at Shriner’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles, California.

When Holly Engelman and David Morton returned from Mongolia in June of 2004 they brought 13 year old Khandarmaa Lunden, her mother Tunga and her older sister Baigalmaa. Khandarmaa needed an operation to remove a tumor from the bone in her shoulder. This operation was successfully performed at Shriners Hospital. After that, Khandarmaa needed to stay in Los Angeles for a number of months for physical therapy to make her arm stronger and for medical check ups to make sure the tumor didn’t return.

After two months, Khandarmaa’s mother and sister returned home to Mongolia leaving Khandarmaa with Holly and David as her legal guardians. Holly & David registered Khandarmaa in school and combined this with teaching her to speak English. The whole experience has been successful. Khandarmaa now speaks English, is healthy, and is ready to return to Mongolia on December 15th in time to spend Christmas with her family.

While Khandarmaa has been in Southern California, she has visited: the Los Angeles Zoo, Disneyland, Windermere Ranch, Prana, Universal Studios, and Cirque de Soleil. She has been camping in San Clemente and tried boogie boarding during many visits to the beach. Mongolia is landlocked so the beach is a big treat.

Khandarmaa volunteered with the Heartfelt Foundation’s Thanksgiving project and had a great time serving food to the less fortunate. She enjoyed Thanksgiving Dinner at Prana. Khandarmaa will return to her country with many wonderful memories of Los Angeles, our MSIA family and the generous hearts of the many Americans she met in her six months here.