Yvonne Holley
Medical ministry in Thailand
As an army nurse in Vietnam, Yvonne Holley's call to medical missions came while she was huddled under her mattress, reading a Bible study book on Romans 12:1,2. The study had to do with "how to know the will of God," and the mattress was for protection since the hospital was under enemy fire at the time!
During that four-day period of being under "alert," Yvonne made the decision to resign from the army, having been convinced of the need for being "transformed by the renewing of her mind," and to apply to Bible college with a view to becoming a medical missionary.
Although Yvonne grew up on a farm in southern Indiana, her family moved to Phoenix, Arizona, when she was 16. She finished high school and subsequently studied nursing at Arizona State University before entering the Army Nurse Corps for six years of service.
Yvonne is grateful for the faithful prayers of her grandmother who also took her to Sunday school and church when Yvonne was a child. Yvonne was very active in her present home church while in college, but gave her life to Jesus after her first overseas assignment in Korea.
She became a member of OMF in 1972 and worked at Manorom Christian Hospital in Thailand, first as the operating room supervisor and later as a nurse anesthetist before returning to the States in 1991 to be near her aging parents.
Yvonne returned to Thailand in 1997 serving as an anesthetist as well as hosting the mission home at Manorom Hospital.