Two Allegiance Health nurses traveling to Cambodia to help people in need, spread God's word

By Terryl Jackson


Two Allegiance Health nurses and sisters are traveling abroad to provide medical help and the word of God for those in need.

Hannah Blondke, 26, and her sister Leah, 24, will be in Cambodia and working alongside doctors and volunteers to set up a medical clinic for underprivileged residents until Jan. 31.

The Blondkes were scheduled to leave for their trip today.

The trip was coordinated by Operation Renewed Hope, a North Carolina-based nonprofit focused on medical missions and disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad. Founded in 1991, the organization also offers opportunities for medical professionals, teens and other volunteers to serve God through short-term and long-term missions, according to its web site.

This will be Leah’s fifth trip through the organization, which has had missions in places like Peru, Uganda and Indonesia.

“We try to teach people how to increase their life expectancy,” Leah said. “I see the impact it has on people.”

On all the missions Leah has gone on, the people are always thankful for what the volunteers have done.

“When you leave, you see a difference already,” she said. “Everything is so positive and rewarding for us and for them.”

The Blondkes grew up in Pittsford. Leah has been a registered nurse at Allegiance Health for more than two years, and Hannah has been there for more than a year.

Leah graduated from Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wis., in 2008, and Hannah graduated from Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C., in 2009.

This will be Hannah’s first trip through Operation Renewed Hope.

Along with using the skills she has developed as a nurse, “I’m looking forward to what the Lord will do,” she said.