Saturday, June 23, Travel Day

It was an early morning for everyone, but two team members were running a little late!  We no longer had the bus to take us to the airport, but we had a hotel shuttle that would seat about 15 people.  Bradley and some of the other men left at 4:30 am with all the luggage, then those who were 25 or younger were to take the 5:00 am shuttle, and everyone older than 25 the 5:30 shuttle.  Bradley left Corey to be in charge of making sure all the people made it to the airport, and at 5:30, there were still two young ladies unaccounted.  Fortunately, another lady knew their room number and knocked on the door while everyone loaded on the shuttle.  Those poor girls!  They had set the room alarm clock, asked for a wake up call and set their own clock and all three failed!  The desk clerk never called, the hotel alarm clock didn’t work, and something else happened to their clock.  They grabbed everything as was, threw some clothes over their pajamas and got on the van.  Wow – what an exciting morning for them!

The line at the airport was looonnnggg, but Bradley has so many frequent flyer miles with the airlines that he can bump people up, which he is very generous to do.  Several folks were having GI issues, and he kindly bumped them to Business Class, allowing them to be able to rest very comfortably back to Atlanta.  On the leg of the flight from Managua to Atlanta we met our friends again from the flight down, plus a mess of other Baptist folks that were ministering in Nicaragua.  Several folks from different groups had things in common so it was pretty chatty back in Economy Class.  Bradley bumped me to Economy Plus, for which I was very grateful!  The chatter kind of spilled over to the flight crew and the atmosphere on the flight was fun.  That isn’t always the case, but these guys from GA were jokingly giving this petite little flight attendant from Detroit fits for giving them pretzels instead of cookies, esp. when the male attendant found cookies for them.  The next thing you know the female attendant walked to the front of our section and announced that she only gave ‘wings’ to her favorite passengers – and then proceeded to pass them out to everyone but these guys.  What a hoot! 

When we got to Atlanta, we gathered our luggage and got through customs.  Then it was time to say goodbye and time for everyone to catch their flights to their respective homes.  It was sad saying goodbye, but at the same time I have new friends all over the country and there’s no telling when the Lord will allow our paths to cross again.  My flight out of Atlanta was delayed for a couple hours, but I got to pass out the remainder of my tracts (except the French tracts) and I got to meet a couple soldiers and their dogs heading to Afghanistan.  The one guy, Michael, is a pastor’s son, and I promised I’d pray for him and his dog Rambo.  The other soldier is Rudolpho and his dog Sid.  If you think of it, please pray for these two young men to come home safely to their families, and that Michael would be a godly example to his fellow soldiers.  He gave me the impression that he’s a godly young man.  Praise the Lord for our soldiers – I would buy everyone of them a meal if I had the money. 

Next trip… Honduras, July 20-28.  Please pray!  

Friday, June 22, Tourist Day

The morning for me started out the same as every other morning this week – birds singing, getting up early and spending some time in prayer.  But somewhere toward the end of my prayer time I heard a not so good sound outside of our cabin and a little smell of smoke.  The power went out – but hey, no big deal, I kind of got use to that in Africa – so I just simply thanked the Lord (a habit I got into in Africa when the power went out so that I didn’t complain or groan) and continued praying.  But then the sounds of people running and hollering in Spanish made me decide maybe I should look out the window and see what was happening. Evidently a fuse box, or something similar, caught on fire and they were busy putting it out.  PTL the itinerary was to leave this morning, although the power did come back within an hour or so.

Bradley always tries to give the team one day of sightseeing and souvenir shopping, so today was that day.  After breakfast, we all piled into the bus and headed to Managua – about 2.5 hours.  Along the way we heard some more not so good sounds but kept driving.  When we arrived at the hotel, we unloaded our luggage and prepared to go to Granada, where we would go boating.  When we came back out to the bus I was surprised to see people under it – evidently that noise we heard had something to do with the tire or suspension or something important under there.  So instead, there was a mall next door and we walked over there.  I was quite surprised how nice it was – pretty much like a mall in the States, with a huge food court.  There were probably 25 different restaurants – American places like Burger King as well as local places that sold Hispanic food like tacos and burritos.  Myself and 3 others passed out tracts while we were waiting for our food, and I don’t think one person turned us down.  I brought 100 with me and gave them all away.  Rats – I should have brought 200! 

After lunch, the bus was ready for travel again so we all loaded up for another hour drive.  Bradley arranged for our group to go out on 3 tour boats to ride through some waterways where there are a bunch of privately owned islands – around 360.  The boats are open with about a dozen seats each and a guy in the back that controlled the rudder.  He told us about the different islands, but in particular we went to Monkey Island – a very small island with about 4 mango trees and a half-dozen or so white-faced monkeys.  While in their natural environment they would eat mangos, it’s obvious they are quite accustomed to eating tourist food because I thought they were fixing to jump in the boats with us.  That was a lot of fun, and I found myself telling the Lord thanks.  In all my life I would have never guessed that I’d ever be riding around in a boat in Central America looking at monkeys.  Especially with 3 boat loads of new friends!  There certainly are a lot of blessings in serving the Lord.

From there we did some souvenir shopping, and near the shops was a caldera.  I didn’t know it, but many of the islands of Nicaragua were formed by erupting volcanoes and here was another volcano that had erupted, leaving only this caldera.  If you’ve ever seen Crater Lake this looked a lot like that, only it didn’t have the beautiful blue water that Crater Lake has.  I’m not much of a shopper, but I wanted to get coffee for some good friends of mine, so after I got the coffee I went back to the bus.  I enjoyed a few minutes with the Lord, just thankful for all that He’s allowed me to do. 

At the hotel I shared the room with Lydia, a young lady from one of my supporting churches, and Sandra, a nursing student at Bob Jones University and MK (missionary kid) from Costa Rica.  Both are delightful young ladies with good spirits and servants hearts.  They spent most of the evening with other team members while I enjoyed a hot shower and some time alone.  This hotel had air conditioning, which was much appreciated, in that we were no longer in the mountains.  Praise the Lord for safe travels and good people with whom I may share these activities!

Thursday, June 21, Day Four

The last day of clinic – woohoo!  Don’t get me wrong – I have loved meeting these folks and serving them, but I am flat wore out.  Everyone has been so expressive of their gratitude, which just makes it even more enjoyable to serve them.  Again, we had folks waiting when we arrived this morning, but thankfully not like yesterday.  The morning went by fast, but not at a grueling pace.

At lunch time it seemed the whole place cleared out today.  In fact, we weren’t even breaking in shifts – we were just told to head for lunch when it was convenient.  The provider room cleared out for the most part, and Nola and I stood up to go get our lunches when Nola stopped me.  She told me she just kept thinking about what I had told her about being saved and that she wasn’t sure that she had ever put her trust in Christ to pay her sin debt.  She wanted to know if I would help her get this settled.  GLORY!!!  I was thrilled to sit down with her, go over the plan of salvation again, let her ask any questions and then invite her to pray to accept Christ as Savior.  What an incredible joy!  God is so very faithful!  Here is an American lady that left her country to live in another, and while living there the Lord gives her understanding of her need and she gets saved in her host country.  What an awesome God I get to serve! 

The rest of the day went smoothly.  Most of the illnesses we treat are not that complicated but reveal a lack of knowledge or a lack of funds for medicines.  Arthritis, back pain, parasites, dehydration, upper respiratory infections and ear infections – typical stuff that would be seen at a doctor’s office.  Sometimes it’s a new mom that isn’t sure how to keep their baby healthy, or isn’t sure what’s normal for a baby.  Not that I’m all that skilled in baby stuff, but it’s fun to hold the newborns (I saw several babies less than a month old), and I’m actually pretty good at getting them to quit crying.  One of the kids I saw is a little girl about four years old that was born with cleft lip and palate.  Her face is quite disfigured, but definitely not her personality.  She likes getting her picture taken, and she poses without any coaching.  I’m not sure that she’s afraid of anyone, but ran from team member to team member to give hugs.  Nola told me that her cleft lip was repaired by another medical team from the States, Operation Smile, but the palate remained open, meaning that much of the roof of her mouth was missing and open to her nasal cavities.  Her teeth were all rotted, and her mom was bringing her because of teeth pain.  I wish I could have helped, but could only tell her she needed to see a dentist. 

Nola and I also saw several deaf students.  Of course, they all know her from the school, so they knew to come to our station.  I know very little sign, but I had a friend who was deaf, and my home church has a deaf ministry, so I’ve been around it a little, at least enough to recognize what I consider to be ‘beautiful sign’ – sign that is so clear and articulate (if I can use that word about an unspoken language) even a hearing person can understand. Nola’s sign was very good, but we treated a young deaf man that had absolutely beautiful sign.  I recorded Pastor Henderson as he talked with Enoch through Nola about salvation.  Enoch gave a testimony of having been saved 2.5 years ago and was wearing a ‘salvation colors’ bracelet.  I’ve gone back a couple times to watch that video and show it to others just because Enoch’s sign was so impressive.

After treating every one that came (they don’t turn away anyone), we cleaned up our stations and prepared for evening services.   Pastor Henderson, who in my opinion has a tremendous voice, led the English speakers in singing hymns of praise in gratitude for what the Lord had done this week.  I love singing, and I love praising the Lord!  We sang several very familiar songs and then set up the chairs for church services.  I was blessed when the song services started and the Spanish speaking folks sang the very songs we had just finished singing. I can’t wait until we sing His praises together in Heaven in a tongue that we all understand.  What a thought! 

During the service, I sat next to Megan, a pharmacist from OH, who informed me I was old enough to be her mom.  Really?  I’m old enough to have, not just grown children, but children that have professions and marriages and children of their own??  So the person doing the preaching does not speak English and one of the bi-lingual team members was going to interpret for him.  Unfortunately, the poor guy got really nervous and he couldn’t think straight in both languages.  Bradley decided to just let the guy preach in Spanish and those of us that didn’t understand would just have to sit there and pretend we understood.  The fact of the matter is that I was quite surprised at just how much I did understand.  I find the French and the Spanish to have a lot of similarities.  But at that point, it didn’t matter if I understood.  As if the confusion with the interpreting wasn’t enough, Megan and I were distracted when we heard a very distinctive ‘splat’ coming from the center aisle.  When we looked over, there sits a gecko about 7 inches long that had fallen from the ceiling joists, about 12 feet above us.  He wasn’t at all dead as we thought, but instead went on the move toward the right side of the auditorium.  Megan and I were sitting on the fourth row from the front on the left, and unfortunately, the gecko was heading for the second row on the right, where another team member – Melissa – happened to be sitting, totally engrossed in the sermon.  Many thoughts were going through my head: What should I do?  If I don’t do anything, what will the gecko do?  What will Melissa do if the gecko runs across her foot?  What would be more disturbing to the service – me jumping up and grabbing the gecko or Melissa jumping up screaming?  Or perhaps she’ll faint.  As all these thoughts are flying through my head in mere seconds, Megan starts punching me in the leg and whispering/screaming at me to go get it.  I was torn about what to do when the next thing I know, the little guy has climbed on Melissa’s shoe – front feet on her sock heading north, and back feet on her shoe, looking like he’s about to launch himself up her leg and, by default, up her skirt.  I couldn’t wait any longer – I jumped up without word or warning, stumbled over the person sitting on my right, took three long strides and a swing at the gecko.  Well, you can imagine Melissa’s response at being attacked without provocation, and then the reaction of the people behind her as the gecko went flying a couple rows back!  Without saying a word, I turned around and sat back down in my seat, and heaved silently with laughter.  I finally got myself under control, but there was no way I could even look at Megan or anyone else.  After the service, everyone wanted to know what that was about, and Pastor Henderson told me it was a ‘fine piece of snake handling’.  I really felt for that poor man trying to do the preaching!

It was a much more relaxed atmosphere at the hotel, and I think several folks stayed up late playing games and talking to their families back in the States.  The proprietor had a Magic Jack line, so we could call the States for free – nice perk!  I took a shower and went to bed, and this time my roomies asked if they could take my picture with my eye covers on.  I thought they were kidding, but I told them it was fine with me.  Sure enough, the next morning they showed me the pic and now I’m afraid I’m going to see it posted on Face Book or something! 

Wednesday, June 20, Day Three

 It was good to have that extra hour of sleep, although I’m not really sure I gained an hour if I went to bed over an hour later than normal the night before!  After breakfast we all loaded onto the bus for the ride to the church/clinic.  They have their midweek service on Thursday nights, so we anticipated a very busy day without a break for church.  The norm for such trips is that the first day is the quietest and the last is the busiest.  As word gets out in the community then the people start coming from all over.  It’s a good thing we were somewhat prepared, but I’m not sure I could have been prepared for what we saw when we arrived – there were at least 250 people already waiting to be seen!  Oh my soul!  It was hard not to feel overwhelmed – Lord, please give compassion and strength!

Bradley once more gave a pertinent challenge and we were off.  Most of the providers that could take a blood pressure were put to that task.  Those who were not medical were put to work trying to organize this mass of people into a manageable order.  The heart of man is the same in every culture, and it’s always sad to see the ‘me-first’ mentality – whether it’s in me or in someone else.  At least no one was fighting and everyone seemed to keep a good spirit.  Of course, not knowing Spanish, they could have been cursing me with a smile on their face and I wouldn’t have known it. 

We stayed busy continually – just taking enough time to take a trip to the outhouse periodically and breaking in shifts for lunch.  I had to laugh about the outhouse and different team members’ responses to it. Several years ago, I did a basic mountaineering course in Alaska, and I was the only female on the trip.  There aren’t a whole lot of outhouses up in the mountains of Alaska, so the guys adopted one set of rocks and I adopted another.  We were camping on snow and there were glaciers all around us, so you can get the idea of the temps.  Needless to say, after that experience I decided I would be happy with any type of toilet that had at least 2 walls to block the wind!  Several folks decided they would do whatever was necessary not to have to use this outhouse (it even had a door, so I’m really not sure what the problem was!), including not drinking for all the time we held clinic during the day.  I can’t even imagine…

It was obvious that we had gotten into the groove of things – each department had figured out how to work with people they had just met a few days before and in an environment they would not soon see again.  I have to say that one of my chief prayer requests on these trips is that we have a cohesiveness that brings glory to the Lord.  I know a lot of people are watching us, and the Bible is clear to say that we identify ourselves as being disciples of Christ by our love for the brethren.  It is a challenge to live and work in such close proximity with total strangers, and sometimes the ‘old man’ begins to show himself.  To be very transparent, I curse the old man that still is strong in me at times, and that uses words that can make others feel unwanted or inadequate.  I praise the Lord that more than one person made reference to a good team spirit this week.

I also praise the Lord for the opportunity to share my salvation testimony at dinner time with an individual I do not believe has trusted Christ as Savior; then later the same night with some other team members to share how the Lord has helped me to grow.  There’s a verse in Hebrews that talks about exhorting one another daily lest our hearts be hardened through unbelief and sin.  The warning is not to the unsaved but to those of us who have trusted Christ.  Sharing my testimony is one of the means I like to use to exhort others and remind them of God’s faithfulness. 

On the ride to the hotel Kelleigh asked about Nola’s reaction when I presented the gospel to her.  Honestly, I had come to the conclusion that Nola was very accepting of everyone, thus she was just being polite in letting me tell her about salvation.  I was still praying for her, but I wasn’t holding my breath.  Talk about unbelief! 

The pharmacy team reported tonight that we’ve run out of many medicines – in particular, adult and children’s vitamins.  Ugh!  That’s the one thing most every patient is eager to get, and that most every patient greatly needs.  We are obviously seeing more patients that we thought we’d see in this area – over 740 just today.  Bradley has already gone to the local pharmacies to purchase a med that we give for parasites.  Praise the Lord we can restock a few of our meds locally and usually affordably. 

It was good to have that extra hour of sleep, although I’m not really sure I gained an hour if I went to bed over an hour later than normal the night before!  After breakfast we all loaded onto the bus for the ride to the church/clinic.  They have their midweek service on Thursday nights, so we anticipated a very busy day without a break for church.  The norm for such trips is that the first day is the quietest and the last is the busiest.  As word gets out in the community then the people start coming from all over.  It’s a good thing we were somewhat prepared, but I’m not sure I could have been prepared for what we saw when we arrived – there were at least 250 people already waiting to be seen!  Oh my soul!  It was hard not to feel overwhelmed – Lord, please give compassion and strength!

Bradley once more gave a pertinent challenge and we were off.  Most of the providers that could take a blood pressure were put to that task.  Those who were not medical were put to work trying to organize this mass of people into a manageable order.  The heart of man is the same in every culture, and it’s always sad to see the ‘me-first’ mentality – whether it’s in me or in someone else.  At least no one was fighting and everyone seemed to keep a good spirit.  Of course, not knowing Spanish, they could have been cursing me with a smile on their face and I wouldn’t have known it. 

We stayed busy continually – just taking enough time to take a trip to the outhouse periodically and breaking in shifts for lunch.  I had to laugh about the outhouse and different team members’ responses to it. Several years ago, I did a basic mountaineering course in Alaska, and I was the only female on the trip.  There aren’t a whole lot of outhouses up in the mountains of Alaska, so the guys adopted one set of rocks and I adopted another.  We were camping on snow and there were glaciers all around us, so you can get the idea of the temps.  Needless to say, after that experience I decided I would be happy with any type of toilet that had at least 2 walls to block the wind!  Several folks decided they would do whatever was necessary not to have to use this outhouse (it even had a door, so I’m really not sure what the problem was!), including not drinking for all the time we held clinic during the day.  I can’t even imagine…

It was obvious that we had gotten into the groove of things – each department had figured out how to work with people they had just met a few days before and in an environment they would not soon see again.  I have to say that one of my chief prayer requests on these trips is that we have a cohesiveness that brings glory to the Lord.  I know a lot of people are watching us, and the Bible is clear to say that we identify ourselves as being disciples of Christ by our love for the brethren.  It is a challenge to live and work in such close proximity with total strangers, and sometimes the ‘old man’ begins to show himself.  To be very transparent, I curse the old man that still is strong in me at times, and that uses words that can make others feel unwanted or inadequate.  I praise the Lord that more than one person made reference to a good team spirit this week.

I also praise the Lord for the opportunity to share my salvation testimony at dinner time with an individual I do not believe has trusted Christ as Savior; then later the same night with some other team members to share how the Lord has helped me to grow.  There’s a verse in Hebrews that talks about exhorting one another daily lest our hearts be hardened through unbelief and sin.  The warning is not to the unsaved but to those of us who have trusted Christ.  Sharing my testimony is one of the means I like to use to exhort others and remind them of God’s faithfulness. 

On the ride to the hotel Kelleigh asked about Nola’s reaction when I presented the gospel to her.  Honestly, I had come to the conclusion that Nola was very accepting of everyone, thus she was just being polite in letting me tell her about salvation.  I was still praying for her, but I wasn’t holding my breath.  Talk about unbelief! 

The pharmacy team reported tonight that we’ve run out of many medicines – in particular, adult and children’s vitamins.  Ugh!  That’s the one thing most every patient is eager to get, and that most every patient greatly needs.  We are obviously seeing more patients that we thought we’d see in this area – over 740 just today.  Bradley has already gone to the local pharmacies to purchase a med that we give for parasites.  Praise the Lord we can restock a few of our meds locally and usually affordably. 

Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Day Two

The morning was incredibly quiet!  I was quite surprised and wondered if the other local churches had told their people to stay away. I know this has happened several times to missionaries.  Nola told me she had contacted the deaf school where she helps and several other schools to tell them to send folks.  Ever resourceful, Bradley took a taxi to some local schools and to 3 factories where cigars are made to tell them about the clinic.  This definitely bolstered business!  That day we saw ~635 patients, with ~535 of them being seen in the last 6 hours! 

For our lunches we had either peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or ham and cheese, with chips of various types and drinks.  We would eat in shifts so that we could continue treating patients.  Because of the quiet morning I had ample opportunity to talk again with Nola about the gospel.  This time I discussed justification and imputed righteousness.  Again, she listened attentively and even asked some questions, but I still got the feeling she was just being polite. 

Ugh!  I was quickly fading by 6:30 pm, talking in French to Nola and Nola was talking to me in Spanish.  We were both exhausted and getting giddy.  This was grueling, and every time I felt myself getting impatient with the patient I would stop and ask the Lord for the compassion of Jesus.  PTL, He is faithful to help us in our weakness. 

One of my weaker points in medicine is dermatology.  The Lord allowed me to meet a nurse practitioner in Iowa that does dermatology, and I would love to spend a week with her to learn general principles.  Unfortunately, because I’m not too sure of my diagnosis in this arena, I had to keep consulting with the other providers.  Thankfully Dr. Steve and Kelleigh were quite patient, and Dr. Steve even gave me some basics in treating what I was seeing with what we had available. 

We finally left Condega around 8:30 pm.  Needless to say, it was quieter on the bus ride back to the hotel.  I took a quick shower, and by the time I arrived to the dining room dinner was being served.  Every evening our dinners were very nicely prepared and delicious!  I don’t know where Maricel got the chef, but she needs to hang onto him.  Several team members took pics of the meal.  For dinner there was always rice and a salad, but the entrée changed.  Some nights chicken, others fish or pork.  One night I wasn’t quite sure what it was, but it sure tasted good.  I heard it was rabbit because a stray dog had killed the white rabbit that was hanging around the hotel, but that rabbit wasn’t big enough to feed that many people!  I skipped the salads, even though normally I love salad.  I was just a bit skeptical that the water used to wash the fresh veggies was sufficiently potable for the American gut :].  And there were a few folks that had gut issues during the week.

Thankfully, Bradley had mercy on us – we get to leave an hour later tomorrow!  I hit the hay after 11 pm – too late for this early riser.  I brought the thing to put over my eyes so I could sleep even if the lights were on, so I just pulled that down each night and was asleep in no time.  PTL, He gave me a good ‘sleeper’ – noises, lights – not a problem.

Monday, June 18, 2012 First day of clinic

It’s my custom to get up early, and as I mentioned before, the birds were good to help me follow this custom!  I always find it a bit humbling to have my prayer and Bible time in the presence of others, but given that there really wasn’t any place private I didn’t have a lot of choice.  I remember reading the biography of J.O. Frazier, a missionary to China several decades ago, and when he would stay with Chinese families he said they watched every thing he did, so he would rise at 2 or 3 am to have privacy with the Lord. 

So, after breakfast, we headed to Condega on the bus.  I think all of us were more awake and appreciative of the scenery – lots of picture taking.  The church was quiet on our arrival, and as is Bradley’s custom, we had a short devotional each morning.  This morning he spoke about Jesus’ compassion, and immediately I started fighting tears.  I lost, and they ran freely.  :}  Of late I have been acutely aware of my need to cast off the old man – not just the ungodly acts listed in the Bible, but even my “filthy righteousness’”.  My human love, at its best, is still tainted with selfishness and self-interest.  It’s been my prayer that the Lord would truly give me His love for others.  I remember in Haiti that I was overwhelmed with the numbers of patients that we would see.  As I read the book of Mark that week I underlined all the times that mentioned ‘many’, ‘multitude’, ‘much’ or any other reference to the fact that Jesus ministered to very large crowds on several occasions.  Oh for the compassion that moved my Savior to tears!

After devotions, we set up registration, triage (where weights, vital signs and the chief complaint were taken), our provider stations, the evangelization area, the ‘pharmacy’ and the dispensing area (where meds and the instructions were given to the patients).  We were then introduced to more translators – folks from the local area that weren’t necessarily associated with the church.  This is when I met Nola, and boy, did the Lord bless me.  Nola knows everyone in the entire area and in many of the surrounding areas.  The kids just love her because she gives out stickers and such.  While a few of the translators really did not know English well, Nola had no problem, and often times the others would come to her for Spanish medical words.  The beginning of the morning was somewhat quiet, and the way our conversation went led easily to presenting the gospel to Nola.  She had attended a Baptist church in GA years ago and had some type of emotional experience and then was baptized.  I was concerned, however, because she couldn’t really explain what all that meant to her.  I wondered if she were just being polite in listening to me.

Several times throughout the day I found myself very joyful and thanking the Lord for allowing me to be in Nicaragua.  I would have never dreamed I’d being doing this!  There was a wonderful spirit amongst the team, which was one of my main prayer requests before we left.  Joyce, one of my roomies, was stung by a bee – to which she is severely allergic!  Kelleigh jumped in and treated her quickly, but I was shocked to see her continue to serve.  The meds she got should have made her very drowsy and the strong reaction would have exhausted most folks, but she just kept serving.  Over 300 patients were treated that first day, but it’s hard to know the total of those saved because several people were working off and on throughout the day in the evangelism area.