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.

Sunday, June 17

Sunday, June 17, 2012 Esteli, Nicaragua

This morning we planned to leave by 9:20 in order to make it to the church on time for the 10:00 service.  The reality of it was that we should have left by 9 am, but I’ve found in other countries folks don’t seem to be so hyper-vigilant about being on time!  As you can imagine, having arrived around 2 am and leaving by 9:20 am, it was a short night!  Actually, I woke up around 4:30 with the birds singing at the top of their lungs, bless the little buggers!  But, breakfast was great – each and every day we had great food, usually eggs, rice and beans, cereal and some form of fresh fruit and fruit juice for breakfast.  One day we had omelets, which I particularly enjoyed.  I had also made some granola to take along on the trip, so several times I just ate that for breakfast.  Not to get too detailed, but gut issues are not uncommon when traveling J. 

Sunday morning I explored the courtyard near our cabin.  The cabins were actually located on both sides of a dead end road.  For the most part the men were on the side where the open-air dining room was located and the women across the street.  I spied lime, orange, coconut, and mango trees.  There were some others, too, but I didn’t know what they were called.  A 4-foot parrot was also in the courtyard, and it was evidently quite talkative through the night based on the testimonies of those in the adjacent cabin! 

We made our group introductions – our name, where we’re from, what we would be doing for the week – and I decided that I wanted to try to sit with different people each opportunity so that I could get to know as many as possible.  The ride from Esteli to Condega, where the church and thus the clinic were located, was about an hour one-way.  The countryside I found to be absolutely beautiful, with mountains and wooded areas and rivers.  There was much less trash present than in some other countries where I’ve visited.  In several places short stone walls were present, but I’m still unsure as to their purpose.  Nothing was built within the parameters of these walls, so I doubt that they were for property marking. 

We arrived in Condega later than anticipated, and we had some trouble finding the church.  Evidently, it had been relocated when they built the new building and people weren’t sure of the new location.  I can tell you that, somehow or another, over 2,000 people found their way to the church that week!  The song services were started, and it is always a joy to me to hear familiar tunes to hymns being sung in another language.  The preaching was in Spanish without interpretation, and with the short night, warmer temps, and not understanding anything that was said, my greatest challenge was staying awake.  Not sure I won that battle :}.  We milled around after the services to determine how the clinic would be arranged and then returned to Esteli to eat fast food chicken at Tip Top.  We stopped at one, but it was full, so they sent us to another one, then we filled it.  There was a stray dog hanging outside the restaurant, and I know he was happy that we stopped by! I’m sure he’s never eaten so well in his entire life.  Pretty good food, actually. 

When we got back to the hotel it was time to count meds.  We prepackage Tylenol, Ibuprofen and vitamins in little Ziploc bags so that this doesn’t have to be done during the week.  Antibiotics and such are packaged on an as-needed basis.  All of us worked for two hours doing this job, so you can imagine just how many we had, yet we still ran out of Tylenol and vitamins during the week.  I think I heard someone say we had 2,000 bags of each medicine.  Praise the Lord, I had an hour to take a nap, so I was much more alert during the evening service.  This is the commencement of their rainy season, and boy, did it rain!  The services started about 45” late b/c the rain on the corrugated roof made it impossible to hear.  The little creek next to the church building turned into a raging torrent!  I was also praising the Lord for safety back to the hotel; b/n the rain, fog, mud and traffic there was plenty of room for accidents.  I sat with a team member that had been on another trip with MMO earlier this year.  I like to ask people their testimony of salvation when meeting someone for the first time, and this team member got saved while on his first MMO trip!  His interpreter led him to Christ. Sometimes there are folks who aren’t saved that participate on these trips because they want to donate their services for a ‘good cause’.  An added blessing to this ministry is that the gospel is presented to everyone, so sometimes it’s actually the provider that gets saved.  I rejoiced in this testimony as I lay down in bed, and I had no trouble sleeping. 

Nicaraguag Trip

Medical Missions Outreach

Nicaragua, June 16-23, 2012 

Team members: Approximately 36, plus translators; 2 medical doctors, 2 doctors of pharmacy, 1 nurse practitioner, 4 RNs (registered nurses), 1 LVN (licensed vocational nurse), 2 pharmacy techs, 2 pastors (MMO director Bradley Edmondson and Pastor Stephen Henderson of Manhattan, KS, Harvest Baptist Church), and a variety of other skilled lay people.

My translator was Nola, an American that left the States 12 years ago after some personal tragedies, and has served with the Peace Corps and a variety of other positions in Condega, Nicaragua for that entire time.  She has a bachelor degree in education, a master’s in special education, and a certification in American Sign Language.  She is also proficient in Nicaraguan Sign Language.

I had great flight times out of Philadelphia, PA to Atlanta, GA.  In Atlanta, the majority of the team rendezvoused, with the exception of a few that flew out of Houston.  I just love traveling with a team, even though I knew just a few team members.  Of course, I know Bradley and Kelleigh Edmondson from my trip to Haiti, and also Pastor Henderson, as he is one of my supporting pastors.  What a thrill it was when I heard that one of my supporting churches would be working on this mission with me! 

I was able to get a meal in the airport so that I wasn’t hungry all evening.  In my experience, American based airlines rarely serve meals, even internationally.  Some of you know that if I’m cranky it’s either time to feed me or time to put me to bed, so I surely wanted to avoid being hungry!  The flight itself was about 3.5 hours – time to talk with a woman and man from a Southern Baptist team going to host a Vacation Bible School in a city north of where we were going. 

We arrived in Managua around 8 pm Mountain Time.  With a team this size it took a while to get all our luggage (but, praise the Lord, we did indeed get all our luggage!) and get through Customs.  The folks that flew in from Houston were delayed and didn’t arrive for a couple hours after us, so we had a late departure from Managua.  This gave me time to walk through the airport and pass out tracts.  I loved turning around and seeing folks reading the tracts, too!  A school bus (I assume donated from the States as a placard said in English, “Do not stand forward of the white line while bus is in motion.”) was our transport from Managua to Esteli, about a 2.5 hour drive to the north.  Our driver, Raymond, stayed with us all week, and I was quite impressed with his ability to maneuver that thing through the tightest of places!  Never did he make me nervous, although I did hear a few others gasp occasionally.  And, I was very surprised at how nice the main roads were – paved and without potholes, wide enough for two-way traffic, well marked and for the most part, everyone followed standard driving patterns.  Because of all the luggage and the group size, there wasn’t quite enough room for everyone to have a seat, so some of the guys had to stand the entire trip.  The breeze from the windows made the temps quite comfortable. 

The day before we left the States, we all received an email stating that the hotel we were to stay in all week had been changed.  Rumor had it that the hotel gave away our rooms, but I’m not sure what really happened.  All I know was that I was relieved.  The new hotel wouldn’t have air conditioning, and I was glad about it.  I still haven’t adjusted to cooler temps, and am still wearing my fleece jacket when in A/C, so I was afraid that I’d be in a room with someone that would want to keep the temps too cold for me.  I wasn’t sure if I should pack flannel jammies or light cotton!  Where we stayed were actually individual cabins with fans, and the elevation was 7,800 feet.  With that elevation and the fans we were all quite comfortable – well, at least the folks in my cabin.  There were five of us in our cabin, and at first we were a little concerned about sharing one bathroom, but a good spirit prevailed, and we figured out quick how to work around each other.  The other four were all from the same church – Harvest Baptist Church in Pittsburgh, PA.  Melody, Bobbi, Joyce and Katie were my roommates and a lot of fun, I might add.  Melody brought chocolate for everyone, and Joyce brought cookies and pretzels.  All of them brought clothing, shoes or other gifts to give away throughout the week.  Very generous folks and very ‘tough’.  Both Melody and Joyce were ill at different times, but neither of them complained – they just kept working and serving. 

Saturday night/ Sunday morning we arrived at Cuallitlan Hotel at 2 am.  Maricel, our hostess and hotel proprietor, was waiting to greet us and show us around.  Of course, at night, we couldn’t see a thing outside, but I found the cabins to be very nice – tile floors, a shower and Western toilets.  We didn’t even have to share beds J! 

So that was Saturday.  I’ll try to post Sunday, June 17, tomorrow.

Some things

Since being back in the States I have lacked a supply of interesting experiences about which to write.  Everything just seems rather normal to most people.  Yet some things still stand out to me.

Personally, I’m rather impressed that I can put ice in a glass of water and an hour later it’s still there!  And that I can wash my dishes with tap water, as well as drink it.  I realize the safety of drinking tap water is up for question, but at least I know I’m not going to end up with dysentery. 

Getting back in the driver’s seat was a little intimidating at first.  Generally speaking, I have done very little driving in the last two years and then I pick up a lease car just outside of Los Angeles, CA.  No pressure there!  After two days of travel back to CO, I was feeling pretty comfortable once again.

Then there is the acclimation back to living at > 6,000 feet with temperatures anywhere from 10 to 60 degrees cooler than what I’ve become accustomed.  I cannot sing within 5-10 minutes of coming up the stairs at church, and I’m down from 3 layers of clothes to 2 to try to stay warm.  It’s still snowing here in CO, and I like looking at it, but I prefer looking while I’m inside and warm.

I was excited when I saw squirrels, blue jays, a cardinal, and deer.  And I’m absolutely thrilled to go for a walk in the woods and it be quiet!  I also like the wonderful smell of the woods, especially pines.

Lastly, I still remain a little suspicious of raw fruits and veggies, especially when I hear about E. Coli outbreaks, but I am quite willing to get a salad in a restaurant.  In fact, being able to eat out is still a thrill. The other day I found an African Market, so I went in to investigate.  The proprietor is from Ghana and she was quite excited to speak with someone that has recently been at her ‘home’.  This last weekend I took my pastor, his wife and a young man from my church that is called to Africa as a missionary to eat there, and she brought plate after plate of food.  It was a nice reminder of some of the foods I learned to enjoy.  PTL, she allowed me to give tracts to and invite the other clientele to church.  I met folks from Liberia, Cameroon and Ghana.  I’m praying they’ll come to church and that I’ll have opportunity to verbally give them a gospel witness.

I’m very blessed to have been born and raised in America – truly God has shed His grace on us.  I just pray that we His children will humble ourselves and pray and seek His face so that He would continue to bless our nation. 

Travels

I’ve done quite a bit of traveling once more – this time from Ivory Coast back to the States, and from the East coast to Colorado, where my home church is located.  As I was flying, I found myself nervous about a short connection time and bad weather that was predicted in Colorado Springs.  I recognized that I was worrying – dwelling on something over which I had no control – and I decided to ‘cast down these imaginations’ (my fears that I would get stuck in Chicago airport overnight) and to ‘bring into captivity’ these thoughts.  I remembered reading in Deuteronomy 14 the instructions the Lord gave to the children of Israel before they entered Canaan – that there would be areas designated by the Lord for bringing sacrifices and offerings.  However, the Lord said that if the place was too far away from where a person lived, they could sell their sacrifice and bring the money instead.  It stood out to me that the Lord understood the difficulties that can arise when we travel, and He made allowances for it.  So, that got me to thinking about all the times in the Bible where the Lord mentioned travel.

I thought about the children of Israel traveling by foot.  But when the Egyptians came after them with horse drawn chariots, the Lord made the wheels to fall off the chariots, causing the horses to slow down and keeping them from catching up to the Israelites. 

I thought about Balaam’s donkey, who, when she saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way, she diverted herself and her master three times in order to spare his life. 

I thought about Mary riding on a donkey as her and Joseph went to Bethlehem – she being great with child!  I can’t even imagine that ride.

I thought about Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem less than week before He was crucified.

I thought about how we who are saved will be caught up into the air when the rapture takes place – no visible means of transportation, yet it will be the best trip I’ll ever make!

I thought about the angels that carried Lazarus (the beggar) to Abraham’s bosom. 

I thought about how Jesus will come back on a white horse to conquer this world and rule it for 1,000 years.  And we who are saved will come back with Him.

I’m sure there are others stories in the Bible that you can think of – maybe Elijah being caught up in a chariot of fire, or something else – but it calmed my heart to think that the Lord pays attention to all of this.  He cares about my transportation and travel.  In fact, He even had me upgraded for free to business class on the flight about which I was worrying, without me even asking!  Not only did I make the connection without any difficulty at all, we actually got in 20 minutes early to Chicago, and I was able to get something to eat.  And, my flight out was on the same concourse as my arriving flight.

I can tell you of at least three times the Lord has graciously upgraded my seating when I have traveled overseas, and of times the Lord has protected me when I’ve accidently ended up someplace I shouldn’t have been.  It was a sweet time of remembering His watch care of me, and it was a great exercise in changing my thinking from worry to praise.  One small baby step of growth!

Good news from a far country!

Jo got out of the hospital today, came to church and played the piano!!! She was not able to sit up during all of the service, but this is a big improvement considering she has made very few church services since her surgery.  Yesterday she said she had no pain, but that it may be due to all of the lying down.  She looked great!  Had her humor back, as when Preacher was welcoming her back to the piano she said, "Ya all pray for me now cause I haven't had much time to practice."

Thank you all for praying!  I realize this is day by day, and she will continue to have ups and downs, but thank you for praying.

Progress report on Jo

Joanna was taken to the emergency room on Sunday afternoon with extreme diarrhea, continued pain, and nausea.  After being examined, she was admitted to the hospital.  A chest X-ray and CT scan were ordered to determine whether or not there were an infection that was causing her continued fever.  She was hooked up to a heart monitor for the night.  She slept for part of the night but woke up with extreme diarrhea once again.

The results from the CT scan and X-ray are in, and there was not an abscess of any kind, but the report is not good.  The tumors in Joanna's liver have grown substantially.  There is no infection.  The hepatic metastatic disease is markedly progressed since the previous study.  All of the patient's hepatic masses throughout both the right and left lobes have increased in size substantially since the previous study.

Dr. Logston said that her symptoms were partly because of the growth of the tumors in her liver.  The fact that the tumors were substantially larger was not a great concern to him in that her last CT scan was in January, and this is now March.  She has had only her first round of chemotherapy, and the growth of the tumors was to be somewhat expected at this point.  It was simply too early in the process to make any concrete determination.  Perhaps the most significant thing he said was that her liver functions are normal showing that her liver is still functioning properly.  He also said that they would give her something to help with the extreme diarrhea and nausea. JoJo will remain in the hospital for a couple more days.

Of course, your prayers are much appreciated, for Jo and her family, our church family, and my pastor, as well.