What a week it has been here in Haiti with our medical team! Thank you for your prayers; I can assure you they have not returned void. We have such a great group of team members and while we have had a couple fall ill, everyone is doing well for the most part.
After a long day of travel on Saturday, we started our week with a great time of worship on Sunday at the orphanage and spent the afternoon with the children. Monday was a very long day as we began check ups on the 175 children, including dental screenings and giving over 300 vaccinations. We treated several kids who were quite sick but overall the children were doing well. Using newly purchased equipment we were able to screen their vision and fit for glasses as needed. Tuesday was community day at Lundi; again a very long day where we saw over 200 people from the community. A great number of them received medicines and had decayed teeth extracted–services they typically can’t find nearby or afford. Many were able to see clearly with glasses for the first time in years! The highlight of my day was seeing a young woman who was about 5 months pregnant. Using a new Doppler machine she was able to hear her baby’s heart beat for the first time! We then prayed over her and the baby; it was really special.
Yesterday we hit the road to Bon Bon, a community about 30 minutes away from where we are staying. Today we will go to Gomier, another church plant in a nearby community about 45 minutes away. The church at Bon Bon is less than a year old and the building itself is still unfinished; nonetheless we cleared space in the midst of a huge crowd and set up another community clinic. I wasn’t sure how we would see them all. Fortunately it isn’t up to me; God is faithful and always works out the details!
Over 300 people were seen, over 80 received eyeglasses for the first time and nearly 50 dental extractions were performed. Unfortunately there are some we cannot help medically. As we were setting up clinic, a family brought in a young lady on a cot, lifting her high above the crowd to get to the front of our triage line. The similarities to the story in the Bible of the cripple being lowered through the roof to the feet of Jesus were unmistakable. She is 27 and had abdominal distention from some type of cancer. We gave them some funds to try and start her process to getting to a larger hospital but the reality is that she will most likely die very soon. Prayer and compassion were what we had to offer her. For those of us who like to fix things, these experiences are a gut-wrenching reality check to remind us that true healing does not come in the flesh. Romans 8 tells us this: all of creation is groaning. The bondage to decay is very real but liberation from this fate awaits the children of God.
And therein lies the urgency of the call to Go and Tell. Pray that the small ripple we make here is multiplied exponentially with the others that have come and will come to bring those in need of healing to the feet of the Great Healer.