Ministry Trip Continued...

Before I write a little bit more about this past week I have to let whoever is reading this know that there is this awesome new web-site that is giving great promotions on all kind of fun photo "stuff". It is www.ArtsCow.com When you sign up you automatically get one free photo book and 400 photo prints for free! Now I just got an email that if I order some photo books before July 7th I can get up to 10 free with a special discount on shipping! If you are wondering what a photo book is you should check it out. I've been making our family albums on-line for the past few years on Shutterfly.com (which is another great site but not as cheap as ArtsCow!). For those of you who don't have time to do creative memories but like to be somewhat creative and would like to have your photos preserved in a professionally bound book...well, this is for you (I should get something else for free from ArtsCow for this special bit of advertising, huh?). They have other fun stuff besides photo books too. My sister (who told me about ArtsCow) ordered a watch with a custom photo IN the watch for only $7. You can't beat that! Ok, onto other things....

So Saturday was the first day the clinic was open and it was only open in the afternoon (1-5). I was rather overwhelmed at that point but even more so at the end of Sunday (the clinic was open all day Sunday). There were so many new words I don't even want to know how much time I spent looking in my dictionary or consulting with somebody else who speaks better Portuguese in those first few days. I've been able to get by just fine the past few years but because we speak a lot of English on the base and are around a lot of other English-speaking people there are so many basic words I haven't needed to know in Portuguese (like blood pressure, etc). The girl I was translating for would die if she knew the kinds of things I was saying those first few days just to get by! Here is how a basic conversation would go...

Me: Good morning! You can sit down right here.
Dr: Ask him which issue is causing him the most problems.
Me: Which of your many problems is the worst?
Patient: Chest pain.
Me: Can you explain what kind of chest pain?
Patient: Chest pain...you know, it hurts, right here.
Dr: Ask him if it's a sharp stabbing pain, a pricking pain or a dull/sore pain.
Me: Does it feel like the pain you get when you're bit by a bug? Or does it feel like someone is standing on your chest, like it's really tight? Or does it just hurt a little bit throughout the day?"

And so it would go...if it seemed like I really wasn't getting the main idea and also seemed important that I get the main idea I would go consult with someone who could help. But thankfully by the time Monday rolled around I had learned a majority of the words I needed to know, or at least had them written down so that I could cheat a little bit!

There were some specific patients who just tugged at my heart. With so many issues yet had no choice but to continue working long/hard days...it really got to me. In our culture most of those who are overworked are overworked by choice, driven by the desire to live a better life materialistically or just driven to make a name for themselves (not all the time, but for the most part). It was so humbling to come into contact with people who live in pain day in and day out yet for the sake of surviving only, they continue on. I was convicted how I've let my life of ease and comfort affect decisions I've made and how I've spent my time. I've been on missions trips before and I've seen the poor (I've seen those who are even poorer than these folks) yet when you talk to them everyday about all of their struggles...well, I think I got much more of a glimpse into their lives. And still I know that I don't really understand what life is like for them. I can't understand, until I live among them on a day-to-day basis. Perhaps the Lord has that for us in the future...maybe this was just a stepping stone for something else. Either way, I do think my life has been changed forever in some respects. I found that before I went on this trip I was thinking a lot about the house we might live in when we move, how big it might or might not be and other things along those lines. By the end of the week I was rather convicted to be consumed with so many earthly/material thoughts.

Because we have so much to do today before we leave tomorrow I'm going to speed this up a bit and put some more of the pictures I took. Some of them may be rather random...


This is one of the men who really tugged at my heart. He's on so many medications already for Schizophrenia, etc. He had that look in his eye, like something deep down was really wrong and he didn't know what to do about it (he probably needed the Lord). They also found that he had some major heart issues that needed to be addressed.



The dentist dept. probably stayed the busiest! They weren't able to do fillings but they did a lot of cleanings and pulling teeth.


After the first day they realized that they should move the teeth-pulling chair to a different room after a few of the kiddos made quite a scene. The children outside who were waiting for a teeth cleaning decided they did NOT want to enter that room after they heard the screams of children not wanting to get their teeth pulled.


Another cool thing that they did was give glasses to those who needed them (and probably to many who didn't need them but wanted something that was free or something that made them look sophisticated:-) One of the ladies after trying on a pair of glasses exclaimed "I can see! I can see! I see you!"


Even though there were a ton of patients waiting outside our room to be seen I had to stop and have my picture taken with this lady. She was so much fun! With 6 fingers on each hand, a few teeth and a lot of personality (she was so animated) this is someone I won't ever forget. She was probably one of the poorest of the people we saw (this is just a guess) but she was cheerful and a lot of fun. She didn't seem to mind the hard life she had lived at all. So here's to a random picture...

Another random picture. As we walked through the neighborhood each day on our way to the clinic there was almost every time someone in this family holding their parrot out on the street corner. I couldn't figure this one out. Do they love their parrot that much? Or did they know when we'd be passing by and enjoyed the attention they got from the interesting white people? Who knows, but it was a cool parrot.

So now onto the GOOD news of the week! (this is for you Mary...this will make up for those tears I causes yesterday:-) As sad and humbling as it was to be in contact with hurting people each day, a good number of them came to know my Savior! It is wonderful and great to see their physical needs being treated but I also know that their earthly life is like a breath compared with the eternal life they will face. Every patient was sent to a room where the Gospel was presented to them after they had been treated. Out of the 400-500 patients that were seen each day almost everyday over 200 received the gift of salvation (over 200 per day!). That calls for some Hallelujahs people!! What an exciting, exciting thing to witness. One of the ladies that my friend Kim interpreted for just cried and cried because of the anxious/nervous feelings she felt on a daily basis. She received Christ and came back the following day saying that night was the first night in years that she had slept through the night. Her face was beaming and she testified of the peace that had come into her life the day before. Amen! Of course the main purpose of this clinic is to open the doors to an on-going ministry in this small community. I really hope that I can go back next year!

I don't even have time to read this over and make sure grammar/spelling are ok or that it makes sense. Maybe next week I come back and clean this post up a bit:-) Gotta run to the store before we pack and load up several trailers for the trip tomorrow.