Klinik - Jou en (Clinic - Day 1)

Today was very interesting! Day one usually is. This is our first time staying at this guesthouse which we have to drive from. If there were no cars on the road, it would take about 5 minutes to get to the clinic, but throw in lots of people on the streets getting kids to school, setting out their wares to sell, and getting to work, and the ride suddenly turns into about 1/2 hour!!
We arrived to see over 100 people in line already. We safely made it inside the gates and quickly set up our stations, prayed with our translators, and passed out tickets. There were still a few hundred out there that we were not able to see. We are blessed to have great security agents and my big tough-guy husband as we passed out tickets, there was some pushing and shoving and people poking me from behind and putting their hands in my face. I was blessed to have my husband come up behind me to keep the people not in line away as I continued my task at hand. It IS hard that we cannot see everyone, but the fact is we CANNOT see everyone that comes.
I wish pictures were downloading tonight as I was able to get a picture of each team member doing their thing! Let's start from entry into the clinic.
Patients come in the gates as allowed by Dennis and security. Lori helps guide patients to the next place and she is our videographer. Lu gets patients' names, phone numbers, and birth dates and starts the charts. Then they get to see Kurt and Tyler for prayer and spiritual help. Margie and Connie then get vital signs and weights and asks the patients why they are there and documents them in the charts. Next to wait in line to see a provider. Eric (Hi MOM!) sees mostly men and children while Teresa and Lynda see mostly the women. Deb is the one that sort of knows where everything is. If she doesn't, she finds it right away and is always ready to assist with whatever needs to be done. Lisa gets to watch Eric and try to get in on watching and helping with some cool stuff (from a provider's perspective)! Gerry and Amy are ready to test a urine (one woman told us she was diabetic because she tasted her pee and it was sweet - Gerry wasn't willing to test it that way, hmmmmmmm), and check blood, etc. If medications were needed, Michelle and Erica were ready. On the way out, Joslyn gave the adults a bag with some give-aways like toothbrushes, toothpaste, granola bar, calcium tabs. The children already received a bag with some of the same things along with crayons and a page to color. Kim was responsible for this and for coloring with the kids.
The gratitude shown by the smiles, the shaking of hands, and the "gras a dye" (Glory to God) fill our hearts with joy and totally humble us. We have seen people with complaints of a simple headache to a man nearly passed out at the entrance. God wanted us to see every person we saw!
I want to share the coolest blessing of all. God allowed Kurt and his translator to show another translator the way to Christ! This translator accepted Jesus Christ as his personal savior this day!! We rejoice with the angels in heaven! Throw another rose on the altar!!
The day was long but was blessed. After dinner, we had an awesome team meeting again. This is another amazing team. I love how God gets just the right people on each team. We have laughed a lot today. We cried some today. We were totally blessed all day.
Tyler led us with worship music again . . . love it . . . and even did one of my almost daily verses: Phil 2:14-17. Erica jumped in and said she wanted to do one, too. Hers was on finding peace when you are anxious. This seemed appropriate as we prepare to go to Missionaries of Charity hospital near Cite Soleil tomorrow. This is a hospital with dying patients and the poorest of the poor. We are not sure what we will be doing other than showing God's love in whatever service is asked of us.
Prayer requests: Rob and Jessica Archer as they take care of some adoption business tomorrow. Pray for safety and peace for the team. Pray that God's love will come pouring out of us tomorrow as we serve Him in the hospital. Pray for the young man who received Jesus Christ today. Pray that we recognize those who come across our path that do not know Him.
Your prayers are sustaining us. Seriously, this is truly a blessed team. We are all fine.