12 days, 12 adults and a baby (only 4.5 weeks old!), 4 different ministry sites, and over 450 people seen...all done with the purpose of loving people as God would love them.It was an incredible time. As the team poured their care into Dominicans, we did our best to serve along side them and equip them for this time. What a joy it is to unleash a group of very gifted individuals and see them use their vocation for God.
Also exciting for us is that this is the first time Iglesia Nueva Vida and Students International have worked together. While some of our plans for doing ministry in the waiting rooms weren't realistic, Nueva Vida helped by sending translators and people to keep order among those who were waiting to be seen. The team stayed at Student International's camp and we worked along side SI missionaries Dr. Fernando (medical) and Dr. Vanessa (dental). While Students International acted as the host, we focused on the ministry sites, trying to make the most of this opportunity.For more specific information, we decided to share in a question/answer format:
What kind of Clinics did you run? We had an eye clinic, a dental clinic, a medical clinic staffed with two doctors (one for adult and one for children), and a prayer clinic. Meaning...we did our best to pray with every person - while they waited to be seen and if possibly while they were seen with the doctor and nurses.
Was this connected with any of the church plants? Yes, in fact all our ministry took place in and around the church plants. In some situations, when the church building was too small, we used other buildings next to the church as well.How did people get seen? Every day when we came to a church, there were already people waiting to be seen. We made a list under different categories and saw people based on the order of the list.
Did we see everyone? For medical and optometry, we were close. Certainly our desire was to see everyone, but I am sure people saw the lines and decided not to wait. The list for dentistry was always too long so we were not able to see everyone for that list. We also didn't not expect that the local people would invited friends and family from all over. For example, in Montaña, we thought 2 days would be enough time to see everyone from the village. That may have been the case, but on the second and third day we started to see people from surrounding villages. People even came from La Vega, a large city half an hour away. This wasn't a big problem, it just wasn't expect. In summary, there are more people left to be seen....but we did a pretty good job getting through those on the lists! What kind of sicknesses did you encounter? We saw all kinds of sicknesses. The common cold, high blood pressure, fungal and skin infections, baby wellness checks, broken bones, burns, and on and on. The most serious was a small child who had Dengue Fever and was not doing well at all. We ended up putting her in the hospital and we monitored her until her condition was better. There is much more to the story but I will save that for another time.
Did you have medicine to give them? Yes, the team brought suitcases full of medicine. They came prepared and we set up a little pharmacy there in our clinic. We didn't have everything that was needed, but most. The team brought a pharmacist to help with this process. And at times, we bought medicine depending on the need.
Will there be any follow-up? Yes, we believe so! Dr. Fernando and Dr. Vanessa are talking about returning to each of the locations that we ministered on a regular basis. This will allow for some follow-up of the more severe cases. People also have the opportunity to see Drs. Fernando and Vanessa in their clinics in Jarabacoa at a reduced rate. One of the biggest challenges to follow-up is the cost of medicine. People don't have money for medicine, so they reason "why go to the doctor?"
How has this helped the church plants? In a country with so many needs, it is important for the local church to address some of these needs. This medical team allowed the church plants to do just that. Possibly when people walk past each of the Nueva Vida church plants, they will remember "that is where people helped me." Possibly, when Becky and I enter the community, the people will be more open to us because they know we love them and helped them in a very significant way. Possibly when Students International returns they will have even more opportunities.It is hard to measure the results of these two weeks. More then the medicine given, we continually prayed that people would experience God's love. We hope that the church plants become instruments of love in their communities.
How do you feel? We ended the two weeks feeling like we had physically and emotionally poured ourselves out. And isn't that the way it should be? We just want to continually give God the glory for anything good that happened. We feel very inadaquate to respond to the needs that we see all around us, but we know we God is more than adequate. He is able and we trust Him. All glory goes to Him!
