Clinic day numero uno...

We had a wonderful, God-filled day in Sansamba. The emotions are running high and the energy running low, but the Holy Spirit was here, no doubt. We started the day early, leaving at 7:30 am from the hotel. The view, although a bit dark still, was beautiful. The river is behind the hotel, framed in palm trees, and is a site for sore eyes. Yes, we are in Africa… On to business…

We arrived to Sansamba where many, many people were awaiting our arrival. As the pictures will show, there were many people waiting to see us. The team started the morning by spending time in prayer. We were sure to place ourselves in front of the clinic, so that the locals would hear us pray. What an important example…priceless. Please forgive me if I am scattered, as there is little I can do to paint a picture of the experiences that we shared today. We started slowly, as we were organizing the triage areas, but things got in full swing before we knew it.

Many, many people wanted to see both Dr. Ray and Dr. Mike, some only Dr. Ray, some only Dr. Mike, etc. The final number was in the 90’s, as our initial goal was 100, we feel great. God is good, all the time. We saw many women in pregnancy, many miscarriages, joint pain, stomach aches, constipation, some STD’s, hypertension, rashes, some tumors, mostly benign, and a couple thyroid concerns. Today, there were plenty of medications and vitamins, and Gary and Brandon in the pharmacy ran the soles of their shoes off to care for everyone. We kept Megan busy in the triage area all day, Larry and Sam praying for each patient fervently and Rhonda ran all over kingdom come, helping whom ever she could, praying all the while, and taking a couple hours to spend with our smallest patient, a six day old, 3 lb. infant whose mother was very ill. He has no name yet, but we call him “baby who is messy eater”, as we spent several hours syringe feeding formula, of which he often drooled out or blew bubbles with…good call Cindy.

Dr. Ray and Gina were constantly busy, seeing all of the patients, with Fran by there side interpreting. What a great trio. I (Kindra) started the day with Dr. Mike in the dentistry area, while Delayne assisted in triage, with vitals and preliminary assessments. We switched in the mid-day, as there were some more children coming in the afternoon that I could see. We are not sure how many extractions that Dr. Mike performed, however there were many, and many more could have come out. There is a lot of tooth rot here, as there is little mouth hygiene.

As we were wrapping up the day, there were some frustrations from the villagers, as they had waited a long time. We plan to start with them in the morning before we sell more tickets. The main obstacle that we had today was translation, as we are still missing Joseph. God has provided, and although things have not always been super smooth, He is here.

Tonight, we joined together at the guest house to debrief and discuss what we could do better tomorrow. It is a necessary time, getting things off your chest, discussing your concerns, things that were good, things that were not as good, and mainly, where and when did we each see God in our work today.

Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. The team is appreciative, and knows that you are with us. To our families, we love you and miss you terribly. Please pray for the continued safety and health of the team, for the energy and clarity of the team and interpreters, for the provisions of medications, as we are running low on pain medications, and again, most importantly that the spirit will touch each of the people that we see and touch, that they may know Jesus’ love is in them, as it is in us. Until tomorrow…

My nourishment comes from doing the will of God who sent me, and from finishing His work. You know the saying “Four months between planting and harvest,” but I say wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest. The harvesters are paid good wages, and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life. What joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike! You know the saying, “One plants and another harvests,” and it is true. I sent you to harvest where you did not plant, others had already done the work, and now you will get to gather the harvest. John 4:34-38 (New Living Translation)

Submitted by Kindra York