Second Day of Clinic

Lena and I got up at 6am in order to catch the bus to the restaurant for breakfast and the morning sharing time.  I am feeling a little nauseous and don't have much of an appetite (dehydration and tiredness setting in, along with all the beans and rice).  I gave the devotional in the morning that I worked on before leaving for the trip - centered on Jonah.  Cory gave his testimony, and shared how the TLC program changed his life.  Such an awesome story.

As we headed into the town for clinic there was a line of people waiting for us.  Lena was feeling very faint and decided (with Dr. Frank and Laura's urging) to take the morning off and stay in the MMU, where it was cool and dark.  Dr. Frank gave her a shot of Tigan and Laura stayed and prayed with her.  The pharmacy was very busy again, and in the morning Pastor Chuck and Sandy, Julieanne, and Lloyd and Susan joined in.  We are running out of liquid pain relievers for the kids, and did our best to keep the prescriptions moving.  Lloyd is such a great source of encouragement for me (he has helped with the pharmacy on many missions before) and did a great job of showing all the folks that helped in the pharmacy some great tips on how to keep everything moving.

Lena came and joined me on the way down to lunch.  It was a little longer today than yesterday, and we all welcomed that!  There was a map of North America in the church that I used to show Alejandra were we live and how we traveled down to Nicaragua.  Lunch times are a great break from the busy pace of the clinic (and the other outreach with the kids and people of the village) for everyone, and to be able to share about what God is doing through the team and the people here is just amazing.

In the afternoon, Nancy, Mike H., and Bruce started out in the pharmacy.  We were blessed with extra interpretors, which allowed us to keep the prepacking of medicine going as we filled the prescriptions.  A short time after lunch, I looked over to see that Roy had bought Erick and Alejandra some Eskimo ice cream cones  (like our Good Humor bars) from a cart on the street.  I harassed them a little bit for not getting me one, but I did not take up their offers to eat one.  I even gave them some time to eat the cones.

Lena stole me from the pharmacy for a short break as Frank kicked me out.  We went to the church to see the work done there (inside with the kids and outside by the workers, like Eric B., Chuck D., and Cory joining the local crew).  We started to take a trip to the dentistry with Carlos, but we were stopped as Kelli D. and Millie came down the path because the power went out to the clinic.  There was a store on the street and we bought some baby powder and snacks before talking with the guys sitting in chairs there.  There was even a young man in a hand-powered wheelchair that was sent from the USA.  We completed our walk by taking a peak at the MMU, and then entering through the front of the clinic to see all of the stations.

What a glorious reminder of God's love for us!

The clinic ended a little earlier this afternoon, and we had lots of hands to prepack.  Mary helped me take an inventory of meds were are running low on, and then we organized the pharmacy before heading on the bus back to our hotel for an hour of rest before going to supper.  There was a spectacular rainbow to welcome us as we left the clinic to board the buses.   All of the people of the town were waving to us as we left - hard to believe that a few short days ago they showed no emotion towards us.  At the hotel, Lena and I took a shower and relaxed for a little bit.  I played some ping-pong in the front room of the hotel with Arjun and Annu while others talked and watched tv before the bus came to pick us up.

We had a chicken meal, and also a surprise birthday party for Tom, complete with birthday cake!  We sat with Carlos during the praise time, as he translated for some of the nationals.  There were dual testimonies by the two dentists on the team, the one gal was so excited and filled with joy to share of God working in her life that we all felt so happy.  They sang Amazing Grace in Spanish, which was indeed amazing.

Lena recalled, "He didn't want to sell me car insurance!"

We traveled back to the hotel, and a bunch of geckos were waiting for us (one made it into the room)!  Anna and I went across the street to the mini-mart at the gas station and were on the hunt for helado - ice cream.  I tired to do my best at talking in Spanish to the girl behind the register, and we both shared a laugh at my inefficient language skills!  None the less, Anna and I scored some ice cream (including some treats for Sam and a creamsicle for Laura) and got back to the hotel.  I watched a video that Annu showed me featuring him and his brother dancing to Indian music, which was very good. A great end to another busy day.