Processing

On August 22, Lena and I returned from a short-term medical missions trip to Nicaragua with Global Health Outreach.  I was the pharmacist on a team of 46 folks from NY, GA, OH, and CA.  It was amazing to see how God used each of us on the team to accomplish His good and perfect will for this season in caring for the generous people of Nicaragua.

The Rec Center in Villa Sandino - no pool here

I will be updating our adventures and some amazing stories over the coming weeks, giving all the praise and honor to Jesus Christ for the blessings that we were able to give to our friends there, but also the ability to learn from Him during the adventure!

Showing some children a video I took of them (thanks for the picture, Lena!)

Check for the blogs that I put up under the August, 2010, section of the page - hope to get them up soon!

Fourth Day of Clinic

As you might guess, we woke up today at 6 am in order to get to breakfast with the team.  We had a special treat this morning in addition to rice and beans - cereal and pancakes, complete with Aunt Jamima syrup!  
A little American-style continental breakfast.  I am still feeling weak, but more rested thanks to a good night sleep.  Tricia gave the devotional during the morning team time, and Dr. Jo gave her testimony.

Mmmm - memories of Vermont

This morning Bruce, Mike H., and Sam were slated to start the day in the pharmacy.  We were busy, but there was not the huge rush that we have seen in previous mornings.  The prepaking of medicines throughout the week has kept us ahead of the game as far as efficiency is concerned - we have been able to keep the lines moving and still keep the dental and home-visit teams stocked.  The mayor's office and police in the town came in before lunch and we helped them.  On the way to lunch I stopped and prayed with a man named Antonio who put his faith and eternal hope in Jesus Christ - praise the Lord!

Lloyd, Pastor Chuck, Rolando, and Esau minister as some of the youth in the town watch

At lunch our group was introduced to another gringo in the town, Colin, working with the Peace Corps in the village.  His friends Valarie and Bryan were visiting from Rochester, NY, and we had fun sharing stories with them.  Chuck S. from California showed me a gecko that was near a bullitin board in the church, and we attempted to "show" it to Lena - check out this great photo I was able to catch as the gecko scurried away ...

Can you see the leaping lizard in the upper left corner?

After lunch and some discussion about the special dinner later in the evening, we went back to the clinic.  Lena, Anna, and Lori Jean joined us in the pharmacy, where the start of processing was slow but the pace picked up quickly.  I soon made Alejandra an honorary farmacéutica for the duration of the trip.  She was nervous about this, but has shown over the week that her training can allow for her to help out in this way.  We had the blessing of having Dr. Steve and Israel help in the pharmacy as the MMU was not as busy (I still joke with Israel that he should consider pharmacy instead of medicine!).  I was also able to talk with Roy, the busiest guy in the clinic, about the break-down procedures and how to best organize things for him and the crew to load and then inventory when they get everything back to Managua and their warehouse there.


The town gathered yet again as we left in the buses, and Sam received a special present from Miguel, who gave his life to Christ after we prayed for him (and Eric pursued him and a stolen hammer!).  He was dressed in surgical atttire and climbed the bus as we departed, then ushered the kids away so they did not get hurt.  It is so great to wave to the town as they wave back at us at the end of another busy day.  Anna was completing her daily task of counting patient slips on the bus ride back to Santo Tomas, and Sapna and I helped her to keep the papers organized in piles of those who became believers, rededicated their lives to Christ, or did not accept God's gift of eternal life.

Miguel, with Carlos (over his right shoulder) getting a good laugh!

*** more to come about the Appreciation Dinner help Thursday night***   :) ...mike...

Third Day of Clinic

We started the morning early again, up at 6am to catch the bus at 6:15 for breakfast and to make our lunch for the day.  All that I can say is the ice cream did me in, and reminded me that Satan does indeed walk around (2 Peter 5:8) and tries to get our attention away from God, even in the form of ice cream!  The fact that I have not had any dairy products in almost a week and my body being run down from the heat and sweating did not help matters any.  My stomach tossed and turned all night long, and I got 3 hours of sleep if I was lucky.  Lesson learned.  I tried a piece of bread and some cola to eat, but have no appetite at all.

Before morning fellowship began I shared some fotos with Erick from my palm pilot.  Laura and Joanne S. (nurse) shared their testimonies.  I has not feeling well and Frank urged me to listen to what Joanne was about to share - what a powerful story of what God is doing in her life.  Jay preached on humility, speaking of Moses crying out God from Exodus 33:15-16).  After speaking with Frank, it was decided I would take a short time to rest first thing this morning in the MMU, as he covered the pharmacy with Joe, Amy, Christian, and Anna.

On the bus ride to clinic I shared some pictures with Alejandra from my palm pilot, and talked with her about pharmacy .  I went to the MMU for about an hour and went back to the pharmacy feeling refreshed, but tired.  We were busy as usual, but had lots of help from the team.

Erick enjoying his sandwich at lunch

I was continuing to feel better at lunch, and gave Orlando and Carlos a quick massage.  Erick showed the pictures from the palm pilot to the other translators.  Roy found some extra acetamiophen liquid and cimetidine tablets on the truck, and went out and bought other medicines were have been running low on (antibiotics, infant liquid, etc.).

A break in the sports to hear the Good News

In the afternoon, Susan, Sophia, and Mike H. started out in the pharmacy.  It was a quieter afternoon, and I was able to sneak away to the basketball court for 20 minutes.  I talked with some of the folks there (lots of Lakers fans in Nicaragua), and was able to pray with the kids who accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior after Esau and Mike shared the giant EvangiCube with them.  I walked back to the clinic and noticed how warm and appreciative the people of Villa Sandino were to me.  I felt very safe, and was so happy to smile and talk with the people there.

It was still slow in the clinic, and I was able to speak to Alejandra and Erick about pharmacy stuff - kinetics of medicines and some basic therapeutics.  The rains came and we continued to prepack, and I had Dr. Jo share antibiotic choices with them while I helped everyone to pack up the pharmacy. 

The church, so full people were out on the street, including Lena!

It was Wednesday night, so we headed down to the church for evening service.  We sat with a group of kids, Edwardo was a riot, and listened to the music from the local church as well as our team while the generators were running outside.  We had the special treat of listening to Sophia and Cory share their testimonies, including Cory giving Lloyd a kiss on the cheek! haha!  Jay preached the Word and Rolando shared of the good works that God was doing in Central America and Nicaragua.  Three people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and it was a great blessing that the Spanish New Testament that Lena and I bought at our local Christian Book Store was given to the young man who accepted Christ.  The team passed out glow sticks to the kids, and I gave some cookies and chips to some guys standing out front. 

On the bus back to the hotel we heard from Amy that one lady had traveled two and a half-hours on horse with three kids to get to the clinic, and was traveling back in the dark, rainy night.  At the restaurant, we ate with Henry, who shared some of the insights into Nicaraguan food and culture with us.  He mentioned that this part of the country was not the hottest area, which I find hard to believe because I feel like I am melting under the heat of the sun!  At the end of supper, I took a picture with Laura after we traded hats (Laura wore my Red Sox hat and I wore Mike's Yankees hat)!  After we headed home, earlier than usually due to the team starting to get worn down, we headed back to the room and got to sleep early. PTL!