A snapshot of our week---

• 32 bags of medicines packed, unpacked, moved and stowed countless number of times by a willing team
• The message of hope and salvation delivered by our Word of Life partner Kenneth Balootje to over a 1,000 people
• Clinics held in four different areas: Guerra, en Toro, and two areas in San Pedro
• Our good friend David, who was in the Dominican on business, took time to help us in the field for three days
• A Triage partnership of Carlos and Margaret that moved through the endless line of hopeful patients with compassion and patience
• Our very own Colonel -- Jim who orchestrated the flow through clinic with efficiency and love
• 823 patients treated by a stellar medical team of Pat, Sherrie, Dr. Rob, Liliana and Josh: Sight given , wounds drained and dressed, "Gripe" treated, and boo-boos made better, and best of all plenty of hugs given along with medicine and treatment
• An abundance of medicines, love and compassion dispensed by an awesome pharmacy team of Marie, Jenn, Marshall, with Sebastian and other team members pitching in when needed
• Earl prayed and as a result welcomed 105 new Believers in Christ!
• Connie prayed–lost items found and people moved from medical to pharmacy waiting area
• Dozens and dozens of ear irrigation (note: because the people do not have access to running water there are no showers or bathtubs – they wash themselves but since water does not get down in the ears, the wax is not liquefied but builds up becoming a solid mass of wax plugging the ear--Josh became the King of Ears irrigating with water to flush out the wax and in one instance flushed out the end of a q-tip)
• God’s perfect timing
• 2 patients transported to the hospital (one young woman suffered a grand mal seizure – we were packed up and ready to go but did not leave right away– a few more minutes later we would not have been there to stabilize her then transport to the local hospital)
• Note from God (Same note 2 different mission trips--Ask Marie or Ruby for details)
• Sebastian "MacGuyvered" all week to make our jobs easier (spot the photo of the duct tape scissor holder on the side of the water cooler to make cutting the water bags easier for just one example)
• Wounds treated by Sherrie the Queen of the Scalpel – boils, abscesses, an ingrown hair under the arm that had become infected – just to name a few of the problems. One young boy transported to the hospital for a nasty abscess on his neck. His Mom had a medical ticket for him and an eye ticket for her. She had not seen Dr. Rob when we told her that we would take her and her son to the hospital, she shows us her eye ticket, Kiko, one of our translators told her to make a choice as the boy should be taken to the hospital right away – she chose her son
• Bob, our medical partner with SCORE a constant source of medical knowledge and experience
• Our Dominican brothers patiently acting as our ears and our mouths as they translated for us
• Generous donations resulted in thousands of dollars in groceries and toys bought for the Orphanage for HIV positive children. Thankfulness to see their smiling faces and observe how they have grown and thrived since our visit last year.
• 15 hearts changed forever!!!!