You are Faithful

“You are faithful. You are faithful. Your joy is our strength”. The words seemed a bit fuzzy before 6:00 AM (3:00 AM California time) this morning when we pulled ourselves out of bed. Our first day of medical clinics here in the Dominican Republic this year – the first anywhere for many of us -and we faced the day with a certain amount of trepidation.

After breakfast we boarded the bus and settled in for the hour-long ride to Bayaguana. The countryside was lush and beautiful. We passed through several villages and even spotted a few of Major League Baseball’s training camps on the way.

In Bayaguana we pulled into a schoolyard and unloaded the truck and set up the facility. In less than half an hour two class rooms had been transformed into a well-stocked clinic tethered by the unflappable Ruby Sugar and supported by William, Jessica, Kim, and Ellen. Judi oversaw the non-medically trained support with invaluable pharmacological wisdom. She answered so many questions with such patience!

In the “caretakers’” room we had six medical stations, each staffed with a medical professional and translator. Josh, Suzanne, Juan, Jess, Vicki and Todd were teamed up with Benjamin and Michael (translators) . It was utterly amazing to see the classroom functioning as a mini General Hospital (without all the drama). Christian kept traffic moving through the different stations and out to the pharmacy.

The morning for the patients began with a gospel lesson by Kenneth. He used art and illustrations to explain the Good News and promises of our Lord. After the message people were distributed numbers and given forms to take to the triage area where they would be “processed” before they saw a doctor. Passing out the numbers had to be the “hot seat” of the process! Brent and David kept good order. I don’t think I would have the nerves to handle that job! Margaret and I had a great time greeting each patient and collecting necessary information including weights, names, symptoms, age. Margaret was a master with the blood-pressure cuff. I can’t imagine how she could hear anything over the noise.

All of this structure was held together by Sebastion and John who hung tarps, organized rooms and pretty much helped anyone with any kind of help they needed.

And the patients came. And they came. And they came. Grandmas and children and moms and fathers. They all were looking for physical healing. We were hoping to offer physical relief as well as spiritual hope and solace. Beautiful smiles. Grimaces of pain. Some fear in the children. It was such a blessing to feel we had both Good News and medicine to help those in need.

At lunch Kenneth brought in huge pots of food to feed all of the patients and some other people who were in the area. The pots that seemed to keep on giving! We almost felt as if we were experiencing the fishes and loaves. There was plenty of food for those who needed it.

We spent the afternoon seeing more patients and began packing up just as the rain began to break.

The ride home in the air-conditioned van was a wonderful respite.

God, You are faithful, You are faithful. You are our strength.

-Nancy