Saturday, February 12, 2011

Trip update

Thursday was our brigade day in Sampedrana. Again I was given pause to see how much the community had been changed by God's work through the mission, these trips, and the Church. Our total patient numbers were down (partially due to the coffee harvest still in full swing) which is a good thing. And then...the patients lacked the desperation, the extremes of hygiene and untreated problems/disease.
Seeing nothing of note...is a very good thing. Hearing that at the teaching station that everyone was paying careful attention to what they were learning, with proverbial light bulbs going off with what was being shared...also a very good thing.
Friday was another visit to Hospital Escuela. So many children with big smiles on their faces with the great gift bags that Jamie orchestrated, but also quite a few children that were not only there for long periods, several since 2010, this
particular child since Christmas day. Children get excited for prayer as much as toys, and they generally have great reason for this.
The mother of this little girl explained that she was a normal child, until shortly after her 3rd birthday...when she stopped walking. She struggled to find answers, finally arriving in Teguc...where things have gone from bad to worse. You can see she now has a partial facial paralysis as well, unable to close her left eye. I have to admit that is when it became a little too much for me. Sometimes I can get through an entire visit and "handle it" and sometimes like today I border on needing to leave the room, like today. Just something about her not being able to close her eye...and the fact that they do not give her any ointment or drops to protect her eye...it is just all so wrong.
Of course it is wrong, it reminds me that all illness is a result of sin, and specifically important for me to remember...of my sin. And when I remember the depth of my sin and the consequences from it all, I remember Romans 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

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