Feeling the presence of God

Day 2 of medical brigades

Well our second day of medical brigades went off with out a hitch. We went to carrizal which is one of the villages the students will be going to next week. Other than the fancy driving by the bus driver( having to do a 300 degree turn to go up a hill on a narrow dirt row with one side being a cliff and stopping suddenly for scared horses that decide to run into our paths with no swerve room due to the cliff on the side. Did I mention no guardrails?) we had a great trip to the village and back. We saw almost 100 medical patients and the dentist pulled out over 40 teeth. She is also starting to put Fluoride on the children's teeth as a preventative.

As we loaded the bus, we found out one of the people in the village wanted to make us coffee. We warned everyone on the bus that they need to drink the coffee and take a cup or look like they already took a cup. So one of the girls, Tashie, finished her coffee and like most coffee in the villages they don't use filters they boil it in a big pot so there are grounds at the bottom of the cup, i saw her glance at it. Without missing a beat I told her, "you are suppose to chew it when your done." I could then see she was thinking how she was going to chew the coffee grounds, and I couldn't hold it in and I started laughing and let her know she did not need to chew it. It gladdened my heart that she was willing to do what ever to not offend our hosts. 

On our way back we stopped to see a patient who was unable to come to the clinic. We visited her two years ago when we had the last medical brigade there. She is a 33 year old women who has rheumatoid arthritis. When we visited her 2 years ago we visited her on her porch and gave her medication for a leg ulcer that she had. Today she is completely bedridden unable to turn her self due to the pain. She also is unable to sit in a chair due to the pain.  She now has an ulcer on her other leg. It also appeared that her leg is atrophying. She is in excruciating pain and only has ibuprofen for it. We prayed for her, for a miracle. The presence of God was so strong in that room while we prayed. It moved the students that came with me and the doctor. We only had three students with us. It amazes them that she was so young, and something in the states that is manageable with medications. Her name is Virginia and she prays that God will heal her completely but she feels blessed that while her body is failing her, her mind is strong.

After dinner we talked about our days and it was interesting what made someone's day and what broke it. 

Please pray for the students and their health. I feel the culture shock is starting to hit and some of them just need prayer for general sickness... We also had to talk to them about the  vendors and their tantalizing juices but they are not always made with purified water so we don't want anyone to be sick.

By the time I will post this our 3rd brigade will be done. So please pray while we prepare for our village placements. I will be in carrizal. So I will be sleeping in a church probably on the dirt floor and no electricity, for a week. I know I will need prayer as will the rest of the team as we go to 3 different villages with limit water, electricity, and accommodations, and of course no internet. So there will be no communication from the team for a week.

Thanks all for the prayers,

Nicole