Clinic Day 1
First day of clinic was incredible! Our team had our daily devotion and reflection in the morning and then off to the hospital. People were already waiting at the clinic by the time we got there. Some people came from hours away and were waiting patiently to be seen. Others were walk-ins from the street and some were patients we had worked on last year. It was so good to see them! All came wearing their best clothes including the adorable babies.
There were so many little ones, some moderately healthy and some very underweight. Our youngest patient was 12 weeks old and the oldest was a 57 year old man. One case was particularly heartbreaking as the surgery could only be done in the United States. The translators did an excellent job and after explaining the possibility of a US surgery the Mom said “She would be sad, but she would let her son go”, he was only a few months old. We all were so touched by this child. We all prayed with the Mom and her son before they left the exam room.
As each family left the exam room, our team would give them a bible and pray for them. You could see the concerns and fear on many of the parent’s and children’s faces. You could see the reality setting in as their child was finally getting scheduled for surgery after waiting for so long. It was happening and it was scary! But many of them left with smiles and handshakes. One middle age woman came in with her husband. She had a tumor near her ear. She needed a translator for the translator. She was scared. We prayed for her before she left and the amazing thing was everyone was praying in their own language. I couldn’t help but think how the Lord must have been smiling to hear how sweet all our prayers mingled together in several different languages sounded to him.
Clinic was crazy busy all day long. There were times when I could see Dave and Jackie’s faces when they were heartbroken to realize they could not help the child. It was hard to watch the sadness on the face of a young adult or teen when they understood the same thing. Our team would comfort them and pray.
The Lord opened our eyes and our hearts for each and every person there. Our biggest prayer continues to be that they see the love of Christ and their hearts are open to receiving Him. Our desire is to make a connection with all those that come to the clinic. Thank you Lord for this opportunity to love on these people who love and care for their families.
God Bless!
Ginny
