So Much Still To Do

I saw Jesus the other day. Several mornings I heard a bell ringing on or near the compound. I even joked about it being a fire alarm (there is no fire department). Then the other day Lori and I realized that it was always at 10:00 AM. Every other time I have been here, at 10:00 AM everybody on campus would stop and pray for the mission and the people here. Even in the O.R., we would stop and pray if we could. If we couldn’t stop, someone would pray as we listened and continued with the surgery. That hadn’t been mentioned at the twice-a-day meetings we have…..and we had been here over a month at the time. The bell was the Haitian staff calling everybody to prayer in the compound. They had continued the practice even though the American missionaries had stopped for some reason I am not aware of.

Jesus is doing a great work in these people.


I heard the devil yesterday. A rumor has been going around town. One which I believe to be true. Someone has been practicing a voodoo ritual that involves things I don't care to mention. Lori and I know that this sort of thing happens, but some readers might not and I don't want to shock or scare them. I actually wrote this draft, with the details, a couple days ago, but I have been struggling with the decision to post the details.

A mob of people, convinced they had found the people responsible, took the law into their own hands. They took the lives of two people in a horrific way. The results of the mobs actions were witnessed by several of our missionaries.

I am more concerned about the actions of the mob. I knew we were stepping onto the battle field with the devil, I guess I under estimated how many he had such control over.

There is so much work here God still has to do. Use us God, as you will.

Echo

I would like to echo Lori's thoughts. It has been such a blessing to be able to put a smile on the prisoner's faces. Again, with the experience I got in the Navy, and Nursing, we are able to help some of them medically, or get them to a doctor if they need. More important, we can show them a little respect and love, and, for a time at least, they feel some self worth. It's not an easy life and we have all made mistakes in our lives (it's not my first time in a prison).

Blessings At Prison

Mathew 25:36


“I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

Dennis and I were blessed today with getting to go to the prison in Port Au Paix and run a clinic for the men and women housed in the facility. I prayed all morning that God would get the right people to see us today. I also prayed that we would not get in “over our heads” with illnesses we had no idea how to treat. Our first patient had us concerned and fear began to creep in. We had told the guards we would see 50 patients today and it took us 25 minutes to see the first one, and we’re still not sure what is going on with him. We’re going to try to get him in to the clinic here to see our doctor. Anyway, the rest of the day went more smoothly. We had a wonderful interpreter with us who handled all the communication for us and we were able to see about 42 patients. There are still so many to be seen and we need to take back some medications with us that we did not have today. We gave out lots of Ibuprofen for “waist pain” (which we understood to be low back pain) and Benadryl for itching.

It was an awesome day and we are happy that we will be returning tomorrow. Please be praying as we hope to be able to visit the prison each week and do follow-up care with the patients we are seeing. Sometimes it’s just the little things we can do, such as smile, or stumbling over the language and letting someone have a good laugh that allow us to heal the hearts of the broken that God puts in our hands. We pray that He will continue to bless us as we grow and learn, laugh and cry and try to be His hands and feet.

Lori