And the Winds Blew

The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork Psalm 19:1

It rained during the night and the rain on the metal roof was surprisingly loud. By morning the weather has changed and a wonderful breeze blows through the Clinic. It is a slow start this morning and we have a chance to watch our teammates in action. The pharmacy with Karen, Laura, Marty and Maddie, our translator, is running like a well-oiled machine. They are spending time in between patients cleaning up and organizing medications brought by other teams. Medications can go bad before their expiration dates due to the moisture down here.

Many, many people are diabetic. My translator, Sayra, who is a life coach here in Guatemala, is wonderful at instructing folks to reduce the high carbohydrate load in their diet, but many can’t afford to. We don’t have laboratory services here, but did bring a glucometer to do quick glucose checks. It is very difficult for Dr. Elry not to be able to know important things about his patients such as their kidney function. A lot of our medical care is by feel, not by numbers.

Our meals are delicious, and are cooked by the doctor/pastor’s wife, Liz, and a neighbor. In addition to a stove, Liz uses a propane burner in the kitchen to boil hibiscus blossoms to make an extraordinary hibiscus iced tea. After lunch, Connie kicks a soccer ball around with one of our little patients. Meanwhile, people are lining up at the gate, waiting for us. Families come, and we finally see some men as patients, as they wouldn’t take time off on a work day. Our intake team, Connie and Audrey continue to take on more duties by obtaining the chief complaints and past history of our patients, taking that off the providers’ plates. Marty spends the entire day conferencing with the Latin American mission organization, working to network and find resources to help future ventures. The afternoon passes fairly quickly.

 We do take time to have fun, though. Naomi teaches us how to make tortillas by hand. Heidi keeps an upbeat banter going.  Lori and Laura play games with some of the little girls who came in. Allyson plays “Jesus Loves Me” in Spanish on her phone to a little guy and shares puppy pictures with him. It is such a blessing for us to be in these people’s lives, to share fun and joy, and occasionally sorrow. One girl and her mother whose father and husband had just passed away come in, stricken with grief and anxiety. Hugs and tears from the team, counseling from the pastor’s wife and prayers from all are offered up for them. God grant them peace and solace.

During our morning devotion we listened to the song “Nobody” by Casting Crowns. The lyrics are so fitting for our work here: I’m living for the world to see nobody but Jesus. We pray that the people we serve see Jesus in us.