Hospital Visits

Since I have been here, I have visited the hospital or the doctor on several occasions to help people from Quisqueya or to visit them.  These have included a mom with cancer, a little baby girl who was severly burned, a mom in need with a little baby with pneumonia and today, an Emanuel House little girl who has been in the hospital for just under a week.

Each time that I go, I am struck with the difference in health care, the incredible amount of people who are served through hospitals here, and the overall importance of good health care.  I know that I often hear about the US system and the debates about if it is good, how it could be better, etc., but truthfully, I am thankful for access to good, clean, cold, sterile hospitals and doctor´s offices in the States.  I am grateful for well-trained doctors, well constructed buildings with elevators, and promptness.

Today, I went to a pediatric hospital. It was one of the better places that I have visited, although like the others, it was warmer than a hospital should be.  We entered the room where there were probably about 20 beds of little kids sick, hooked up to machines and some even eating in their beds.  Yumercy, one of the special needs children from Emanuel House, was the child we were there to visit.  She sat on her grandmother´s lap as we entered.  She has never talked much to me, but it was clear that she wasn´t having such a great day today.  She wouldn´t eat today and she wouldn´t smile either.  The doctors are unsure of what exactly is wrong, but it seems that she has a tumor growing on her neck and each day it gets a little bigger.  While the growth doesn´t seem to hurt her, she is becoming less and less interested in eating solid food.  Unlike in the States, Yumercy is not hooked up to anything to help her get nutrients, she does not have her own room, and there is only one nurse that attends all of the children.

And in the midst of my visit, there were multiple people from a local church who came in holding their Bibles and praying charismatically for the patients and their families.  I have lived here now for 8 months and I´ve surprisingly gotten used to the different way of prayer, the almost desperateness of it, the multiple people speaking at once.  Today, it was comforting to hear the shouting and the praying.  I praise the Lord for His message: there is hope for those who believe.  

Surprisingly, I had the opportunity to meet 2 other children today that completely stole my heart.  I met them in other rooms that looked similar to the one that Yumercy is staying in.  Neither of them can walk.  Both of them were abandoned by their moms at the hospital and have just grown up there in cribs.  

One, Ezekiel, was a sweet, sweet boy.  At 2 years old, it seems that he has a liver problem.  His belly was so big.  But, with a huge smile on his face and many of the patients´ mothers willing to hold him and love on him, he seems to be doing okay.  Ezekial has been at the hospital since he was a few days old.  Today, I got to walk with him around the room until someone else stole him from me.  I praise the Lord for little moments to love on kids!

Then, on the way out of the hospital, I was introduced to Porfirio, a 3 year old who also cannot walk.  A charmer, we connected immediately and after just 5 minutes of talking to him and giving him butterfly kisses with my eye lashes, we fell in love.  Walking out of the door, I was told by Mirqueya´s sister that he was still staring as I walked away.  

I cannot imagine what the quality of life will be for Ezekiel and for Porfirio, who are growing up with nurses caring for them and mostly trapped in cribs.  Please pray for these two boys. Pray for them to be safe as it seems that anyone can walk into the hospital and hold them. Please pray for their future and that they would come to know the love of Christ one day.  Please pray that even in our short visit, they were able to feel God´s peace and love.

Wow!  Thinking about my quick trip to the capital today after church and the beds and beds of sick children in the hospital and their hurting parents, I am so grateful for the hope that we have in some place better than this.  I cannot imagine what Yumercy´s mom is going through.  The biopsy is on Thursday to see if the tumor is cancerous.  Please pray for Yumercy during this process.  She is a delicate child who is very loved by her mother, twin brothers and grandmother.  As you can imagine, her mom is worried. Please pray for healing and that she would find her strength in the Lord.  

I pray for protection over these little ones.  I pray that the Lord will have his arms firmly around these kids and their families as they are experiencing suffering and pain.  I pray that if they don´t already believe, that they would have hope that the Lord sees and He grieves as well and that one day there will be no more pain. 

This is little Ezekial that I met today at the Children´s hospital.  He has no family other than the nurses at the hospital, the mothers of those who come to visit, and the kids that sleep in cribs nearby.    

Ezekial and I took a walk back and forth and back and forth in the hospital room.  His legs are still not strong enough to stand on his own.  And, can you see his stomach?  It was hard as a rock!

Cynthia and her baby Escarlet are the two that I brought to the clinic about a month ago now when Escarlet was severly burned by boiling hot water on her face, arms, and stomach.  She is healing well although it looks like she will have scars. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

But God!

It's funny to think what an encouraging week I had recently when my school came to visit and minister alongside me.  And, it's funny to think how quickly I was shaken just a day after they left by the reality of the situations of the people with whom I work and live. 

This past week has not been easy.  I have been confronted with desperate mothers who have made sinful choices in order to support their family.  I have been confronted with a child who was found lying and stealing from the only one who truly loves her, as she was abandoned by her own family.  I have been confronted by a little baby, Samuel, and his mother, Joselyn, who have spent the last 5 days in the hospital because he had pneumonia. Samuel is less than 20 days old. I have been confronted with the reality of the 5 little girls who I have come to love and their scarcity of food, care, and even them being outside really late at night just hanging in the streets.  And I continue to be confronted by the reality of their cancer-ridden mom who is bed day after day. 

This week has been hard.

But God!

I praise Him because I was able to pray for the desperate mother and talk to someone about her situation so that we can both be supportive to her and in prayer for her and her decisions. 

I praise Him because the little girl who was lying and stealing may not get kicked out, but instead has been given another chance. 

I praise Him because little Samuel is in the clear.  Even though they thought he would have to have a blood transfusion, God provided a miracle.  He is better and should go home in a few days.

I praise Him for all of my supporters who have been praying for little Samuel and His mother.  The power of prayer is great!

I praise Him for the little girls who I have gotten to visit and hug and love.  I praise Him for showing us ways to show our love to others and for providing a way to support the family with food.

I praise Him for their mother and for time spent with her to read to her and to pray with her and her little girls.

I also praise Him for moments to walk the streets of Quisqueya, sit with a new believer and mom and read John 1, and for time of rest this week.

This morning I woke up and read Matthew 9.  In verses 35-38, Jesus encourages his disciples.  The verses read, "Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom.  And he healed every kind of disease and illness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  He said to his disciples, The harvest is great, but the workers are few.  So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

I know that there is much work to be done.  We, His people, are the workers.  It is important to know that the "harvest" does not just exist here in the Dominican Republic or around other missionaries, but instead that the harvest is great and exists everywhere... and as believers we are His workers.  There are a lot of people who are without the Lord and who need to be shown compassion by those of us who love Him.  I pray that God would take away any "worldly" thoughts and instead renew our minds with His mindset of compassion, love, mercy, kindness, joy and peace.  May we approach every situation remembering the compassion that Jesus had on the lost and hurting people people with whom He came in contact.  And, may we continue to praise Him for who He is and for when He has done.

Prayer Requests:
- for four children with whom I will be working with reading: Virginia (4th grade), Perla (5th grade), Rafael (4th grade), María Altagracia (4th grade)
- for continued time in the Word and verse memorization
- for continued dependence on His strength and not my own
- for the Saturday Kids' Club.  I am losing one of my helpers, a teacher from Emanuel House.  Please pray that God would provide more help and direction on how to do it well.  Please pray for the kids and their behavior.
- for upcoming mission trip to Panama and for the planning that goes into that. 

Blessed & Spreading J.O.Y.

In the last Bible Study that I had with some woman missionaries a couple of weeks ago, we had the opportunity to look at blessings and talk about what it means exactly to be blessed.  Many times as Americans we look at blessings to have some kind of monetary value.  Those who have much are blessed which, if we think about it, automatically assumes that those who don't have much are not blessed.  Of course, when we say I am blessed for what I have, we are not thinking of the direct opposite, but in general we are insinuating just that.  After reading Matthew 5 which is an account of  Jesus' sermon on the Mount, it is clear that blessings in God's eyes have nothing to do with the material.  Instead, those who are truly blessed are blessed because of their pure hearts, humility, compassion, mercy, persecution for their faith, hunger and thirst for righteousness, and work towards peace.

I talk about blessings today because over the last few weeks I have been showered with blessings.  It's not at all the material gifts that I have received (although those are always always nice), but instead the people who have come to serve with me, who have had compassionate hearts, who have shown mercy to the hungry, who have shared God's love with the broken, and who have prayed over the people whom I have come to love.  And because of those blessings I am also encouraged to remain humble, compassionate, generous and bold in my faith as God keeps me serving here in this little town called Quisqueya.

Two weeks ago, I hosted a group from UGA.   The group of 7 young women, including one who graduated from Wesleyan and a missionary whose husband taught with me there spent the week washing hair, learning how to do Dominican hair, praying over families, painting a home, and just loving God's creation.  God showed up in many ways, but one special way was by protecting each of us in not getting lice.  God also showed me another way that I can serve the families that I live near.  I loved washing and doing hair and teaching others how to as well.  I am sure that there is more hair washing in my future.

This is the UGA group after washing the hair of the 5 girls whose mom has cancer.

I am preparing Genesis' hair before washing it outside of her home.

During that same week, I had the opportunity to spend all week with two very special girls, Kelsey and Lauren, who I met at Wesleyan about 8 years ago when I was their grade chair and Bible Study leader.  God has blessed our relationship so much by allowing them to grow in their faith, by allowing us to pray together, and by sending them to spend a week with me here in the D.R.  Our time was spent reading Hebrews, laughing, praying, visiting, and serving.  Looking back on the week, God truly helped me to understand more His desire for me to love the people here, he revealed even more His plan for me, and over and over again, he showed His love for me by sending me such friends and supporters.  In Hebrews 10:23-24, the writer explains that as believers we should "think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works,^" and that we should "not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near."  Being visited by such young, vibrant, loving, and strong women of God truly was an encouragement and a great reminder that we are not meant to walk alone. 

Kelsey and Lauren sporting Emanuel House shirts and surprising me with kisses before heading home.

Lauren, Kelsey and friends after washing hair.

I must say that I have felt showered over the last weeks with people who have come to be the hands and feet of Jesus.  And I am struck by the relationships that God put in my life that were formed because of my past job.  I praise the Lord for allowing me to work at a place that not only encouraged our growth in our faith, but also stretched us to share with the kids in our care.  Always emphasizing the importance of Jesus first, Others next and finally Yourself, it is clear that the kids who had the opportunity to serve here with me get it.  Thanks be to God that the  J.O.Y motto has rubbed off! 

The 2014 Wesleyan Coed Team

My prayer over the past week as I welcomed a group of 24 Wesleyan teens and teachers here to Quisqueya each day was that we would serve the Lord well and help the people here and not hurt them.  My prayer was also that this time would be one that supplemented ministry that I was already doing and jumpstarted some that I can see doing in the future.  I must say, God answered big time!  God blessed Quisqueya with a group of young people who were ready to be stretched in their faith by praying in homes and sharing testimonies.  We put together literacy packets to encourage parents to help their children to learn at home, put on skits giving 5 suggestions for helping at home, and a leader / parent gave her testimony about depending on God even when it's hard.  Please pray for those parents who are illiterate themselves.  Please pray for the Lord to provide ways to open their eyes and minds to learning along with their children.  Along with sharing testimonies and helping parents, this past week was filled with prayer walks, performing skits in one of the most spiritually poor neighborhoods here in Quisqueya, and helping me with my Saturday Kids' Club where we had a record of about 70 kids attend. 

Emma chats before a game of baseball with neighborhood kids.

At Saturday's Kids' Club we acted out the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus.

I praise God for His hand in this week's activities and for helping us speak His word and be His hands and feet to serve some of the most physically poor people here in Quisqueya.  I also praise God for blessing me with the Wesleyan community over the last month (Brad - pastor and former co-worker, Lauren, Kelsey and Jessie - former students; & Wesleyan Coed and Girls Teams) which showered Emanuel House kids and staff with encouraging words, hugs for kids who may not get them at home, and with relationships that hopefully will last.

Thank you for your Prayers! 

Please pray:

- that the experience over  the last week would be one that stretches the Wesleyan kids and UGA girls in their faith.
- for continued time in the Word and Bible verse memorization
- a young Emanuel House girl who is facing abuse at home.  Pray for discernment in how to handle it and for a changed heart among the adults in her life.
- for Mirqueya's continued guidance by the Lord as she faces many hard decisions each day.
- for spiritual and physical rest both for Mirqueya and me!

Colossians 2:16-17 - Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.