I am blogging while my team members are finishing up packing medication for the people we will meet and treat tomorrow afternoon at a small tent city nearby. Despite physical tiredness—almost everyone had only an hour of sleep or less to catch an early morning flight–, each one of them are filled with joy of being called by Jesus for his wonderful work. I see them laughing and encouraging each other while unloading lots of gifts that they received from their friends for the people in Haiti, and packing the medication. We are looking forward to going to the Haitian church tomorrow morning and worship Jesus who is the King of Haiti and the Saviour of Haitians, and meeting the local people in the afternoon.

We encountered quite a few obstacles on our way here. For instance, we missed a team member before the departure, and we needed to pray to God that all twelve of us could get on board (and we did!). We lost a baggage in the chaotic Haitian airport (but later realized that the baggage was left in New York!).  Despite consecutive chaotic events, we never felt unprotected. God was traveling  each step with us. Whenever we called on Him for help, He was right there being the way for us in the situations where there seemed to be no way.

On our way to the guest house, we saw quite a lot of stores and buses painted with phrases containing “Jehova,¨ “Alleluiah,¨ or “Jesus.¨ However, we were told that these words could simply mean miracles or gods of their own imagination. Our heart ached not only for the physical destruction that has gone through this land, but also for the spiritual dryness. We pray that these words become true life and saving power in their lives.

Tete fel mal.
Vant fel mal.
Fievre pour trois jours.

These were the main complaints of the 172 people who came through the clinic we had set up at a local school. Headaches, fevers and rhinorrhea. This is the 4th day after the flood and it’s effects are telling. Rhinitis, bronchitis and dehydration.  The teachers of the school were also affected and one kept saying how very tired he was.  On final exam his exhaustion was determined to be due to severe hypertension.  He never had his blood pressure checked before.  From further questioning he described several symptoms consistent with prolonged uncontrolled blood pressure.  In this setting we are faced with the reality that we are able to give free medications that should last only a few months.  The patient may not be able to afford to see a doctor or to purchase medications to continue managing their condition.  In this case the teacher is able to afford to keep getting medications.  In other cases we encountered the lack was more severe.  An elderly woman with stage 4 hypertension ran out of medications.  This could lead to severe complications throughout her entire body.  She was not the only one we saw like this.

It’s difficult to think of that when we leave that the patient in front of us will likely not have continued care.  She may not ever be seen by any of the clinicians delivering free medical care through the mission.  To think of the long term management of such a person you open yourself up to dire circumstances.  But we look not at the physical.  Through the practice of medicine the hurting heart is opened and so is a door for the truth of the gospel to enter.

This week we were faced with many difficult situations in which our scope of practice was limited by the lack of sophistication of our free clinics.  But the limitations opened the eyes of my heart to the fact that nothing is impossible with God.  He has called us to bring good news to the afflicted; to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; to proclaim the favorable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to grant those who mourn in Zion, giving them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Rushing into the mission early this morning was a group of men carrying a seven month pregnant woman.  She was lethargic, weak and her feet were swollen with pitting edema with a sytolic blood pressure 170. The reports from her family were that she had a seizure at 3am and became unconscious afterward, something that never occured before.  While we were examining her she had another seizure.  She was clearly in ecclampsia.  This was an emergency situation that required emergency care.  The main concern was that she would have repeated uncontrolled seizures that can possibly be fatal for both child and mother.  Our team began immediately interceding.  We were able to take her to the local public hospital for emergent care.  On the way to the hospital she had two more seizures.  She was in a postictal state once we arrived at the hospital and severely dehydrated.  The hospital staff took over and we are hopeful for good news regarding her care. 

We spent the rest of the morning building a house for a woman with seven children.  She lost all her possessions in the recent flood.  We plan finishing her new home with roofing and setting the flooring tomorrow. 

Later, our hosts took us on a tour of downtown Port-au-Prince.  The rubble remains and the people seem to have settled into a life that is extenal to the damaged buildings.  The hustle and bustle of business that once occured within the crumbled structures now overflow into the streets.  On top of all the activity is a backlog of garbage on the streets.  There were sanitation workers making attempts at cleaning.  The tent cities in Port-au-Prince is now overflowing. 

There are more than two million Haitians who are homeless.  The need is enormous here.  It`s easy to become complacent and turn a deaf ear to what surrounds you thinking that it`s all imposible.  But looking at the example of Gideon we see that the people began to cry out before God.  His answer was raising up a man who appeared weak in the natural.  God chose to use this man as the beginning of raising up a remnant after His own heart.  Haiti has a remnant set apart for God and we the rest of the Body of Christ are here to stir them on.

We served meals again today, but instead of remaining at the mission we took the meals to the people in the nearby tent cities.  We remained on the truck to distritute the food to help maintain the order.  While there one team member asked me to see a lady who came up to us limping and asking for medical treatment for a wound on her foot which she sustained from the recent floods.  When I looked up from the truck I looked into her face and saw the familiar face of a woman who I met on my last trip to Haiti.  This past September we encountered this woman and her daughter.  Her daughter was sexually abused and we treated her for an STI.  Seeing her and her daughter brought such joy to our hearts.  She moved from that previous tent city.  We saw her little girl as well who the mother reports has had no more infections or problems.  It was an honor to take care of this mother.  Her wound was quite deep and infected.  We were able to clean and bandage her wounds and start her on antibiotics.  She left us with an amazing smile on her face.  She said she was grateful to God to have us here again.

Back at the mission an 18 year boy was waiting for us to care for him.  He had lymadenopathy and swollen infected sebaceous glands to his axilla with a fever.  He was in intense pain when we saw him.  It was difficult to treat his wounds due to the pain, but were able to apply topical treatment and give antibiotics.  Our team took time to share the truth of Christ with him and welcomed our prayers.

In looking back on theevents of this day I see one thing: medicine is a vehicle to reach out to the needy, but even more so, it creates an open door for the lost the hear the truth of God`s word.

Our team is comprised of  OnCall and i61.  From the beginning of team training and preparation we wondered what God`s purpose was for this mixed team.  A heavy persistant downpour of rain last night answered our prayer.  The heavy rains caused ravines nearby to overflow.  The result was further devastation in an already depressed area.  The nearby tent cities were flooded with water up to 5 feet and left in its tracks an onslaught of debris.  The people living in the tent cities for the past 18 months were forced to flee to safety.  We also learned of a mother who drowned in an attempt to save her infant child. 

The word of God admonishes us to not withold that which is justly due.  Our primary focus shifted to providing a cooked meal to approximately 400 people from these nearby tent cities in addition to the mission`s usual provision for it`s feeding program.  As the people passed through the mission we screened those in need of medical attention and treated their diseases.  We saw people with injuries from the flood and were able to treat their wounds. 

It was an amazing experience to be here at the point of need.  None of us expected the torrential downpour to be lethal.  We never expected to cook a meal and feed the hungry.  We never expected to give of our own clothing and supplies to provide for the naked.  We had an opportunity to put our faith into action today!