Nicaragua Medical Mission Trip 2008
DAILY LOG
Mission Team at National Airport before departure
See more pictures from the trip
It has been an honor to be part of this trip and to serve God´s people of Nicaragua. It has also been my pleasure to serve with such a fine team. They have worked hard and have been patient and have worked so well as a team. I am very proud of them. I also am so thankful to you. I know you have been following us through our pictures and our log, and we have certainly felt your prayers. We could not have done this without you. Please know that with the money given by the team, the money raised at the spaghetti dinner and donations from you, we have paid all our expenses, bought all the medicines and have money left to give as a gift to the orphanage. Thanks be to God! Have a blessed Palm Sunday. I´ll see you on Monday. Pastor Lynn
The final evening and the final travel log from the medical mission team here in Nicaragua.
Saturday, March 15:
It is morning and we are…
back on the bus again…
for a day with the young men of the orphanage, it occurred to me I forgot something on my reflection log. The children in Nicaragua are so respectful and do not have an air of entitlement like so many American children do. Matter of fact, those we served and those we met showed no sense of entitlement. Quite the contrary. There was always a respectful and almost reverend attitude of humility and gratitude for any service or attention. It was a very noticeable difference and a refreshing change from the prevailing sentiments of obligation and expectations from most Americans. Enough of that…
This was our last day and our last chance to spend time with the boys. Each of us was paired with one of the boys for the day whether they liked it or not!! (I understand that was the only way the director would let us take the boys for the day.) We drove to the top of some inactive volcano (sorry, I cannot remember the name) and the highlight was a 12 segment zip line through the tops of the trees in the rain forest. Those of you who are members of Grace, I want to warn you that there was a rumor going around that our pastor wants to quit his day job and become a zip line guide. Watch for the pictures and see what you think! It was great fun and no one was injured and no one regretted taking the chance to set of the platform and fly through the air. Sort of a faith experiment you could say.
After lunch and after a 30 minute hike that typically lasts 1 hour (you know how boys with lots of energy can be when let loose on the wide open trail.) we were…..
back on the bus again…
for a short drive to the quaint and historic town of Granada. We took about an hour with the boys to walk around the town square to check out the ice cream vendors and the other street vendors. It was fun to spend the time and buy a few treats for the young men how are often overlooked. And then…..
back on the bus again…
for a hour bus ride to a fabulous restaurant on the bank of a volcanic lake. What a spectacular view but, for the boys, the best deal was the pool that was just a hop, skip and a jump from the table, and jump they did! Fortunately, service was on Nicaragua time (gracious but slow) so the boys had plenty of time to swim. Everyone was pretty hungry and, you guessed it, as soon as the bill was paid, we were…
back on the bus again….
But this time it was going to be the last time we would be onride on this faithful school bus, the last time we would see the boys, the last time we would see the last of our translators and bus driver. God put us in the hands of caring and competent people who made this trip so safe and...
We are now back at the hotel and our trip has come full circle. We are at the same hotel we stayed at on our first night in Nicaragua arriving here about the same time and bringing close to this adventure with the same roommates. Tomorrow we leave the hotel around 5 for our 7AM flight so I am going to end this now and let Pastor Lynn complete our travel log with you. We will miss our time with you on Palm Sunday, but the good news is we can watch The Ten Commandments with Charelton Heston in Spanish….not quite the same!
With the great love and deepest thanks for your support,
Kris Eng on behalf of the Nicaraguan Medical Mission Team
Friday, March 14:
Today was another wonderful clinic day and we all so appreciate your prayers and support. It is now past 11:30 pm, so please forgive me if this is not as long and beautiful as some of the entries written by Kris.
We have enjoyed our two days staying at the orphanage in Los Cedros, where during the hours we are not in medical clinic we have been able to help feed the babies their bottles, help out, and visit a bit with some of the older boys who are now too old to live in Jinotega. Lianne Corbin, who works closely with Joy Pulsiver, has taken great care of us. We are looking forward to spending more time with the older boys tomorrow. Last year they had a “field trip” and this is their first outing to do something like a zip line since that time. They work very hard at school and helping out here at the orphanage, and Lianne informed us that they are looking forward to the day with us.
This morning we woke up and had breakfast at 7 am as usual, and were on the bus loaded with our re-stocked medications by 7:30 am. The region we were in today was a more coastal area, and it was VERY hot, even first thing in the morning. There were many people ready to see us, but it usually takes a bit of time to get unloaded and set up. We were in another school today. Once we got all set up, we found that we were very efficient. We noticed our patients were sicker today than other days a bit. In the lab we found many people had elevated levels of various things (Ph, etc.) and the providers prescribed more medications. The pharmacy was extremely busy! We were able to see more patients than the other days, due to our increased efficiency. We saw 145 people today that were documented (i.e., they had a ticket). In total, for all the clinics we saw about 675 documented patients. This is a conservative estimate, as often only a baby has a ticket, but most of the providers will treat the mom and sometimes the entire rest of the family along with the patient if needed. The people are so very grateful for every little thing. They so appreciate the vitamins. They hug us often, smile a lot, and make us feel so appreciated. Since our clinic was very near the beach we finished off the day with a few hours at the beach. Everyone enjoyed the breeze and a cool dip after a steamy but successful clinic.
Back at the orphanage a few helped with some more bottles and started the medications unloading and logging. We had a wonderful Nicaraguan dinner of typical Nicaraguan Lasagna. Actually it was more like regular lasagna, and very good! We were all thankful for our first break from beans and rice since we arrived.
After dinner we had our closing devotional time. The time was special as we had communion in addition to our normal prayers and reflections. Communion was done in a circle and it was very special. One person said after the service that it was the most special communion service she had ever participated in.
As we prepare for tomorrow, we can’t thank you enough for your continued prayers and support. Without you, we would not be on this mission trip. This is our first year for Grace Lutheran to be in Nicaragua, but we are already saying that we will be back to show the people of Nicaragua that we care. Some of you helped with our spaghetti dinner, some of you helped us by offering assistance with something special, some of you supported one team member individually, some of you helped support the trip in general, many of you are praying for us. Most of the participants on this trip are paying their own way, and when you combine that we the funds raised for those that needed to raise funds, and to buy the medications we distributed, we have brought in more than the trip will cost. We are grateful. This will allow us to leave a bit for the orphanage. It is an honor to be on this trip, and serve those in need.
Special thanks to the many members of Grace who made the prayer shawls. They were most appreciated by those that received them. Also thank you to those special people that offered support or assistance to us by sharing their gift with us. Perhaps you helped with the web site, or taught someone to play the guitar… You know who you are! There are too many people to individually thank, and we don’t want to leave anyone one.
In closing, the verse that Kris mentioned yesterday, To whom much is given much is expected has come up again many times today. Just by chance, we were born into a wealthy nation. Here in Nicaragua we see poverty every day, but also joy. During our devotional time today Pastor Lynn talked about part of our job as a team now is to see what our next steps will be to help the people of Nicaragua.
Please pray for our continued safety and health. Peace to you all!
-Celeste on behalf of the Grace 08 Nicaragua Medical Mission Team
Thursday, March 13:
We leave Jinotega with a deep sense of peace that is somewhat shadowed by the reality of what we have seen.
Children blessed to be living in such a nurturing and Christ-centered home, but yet, still have that emptiness of no nuclear family, always struggling to figure out how that fits into their day to day lives and in their future.
On the other hand, we leave children blessed with to be with their nuclear families but have an emptiness in their stomachs and, in many of them, their eyes.
Some of us got to walk the kiddos to school before leaving the mountain. A bittersweet moment for all of us, but we leave with the faith that God has used us to plant seeds that will make lives different, if not today, then in God’s time. None of us leave without having been changed and all of us leave our preconceptions far behind….starting on the day we met these children.
Since it was a travel day it seemed a good time to reflect as we transition from one “home” to the next. I asked others in our group to share with each of you some general impressions which have not been mentioned before. They are in no special order and may or may not be completely explained, but, it is what we want to share with you at home.
- There are no trash cans in this country! We continue to be frustrated with to do with our trash! Truly! No trash cans even in the rooms where we stayed. It appears Nicaragua has never made it a priority to formally address this problem, so it is strewn along the road and all over the streets and sidewalks.
- There is smell of smoke in the air. We see burning leaves or burning garbage everywhere so the smell of smoke or actual smoke is in the air constantly. One of our interpreters explained that people have no money to drive their trash to a collection point. So without some sort of collective effort to enforce guidelines for littering, I guess they will live with trash lining the ditches, in the streets and on the sidewalks.
- All the school children wear uniforms! All children from elementary through high school wear dark blue trousers or skirts and white shirts. The boys always have their shirts tucked in with a belt. The girls also wear white knee highs and the boys wear black shoes. The boys’ hair is neatly combed (slicked back in most cases!) and the girls’ hair is neatly styled and their skirts are always to their knees. Most of the girls wear pleated skirts and one. The school children look spectacular all the time!
- Pets, or at least the dogs that we see, are everywhere and are clearly malnourished. It is sad to see such a case of neglect. They are thin with ruff coats of fur and seem to run wild to scavenge for food.
- Farm animals graze in the open ditches and often are sauntering from one side of the road to the other. More than once we meandered along behind a cow or horse, out for a leisurely stroll….even the animals live on “Nicaraguan time.”
- We have seen “Children of the Hills” and “Children of the Dirt.” Both are sad for similar ways yet different in other. Poverty is the most prevalent commonality. It is seen in their homes made of bare wood or corrugated tin. No insulation, no weather proofing, often no formal doors or windows. These children might go to school, but it is not required by the government. Their clothes are often USA cast offs….sport teams, name brand like Gap, but they have no idea what these things mean to us. It only matters that there is something to wear.
- Children of the Hills are of an agricultural environment, lots of boots and cowboy hats. I am not sure if it is true with the “Children of the Dirt”, but when they stop breastfeeding, the mountain children are fed coffee because milk is too expensive. This leads to permanent brown stripes on their teeth.
I think the “Children of the Dirt” are far sadder to me. The dirt in the flat land where we have been is fine and coats everything. These children live in dirt, play in dirt, have yards of dirt, roads of dirt and are covered with dirt. Their hair seems wiry with the dirt that has been embedded to the scalp. Their faces are also covered with dirt since the dirt yard is their playground. Their clothes lack the sharp color they should have because of the dirt that sticks to everything. It is hard to articulate, but even though they live as a family (I assume it is a family unit we see sitting in the windows and standing in the doors) there is a look of abandonment and want. Children here beg for a living. They have perfected the look of hopelessness and helplessness, and, come to think of it, it is probably the only way the family survives. At first it is difficult to pass them by, but unfortunately, if you are generous or even have eye contact with one, soon there will be many around you and will stay there even after a series of No, gracias! The look of the Children of the Dirt leaves a feeling of abandonment in our hearts. As it was stated in one of our evening devotions, God has given his people enough for everyone to eat, but we have not been good stewards of distribution.
- We have also noticed in both the mountains and the flatlands that people sweep dirt and rake dirt. Not sure what the purpose of this is, but then again, I have seen the Amish do that so I guess it is beneficial.
- The babies are freely and often breastfed. We did not see any mothers with bottles to feed their baby. Some of the mothers were so young. One 14 year old come in for a pregnancy test and was delighted when it came back positive. Women only 25 to 30 would have already have 5 or 6 children and then in for a pregnancy test. It is a very hard life for the women. They tend to everything around the house, both indoors and outdoors. The man of the house would be the bread winner or something like that. In this Catholic country, few actually marry. Married or not, it is assumed that men will have other women on the side.
- That brings us to the people. It seems that the fact that the women have such a difficult life has a direct effect on their appearance and aging process. The younger women are naturally beautiful. By the time they reach middle age, they look 10-years older than their actual age. When women are in their 60’s they look like they are in their 80’s. By now, many have lost their teeth and have difficulty walking with their skinny shaky legs. But, they are happy and sweet and tell us how they love the Lord. The quote of the trip was when one fabulous old and wrinkled lady was asked to wait for a moment. Her reply through an interpreter, “That’s what we do when God calls, be patient and wait.” Each one was sweet and loved to reach out and touch us in their thanks and gratitude.
- It felt as if the sole purpose in the lives of the people we met at the clinics was to simply survive. When all energy is focused on just getting through each day, where would they ever get the energy to get ahead and create a better life for themselves. Yet, we consistently felt the joy and gratitude from so many through their smiles and hugs. They seemed to be happy with their lives and accept their place in life without complaint. These people love their families and each generation helps the other (moms with babies, adults with their parents and grandparents) get what they need. Many times outside the gates where people would wait became and community meeting area. We would see the same people there all day because this was the biggest news in town! This was big news for everyone!
- Traveling on the Nicaraguan roads is an adventure in its self! You already know about the animals walking on the road, people walk down the middle of the road, too. There seems to be laws that govern driving practices here. No speed signs, very few road signs giving direction and distance. The roads were under construction in some areas, but you would not know about it until you are right there.
There is much more to reflect upon and each of us has been touched in different ways.
So, the road trip was over, we arrived at the babies’ and teenage boys’ orphanage. Such beautiful babies. But that’s for another day and another travel log.
We, by no act of our own, have been blessed to live in the United States of America. For all the faults of our country and all the arguing that seems to be so newsworthy, we are wealthy beyond anything we deserve. “To those who much has been given, much is expected."
Blessings, peace, joy and all good things to our families and friends. Please continue to pray for us as we continue to keep each of you close to us in our prayers.
Kris Eng, on behalf of the medical mission team
Wednesday, March 12:
Another beautiful day…
Another fabulous breakfast prepared by Martha and Martha…
Another day loading tables, chairs, coolers and lots of suitcases with medicine…
Another gathering prayer…
Another bumpy bus ride…
Another morning ride with spectacular scenery as we journeyed our way to an even more remote school house…
And another day being greeted by a long line of many mothers with babies and toddlers, grandmas, grandpas and children of all ages.
Now, a bit about clinic logistics and process; we have worked out a pretty smooth operation so this is how it works (at least until we do our final clinic on Friday!)
The first ¨host¨ each patient meets is none other than Pastor Lynn who kindly and graciously greets and offers a warm welcome to each and every patient after they are allowed in through the front gate. He records the basic health information on a pink slip which stays with each person for the duration of their visit.
Steve Foard is the next host who graciously assists these tired and anxious people to the first waiting area. Come to think of it, many times I have seen him hold babies, bend down to comfort a young child and take the arm of the elderly in Steve’s typical gentile style. He is also responsible for directing the ninos and ninas to the art station.
The art station has been a huge hit with the kiddos the past 3 days. Sue Newcomb has become the queen of welcoming these children and keeping those stickers flowing. Today, Bea Winkler stretched her comfort level and added face painting to the art options. The children and even many adults were completely delighted with this bit of whimsy! Maryann and William Newcomb along with Gabe Avillion made many children happy with toy surprises. Children are children no matter where they are and the Nicaraguan children gleamed at the kindness of the American children. Makes the world pretty small!
Now, back to the clinical phase…..
Before entering the clinic, many are seen by the MINSA (the Nicaraguan ministry of health) staff for immunizations. Here are some amazements we observed through this program. First, each individual must keep all their documentation of previous MINSA care which is the ONLY way this information is recorded. It is amazing how many people came with their MINSA records…tattered, torn, dirty…but they had them! Now what are the chances of that happening in the States? (Slim to none in my house!). One final amazing note….NONE of the children cried when they got their shots! Go figure!
Greg Ferro is the host who keeps the steady stream of patients going to and coming from each clinician. He maintains order, efficiency with his unique humour sprinkled in which keeps light and fun. Our stellar clinical team (Brian Newcomb, Sue Ferro, Cindy Keith, and Lois Lynn) continue to be flexible beyond imagination proving that people make care and healing happen. Their biggest challenges are looking inside the ears of screaming kids and getting them to open their mouths, stick out their tongues and say ähhhhhh.¨ Guess it isn’t part of the Spanish speech patterns.
Each patient typically goes to the lab station or the pharmacy after being seen by the medical team. I am the host or tour guide who snakes patients through the people to their expected destination. I have also been known to hold some babies, blow bubbles for crying children, sweep out the never ending flow of dirt from muddy shoes and boots, or whatever needs to be done to keep people happy.
So, following the clinicians orders, I either take folks to Gail Spotts and Celeste Newcomb in the lab or to Kate Avillion and Jason Lane in the pharmacy. Gail is as efficient as usual and is always there to offer a welcoming and consoling smile. She and Celeste manage to keep the right urine with the right test which goes to the right person. Yikes! It could be pretty interesting if they weren’t so good at what they do. Celeste wears many hats and daily performs the impossible as she gracefully juggles being lab tech and mom.
Kate and Jason are a fabulous team as they gather the prescribed medicines; carefully and lovingly explained through an interpreter how to take the meds. This is not an easy task since this population is not used to taking meds. Therefore, they do not intuitively understand the basics of taking medicine. But they are always ready with an Hola! And a smile for everyone!
And then…
Another MASH episode of tear down, clean up, loading all clinic supplies, tables and chairs into the bus…
Another bumpy but beautiful ride ¨home¨…
Another time for sharing experiences and quietly reflecting on the day…
Another unloading of the bus then each of us off to our own endeavours…
Another fabulous meal (Gail Spotts even sneaked into the kitchen to help with dinner…)
And then, an evening of entertainment and salutations from the children, making the places in our hearts even more permanent. Pictures were taken, hugs were given, and laughs were shared as we rejoiced for all we had received from Joy and the children.
Another evening of group devotions which, of course, is the perfect way to bring closure an overwhelming but exceptional day rich with blessings and thanksgiving.
There are two noteworthy highlights of today beyond the usual miracles God performs through us as we just go about what we are supposed to do. First, we were able to give away another prayer shawl to a sweet grandma and secondly, we were able to see each person who had lined up outside the gate. I can’t imagine turning anyone away and thankfully, we have not had to make that decision.
So, here we are at ¨home¨ for our final night with Joy and these most wonderful children. We have been touched by the hope shown through their eyes, the care they have for each other and the steadfast and unconditional love Joy has for “her children.” She knows each one so well, loves each one for who they are and all this for the glory of God. If God does have angels on earth, Joy has to be one of the most gifted, humble and dedicated angels he has given us. The children who have been blessed to be in her care will live lives much richer, much more complete and much closer to God because of this exceptional person. Thank you, Joy!
Grace, peace, joy and love to all our family and friends,
Kris Eng on behalf of the entire team.
Tuesday, March 11:
Dear Grace family and friends,
We hope this finds you well. We had another great day, which consisted of fellowship time with the children in the orphanage, clinic, arts and crafts with the children, re-stocking of medications and re-organization of the pharmacy and devotions.
The day started with a quick 7:00 a.m. breakfast of tortillas, eggs and bacon, along with strong Nicaraguan coffee. Our meal time gives us the chance to have some nice fellowship with the children. We loaded the bus and were on our way by 7:30 a.m. The children were still eating when we left. Along the way we saw many other children walking to school, all dressed in uniforms. The uniforms do not match each other, but all of the kids look very nice and neat. The girls wear a plaid skirt and a white shirt and the boys wear dark pants and a white shirt. The bus driver took us over a variety of terrain. We were on a main road for a long time, but then we got off to go to the village where we provided care. The small road continued on and on and on… and we all enjoyed the views we were able to take in as we bumped along. People waved to us and stopped working on the vegetables they were tending to or laundry they were hanging up. Everyone seemed pretty excited to see a big yellow bus coming down their small country lane. We crossed two bridges that did not seem wide enough for our bus, but somehow our experienced bus driver, Carlos, was able to get us across. It took him a long time, but we were all grateful for his patience at lining up the tires and getting us across safely. When we were crossing the second bridge, women were below us washing laundry in the river, scrubbing it on rocks. We all waved, and they waved back to us. The name of the village we were going to was Chiquita Grande. The village we were in yesterday was Llano de Tijera (plane of the scissors).
We arrived at a school sometime after that and learned that we would be holding clinic in the village school. The children that usually would attend the school lined up outside the school yard. Joy informed us that they would probably be there all day, in addition to the people that had tickets for clinic. The reason was that this was the most exciting thing that had happened in a long time. The line of people to see us was very long. After unloading the bus and transforming the two room school into a medical clinic, Pastor Lynn led us in prayer.
We stayed busy all day. The four providers, Sue, Lois, Cindy, and Brian, saw family after family. Most of the patients came in as a group, usually a mom and several children. Celeste and Gail stayed busy in the lab doing pregnancy tests, urine tests, and even diabetes tests upon request. They also took over taking the temperatures of patients if that was needed by a provider, and were greatly assisted by Gabe (age 9). Both he and Maryann (age 9) proved to be wonderful lab assistants, as they could write down the results for us with their clean hands. Gail and Celeste are improving on their glove changing technique. Gabe also assisted us with counting the remaining dipsticks, and figured out how many we could use for each remaining day in order to have enough to get us through the trip. We found it interesting that the Nicaraguan people would smile wide when they would see that we have children helping us. They loved that we involved them in what we were doing, and often commented on it to us.
Pastor Lynn handed out several prayer shawls, and they were greatly appreciated. The shock on the faces of the ladies they presented was priceless. We took photos! They enjoyed the prayer, and a translator took a great deal of time explaining to each recipient what they were being given, and reading the prayer. The children enjoyed helping Pastor Lynn pick out the older ladies to present the shawls to.
Steve did a great job weighing the patients, and helping out greatly with in-take. Pastor Lynn and Kris switched off patient in-take and patient flow and Greg again did triage. The pharmacy was very capably staffed by Jason and Kate. And last but not least, the most exciting station of all…. the craft center! This was staffed by Sue and Bea, and often assisted by William (age 6). They had a huge improvement in their operations today as they developed a name tag system so only children that were supposed to be at the craft center were there. Yesterday they had an entire village of children continue to swarm the table. Children would hop through the barb wire fence, or sneak around the back of the school just to get the chance to color a bit! As with everyone on the team, they tried their best to give their all – both yesterday and today. We were so thankful for everyone’s efforts. Our Nicaraguan translators, and our host missionary Joy, continue to amaze us.
We arrived home in time for a beautiful rain shower, rainbow, and dinner! Tonight we will work on re-loading the medications, figuring out how many people we saw, have arts and crafts with the children here, have our devotions, and prepare for tomorrow. We will report a total figure on how many people we have provided care to at the end of the week.
Thank you all again for your prayers and support. We are having a great week.
Adios and Peace! The Grace Lutheran 2008 Team
My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.
- 2 Corinthians 12:9
Monday, March 10:
Hola, familia e amigos!
Our first day of clinic! We knew all prayers and all concerns were answered the moment we began seeing patients. While our translators worked miracles with the medical staff accurately conveying symptoms and prognoses, we also experienced the miracles of sharing the language through smiles and gratitude.
The people are the gracious and grateful for every expression of love and care which made working with such impoverished people even more humbling. On the way ¨home¨ we found ourselves contrasting our reception with how we receive medical care in the US. All I will say is there is much to be said for simplicity! But that is a discussion to be had when we get home to the States.
A bit more about the day….
We started with breakfast with the kids who are hosting us. It is difficult to call them orphans or even think of this as an orphanage. They are such warm, humorous and delightful children. Get this…..first, they all wait to eat until they are all seated and then one child prays. That we have come to expect, but, after breakfast today, they came back to the table with their Bibles and had 30 minutes of morning devotions. The older girls taking the lead in reading the verses and helping the younger children answer questions in their devotional books. One of the girls even came over to ask us noisy Americans to please be quiet. Lo siento mucho! (so very sorry)¨.
Then, the bus ride! A long bus ride with a stop along the way at the Ministry of Health to pick up official Ministry of Health workers who helped us.
Then, clinic!
As we were told when we prepared for this venture, people were in line waiting for us, and as always, waiting patiently and quietly. Everything you would find in a US clinic was ready in moments…..intake, 3 triage stations, a lab station, a pharmacy and a doctor always on call and, of course, STICKERS. Then, without hesitation, we went into about 5 hours serving everyone from babies to the elderly barely able to walk. But, it may be another year until they have access to another clinic, so we made the best of every moment.
Then, as quickly as the clinic was set up, it was packed up, put back on the bus and it once again became a two room school. The day was almost beyond human expectations, so, we did agree to take a lunch break and day tomorrow. Let´s see just how well that plan works out.
Then, the bus ride!
Then, the shower!
Then, the children! ¨Hola! ¿Como esta?¨
Then, dinner!
Then crafts with the kids!
Then, devotions!
Then, at nine o’clock (earlier tomorrow), we went our ways, some to bed, some for quiet and some to the computer.
So many highlights….so many blessings….so much to for which to be grateful, and, so much love for those of you at home. Thank you for your prayers of support. Please continue to pray for us and, especially, for the people we have seen today and for those we will see tomorrow and the days to come.
…¨Yet not what I will, but what you will.¨
Mark 14.36
Sunday, March 9:
Today was a very full and exciting day! We went to church, took the children out for ice cream, to a nature preserve, hiked to a bat cave, enjoyed a great deal of fellowship with the orphans, continued with medications labeling and ended the day with a beautiful devotional time.
We started the day with a typical breakfast, and joined Joy and the children at their local Christian church. So far, we can only find Catholic churches and non-catholic churches. Non-catholic churches are non-denominational. Four of the young girls were baptized, and this was a special service for that occasion. It was fun to be included, even though we could not understand much of the service. One thing we did understand. During the sermon the Pastor said, when we do not have food to eat, it is a blessing: the Lord has given us a day of fasting. The baptism itself was different than what most of us have ever experienced, as they have a special water tank you actually get in, and you are submerged. It was very special that they asked Pastor Lynn to give the closing prayer. Another difference is that when the Pastor says a prayer, everyone prays along. It was beautiful to hear his voice along with that of all of the Spanish-speaking people present. Pastor Lynn definitely has a gift for prayer, and the right words came to him. I wish we had the occasion documented on tape.
After church we enjoyed a lunch back at the orphanage followed by a trip to the ice cream shop. We decided that Nicaraguan ice cream is very good, but Penn State ice cream is hard to beat! The cost of ice cream for 18 orphans, 17 of us and Joy was just under $20 US dollars. That is $350 cordobas. Everyone had smiles and ice cream on their faces as we got on the school bus and headed to the nature preserve.
The hike at the nature preserve turned out to be a bit more than we anticipated. Ms. Suzanne Whopperer was our guide. We dubbed her Ms. Indiana Jones. She had a huge machete on her side along with a cell phone. She very confidently led us up the mountain and assured us that the hike would level out. It was a good idea that several of the team members decided to stop about half-way up the hill. Upon arrival at the bat cave, Suzanne and Lestor, the helper, handed out real torches. The torches were used so we could go into the cave and see the bats. The trip down the mountain was a bit slippery, and many of us had muddy bottoms. The good news is we all made it back to the bus in one piece. An interesting side note is that Suzanne said you can Google her name and an article in International Living that she wrote will pop up.
We ended the day with a typical dinner with the kids. Dinner was refried beans. We have had many different varieties of beans. Along with beans we had rice and fruit consisting of plantains both fried and dried as well as watermelon and pineapple.
The four girls that were baptised went back for the evening service. Kris Eng got the gold star when she offered to go with them and thus relieving Joy of that responsibility. Kris said it was a beautiful service.
The rest of the team participated in a devotional time led by Pastor Lynn. We started the time with our songs: our singing and guitar playing has greatly improved! We have enjoyed the CD that the Oakman`s made for us. The service was on the topic of courage, and it was very appropriate.
The final thing that happened late at night, about 10:30 pm as the medical team was finishing up it came to our attention that the night guard, Don Demetrio, needed medical attention. He had a serious case of tendonitis. The three nurses, Lois, Sue and Cindy and Dr. Brian provided him with all the care he needed. Brian said he gave him twice the amount of Advil he needed, as he carried a large gun.
Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 2 Chronicles 20:15
Saturday, March 8:
We had a fun bus trip from Managua to Jinotega. We stopped twice on the way for breaks. Many of us were shocked by the poverty we saw first hand. Most of the houses we passed were small, about 16x16 and made of a variety of materials including blocks, wood, thatch, mud and cardboard. The living wage here is very low, with minimum wage being $75-month and a very good wage is about $100 per month. Food is a bit less expensive, but everything else is the same price or more than in the US. For example, the price of electricity is ¨out of sight¨ to quote Pastor Lynn. Only one in two people have a job.
The orphanage is like a little oasis in the middle of Jinotega. We are in the good hands of Joy Pulsiver, the missionary in charge. Eighteen children live here. It is a pleasant 75 degrees, and we are enjoying the mountain air. This is quite different from the temperature that we left in Managua.
Three of us, Kris, Sue Ferro and Celeste, took the teen children to youth group while the rest of the team counted pills and did crafts. The majority of the team counted thousands of pills and repackaged them into a full course of treatment. The medical providers were also oriented on the layout of medical clinic. Our first clinic is on Monday. The crafts were a highlight with the children. They enjoyed making T shirts with paint, putting together airplanes and making picture frames.
After our nightly devotional time, the providers got an early start on delivering health care as Johnathan, one of the orphans, got hurt playing ball. He needed four stitches. Nurse Lois was there to help out Dr. Brian as needed. Jonathan was very brave, as he did not have any pain medication.
Friday, March 7:
Dear Grace Lutheran family, Thank you all for your prayers. We arrived safely last night, after a very long day. American Airlines was kind to hold our second flight for us, as our flight to Miami was late in leaving and so we were about a half hour behind schedule. Upon arrival we found that we had offical permission to bring the medications into Nicaragua. We all were releived, as it would be hard to have medical clinic all week without our medications! All 32 bags arrived, and the only thing that did not make it was Alexandra´s stroller. We made it to the hotel across the street from the airport around 9:30 p.m., which at an hour time difference was about 10:30 to us. We then had a very late dinner and devotional time. Today we will take a long bus ride to the Jinoteja orphanage. Thank you all for your continued prayers.
- Brian, Celeste & the Grace Lutheran Nicaragua 2008 Team
I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him he will bear much fruit, apart from me you can do nothing John 15:5
