The January 2017 trip was a success. Some reap what others sow. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. SIGN’s medical clinic create opportunities to share the gospel. This is what it is to create repeated opportunities to share and demonstrate Jesus.
Two men from Delmas 31 invited Jesus into his heart. Many prayer requests were taken throughout the week and many others turned down the opportunity which suggests we were in the right places! The light shines brightest in the darkness! Patients who declined prayer of any sort were still given a gospel tract and coin in Creole’. We treated approximately 500 patients for a wide array of illnesses and medical conditions but the condition of their heart is the most critical! The next trip is July 8-15, 2017 and space is limited.
Our flights were scheduled to depart Buffalo and Syracuse the morning of January 7, 2017. The day before there was a horrifying shooting at our connecting airport in Fort Lauderdale. The shooting was an unsettling reality check. We were grateful to have not been there and saddened for the families of the victims. The Syracuse flights to FLL were canceled and they rerouted through JFK. Storms were along the east coast shutting down Atlanta up through Maine. The remainder of the 11 tripmembers waited to learn if we would also need to rearrange flights. A friend who works for the airline kept us informed and by midnight we were confident our flights were still scheduled be we learned our plane leaving Buffalo would be an hour late as it left LAX late. Fortunately, all both the flights from Buffalo and JFK were able to depart. The transfer in Buffalo was less than 10 minutes. The Buffalo and Syracuse trip members arrived at Port au Prince at approximately the same time. All of our supplies and luggage arrived and passed through customs as planned.
This was the first time we would all be together. The group unpacked and began sorting supplies until late in the evening and then went to bed.
Clinic was off and running by 9:30am. Karen Bultje of Coram Deo brought Jenna Fretthold over to help with our clinic and she had 3 additional men with her. Coram Deo – To live coram Deo is to live one’s entire life in the presence of God, under the authority of God, to the glory of God.
Yesterday, the pastor at church talked about the unrest in the area of Jeremy and that Americans were being evacuated from the area by the UN. He said 3 pastors were flown out by helicopter. Those three pastors were with Karen and stopped by to see us. It was very encouraging to sit and talk with these men. They were all so filled with joy and grateful for we were doing.
The clinic went really well. We saw about 100 patients and Brittany did a procedure.
Some of us walked to The Café at Papillion Enterprise to watch the college football championship between Alabama and Clemson. It was an amazing game. Clemson had not beaten Alabama in 105 years. The game gave me perspective. These young men gave everything they had up until the last minute even though some were already certain of an NFL career regardless of the outcome and they were reckless in their play without concern for anything but that moment. I hope our team ends our week with no potential in reserve to be able to say that they could do one more clinic.
Today we saw another 100 patients. The team functioned very very well and the fEMR was a blessing. The system flows nicely and makes the pharmacy work very organized. I initially started seeing patients in the morning as the initial volume was large. We also started rotating the PharmD students out into the clinic to gain perspective on patient care and have a rounded experience.
The team focused and prepared for the following day mobile clinic after dinner. It was enjoyable watching the team interact so well together. It seemed as if they were all old friends.
We arrived at Coram Deo in Delmas 31 for clinic. Delmas 31 is close to the poorest neighborhoods. The Delmas numbering is such that the lower the number the poorer the area. We set up the provider stations and pharmacy. We brought a lot of wound care supplies as Jenna mentioned there were a few people with bad infections and injuries. The team labored to exhaustion. One of the three patients arrived for wound care and Brittany debrided his partially amputated foot. A metal gate had fallen on his foot in the previous hurricane. This patient came to our guest house with us and we made a fiberglass splint to keep his foot in dorsiflexion and fitted him with a boot.
We had seen almost 150 patients and 1 invited Jesus into his heart! January 16, 2017 update. Jenna received a message from a man named Jean-Louis today. He brought his daughter to the clinic at Coram Deo. He had a conversation at the clinic about Jesus. He messaged her to seek direction. He wants to follow Jesus! Jenna connected him with an American pastor that lives in Haiti and disciples Haitian men.
Today is the 2010 earthquake anniversary. We are headed to the mountains for our second clinic at the church site of pastor Pierre. Kenscoff is a commune in the Port-au-Prince Arrondissement, in the Ouest department of Haiti, located in mountainous country some 10 kilometers to the southeast of the capital city of Port-au-Prince. The altitude is approximately 1500 meters It is much cooler in the mountains.
The drive to the mountains was 1.5 hours and rough once we entered the mountains. The roads were much like gravel back woods trails of a long forgotten logging trail. The view was breathtaking. You could see scattered homes and farms of watercress on the mountain sides. The people have less amenities than urban Haitians. We are well aware that some of our patients have traveled great distances on foot and some overnight to be seen by us.
The clinic was held in the church at the side of a peak. Pastor Pierre started off the day with prayer and song with the people waiting to be seen. We saw about 150 people but were unable to see them all. We did see some profound chronic diseases that would have easily killed most of us in the US. We also saw the most STDs than at any other place. Darkness creeps through these mountains but is met by the gospel and love through Pastor Pierre. Pastor was very grateful for our services. We hope to return soon.
The team is very tired. We poured ourselves out completely. No one had much energy left. Gen: 50:20 “You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. One last day of rest before we travel home to our “first world problems”.
We left for the beach at 8am and were there by 10am. The resort of Wahoo was fairly empty. The team enjoyed the beach, swimming, and snorkeling.
Serving In God's Name 
Published by