July 8, 2017

The team met at the Buffalo Airport bright and early. Bags were packed and excitement abound. 2 team members were flying through Boston and meeting up with us in Haiti. Both flights were delayed but everyone made it on time. Haiti customs was very busy with many flights being processed. We were fortunate to clear security without a hassle and all our supplies  were accounted for. Zidor picked us up in the AP truck and we were debriefed at the guest house. Dinner was beef and potato with rice and salad. The team then unpacked and started to assemble the pharmacy. Part of the team started to count out and prepackaged medications along with a friend of Megan and Jon who is living in Haiti.

 

 

July 9, 2017

Habakkuk 3:18-19.

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,

   I will be joyful in God my Savior.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;

   he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,

   he enables me to tread on the heights.

The first night’s sleep was with a lot of restlessness. The city power had turned on and with it the AC at about 11:30 pm. I studies Habakkuk 3:18-19 before church. The team walked to the Quisqueya Chapel for church at 9 am.  The church is in need of Sunday school teachers come the fall, a long term pastor, children’s leadership for children’s worship service concurrent with the adult services. A Haitian man spoke from the Timothy Leadership Group, which is sponsors by the Chapel. The TLG is evangelizing July through August in Laqui. Last year they had 80 people come to Christ. Corrigan Clay was the guest preacher for the day. Corrigan preached on how God reaches us and is concerned with our memory for us to learn the meanings of scripture through poems, chiasmus, celebrations, monuments, and prophets in the bible.

The team walked to the Boutique and Clay Cafe at noon. Everyone shopping, burgers, smoothies, and pizza. I ran into Shelley Clay and her children. Shelly was setting up a shop in the embassy. Later, Karen Bultje stopped by and I was able to give her wound care supplies we had for Meredith Price to use on some men that had delayed healing wounds. I also became aware that the second truck was in need of repair again and could not make it up the mountain. I started scrambling to secure another truck and had success in finding a few options. The team worked on setting up the house clinic and practicing with the fEMR. We all practiced suturing after dinner and it seemed to have a calming affect on the team.

July 10, 2017

Philippians 1:6.  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Today was the first clinic. It went very well but was stressful of course. The team built confidence as the day went on. We saw 52 patients and each received a Creole’ gospel tract, coin, and had an opportunity for prayer. The team then went to the Apparent Project after lunch and evaluated the Daycare and Preschool children. The team then had a tour of the Apparent Project facility and artisan work areas. I ran into Novens. He had recently broke his left leg in a motorcycle accident. He had a wheelchair and crutches. Novens sat on a board than extended out under his leg to keep it straight with a long leg plaster posterior splint. He also had a pair of crutches with no rubber feet on them, poor handles, and the length was not properly set. I went to the house and brought back a long left immobilizer and another pair of crutches of which I was able to make one good pair out of both sets. The team went for a walk in the neighborhood but were caught in a severe lightning storm and downpour.

July 11, 2017

1 John 3:16-18.

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

The second clinic was busier. The team saw about 95 patients. Many had the ID cards from past visits. Everyone was very tired by the end of the day. It rained hard again after dinner. We then packed and prepared to go to the mountains the next day. We were all very excited. I received a message from Karen as we were discussing our plans that the last 2 heavy rains made the mountain road unsafe. We planned instead to do 2 mobile clinics at Coram Deo in Delmas 33. God has his plans. We were disappointed because we know how far people travel to get to the mountain clinic and how limited care is to medicine there. There is also a lot of voodoo in the mountains and every opportunity to share the gospel with unbelievers is what we seek. That evening one of the team became very sick. She has become dehydrated over the past 2 days. She normally drinks a lot of water at home but had not over compensated for the heat and humidity in Haiti. She would have to take a day off.

July 12, 2017

The sick team member had been up most the night. She would need to continue to re hydrate and rest throughout the day. Heat exhaustion is not fun. Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion include: heavy sweating, weakness, dizziness, visual disturbances, intense thirst, nausea, headache, vomiting, diarrhea, muscle cramps, breathlessness, palpitations, tingling and numbness of the hands and feet.

Matthew 28:19-20

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The team rode in Karen’s trucks to Delmas 33. The team  enjoyed riding in the back of the trucks and seeing the neighborhoods and street markets. We set up the clinic care stations and pharmacy and got to it. Jon rode back to the house to get our additional supplies and get on our team member. I walked the team to our new prospected guest house for a tour. They all enjoyed the neighborhood and new house. We bought and ate sugar cane on the walk . It was another new experience for them. The team saw 90 patients which is amazing as the clinic was not planned ahead of time. The team again had smoothies before enjoying an awesome dinner made by Lovely. Our ill team member had recovered well throughout the day. The team met Kyle Negrete of I’mMe at the cafe with his team. He shared his calling and story with them.  The evening was difficult for me as it started to settle in that this was the last time we would be in our current guest house. Danielle and I working on packing up our supplies for storage until the winter trip. I shared the mission of SIGN and the gospel message with the team before bed while we had our nightly debriefing and devotion time.

July 13, 2017

Proverbs 17:22

A cheerful heart is good medicine,

   but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

This is the final day of clinic. It was very hot. The team functioned very efficiently. They was over 150 patients. Pastor Peirre came from the mountain and brought a few patients as we were not able to go to him. We will see if we can do 2 clinic in the mountain on our next trip and spend the night to do so. I was able to pray the sinner’s prayer with a 17 yo young man who invited Christ into his heart and life. Another man later rededicated his life to Christ. We share the gospel with every patient. We are content to break the soil, and plant the seed of the gospel. It was nice to have the opportunity to be present at the beginning of the harvest and welcome and new brother into the family. We were inventoried and packed before 5pm. The team left Karen a lot of supplies and medications that would expire before we returned in the winter. We also gave Karen 4 massage tables, chiropractic table, and CPR dummies which she could freely use. The team was able to relax after dinner and 4 people had massages before we had our team devotion and debriefing.

July 14, 2017

1 John 4:8

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

Today was R&R. The beach at Wahoo was packed and the menu limited as the resort struggled to accommodate a large mission organization that had about 200 people from mission teams at the resort. We made the best of it and enjoyed the ocean and pool. I spoke with an intern from another organization that had group a group of elderly to the beach for the day. It was nice to see how well they took care of them and even hand fed them at lunch. I am not sure how many other people noticed they were there. The intern took some of our business cards and is interested in medicine and what our organization does. That night we packed to go home.

July 15, 2017

James 1: 21

Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

I set my alarm to be sure to finally woke up early. I made pancakes for the team. We were ready on time and loaded up to get to the airport. We were able to check in on time. Right behind us was another mission team of 30. Their flight wasn’t for another 4 more hours. The leader refused to not check in even though he knew that anyone behind them would not be able to check in on time for the morning flight. I could not understand his selfish ignorance, especially as the leader of another mission team. Their was another group behind him. They were also serving through the same organization from which the team of 30 had come. They would not have been able to check in if our flight had not been delayed 30 minutes.

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.

 

 

 

The summer Haiti medical mission trip with S.I.G.N. has come to a close. Our small team were able to treat, share gospel tracts, and pray with over 450 people.

On the first clinical day we administered vaccines to 130+ employees at the Apparent Project/Papillon Enterprise. We met up with the workers and administered the vaccine right in their work setting so they did not have to leave their jobs to come to us. This enabled us to see many people we would otherwise never meet as our clinic run during work days.

 

 

 

 

 

Day 3

 

 

Day 4

 

 

Day 5

 

 

Day 6

 

 

Day 7

 

 

Matthew 5:14-16 (NIV)

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

 

I have been studying through the 5 session DVD & Bible study kit of LIFE ON MISSION – A Simple Way to Share The Gospel by Dustin Willis & Aaron Coe.

Day 3 of final session teaches that participation in God’s mission is inviting broken people to embrace the redemption available through the gospel and referenced the Serom on the Mount.

People need to see God’s grace lived out in us. We are to let our light shine. Let them see our good deeds done to glorify our father in heaven. Don’t hide your good deeds out of fear it will be misconceived to be for your own glory. People need to see the gospel applied in our lives through what we do. Don’t let your light be hidden under a basket.

People are incredibly lonely in spite being more connected than ever through social media. The world is a dark and lonely place. Be a light to those wandering in the darkness.

We are also to display the light of the gospel through a community of people unified in Christ. Invite people into that community to enable more opportunities for spiritual conversations to occur. People ultimately need an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel. Holidays are opportunities to invite people into our communities of believers. People desire to belong to something bigger than themselves and escape the darkness of our world. Don’t let your light be hidden under a basket.

 

In God We Trust

David Parsons