Crunch Time, A Shaman Gets Fired, and Rus Rus Needs A Truck

Crunch Time At The Clinic
By Saturday we were a very tired medical and mission team! But we all persevered and started another day of the clinic with a waiting room and a porch full of people from various villages. We hoped for a lighter patient load as many men hunt on Saturday for food.

The hospital waiting room at Rus Rus.

I spent part of the day in one of the exam rooms trying to get a feel for working with a family, a medical professional, and two translators. It's pretty crazy!

We've seen many things at the clinic ranging from major injuries, broken bones, serious infections, and old injuries and wounds needing treatment to TB, lice, scabies, and a whole family with Pink Eye. Nearly everyone has parasites (mostly treatable) and many have eye issues due to the sun, dust, and all the smoke from the nearly constant burning of things that goes on around here.

Actually, the day did end a bit earlier (4:00 instead of 6:00) which allowed many of the team to go for a swim in the river. That's also where the village ladies do their wash and the kids play.

The local laundry and water park.

A Village Living In Fear And Darkness
We also worked with a group of folks from a distant village where a Shaman had just lost his job. He was fired by the people of the village. In that village, when the Shaman isn't doing a good enough job of keeping everyone healthy...they simply cut off the Shaman's head. You're fired!

Unfortunately for the people of that village, many are still getting sick and are dying. The only explanation they have is that they must not have buried the Shaman's head deep enough. This is one of the reasons we're out here doing what we do. These people are deceived and without hope. But for a few hours on Saturday, they were exposed to the love and compassion of Jesus Christ and professional medical treatment that can actually make a difference.

The people from that village have never been taught the basics of bathing, brushing their teeth, or washing their hands, nor do they have any concept of germs or sanitation. If we had a truck here at Rus Rus, Wes would be able to drive Geraldina, our indigenous nurse, out to that village and begin providing some basic health education that would dramatically change the lives of those villagers. And as their lives improved through better health, the villagers would be exposed to Geraldina's faith and Wes' witness and the light of Christ would begin to eradicate the darkness and fear that currently controls the lives of everyone in that village.

A truck. That's all it would take. Please click HERE to help Rus Rus get a truck.

Worship With Our Miskito Brothers And Sisters
Time is a bit more fluid and a lot less precise down here. Last Sunday I arrived at church at 9:30 and missed all the singing. I went to church at 9:00 today and helped organize the benches because no one was ready to worship until 9:30 or so. But that's okay. It's just how it is.

There is something special about sitting in the midst of other Believers, in another part of the world, as they worship in their heart language--knowing they're worshipping the same God who created and  loves us all. I had to fight the tears. There were a couple hymns that were the same as the ones we sing in the States. Those of us who knew the words sang them in English as everyone around us sang them in Spanish. It was wonderful. One of the songs was, "When We All Get To Heaven."

Our second Sunday in church

I had the privilege of reading the first chapter of Joshua in English as part of the service. I know that sounds rather mundane, but it felt very special to take part in worship with the Believers down here.

A Daily Realty: Meals, Dishes, and Laundry
After church Denise once again served another delicious meal. Denise deserves a lot of credit for the work she's doing at home to keep us working at the hospital. And whether she's prepared a traditional Miskito meal of rice and beans with fresh tomato, onion and peppers (Honduran cheese with jalapeno and soured cream on the side); or smoked pork chops that taste like ham and melt in your mouth...eighteen people can generate a lot of dirty dishes three times a day.

Here's the team having dinner in Wes & Denise's house.

The team's been really good about helping washing up after every meal. There may not be enough electricity to run appliances or to generate hot water but how many other houses do you know that can claim to have eighteen dishwashers! Eighteen people can also generate a lot of dirty laundry in a jungle environment. Oh, Wes and Denise do have a clothes dryer. It's strung up between the trees and they store it outside up in the sky. It doesn't need electricity to work, but does refuse to work when the rain clouds come in and it never works at night.

Pray For The Team's Health
Please pray for the team's health. It seems several of us are coming down with cold symptoms! Not surprising with the work load we've maintained and the many villagers we've worked so closely with.

• To make a donation to help Missionary Air Group deliver help and hope to the people of La Moskitia, please click HERE.

• To learn more about Missionary Air Group's ministry, please click HERE.