A ministry of love

For the last few months we've been doctoring a dear lady's foot which was infected.

The infection had become so bad her foot was literally rotting off on the one side (Don't worry, no pictures of that...). After sending her to Ti Guave for treatment she has returned. Each evening she comes to have her foot re-wrapped at the clinic, where one of the nurses carefully pulls off the bandage and cleans the gaping wound, putting new wrapping on afterwards.

I have been blessed over and over by seeing this "ministry of love" being demonstrated by our nurses, in essence "washing" this lady's feet over and over. It is a picture of what Jesus has done for us... we were rotten; we were ugly; we were uncared for; we were dirty and unclean. But He stooped down and washed us, cleaned our wounds out, and put healing balm on us, restoring us by His life giving blood and renewing us by His Spirit.

Consider these things as you take a look at the pictures below... God loves us THAT much!!

The man with the gashed head...

It was dark. Supper was almost ready when there was a knock at the gate.

As someone went out to see what the need was, they were greeted by a man with blood streaming down his head, dripping down onto his shoes.

His colleague's speech was slurred with drink, and neither of them could walk in a straight line. They were admitted into the compound and led to the front porch where his wound was examined.

It was a large gash on the top of his head: about 2 inches long and almost down to the skull. At first he claimed it was from a rock, then from a piece of glass. He was too intoxicated to remember anything.

Thea, Virginia, and Susannah doctored him, cleaning out and stitching the wound.

The operation done, Susannah sat down in front of the men...

"Ou bezwen Jezi. Ou pa bezwen Prestige!" She told them. "You need Jesus. You don't need Prestige (beer)!" After a few more words of admonishment, she left them.

We can only pray they understood and will remember...

Dressing the wound.

Thea begins the stitching...

Examining the suture before cleaning up...

A job well done!

Susannah spoke with the men...

"Ou bezwen Jezi!"

Clinic closed... unless a baby is coming!

Greetings in Jesus' name!

The clinic has been officially "closed" since December 22nd, but when a lady comes from Ti Guave and is about to have a baby, it's only reasonable to open the doors up and let her in!

This young lady was in the area when she went into labor, so they came knocking at the gate around 5am yesterday morning. As things progressed throughout the morning, it was evident the baby would come before lunch. Thea rushed back to the house to get the "baby bundle" and by the time she came back, the baby had arrived.

It was a little girl, in perfect health! The mother fared very well also, with no major complications. It was such a blessing to have another healthy baby born, after the many troublesome ones we've had recently.

Cow cut...

Amongst the business yesterday, a man appeared with a towel wrapped around his arm.

His problem?

A large gash on his left arm, caused by a cow's horns!

Anita and Thea were about ready to go to the clinic for the day, 

so they just stayed around to stitch him up.

Checking blood pressure...

Anita suspected that the man was going into shock, so they decided to put him on an IV.

There it is... the gash.

Thea, trying to get the IV started...

It was very hard to get the IV started, but after about 15 minutes, Thea finally had it running!

After it was cleaned up, it didn't look so bad...

Right??

Preparing for the operation...

Some of the muscle was also torn, so Anita stitched that too!

Almost done...

A splendid job! Looking better already...

And here is the finished product.

He'll have a nice story for his grandchildren when they see the scar later on!

More Babies!

Seems like all Aleg has come out and decided to have their babies in December!

We've had 3 births in the last few days, and another in progress right now! Thankfully, after having several hard cases, the last two have gone well, with no complications! Praise the Lord!!

One of the ladies had to go to the hospital... She made it to Ti Guave without a problem.

However, we didn't hear how things went after she was admitted to the hospital, 

but we trust it all went well...

Some of you know Moslin... his wife had their baby just the other day!

Their first little one was stillborn (exactly one year ago, today), 

so they were very thankful this one was alive and healthy!

Another sweet little one...

Update on the baby that couldn't breathe

We have an update on the baby that couldn't breathe...

On Monday night they decided to take it into town because our oxygen tanks were quickly being depleted. The baby would need a full supply in the coming days if it were to have a chance of survival. We had kept all its vitals at good levels, but we would not be able to do that for long.

So, around midnight, Steve, Michael, and his sister Christina, (along with the patient and her parents) headed out for the Leogane hospital. They arrived there in a few hours and gave the baby into the nurses' care. The heartbeat was a bit slow so they gave it some epinephrine and all seemed well. They made sure everything was in order, then headed out to Ti Guave to catch some sleep.

But when they arrived there (around 3:30am) they received a phone call from the baby's father, saying their little girl had suddenly died. What caused the sudden change in circumstances, we can only speculate. However, it was evident that the baby had sustained at least some brain damage before it was born; it never ate correctly (sucking reflex), and never had a good breathing pattern.

We are all very saddened by the whole situation. It is difficult because we did everything we could, and yet the baby still died... perhaps it is for the best, for we know that God is the giver of life, and that He can preserve a little one in such a situation if He sees fit. We thank Him for his faithfulness through this time.

Please pray for the parents, as this is a hard for them too. The wife (Gertha) is taking it very well, and is trusting the Lord... the husband, Vicson (some of you might remember him) is taking it a little harder.

Thanks for your prayers. They mean a lot.

Baby ER... another baby that couldn't breathe,

Last night there was another lady in labor at the clinic.

When the baby was born, it was not breathing, so we had to do CPR and oxygen on it.

It was a little girl!

Steve, Anita, Thea, and Virginia all are gathered around;

Steve was operating the oxygen mask, Anita was checking vitals,

Thea was supporting the baby's head, and Virginia was about to clip the heartbeat/o2 sensor on.

The poor little girl looked very uncomfortable!

But we knew that she wouldn't make it without the oxygen and stimulation...

As time went by, she began to make some noises, and soon quiet squeaks could be heard!

We were very excited, because that meant she was breathing!

Thea or Anita were frequently checking her heart and lungs with the stethoscope.

Pastor Darwin and Pastor Levy were there for much of the time,

praying and singing out in the hallway.

Here, Anita prepares the blow-by oxygen mask.

As you can see on the vitals monitor (to the left) her o2 level was at 88, which was pretty good.

The second number was her heartbeat; for a newborn,

142 beats per minutes is within the normal range.

Another shot.... Occasionally the o2 levels would drop into the 70's, but we never

saw anything as bad as the last case, where the baby's o2 was often in the fifties

and sixties.

But under the watchful eye of the nurses, all was cared for.

Here she is, under the blow-by oxygen mask...

Far into the night, and into the early hours of the morning,

we took turns holding the mask and keeping watch.

As of this morning, the baby was off the oxygen, and got her to eat a little, and by this afternoon, she was eating well.

Please pray for the baby's strength, and that it would continue to nurse well.

God bless you, thanks for supporting the work down here!