Every Good Gift

...is from God.  Every night of refreshing sleep, every strengthening meal, every encouraging song or word just when you need it... 

I've been more aware of those kinds of gifts recently.  Like this past Monday when Hans, Mali and Mis Joselaine were all gone, and we had an oversized crowd of patients at clinic. 

Kin was swamped with over 30 blood pressure patients, Mis Leda and Marquis faithfully consulted many new patients, Ellamae got pushed a little farther into several new bandage patients and jobs, and Lydia came down and very helpfully took care of all the vitals.  And then there were so many return patients with special appointments, and close to a dozen pregnant ladies!

I found myself almost literally running from one thing to the next.  Once on a trip to the depot to gather several different items, I walked in and found myself staring blankly at all the boxes, meds, and supplies in front of me.

"What did I come in here for?!?"  As I shuffled slowly past shelf after shelf, each forgotten necessity sprang back into my recoiling memory, and each time I grinned and sighed, "Thank you, Lord!"  

Simple things. Like remembering what you're looking for, finding what you need, (which might even be a certain Creole word), or getting to do a check up for a fat and happy baby that smiles at everything you say... They're all gifts. 

And while I'm talking about gifts, I should mention rain and relationships!   Not rain in relationships...:-o.  Though occasionally we do have our share of that, the reward of learning to work together in unity, communicating through misunderstandings, and being loved past our own faults, is definitely a gift I don't take for granted!  I'm sure thankful for our team!   And yes, we're very grateful for the much needed rain last night, even though we're all tromping around in muddy shoes!  :-)

I don't have many pictures right now, but it hardly seems right to post a blog without any!  So here...this was a machete wound that kept Kin and I home from church last Sunday!   The poor lady was chopping grass for her goat and chopped a little more than she planned...:-(

                  Before and after...

Oh boy, here I am again finishing a blog at 11:59pm!  But I noticed today that we missed blogging Wednesday cause Rho's name was still on schedule, so I thought I'd fill in since I felt in the mood to write.  Thank you all for your prayers!  Have a blessed night, or morning, or day, whenever you get this! :)

-whit

It's Saturday!

It's Saturday. Maybe...just maybe...this one will be a quiet one. I had the pharmacy to get restocked before brunch, and I had it about half way finished when I walked out to see what was up with the moto that had just arrived. What I found was not very pretty....it was a man who had been beaten up for cutting a lady's hand. He was unconscious,he had a head injury, and we knew right away that we couldn't help him here. We had to decide what we were going to do with him.  Hans called Haiti Air Ambulance to see if they would come pick him up, and they were very willing to come. We quickly made everything ready to transport him on the Husky to the soccer field where the helicopter was going to land. 

We arrived just before the helicopter did, but when we arrived, so did LOTS of people. It didn't take long for us to figure out that we had a problem---everyone that was showing up was very upset!  Upset that we were taking care of this man who in their minds is a criminal. We tried to keep everyone back, but more people kept coming. Soon the lady who had her hand cut showed up. 
The helicopter personnel soon told us that they couldn't take the man, for their own safety. We knew that we had to get going, too, for our own safety. 
 The lady's hand had a very nasty cut in it...all the fingers had been cut, and one finger was completely cut through the bone and only hanging on by the skin. After seeing Julian and Kindra off to Ti Goave with the patients, we had a time of prayer at the clinic, grateful for God's protection during a very stressful time.  

-Mis Ellamae 

Pains and Praises

Sunday, March 8th~

We're exhausted.  After a few interrupted nights, the past few days (which have also been non-stop) have seemed to warp into weeks in our stretched minds and weary bodies.   They've been demanding and tiring for all of us.  

We've had a number of cholera patients the last week, more people on cots than usual, and a couple births in one night...  And things just keep happening.   I keep reminding myself, "One day at a time, one thing at a time."   

I'm sure my theology can be challenged, but I believe God does give us more than we ourselves can handle, but never more than his grace in us can endure.  And it seems that real weariness comes when we forget to seek and employ that grace.

I was sitting in church today, too tired to sing, so I put my head back, closed my eyes, and just listened, letting my mind wander over the past few days...

Lost in the current of my own swirling thoughts, I felt moderately interrupted and equally annoyed when a friend with arms aching from holding her sleeping child so long, came and plopped the child into my arms.  

I rebelled inside.  Doesn't she see how tired I am?  Does she just assume I'm always thrilled to hold her child?  I knew I had a bad attitude.  That got me thinking about being a servant.  A real, unselfish one.  

Really, you can serve people night and day and still be selfish.  You can selfishly want people to notice and credit you.  You can secretly admire your own abilities and then entertain feelings of self-worth, honor, and even pity, for all you do.  And you can quickly shift your focus from meeting the needs of others to sympathizing with your self for how much you have to give up.

I think that's the ditch I was finding myself in, sitting in church, thinking about how tired I was, and feeling like the world around me owed me something for it.  :/   I felt reproved in spirit, finding myself praying once again for a real servant's heart, one willing to let self die without demanding, expecting, or even hoping for a tombstone of honor or recognition...

Tue, March 10th~ 

What a day!  A very bittersweet one.  Our dear alto-singing, coffee-drinking Rho, heroic head nurse, faithful friend, inspiring example, selfless servant...and much more to those of us who have lived with her for the last 1 1/2 years (or at least a few good months for some:), has said goodbye to our Aylege Haiti team to go back to school in the States!   

(Rho with a goodbye gift from Donny and Thea, and a bow that we thought looked fitting;)

We got up at 3:30 this morning to say goodbye, shed our tears, and see her off.  Fre Nores was there too, seeing his wife off to town with Hans and Rho, and he asked if he could pray before they left.  

He seemed so much like a Papa right then, his own tender heart hurting to say goodbye, but strongly and so gently encouraging those of us left behind to dry our tears and take heart.   "Oh, it hurts!", he told me at clinic today.  "My heart is sad!" "Rhoda was such a good nurse!"

I thought I was done crying after we had slept a few more hours and got ready to face a new morning.

"Father, please give us an easier day, one without so many people!" was my prayer as I headed down the path to the clinic.

"Oh, thank you Lord!" I sighed gratefully, when I saw a very small, peaceful crowd waiting outside!   I noticed several times throughout the morning what a peaceful day it was, and I wondered if Rho had prayed for that.  :)   

Kin and I walked into her room at the clinic and found ourselves wiping a fresh falling of tears.   But they weren't just sad ones.  

I sensed such a comforting peace straight from God that gave me assurance that no matter what situations we find ourselves in, He's going to take care of us.  

"See?" I told Kin, "I asked God not to give us more than we could handle today, and he gave us about half as much as we'd been getting when Rho was here!  He knows I can't take as much!"  ;).  

It was a beautiful day.  Tomorrow might be different, but we don't have to fear or worry what might happen, because we trust in God to give us what we need, when we need it.  

Wed, March 11th~

Another beautiful spring day in Haiti!  Last night was the first in a long time that I got hot enough to throw back some covers!  It's amazing what a difference just a night or two of uninterrupted sleep can do to make the world feel like it's still spinning in the right direction!  :)

The crowd at clinic was very manageable again, for which I was again incredibly thankful for!  Especially since we've been getting through the last week with one or two of our Haitian nurses instead of three!  Today there were two, and it sure helped! 

We've seen some sad and sickening results of negligence lately: grossly wormy wounds, rotting flesh, reeking with such an overwhelming stench as to send your nare nerves into panicked shock ...

Despite the horrendous condition and smell, I had to laugh when I walked into the room and saw the mask that was creatively used to mercifully shield the dear old man's view as the Doc and Mali pulled out worms and cut off the flesh of his very neglected leg wound! 

But how we love toothpaste, and Kin's friend who shared the ingenious tip of putting a dab between two masks!  No matter how strong the opposing smells assailing, the toothpaste is an effective defense, a stomach-saving breath of fresh mint!  

I couldn't help but add a picture of this face behind the mask!  :)

Well, it's almost midnight, and I'd have long been in bed on time  if I hadn't decided to get my blog post done on schedule!  But such is life in Haiti...keeping one schedule usually upsets the next...;)

So goodnight!

~Whit

"God did it", so we better would, too!

     Every bed had been full. Wow! We tried to still the panic in our hearts as the realization struck us. But God has been good. Other than throwing a mat on the floor, and losing sleep, it worked out! A few patients were able to leave exactly as we were needing more beds. We read this morning that God commands his loving kindness in the daytime. Can we believe that even when it feels like our plate is overfilled?!  Even if the medicines we wish for aren't available to us?

     We had two bed sore men who couldn't walk. That means that every day we get to clean those wounds out down to the bone...and then, we turn them, give them their medicines, shots, and new bandages. But the one is a Christian, and we became great friends!

      Friday we had a man return after about four months of negligence. He had healthy little maggots gobbling around on his rotting foot. Mali and Kindra and Doctor Felix put on some toothpaste masks and got busy scrubbing, rubbing, and cutting on that piece of meat. Unluckily the surrounding atmosphere had a somewhat foggy scent. And everybody was glad when the bandage was closed up and he could go sit outside. 

    Life is so full of change. The cholera epidemics keep coming and going. We have been obligated to use the "little house on the hill" as a place for their cots.  Hans jumped on his motorcycle and ran out to TiGoave this week to get some more intravenous fluids. He got back just in time. Our last bag of saline fluids was dripping into the veins of a patient when he returned. Please pray that the epidemic would stop. The Red Cross has been trying to get involved this year, and they have showed up several times to help provide buckets for clean water and education to the uneducated. 

    There are so many decisions to make each day in the clinic. Please pray for the nurses as they face life/death crises and need to reach conclusions fast when the options are few. I am leaving for the States tomorrow to follow more nursing education, and I feel my heart tearing apart. I worry about the nurses and staff. Their job is not easy. Their tears fall often. The much needed nights of sleep are never promised. The patient may never respect what they taught them. The gauze might run out when they most need it. Or weather and sickness might keep three of the workers home the same day...and it drains them. Please pray for them! Whitney is in charge. Kindra and Mali are her shoulders to lean on. And then EllaMae is in the pharmacy. 

     We were up to the big hospital in Mirebalais this week. Some of our patients got help. Some didn't. Please pray that Hans would be able to keep courage and spirit in that work. It is a draining drive, and results come slow. 

     I know that the Spirit of the Lord is here. The other day we were so blessed when we saw one patient buying food for another patient. "God did it," was her reply, as to what made her want to buy food for the boy in the hospital. 

    And one of our tuberculosis/malaria patients recommitted his life to the Lord. I wanted to chant my own little "Hallelujah Chorus" when I saw him stand up in church and give his testimony. I was ready to say, "God did it!" 

  

   On Sunday we clinic workers stood up and sang together one last time before we are separated. I felt like it was closure. Like it was sad. "But God did it",and everything is going to be all right. 

     A patient met us on the trail yesterday. "Thank-you, nurses. If it wouldn't be for you I would be dead."

     And our heart's reply? "God did it." It was a Saturday/Sunday case. We were tired, but God said, "Go."

     Is the God in us so strong that when our bones creak, we can still go out on the porch and spread love to someone because "God did it" for us? 

     Good-bye, Haiti! 

     And to my heroic siblings here, "God bless you. You are a mighty team, and I am extremely proud of you. Love you lots," RO

    

     

    

Email updates

This update is a little out of the norm, but thought everyone that follows the blog would like this little bit of info!

In the past we used yahoo groups for our email updates. But beings we had some technical difficulties with that we have switched over to over service called "Mailchimp". That being said, if you would like email updates on the work in Haiti, please click the link below, and follow the intructions.

   Click Here For Email Updates

If you have a email only server, please send a request to be added to the list to, gthmission@gmail.com


God bless your day!

Donavon

Cholera Again

    Wednesday afternoon Mali, Whitney, me, and a kindly, elderly deacon from the church here took a little trip up the mountain to visit several sick and dying people at their houses. We parked our UTV on the road at the farthest point that we were able to drive to, grabbed our medical bag and started up the trail through the rocky, yet lush and green Haitian countryside. The narrow, muddy trail wound through green patches of young bean plants and past tidy little stone houses shaded by groves of fruit and nut trees. Nores, the Haitian brother that was with us, knew of an elderly lady who was shut up in her house and wasn't in the best of health and so he led the way to where she lived. We arrived to find a friendly  

I had to snap this picture of Nores on the trail ahead of us.

granny who claimed she had been born in 1908. Her family verified that she actually was that old. I don't know if that is possible but she seemed like she was still mentally with it and she was consistent with her figures. We checked her out and gave her gave her some appropriate medicine. The next stop was a 23 year old boy who had had a stroke several weeks earlier. It was wonderfully encouraging to see how he was beginning to use his right leg again and was actually starting to be able to walk around his house. We instructed him and his family on exercising the full range of motion on his right arm and leg to prevent contractures due to lack of use. They were very attentive and promised that they would keep doing the things that we had told them to do. We made one more stop at a house where a middle aged lady with what appeared to be advanced liver disease lived. At each one of these places Nores would lead in several Creole songs and pray with the people. Sometimes it seems that just the simple act of visiting someone and praying with them means far more to the people here than any amount of medical expertise and capabilities.
   

Several tombstones in the late afternoon light. A familiar sight in the Haitian countryside

  On other news, we had a lady come into the clinic with cholera about a week and a half ago. We put her in the little stone building that sits next to the clinic to help prevent the spread of the disease to our other patients. This lady's family, which included children, aunts, uncles, nephews and nieces, were NOT cooperative with our instructions about staying clear of where she was at. Well, to make a long story short, a relative of hers, a powerfully built young man, was brought in on a cot Wednesday evening with the characteristic watery diarrhea and dehydration of a cholera patient. He still hadn't recovered fully yet when this morning (Friday) at 4:00 another relative was brought in with the same thing. We did the usual procedure of IV fluids and antibiotics and we reinforced a strict quarantine on the little shed. Several hours later I had barely finished putting up caution tape ( as a visual reminder and obvious line to stay behind) when a nine year old boy ( from the same extended family ) was brought in on a cot with obvious cholera symptoms. We currently don't have the facilities to handle a large scale outbreak so we are hoping and praying that the three patients we now have in the little shed will be the last ones we get for now. The Haitian Red Cross came by today to investigate and try to help in educating the people involved on how to prevent transmission of the bacteria and to look for a possible source such as a contaminated water spigot where it could be originating.

the shed which is our current "cholera clinic"

  We keep having all the normal day to day challenges like trying to decide what to do with the many patients that come to our clinic requiring further treatment then what we can provide. Or, for me, trying to do a physical assessment and history taking on a patient while only being able to communicate on an approximately 5 year old level due to my still somewhat limited knowledge of the language. The beautiful thing is, that every time we feel like we can't take one more problem, somehow when that problem comes God is always comes through to provide the extra strength or patience needed to deal with it.

                He is still victorious!
                             -Hans

On Classes, Crackers, and Farewells

Last week was not terrifically busy if you go by the number of patients that we were seeing each day. We did, however, feel like we were running nearly non-stop. Let me explain.

Brian Eveleth, our stateside clinic director arrived last Monday along with his daughter Jacinda, and a trio of girls from Ohio among which was a RN to help out for the week at clinic. Brian came to spend a week having afternoon classes with the clinic staff, and just connecting a bit with the clinic to better ascertain our needs and where we can improve our care here.

Every afternoon we hurried home as soon as clinic wrapped up, took a quick lunch break, then headed back down to clinic to further our education. We'd like to give a big shout-out to Brian for putting hours of research into his classes, for taking the time to come down, and for the many goodies that he brought us - including, but not limited to, a rather largish container of animal crackers that we may or may not have already nearly finished off. :o)

It feels like we've had a lot going on at clinic after hours lately...probably mostly due to a few people that we've had staying down there most of the week. Our little old poppy with the very large bedsore is still here, and has been joined by a recovering cholera/possibly-typhoid patient and a woman with extremely high blood pressure that's been just a bit of a mystery to us...we aren't exactly sure what's been going on in her body, but it isn't healthy.

And, on top of it all, preparing our hearts to bid our beloved pharmacist Marcille Godspeed as she leaves for the States along with her parents who came with the other group.  She has been such a blessing and bright spot in our lives that we find ourselves reluctant to release her, but we know that she needs to follow God's calling in her life, even if it's not exactly where we might prefer her.  

We will actually be saying goodbye to Donny and Thea Monday morning, too, as they are traveling home for a couple months due to some complications that came up with Thea's pregnancy.  Lord willing, they will be back soon, bringing along a little baby for us to spoil rotten, but saying goodbye to people that you are very attached to is still difficult, even if it is just for a short time....

This week has been busy, and we all breathed sighs of relief when Friday afternoon rolled around and we locked the clinic up for the evening....but there are always bright spots...

-Watching the little old neighbor man's face light up when I handed him my phone with music playing on it to listen to while I did a bandage job....he's blind, but loves music passionately.

-Cleaning a little old grandma's house that reeked and seeing how happy she was to have it smell good again (she too, is blind).

-Seeing new skin that gets more beautiful every day on a burn that one of our regular bandage guys (St. Luke, for those who know him) is recovering from.

-Walking into clinic in the morning and hearing the chorus of replies to my "bonjour!"

Thank you for reading, caring, and praying....have a wonderful week.

-Kindra