Channels

“Channels only, blessed Master.....but with all thy wondrous power flowing through us, Thou canst use us.... every day, and every hour.”

These lines of the familiar song recently hit my consciousness afresh, during our morning staff devotions here. Truly we are mere channels of the great love, mercy, and grace of our God...we bring nothing good of ourselves, to offer others. And what an opportunity we have to be the hands of feet of Jesus. We are reflectors, conveyors...channels... of His love, and the Gospel, to the people around us. For some people, we may be the only glimpse they get of God's love. I take that seriously, and pray that our brief contacts with the many people entering our clinic, would be true touches of Christ in their lives. What kind of a channel am I.... are you? What are we communicating to those we meet each day?

The last weeks have brought us a round of cholera patients. Recent heavy rains have helped spur the incidences of this maladi....thankfully it is usually very treatable if the patients are prompt in seeking help. One Wednesday morning found a few of us sloshing our way down the trail to clinic in the pouring rain ....it was just after 3am, to be exact. Sure enough, another cot had arrived (along with about 20 other people). We got the newcomer settled into the cholera shack (a separate outbuilding where we put patients with cholera to keep them out of the main clinic building). He was dehydrated from severe diarrhea and vomiting, but responded well to IV fluids and was able to be released a few days later. Thankfully most of the patients who have come in recently have gotten well and were able to go home before too long. Cholera is very treatable, and it is fun to watch how fast people get better when they get the appropriate care. But... at the moment, I pause to ask you to especially pray for a young girl in the cholera shack today. She has been here 4 days and is still experiencing severe diarrhea and dehydration. We are giving her fluids by IV as much as possible, but she continues to struggle and not progress like she should. Please pray that God would touch her with healing today.

Our 3am cholera patient just after arrival.

Another thing we have seen in the last weeks is a few nasty injuries that needed sutures....so I got to try my hand at real suturing for the first time. Wasn't the most beautiful stitch job ever, but it went well and was fun. ;) A school girl had gotten in a fight with a boy in her class...a rock got thrown, and she ended up at clinic. Part of it was scary close to her eye, but thankfully she seems to be healing up just fine.

One day while I was on call, a young boy was brought in. He had been hit in the head by a tree branch the day before, and his head was split wide open. Alyssa helped tackle that job and got it back together very well. He didn't totally appreciate our help during the process (to put it mildly), but almost smiled in spite of himself, afterwards.

Before I go, I must tell you about the little person I met on Sunday. At 4am Sunday morning, Alyssa and I headed for the clinic in response to the knock on our gate at the mission. We were told it was a lady in labor. Upon futher investigation we found the lady had already had her baby at 11pm the night before.... a tiny, tiny baby. The mother also had eclampsia and was experiencing high blood pressure and seizures. There were some very scary moments as the mother seized again after arriving at clinic. The baby girl was 3lbs. 8oz. She was cold and had a low heart rate upon arrival at the clinic. Eventually I got her warmed up and also was able to give her some formula, as she had not nursed or had anything since birth. After working to stabilize mother and baby, we worked on arranging a flight for them.... transport to the hospital by helicopter. When our attempts at that were unsuccessful for several hours, we finally left for the trek to the hospital by road. Bouncing over the bumpy trail with a tiny baby and sick mother is not fun, to say the least. The mother seized again during the trip, and Alyssa faithfully watched over her and administered more medication. Finally after about 4 hours, we pulled into one of the better hospitals in Haiti. It was a relief to be able to turn our patients into such capable care. But it tugged at the heartstrings to leave that precious little baby flailing in her crib....all alone there in the NICU. I hadn't realized it was possible to love someone so tiny so much, in such a short period of time. As I held her and fed her those 10 hours on Sunday, I wondered... will she be loved, will she be cared for? She is a fighter, but she is so tiny. Will you pray with me that God will watch over her and bring her through? And her mother also? The mom seemed to barely know that she had delivered a baby... the dad was thankfully with her, but was completely overwhelmed by the situation, and very worried about his wife. So please lift them up to the throne of grace with us... we know the Giver of life and healing, and I'm so thankful we can turn to Him at any time, for every need!

Hospital bound!

Our tiny sweetheart.

That's about all I've got on the clinic front for now, folks. I had actually written more, but this post keeps changing as I have had to wait for the internet connection to post it... so hopefully this finally will work. =) Keep praying for us, and being a channel of God's love and life wherever you are. Thanks as always for your prayers and support!

-Mis Sharon

Meet the Allege Staff!!

The past week has been a good week! God is blessing us with small clinic days. I believe that He sees when we need a break so we are ready for the next crunch. We missed Kayla this past week as she is home visiting her family but everyone is doing a great job of filling the vacancy.

Here are some pics to walk you through a day in our clinic and meet all our staff.  Each of the staff play a vital role in helping the clinic run smoothly.

When you arrive, you will meet Frè Kadèt. He is our gate guard. He will ask you who is sick and make sure you find a place to sit. Then he will give you a number to hold until you are called to make a dossier. Frè Direct and Frè Reynold will get you in the system and determine who you need to see. Frè Nores will be roaming around to make sure that everyones needs are met. Frè Adolph will find your chart and call you in. He will make sure you are weighed and ready to have your vitals taken.

This week Mis Katie will take your vitals and send you to see a nurse. Sè Bridget will be mopping, sweeping, and cleaning keeping the place nice and tidy. Patrick keeps us supplied with cut gauze. He also helps with laundry etc. The last people you will see are our pharmacists Madam Ledger and Zitha. They will fill your prescriptions.

After you have your vitals taken, you will be sent to see a nurse. Mis Sharon sees all our pregnant ladies. She follows the ladies on the program monthly to watch for any complications that may occur. Frè James is doing the blood pressure program while Kayla is home. He will ask if you have taken your medications today, determining if you can stay on the same medication or if you need to change. You will need to come back monthly so we can manage your blood pressure. Mis Leda, Mis Jocelaine, and Mis Alyssa will see you for general consultations. You will be referred to Dr. Felix if concerns are noted. Mis Katie is here to do your bandages. She will follow you closely asking you to come back on a regular schedule.

A few other highlights this week…...

Katie and I with a baby that was born. He was a healthy little man who had a very smooth delivery. 

Also, Mirland came back, the little girl I had blogged about several weeks ago. She has seizures that where debilitating her daily life. A miracle, her amount of seizures has decreased to almost none. She is back in school!!! I was so happy when her mom told me the story, all I can say is Mèsi Bondye!!

Thanks for your continued support!

~ Mis Alyssa

Yet have I made myself a servant to all

For though I be free from all men,yet have I made myself a servant to all,that I might gain the more.  1 corinthians 9:19

Well we are at the end of a other week of clinic once again. God has been good! We were blessed with an abundance of medications from C.A.M for this month that were well needed. God knows exactly what we need before we even need to ask!

This dear lady came into clinic on Wednesday with swelling across her whole body. She's only 24 years old and looks 40. We believe she has kidney failure which leaves us with not a whole lot that we can do for her. Pray that God would perform a healing for her. It strikes me every time I look into young eyes that are in so much distress and so helpless.  I have to remind myself that it's in a time like that that God can reach the part of the heart that he longs to reach. That's why we must be willing to be his hands and feet,(no matter where we are.)

This is a other young lady that came in on Tuesday with similar symptoms as the lady above. She as 3 month old twins that have been staying in town with a relative for the past few days.

Here's Doc. Felix and James with her. They and a few others spent some time in prayer for both ladies today. We desire all of your prayers as well for these dear young ladies. James took her our to town today to try and get some more advanced care. Pray that they could get just that.

James with one of his bandage patients. 

Kayla instructing James about the blood pressure program. 

Three of our babies that we recently delivered at clinic came back for their first check up!

James with another one!

so this brings me to the end of my blog for this week. But before I completely log off I want to give you all a huge thank you for all your support. It means a lot and it makes a difference in many  lives.

Thank you and God bless you. 

Mis Katie. 

Gods in Control!

These past few weeks I have just been reminded again of Gods grace towards us! And how he knows just how much we can take before we need a break!! It's times like these that make us stronger, There's no way I could have made it through the last couple weeks on my own! So I praise the Lord!

Gods in control!

For lack of being able to put my last couple of weeks in words, here is a few pics from last week!

                                 
                                       Here is Alyssa and I working on a wound that come in last week!    

                 This particular one actually had about 30 maggots that we removed the first day he came in!!



                                                      
 
Here is a Mom and her baby, Alyssa, Katie, and I had takin out on an emergency run out to Petit Goâve! To the general hospital there, the mom had started having seizures while she was in labor! We were all so glad to see mom and baby doing so well 3 days later!!

Sorry I didn't have more to share, hope the pictures help describe our week at clinic!!


And please continue to pray for our clinic, and the staff,
We cherish ever one!!


James.

Darkness vs Light

My heart is over whelmed as I try to put my thoughts into words. Almost two weeks ago, we had a patient come in who was in severe respiratory distress. A young 25 year old man, who had a lived a very undesirable life. He had ruined himself so young. He was rough, tough, one you wouldn't want to mess with. He was brought to our clinic with a very short life expectancy. 

How would Jesus reach into a life like his? My flesh wanted to run the other way and hide but my heart wanted to give the love of Christ. Everyone left him. No one wanted to take responsibility and care for him. We were left to sort everything out. Where was his family? Where was someone who truly cared? 

My heart ached as we spent hours beside his bed sharing Christ, praying, and singing with him. The spiritual battle was strong. You could feel the rage between darkness and light. The young man fought on. He was fighting to hold on. Fighting to not die. He was scared. He didn't want to give up life. He would ask me, "Can you please give me another day Mis"? Of course, I wanted him to have a chance and be able to live another day but, that wasn't in my control. The last 24 hours were wearing, the spiritual battle was so strong. We kept ministering to His needs. 

I have no doubt that God was with us in those hours. The peace and calmness we experienced. God gave us a love and heart of concern for his soul. PTL! In the afternoon his sister showed up. She was a Christian from Port au Prince and had a testimony of the love of Christ in her heart. We were able to talk. She shared about her brother. She hadn't seen him in years because he hadn't wanted her in his life. However, when he was at the lowest place in his life. She is who he called for. She talked about her concern for his soul. We knew he was so close but was fighting against something. We committed to pray. 

That same night we had a lady in labour, James, Sharon, and I were down with her. Sharon and I were with the lady while James spent time with the young man. The patient's sister was there praying and talking with him.

Shortly after midnight a new life entered the world. A little bundle of joy. Not even an hour later the young man peacefully passed away. We will never know what happened but something in the atmosphere changed. He finally had relief and seemed to be at peace about letting go.

Life is Beautiful but so short. God gives us all one chance to live our lives. We have one chance to choose how we want to live our lives. What is my destination? What am I doing while I am on this earth? These are questions we all need to ask ourselves daily. 

Snapshots......

These little faces have a way of stealing our hearts

Our friend Herman is standing on both feet again. PTL

Meriland, loves to come see her "Mis". She is a little girl who lived a normal life up until a few months ago. She use to go to school and play with her friends but, now life is different. She started suffering seizures which overtook her life. She was having multiple seizures a day up until a few weeks ago. We placed Meriland on a medication that has almost completely stopped her seizure activity. Mèsi Jèzi!!

Thanks to all those have been praying and supporting us in so many ways. We have felt your prayers in the past several weeks. We could never do what we do without"Prayer Warriors". God richly bless you today. 

In His Service, 

                      ~ Mis Alyssa 

Greetings one and all!

After having difficulty updating our www.gospeltohaiti.org website, and the donate button not working properly, We decided to temporarily use Clinic blog as our general mission website till we can get a new website up and running!

Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause anyone and we ask for your patience as we work on getting a new site going.

In the mean time please take time to read the blog posts from the nurses here on this blog. We try to update it on a weekly basis!

If you would like to donate, please use the Donate button on the right, or click on the Donate page at the top to find our mailing address.

Thanks and God Bless!

Donavon

Highlights

Hello! My name is Katie. I am still a fairly new member to the team here at Ileg mission...( or so I feel at times) ;)  I arrived November 16th along with my brother James. I took Rachel's place in the pharmacy and the regular bandage station and I  expect to be in there for the next few months. I am also on a birthing team with Kayla, which as been a joy to me to be a part of. Since I haven't blogged yet I'm going to share with you bits and pieces of  things I've been able to be a part of and some things that are a highlight to me!

Visiting people on weekends has been one of my highlights here. Last Saturday a few of us visited a co-worker at clinic (Adolf) and his family. They fed us a Haitian meal and we visited for quite a while which is really good for us that are still learning creole!:)

This is the Adolf  and his family.

Spending time with the children here has been a other highlight of mine! These three neighbor children have found a special  place in my heart since the first day I met them! There's something so special about all  the children here that melts your heart in a way that it can never be the same! 

This is one of my very faithful bandage patients.  He's had a small wound on his leg for quite a while that just wouldn't heal! But this week  I guess it decided to changed its mind!

Thank you all so much for your prayer and support! I know God uses it in more ways  then our eyes can ever see.   Mis Katie.