Harmony UMC Mountain Medical Team
eJournal - Day 3
Through Him, all things are possible.
Today was evidence of that! The day started chilly, but thankfully, no rain was falling. Breakfast, as always, was delicious. Since it was the second work day, things moved more smoothly, and everyone was loaded on the bus and ready to go right on time.
We visited El Porvenir, San Antonio Cortes, about 2 hours away from the Barnabas house. Due to the hard rainfall the previous day, the mountain roads were slick with mud. Several times during our journey up the mountain, the bus got stuck in the mud. With incredible perseverance, Marco, Carlos, Cardy, and Peter used a winch, a tree, and some ingenuity to pull the bus up the mountain. At one point, the male villagers came down to assist in pushing the bus from the mud. It was a beautiful thing to see their smiling faces coming down from their village to help. The medical team ended up walking the last 10 minutes up the mountain so that the bus was empty and easier to pull from the mud. We were greeted with smiles and welcomed to their village.
Today we saw 205 people in the general clinic, 155 vitamin supplements were administered, 35 people were given the gift of better sight in the eye clinic, and 28 tooth extractions were completed. The children enjoyed playing soccer with Peter, Amy, and Charles, while Michelle blew bubbles that made the children laugh and shriek in joy. They really loved popping the bubbles before they hit the ground. The beach ball was also a big hit with the children. It was nice to see the adults lined up watching their children play as if they had no care in the world.
Thankfully, the drive home was less eventful. Marco had the foresight to test the roads that led down the mountain and determined one was better than the route we took up. So after about 2 hours of a very bumpy ride, we arrived back at the Barnabas House, tired, but with full hearts knowing that we made a positive change in the villager’s lives.
During debrief, Marcey shared that she felt led to share her cross with an elderly lady she met. Frances also shared her cross because a young child asked for it! The consensus was that since this was our second clinic day, and thus we are no longer “newbies,” everything moved more smoothly. We all shared that we felt more comfortable today, as we knew the flow and our resources better.
Frances and Charles led devotion today. Everyone got a kick out of finding a FROG placed in our palms by Charles. The theme, to Fully Rely on God!
