Beauty and Filth

I have a moment so I would like to share with you what God is teaching me today through my experiences here.

I woke up this morning sore, swollen, and pretty tired still. I didn't have much energy for the day. At breakfast when we were getting ready to head out, a lady came up to me and randomly offered me some of her Vics Vapor Rub. I was so excited and knew that this was a gift from God. You see, the clinic and tent city smell so bad because of all the urine and trash. That has really been some of the hardest part for me. With Vics up my nose, I could do anything. It was like being given a $100 bill.

So I grabbed my backpacks with my new found encouragement and headed for the compound gate and the long walk to the clinic when someone said "Do you guys want a ride". Oh my goodness I had just been given a 2nd blessing that was like a 2nd $100 bill. :)

We got to the clinic and a lady I had treated yesterday in a wheelchair was standing with a cane. Yesterday she could barely move in her chair. Hello 3rd $100 bill. I was so encouraged. I knew in that moment that I really was making a difference.

Then my team leader was the agent of the best lesson of all to start the day. She walked up and handed me a beautiful sea shell. I know we are on the ocean so sea shells should be everywhere, but really when you look around, all you see is filth. She had found a beautiful thing in the midst of the filth.

I didn't know how needed that lesson was going to be! We had a crazy day and ended up having to kick out 2 pastors who were sneaking in their family and friends ahead of the refugees when they were supposed to be helping us with ministry and crowd control. It was pretty sad, but I had my sea shell to remind me that in the midst of the filth, I need to remember to look for the beautful. I saw the beautiful in the face of a new young friend I have with a spinal cord injury who smiled at me for the first time today (I have had to work really hard for that). I also had a few girls that I was able to make crosses with out of Bendaroos yesterday come up to me today and say my name and that Jesus loves them- which I had taught them with the crosses yesterday.

I have seen a lot of filth in Haiti, but I am reminded in every turn (if I look for it) that there is beauty here too and that God does have a plan for these people and this place.

You can pray for healthy team dynamics as every team is a unique combination of personalities and we certainly have some. :) You can also continue to pray for health for the team. We are being exposed to so much it is unreal!

I wish I could post pictures but the upload is so SLOW that I couldn't even load 1 the other day. I will have tons to post when I get back.


OH AND A FUNNY STORY ON MYSELF: Today I worked a lot of triage which allowed me to spend one on one time with a lot of people as I took their vitals and directed them. One thing I had to do was write down their name and personal info. Some would hand me ID cards and I wrote down the name at the top of the card. Let me say, that it was CRAZY chaos! At lunch, a nurse brought me an intake form and said "did you know that this person's name means 'earthquake'?". I agreed that was odd and moved on. The first person after lunch handed me their card and there was the same name! Then it hit me. These are refugee "earthquake" cards and the name is actually further down. I showed the nurse and we had to laugh. There are several Haitians walking around tonight with prescriptions for the name "earthquake" in french since I couldn't read that from their real name. Oh well! They got their meds. :)