One week ago we came back from our Medical Mission Trip with my wife and a group from a non-profit organization. I’ve had a week to think and reflect what God has shown me and taught me through it and what He may have in the future for us.

First and foremost, I have to say that I am very grateful for my wife and her hard work. This is the first time that I see her in her capacity as nurse. Seeing her in action gave me a new appreciation for her and hard work. She is tireless. She works very hard. During the week, she felt sick and was about to go back to the guest house (thus the pictures of her with an IV) but she asked to stay a bit longer to see if she would feel better after giving her an IV and oxygen. She got better and decided to stay. I was quite impressed with her work ethic and confirmed again, what a great nurse she is, which is what I’ve known all along. Only this time, I saw her and I can testify about it.

This was a medical mission trip. The Gospel wasn’t preached and no one was saved. I know this. But when I read the Gospels and see Jesus in action, I don’t read that everyone believed or that he always preached to everyone he came in contact. In fact, many times people were brought to him to be healed and he healed them. Period. I don’t know what happened to those he healed. Did they believe? I don’t know. But Christ is a Christ of compassion. This is what I think happened in Perú. People were healed by doctors, they were instruments of healing. We were used as God’s instruments of compassion. Will anyone come to Christ because of this? I don’t know, but I can’t assure anything. But I know God’s work was done. And continues to be done.

On a personal level, I have realized a couple of things. The first one is not new but it became more ingrained in me. God loves every person no matter who they are or where they are. Jesus died for them as well. They need him no matter where they are or what they think about him. To think that a place so remote, so far away, a place like Coya Perú has no Christian churches was shocking for me. That those humble people that come up and down the farming towns have not heard the Gospel is something that made me think that we have a lot of work to do. Still. In this age of technological advancement. Now I pray and ask God, “What do we do about it?” “Who will go?” Of course, it’s not me. So I say.

I also realized God is peeling away the layers in my life like an onion and teaching me to have compassion and love towards people. I can tell you there is progress but don’t bet on it or I might just lose what I have gained. He is also teaching me to rely on Him, be content, grateful and humble. I am far from where I should be but he continues to work in me. The people of Coya, those that just said hi to me, thanked me, or those I met at the clinic, just taught me all of this. I came from a country much like Perú. I grew up in a rural area, with no running water, no electricity, no bathroom, and no modern commodities. I remember our one room house made up of planks of wood with a gap enough for anyone to see inside. I remember my long daily walk to school on top of a hill, my adventures in the river, in the coffee fields cutting coffee, in the fields hearding cows or playing soccer, in the valleys exploring nature. I was content. I had forgotten all that. The people of Perú made me realize what I had forgotten. It is no wonder I felt comfortable with them.

Then, there are those people that we spent time with from out team. We had a lot of fun. We laughed. We danced (yes, I said danced!). We talked a lot. We ate our meals together. We enjoyed our time together. Most of them, I just met on this trip. I came home quite impressed about them. We have different religions, some may not even have any, but we had a common purpose. No one complained about any of the work. All did it because they wanted to help others. They give their time and their talents for this cause.

What will God do next? It’s like a puzzle to me. And puzzles are difficult for me. I guess I will have to just put one piece at a time.

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I had the opportunity for the first time in my life to watch a surgery.  As a non-medical trained person, a teacher by profession and very scared of anything related to blood I had no intention of ever watching a surgery.  But this changed today after observing Dr. Downey perform a skin graft of an eleven year old boy named Miguel, who had a burn scar on the left arm.  Working with Dr. Downey were anesthesiologist Dr. Vinod Kothapa, nurses Patricia Galdámez and Sandra Nealon.  Dr. Downey is a caring and gentle Doctor with a preponderance of experience.  I came in the operating room (OR) and observed the nurses prep the boy. Miguel was given anesthesia which he resisted as tears flowed down his cheek.  Patricia comforted the boy by whispering that everything would be alright.  In a matter of minutes he was fast asleep.

As Dr. Downey came into the operating room, the patient had already been “prepped” by the nurses.  She quickly injected local anesthesia, area was cleansed and Dr. Downey got to work by releasing the skin of the left arm of the patient by cutting with with the scalpel. By measuring a proportional size based on the burn, she excised part of the skin (graft) from they boy’s inguinal area.  I saw the piece of skin (graft) shrink up as soon as it was “peeled” and put on the open sterile mayo stand.  I didn’t think it was big enough but as I continued watching I saw the marvel of skin being stretched and stitched on the burned arm of the patient.  The result was impressive. In time, the boy will regain full mobility of the arm which he wasn’t able, due to the burn contractures. I left the OR with a great appreciation for what these doctors do, a marvel in itself, and a better confidence of being able to see more surgeries this week. If I do, you will read about it.

Below are two short videos below of both Dr. Horowitz and Dr. Downey in action in the OR. 

Thank you to my wife Patricia for helping me revise and edit this post.

Here’s a video of yours truly in action:

 

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Disclaimer:
The contents of all personal web pages and blogs published are solely my responsibility.
Statements made and opinions expressed on personal pages are strictly those of the author and not of any organization, church, or school.