As the world opens back up and we move on together from this horrifying pandemic we are excited to start welcoming our friends from overseas back to Nicaragua to serve with us. Christ Journey Church has been providing medical relief here in Nicaragua for almost two decades now…and after a sad hiatus we were finally back together again serving Jesus by caring for the sick and injured among us. It was such a joy to be back on the field together with old friends and new ones…clinic days are back again! Praise the Lord!
One of the most difficult parts of health care here is not just finding a doctor to see you. It is having the money to buy the medicines your are prescribed, especially if they are hard to find. A free doctors visit is not worth much when they find something is wrong but you can’t afford the medicine at the pharmacy. Christ Journey not only traveled down with skilled doctors but also with a full pharmacy…and if we didn’t have it on hand, we made sure to find it at the local pharmacy. One of the first things we did together was get all of those meds sorted out and into individual packaging…our youngest Juliette was a big help!
We saw over 100 patients every day at Club Cristiana La Esperanza and out in Los Cedros. There was such a great appreciation shown by every one who passed through. We served new born babies having trouble crawling, their old siblings with uncontrollable coughs, helped cure many different types of infections, tended to some patients in their 90s, gave out plenty of medicine for pain and helped to give consult and medicine for many a kidney infection.
Just as important as any medicine, we all knew the truth that in this life we will always have trouble but Jesus has overcome this world! (John 16:33). So, even when we gave medicine and shared great wisdom from decades serving in the medical field…we also took time to pray. Sometimes the medicine is just not enough, sometimes somebody just needs to know they are loved, sometimes a person needed to hear that there is a God who loves them and forgives them. I stood with Pastor Roberto when he hugged a young man who asked for prayer after his consult…he had been addicted to drugs and incarcerated, he wanted a new life. Roberto (who pastors La Iglesia Hashem Addonai at Club Espernaza) shared the Gospel with him and as he was sharing stepped forward a wrapped his arms around this young man. He need a father’s love, he needed forgiveness, he wanted to be reconciled with God…and all those things happened for him that day at the clinic. Amen to that!
Another awesome part of Christ Journey’s clinic is that we had Bibles on hand to give out to everyone who wanted one…big patients and little patients. Dr. Pam had many little ones come through and it was such a joy to have illustrated Bibles to bless them with. It was so sweet that on the last day when the last patients were coming, it seemed like we were through for the day. Then a young mother walked up and asked if we could see her child. Of course we can always see one more! So they brought her to Dr. Pam who was packing up and had one children’s Bible left, she looked up and said “I knew this one was for someone!”
God arranges everything perfectly the way he wants them to go…we are just called to be ready, hold on tight and follow wherever He leads us and let Him take care of the details. Amen!
You might have notice Mason was wearing medical protection gear. Mark is a long time lab technician and came with the team to be able to do lab work for patients. This is a very unique and incredibly helpful feature to offer at a clinic. It was so awesome for Mason to be Mark’s translator and helper! We joked that they were the “pee patrol” LOL! For our family personally this was such a blessing to have Mason and Aliyah able to join the team and serve with them. They learned invaluable lessons…more than just how to do lab work, but that was incredibly cool too!!!
We had plenty of adventures together as well. We heard about an older woman in the neighborhood who was bedridden and unable to make it to the clinic. Dr. Aracely said let’s go see her, so we hopped in a Tuk Tuk and made the short drive ten blocks away and we were able to make a home visit. In this specific case we were actually able to leave a blood pressure machine with this family so that she could continue to have good care at home.
We also made adventures together to the local volcano which was a really cool experience. And then on a more comical note, we had another adventure with Dr. Araceli. She has been coming to Nicaragua for many years now and has always talked about milking a cow…this trip Don Enrique our neighbor made it happen for her! We won’t include the video but if you know anyone from the team ask them to show you…the cow had a little extra surprise that morning hahahaha!
The entire week was such a blessed time! The team did great work that blessed so many here in Nicaragua. But they also blessed our family greatly as well. Just coming down was so special after so many years without teams, but the encouragement they spoke over our family and our children are the types of things you can’t put value on. Thank you Christ Journey…we love serving the Lord with you!
