Ebenezer

Ebenezer: HE has been faithful before, and HE will continue to be faithful again. Today seemed to be more laid back in the clinic as everyone kind of knew the ropes and how things were going to run. We were still very busy seeing patients but it was nice to have a second to sit down and eat lunch together. We were reminded of HIS faithfulness as we saw some tough cases today, some that were beyond our power to change. HIS will is always best, even when we don’t understand it completely.

I asked a couple of the girls to give highlights of the day so here are my versions of their stories J

Steph: “My favorite patient was a little boy named  Miguel who had spina bifinda. He wasn’t able to move his feet at all so we were able to fit him with AFOs (ankle foot orthotics) and also gave him a new pair of shoes. He was so cute and he absolutely loved to play with the bubbles and throw the ball back and forth.”

Jordan: “The highlight of my day was actually playing with a patient’s sister. The patient was an 18 year old girl with cerebral palsy and required a lot of care. While we were working on attaching a chest harness to her wheelchair, I was able to play with her sister, who doesn’t get much attention at all. Sometimes in families that have a special needs child, the other siblings don’t get as much attention so it felt great to be able to give her my undivided attention for awhile. When we were done with the appointment, the sister and the mother both gave me kisses on the cheeks and the little girl took her picture with me. It was also cool to see how the girl with CP was able to sit up so much better in her chair with a simple chest harness. ”

Amanda: “Today was a rough emotional day. Our first patient, a young woman, was in tears less than a minute into the appointment because a car had run over her foot and now she was unable to work, even after being in the cast. She is the primary caregiver of her eldery mother who recently had a stroke and without her pay, they are unable to go to the doctor, pay the bills, and buy food. Our last patient of the day was a 7 year old boy who had been diagnosed with CP, which was clearly not correct. He was the size of a 2 year old and wasn’t able to stand/walk  with good balance. It broke our hearts because even the AFOs that were tried to fabricate weren’t going to be enough. We think he has a degenerative disease and probably won’t be living this time next year. It was a good reminder of what Pat said on Sunday…one day they will not be broken anymore when they meet our Savior…while here on Earth they are seen with less worth, we all have the same worth when standing in front of our King.”

Carrie: “My favorite patient of the day was a little old man who could barely walk into the clinic and up two steps. He had two mismatched canes and we ended up giving him a wheelchair and a walker. He was so excited and even helped us while we were fitting the wheelchair. He lives on a mango farm and wanted me to come out there to visit and take all of the fruit we wanted! He told me that he would remember me for always and I just wanted to keep him with us J”

These are just a few of the stories coming from the clinic today. This evening, we traveled by bus to the Inka Market to do a little shopping and to eat ice cream. It was fun to see everything and pick out gifts but we will definitely sleep well tonight. Please pray for our physical and emotional endurance as we start out the mid week slump. Wednesday will be our last day in the Shalom clinic, as we will be traveling to two other sites around Lima on Thursday and Friday. Buenos Noches!