Bracelets, Doctors and Dentists...oh my!

This morning we all felt so much better after a good
night’s sleep. When it was time to go to bed last
night, I had a really weird sensation like I was
going to pass out…Time to go to bed for sure!
 
After breakfast at the hostel, we went to the main
campus of the church we are helping here for a quick
orientation meeting about our day. Pastor Alfred
leads the mission church there. We all left in the bus together, and Alfred took us
on a tour of a beach area nearby. It is a shantytown
of fishermen and their families. Alfred said he would
like to have a separate mission just for this area,
because of their separate culture and somewhat
segregated location that they rarely leave. (We are
told this would be the hardest area to work with
because of this.) We prayer walked the area, greeted
people and – the best part – laying hands and praying
over Alfred, claiming the area for his ministry.
 
Then we walked through a different area of this
section intending to do street evangelism with our
color-coded story bracelets. A few members of the
local mission were with us to translate, because most
only spoke Ga.
 
**Language Nerd Moment!** Some kids were calling out
to us after we said hello and walked on, saying
“Yabba!” We asked one of our translators, and she
said it meant “bye-bye.” I couldn’t help but think of
“Planet Yubba” from the Little Bill cartoon. I also
asked how to say hello to the locals in Ga. Another
translator told me, “teh teeeeeeeh.” Not too short,
draw it out. We Southerers are good at that. Okay,
nerd moment over.
 
We were able to do a few presentations and did pray
with several people, which was an amazing experience.
One young lady was especially receptive and nice
(most were not very emotive). She beamed when I told
her she was now my sister!
 
This street evangelism effort was not as effective,
however, as we had imagined. We were soon completely
swamped with children and adults wanting bracelets,
so many that we could not put them together and tell
the story. (Talking tonight we decided that this
method may not be how God will do His work in this
area, but our time spent was definitely not wasted.) Then we went back to the mission church to set up for
the day’s medical mission. If you didn’t know, we are
doing this in a few areas and brought a doctor (Dr.
Stan) and dentist (Dr. Greg) to assist in the effort.
I didn’t catch this today while we were there, but
apparently some government officials informed us at
the last moment that their permits to practice
medicine here had not been completed, and they were
not permitted to touch any patients. But the mission
church already had another doctor and dentist in
place as well, so ours acted as support. It was a
little disappointing to them but in the end we knew
everything worked out to God’s plan, and they were
still able to accomplish a lot. Dave spent most of
the day in a hot room assisting Greg and the other
dentist (who knew he could moonlight as a dental
assistant???) and got a little weak afterwards.
Preexisting head cold + hot + standing over patients
with a flashlight for hours equals not so great. But
he took a good nap after dinner and is much better
now, Carla! ;)
 
While setting up we made a TON of bracelets, since we
were finding the make-as-you-go process not very
effective. As people came out from seeing the doctor,
we sat with them individually and did the
presentation. This was effective in the sense that
everyone was receptive to making a decision, but very
slow – only 4 or so at our table total – and a bit of
a distraction from the medical setup that they were
so eager to get through. So the pastor there decided we should do a single
presentation over the loudspeaker (the room had about
150 people waiting for medical service). We handed
out prepared bracelets to the whole group first. I
think I loved and munched on every baby in there,
many tied to the bodies and backs of their mothers.
They loved to hear about our own babies (the
stay-at-home momma trio we are). James did the
presentation and did a great job. It was very
effective, with lots of decisions made. Many went
away to get family and friends so we could give them
the bracelet and tell them the story, too. Many of
the kids I talked with afterward had learned the
story in ONE TELLING well enough to share it
themselves. We had to scramble to make more bracelets!
 
Central friends, we may need help next time
assembling a zillion of these things ahead of time! ;)
 
My favorite interaction was with one young man who
was very excited to learn the story, but not as a new
believer. He wants to be a preacher (“Na Na” or
prophet) because he feels a strong call of God to
share the Word. I got a great video of him (I didn’t
understand his name, sorry!) telling his vision for
his life. He then introduced his brother, who sang
for me!
 
We came back to the hostel in time to catch dinner –
we were 15 minutes late – chicken spaghetti! The food
at the hostel has been WONDERFUL. It is an American
(even better, Texan) couple working here, so they
know our food. It is a local person doing the actual
cooking, but it works out fine! We have even had some
of the local food here (not street food, don’t worry)
and it was great. We had some really good chicken and
salad at lunch. I figured if Dr. Stan was eating it,
it was OK!!
 
After dinner some of us talked for a long time in the
computer room, which has a college vibe (ASU friends,
think Honors Lounge!). We discussed the trip so far,
what worked and what didn’t, and how God is using
this seemingly haphazard voyage. We are the pioneers
at Central for this area, so as good as it is so far,
it will get even better, just as others have done in
Central’s work in Ecuador. What a great trip, and what a great group of people!
Everyone is ready and willing to work, but also likes
to have fun. I believe God will use our willingness
greatly. I don’t say that to brag but to encourage
others who felt a call when this trip was announced.
We’ll be back!
 
Much love to all of you, and see you soon.

Posted via email from Christie's posterous