What a Day!

The team started it´s day at about 3:30 in the morning for our 6 plus hour ride to Nueva Guinea. We made it safely, dropped off some bags at the hotel and then drove straight to the clinic.

We set up in a church in a little country village where we shared the roadway with pigs, mules, oxen and brahma bulls. There were few cars. We separated the church with bedsheets hanging from clothing lines and got started. The two docs -- Frncisco Ruiz and Stephen Badolato -- our physician´s assistant Liz Van Hemmel and our optician David Bressett all got started seeing patients immediatley.

They were able to help most with everything from stomach ailments to rashes to infections and ear aches. There were also many cases of high blood pressure. But, they also saw patients they were not able to help -- like the woman they diagnosed with pancreatic cancer or the mother in denial that her son has muscular dystrophy. The docs were moved by these situations.

Everyone chipped in: Danny played with the kids, ran errands and patrolled our belongings and the vehicles. Jerry stood guard. Joe displayed the voyager water purifier and pumped clean water for us to drink. Jennifer organized clothing distributions with Elaine, Rube took photosd and helped unload, Meredith was our pharmacist and I was on gopher duty when I wasn´t playing ball with the children.

For me it was a day of pure joy. I blew balloons, played soccer and made jokes with the numerous children who just hugged me and clammored around me most of the day. These mission trips are filled with wonderful little miraculous moments that we will cherish forever.

Of course, what´s a mission trip without laughs? I accidentally caused Joe to stand in a huge mud pile where he nearly lost his shoe. While I was busting a gut laughing, he dropped to his knees and washed his shoe in the creek!

Thganks for reading, more to come tommorrow along with some pics in a few minutes.

God bless all of you.

John