Primer dia de la clinica

(Chincha, as viewed from the third floor of our hotel)

Monday was divided into two distinct parts- clinic and outreach.

The day began at 7:30 am with a team devotional and briefing. Tamara led us in the Word and shared how the Lord had been moving in her life. Last year, she translated for the clinic in Condevilla but returned to the states without much direction. She had just graduated from college and would enter the job market- making it clear to God that she would NOT work for an insurance company, live in Iowa or be on a Spanish-speaking team. Needless to say, a year later Tamara now works on a Spanish-speaking team at an insurance company in Des Moine, Iowa.

Though we can all relate to “never saying never,” Tamara challenged us to consider how far are we willing to follow God. Until it becomes uncomfortable? Until it interferes with our own plans? The theme of our team is “Sigale” or in English “Follow You.” Tamara’s devotional helped us to process how much we’re willing to sacrifice in order to follow after God with our whole heart.

Breakfast was the next “event” for the day. Remembering that Peruvians don’t do things by time, rather by events, the event of eating breakfast took about an hour. This was 30 minutes longer then we had “scheduled” but lucky for us, the “bus arrival event” happened a little later than we had scheduled as well. We’re learning…we’re learning.

It’s quite a scene to see 30+ Peruvians and 14 Americans pile out of a hotel and onto a bus. If our current jobs don’t work out, we could join the circus as professional clown car drivers. We are skilled at packing lots of people in small amounts of space. Very quickly, we can pack and repack people and equipment with out much thought. You can almost hear the music now… “Doot doot do di do di doot doot doo doo…” Now we just need some flying monkeys and an elephant who can do tricks and flaming rings with tigers. Ok, I’m done.

All kidding aside, squeezing on a bus with our Peruvian brothers and sisters is just the way we like it. It has allowed for great conversations, even if most of it is in Spanglish. We’ve bonded past the language barrier as we share our testimonies of faith and how God is moving in our lives. Just think, the language barriers we face with one another has never been a barrier for God. He hears us just the same, in our own tongue. A sweet thought to ponder…

We arrived at the school and promptly began the set up for the clinic. Compared to previous years, the conditions are incredibly favorable- we are not in direct sunlight, rather each provider has his/her own classroom, there is nice breeze blowing throughout the day and we have space to spread out! Not too shabby!

Here are a few thoughts from our team about the first day of clinic:

Tamara Sanner (Optical): “The first day of clinic was less chaotic than I expected. I really loved watching the Condevillians step up and love on the Chinchanos well. Pepe did an incredible job serving them!”

(The Optical Team)

Chris Russell (Physician): “I’m impressed by our team’s willingness to overcome obstacles. Through all the last minute changes, we stick together and serve as a unified team.”

Heidi Jackson (Optical): “I love the bonding and transparency of our whole team- Peruvians and Americans.”

Gerry Walczak (Dental): “I’m humbled by the amount of trust the Peruvians have for me and our team.”

Vicki Griffin (Nurse): “I was moved to tears as our first patient shared her story. She has 5 children and was left by her husband. She continued to explain about her medical issues but was unthreatened by Americans she had just met. I’ve become aware of the personal brokenness these people face daily and overcome by the trust they have for us.”

Danielle McLaughlin (Dental): I’m amazed at how smoothly the first day of clinic went. Communication between teams has been incredible, despite language barriers. We are not two teams working alongside each other but one team working together.”

Nancy Swisher (Doctor): “There’s two more days of

clinic- BRING IT ON!” [Nancy was also incredibly excited that the Well Child Clinic was up and running!]

Emily Bouche (Doctor of the ninos-self proclaimed): “If you know me, you know I love kids. I joke about having extra sugar in my femurs that acts as a kid magnet. I can’t think of a better place for me to fit into a medical clinic than to teach and serve children. Favorite quote of the day was from a 5-year-old boy. When I asked him if he had any more questions he said yes. His question was: ‘Why are all the Americans so tall?’ This was right after I showed him his growth chart was normal. Clearly all of the Americans are “off the charts.” Hilarious!”

Terry Schott (Head Water Boy): “I have a unique perspective on clinic as I get to see all of our team members doing their thing. I watched Gerry and Dani calm the fears of those getting teeth extracted. I got to be a part of 5 testimonies being shared in optical. I drank cowboy coffee with Matt in the pharmacy. It was great day!”

(Paoula and Terry at the clinic)

After clinic, we packed up the bus once again and ate some chicken with French fries for lunch. Most of us were fighting a severe case of drowsiness. Couple that with a warm temperature, a food coma (the glazed over feeling you get after eating) and lack of sleep, you get some pretty funny faces around the dinner table.

When lunch came to a close, around 4:30pm, we headed back to the hotel for a precious hour and a half of free time. Many teammates passed out for an hour, others took a self-guided walking tour around the city.

6:30pm rolled around quickly and we loaded the bus once more…just remember the circus you pictured earlier. We were off to the church where the Chinchanos met for service. It was time for outreach.

We arrived at the church, which is more or less a small room with some plastic chairs. Dividing into groups, we walked the streets of Chincha and went door to door giving a spiritual interest survey. The interesting thing about a spiritual interest survey in Peru is that you can be incredibly blunt and bold. Most people consider themselves religious and are willing to share their opinions.

One particular group shared with a family who had never heard the truths of the Gospel message. After clearly explaining how to begin a personal relationship with Jesus- acknowledging our sinful condition, resolving that Jesus Christ is the only provision for our sin and accepting His gift of forgiveness- the family placed their faith in Christ.

Many people were interested in the medical clinic and we hope to have more people attend because of our efforts tonight. This was the first time many of the Condevillians shared their faith and it was fun to watch them grow. We may never know how this outreach has effected the community but we went out in the power of the Holy Spirit and left the results to God.

We returned to the hotel exhausted but satisfied. As we shared pizza and soda with the Peruvians, we took time to share how God had been working in our hearts. Pepe shared his personal testimony, as did Tito. Tito used to rent the church building out to Esperanza Viva and lived upstairs. He would deliberately try to interrupt church services because of bad church experience in his past. Two years later, God has softened his heart and he one of the most genuine people you will ever meet! It was a sweet time of fellowship with our entire team!