Medical Brigade

This is a long post because I had a busy, yet exciting week...there's also pictures on facebook if you're interested in seeing them :)

Here's the short version if you don't have much time:

This week I went on a medical evangelism brigade in the city with the other side of our ministry. I had fun and had a great week. God is good and taught me some cool things.

But there's so much more, so you should read my long version:

Medical Brigade #2109- June 14-20, 2009

I worked this week with a medical brigade in the city. The team I worked with was a “first” for the ministry…a “hybrid” team of a ranch construction team, the original medical team from woodland park, Colorado, the ranch interns, Emily Schultz, Tammy Lis, Jae, and me. It was a great week and God worked in many ways.

I was glad to get to work alongside the woodland park team again this year. Jae, Brett, and I worked with them last year and were excited to hear that they were returning. It was a fun week of catching up on the year and growing closer to each other as we served together.

When I talked with Kelly (the team leader), she asked where I would like to work during the week. I told her that I didn’t care, and just to put me where they needed people. She put me in the Evangelism station. At first, I was nervous about this and actually kind of dreading it, because even though I’ve had lots of evangelism training in the past, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. Because I was a little nervous, I was able to sit with Janene, one of the ladies on the team, and listen to her all morning before I had my own station. After lunch, I felt ready to begin on my own, so along with Manuel (my translator), I talked with about 10 different people on Monday afternoon. I was praying the whole time b/c I had no idea what to do or say and God worked in mighty ways. We had 3 people accept Christ for the first time, one man recommit his life to the Lord after a struggle with all kinds of temptations, and a couple of people who said everything made since, but they just weren’t ready yet. WE also had several people who were already Christians come through our station. We were able to pray for them and encourage them in their faith. One of these people was a guy who looked about my age or a little younger. He said his son lived in the area, but that he lived an hour away. He was asking for prayer for safety because he had recently become a Christian and decided to leave a gang. He said he never felt safe and needed prayer. I thank God that I was able to hear all of these people’s stories, and that Manuel and I were able to share the Gospel and our lives with them.

On Tuesday, we worked at the same church, but I was stationed in the children’s area. This is my favorite area to work in. Once again, God used me to share the Gospel with several groups of kids using the colored bead bracelets. Before lunch, I was taking a break and a little girl came up and gave me a hug. We started talking and she hung out with me for the rest of the morning. I found out that her name is Angie, she is 8 years old and lives with her grandmother because her mom is living in Mexico and she doesn’t know where her dad is. We talked for a couple of hours that morning and quickly became friends. She told me that she is a Christian and that she and her grandma come to church every week. She asked if I could come live in a house that’s empty next to her.

On Thursday I was in Evangelism in the morning and dental in the afternoon. Once again, I worked with Manuel and we were able to talk to several people. The first lady that came to us was an 85 year old woman. She loved God and loved to tell everyone what He had done in her life. All we really had time for was to say hello and then she started telling us her life story. It was encouraging to see such a strong believer and a good way to start the morning. Thursday morning was also encouraging because many of the people that we talked to were already Christians, and one lady accepted Christ for the first time. In the afternoon, I helped in the dental area. I helped with a couple of patients when I noticed that a north American from a different church was very interested in what was going on and I was kind of grossed out by it all, so I asked if he wanted to help. He said he’d love to, so he stayed there all afternoon and I was able to go hang out with the kids. After the crowds kind of died down, a few of the kids were hanging out with me and one of them asked me to teach her English. Before I knew it, five or six kids were around me wanting to learn. I was able to teach them a couple basic conversational phrases, colors, numbers, and the alphabet. It was fun. The little girl who originally asked to learn stuck around me for the rest of the afternoon until I told her it was time for us to go. I learned that her name was Stefany; she’s nine years old, and lived right down the street from the church. She said that she started learning English at her school; but that her teacher had left and she wanted to learn more so that she could teach her cousins. She asked what time I’d be back the next day and if I could teach her more. I told her when I’d be there, but that I may have to work in another area and may not be able to teach her anything.

Friday was a crazy day. We had about 55 kids come through the children’s station in the morning, but the crowd dwindled about an hour before lunch time. Luis, the brigade manager, asked several of us if we wanted to go for “a little walk” to go see the house where part of the team was putting in a concrete floor. This “little walk” turned out to be about a 45 minute hike up and down lots of streets, across a suspension bridge, and all through a neighborhood. It was a long and tiring walk, but I was glad to get to meet the family that was receiving this floor, and the floor being laid. Friday afternoon, my new friend stefany came back, but I was very busy. The first group that came through, started with 35 kids (they’re usually around 20 in each group), but by the time the songs were finished, 50 kids were in the group. After they hear the story, they receive a gospel bead bracelet, and get their hair checked and treated for lice if needed, washed, combed, and styled. At one point during this time, our tent started falling down, so I was holding it up as well as I could with my head while putting lice shampoo on a girl’s head. It was pretty crazy. Because there were so many kids, we got a little backed up, but God allowed things to go smoothly despite the large number of kids. Stefany followed me around all afternoon and helped with whatever I was doing. We were able to talk occasionally, but not very much. After the afternoon construction group came back, they were very helpful in the children’s area, and eager to help wherever needed. It was a huge blessing. When everything slowed down, and we were cleaning up, Stefany still stuck around and helped. We talked some more and she asked me to pray for her house b/c she was worried. She and her family lived in her house, and a family lived in the house above hers. She said with all the rain we’ve been having, that pieces of the house have been falling into her house. When it was finally time to go, she wrote down her name on a piece of paper for me and I wrote down mine on one for her. She gave me a big hug and walked home with her sister. It was sad to say goodbye, but I know I’ll see her again someday in heaven.

This was a great week of fun, fellowship, and serving, prayer, learning, and once again experiencing the way that God works. I’m thankful that I got to spend this week at the mission house, especially with this team, and I hope to serve alongside them again next year.