Second day of Medical Mission- Bethel Church
God was so very
good to us on this second day of the medical mission. We went to a new
location- at Bethel Church- where the gym we worked in was big enough and dry
enough to protect the team and all 346 patients and their families from the
pounding rain that poured throughout the day. The Sankey staff and folks from
Bethel Church orchestrated a day so well organized that we were able to see and
treat every patient waiting in line in less than 9 hours- as well as coordinate
a feeding program for all of the patients and their families. The number of
people that came through today made Saturday seem like a warm-up activity!
Pastor Steve
manned the prayer station, often by himself and without a translator, loving on
and praying for every patient as they came through. Kurt was in charge of the
wound station, and worked on training more Sankey students to be his assistants
at a station that can be pretty gory at times. Nan ran the breathing treatments
area and did so with grace and a huge smile. La Né ran the pharmacy with an
incredible amount of help from Ate Shee, Ate Babes, and Conner. Our two medical providers, Jeff and Argel,
worked tirelessly diagnosing and caring for each patient. They often had people
and volunteers pressing in on them and asking for help, and both guys were
extraordinarily patient and full of grace as they dealt with the pressures of
the day.
We also had
the blessing of getting a huge donation of medications from a local pharmacist
first thing this morning. She and her family have many connections with other
medical resources and teams that come through Lucena, including cleft palette
repair and some corrective surgeries for maladies affecting the eyes. Each time we come, God provides more and more
folks for us to partner with, and the overabundance of resources given to
helping the Filipino people is both awe inspiring and incredibly humbling.
We wrapped
up the day with a discipleship class for all the kids, led by Pastor Steve, as
well as some well-earned play time in the gym playing basketball and freeze
tag.
