Day 2 began with a timely
devotional from Karen, reminding us of our role in the healing process and the
importance of patience as God works according to His plan. Another bumpy
ride to the church ended as we arrived to find the expected sea of people awaiting
us. It's tough to describe the visual impact of rounding a corner to find
so many people standing patiently in the morning sun for medicine, prayers and
mosquito nets. Thank goodness for Chris and his talents (what a wise idea
God had to include him this year) as we can now show you what we see; if only
we could communicate the range of emotions.
In short order this group
has become a team. We exited our vans, dropped our backpacks, and split off to
begin the day. Trey and Rick hit the nets, super busy for the first hour
as the day before's remaining demand was filled. Susan, Erin, and Lee sat
down to fill packets with various medicines, each to the prescribed quantities
from the doctors. Doug, John, Debbie and Karen set up prayer and healing
stations in the midst of the crowd. Chris began filming and Michael
grabbed a microphone to offer announcements and testimony to the crowd.
Before long 4 hours had
passed and it was lunchtime, beans and rice today consumed in the bus used to
transport the medical team from Mbale. Fifteen minutes later it was back
into the church, no one doing the same thing they'd done in the morning as we
quickly shifted roles and kept pushing forward. At lunch we'd shared stories
from the morning, celebrated the little victories we'd experienced, and agreed
who would switch roles with whom.
As is typical on the
second day, we sensed the increasing energy of the crowd and the press of
people. More people were aware of our presence today and all wanted to
see a doctor, get their medicine, receive their net and spend time with a
prayer team. Those inside the church could hear testimonies or Trey
singing, and those outside the church told those inside about the mood of the
crowd. Keeping the flow smooth became a challenge, as it always does, the
temperature of the day matched by the temperature of the crowd. Our
'Americanism' grew as we tried to enforce order, met by the understandable
urgency of the crowd to receive the help they so desired. Eventually, as
He always does, God reminded us who is in charge and things moved along.
The 'surprise' today was
an approaching storm. Our hosts are very focused on our safety and aware
that the mountain roads, bumpy when dry, become slick and dangerous when wet.
We were told to quickly wrap things up, the crowd was advised of our imminent
departure (and you can imagine what that did to that energy I've described) and
we left much sooner than we'd planned, rerouted up the mountain to a slightly longer
but potentially safer road. All unnecessary however as the 'storm' was in
fact dark clouds and 93 raindrops. We've arrived back at our hotel early,
frustrated by not having completed our tasks for the day, mindful that tomorrow
will now be even more intense as all at the church realize it is their last
chance for all that we bring, but a bit happy to have some time to relax with
tea and stories. Keep us in mind tomorrow, particularly the 5 on our team
for whom 'the third day of a medical mission' is a new experience.
We know that the Astros
are still loosing and that the Royal Baby has arrived, we've gotten feedback
from families to our blog and the tremendous video (Chris was up late last
night!), we're safe and bonding, but we miss you all very much. Keep the
prayers coming and celebrate with us just how great is our god.
In Him,
Lee
devotional from Karen, reminding us of our role in the healing process and the
importance of patience as God works according to His plan. Another bumpy
ride to the church ended as we arrived to find the expected sea of people awaiting
us. It's tough to describe the visual impact of rounding a corner to find
so many people standing patiently in the morning sun for medicine, prayers and
mosquito nets. Thank goodness for Chris and his talents (what a wise idea
God had to include him this year) as we can now show you what we see; if only
we could communicate the range of emotions.
In short order this group
has become a team. We exited our vans, dropped our backpacks, and split off to
begin the day. Trey and Rick hit the nets, super busy for the first hour
as the day before's remaining demand was filled. Susan, Erin, and Lee sat
down to fill packets with various medicines, each to the prescribed quantities
from the doctors. Doug, John, Debbie and Karen set up prayer and healing
stations in the midst of the crowd. Chris began filming and Michael
grabbed a microphone to offer announcements and testimony to the crowd.
Before long 4 hours had
passed and it was lunchtime, beans and rice today consumed in the bus used to
transport the medical team from Mbale. Fifteen minutes later it was back
into the church, no one doing the same thing they'd done in the morning as we
quickly shifted roles and kept pushing forward. At lunch we'd shared stories
from the morning, celebrated the little victories we'd experienced, and agreed
who would switch roles with whom.
As is typical on the
second day, we sensed the increasing energy of the crowd and the press of
people. More people were aware of our presence today and all wanted to
see a doctor, get their medicine, receive their net and spend time with a
prayer team. Those inside the church could hear testimonies or Trey
singing, and those outside the church told those inside about the mood of the
crowd. Keeping the flow smooth became a challenge, as it always does, the
temperature of the day matched by the temperature of the crowd. Our
'Americanism' grew as we tried to enforce order, met by the understandable
urgency of the crowd to receive the help they so desired. Eventually, as
He always does, God reminded us who is in charge and things moved along.
The 'surprise' today was
an approaching storm. Our hosts are very focused on our safety and aware
that the mountain roads, bumpy when dry, become slick and dangerous when wet.
We were told to quickly wrap things up, the crowd was advised of our imminent
departure (and you can imagine what that did to that energy I've described) and
we left much sooner than we'd planned, rerouted up the mountain to a slightly longer
but potentially safer road. All unnecessary however as the 'storm' was in
fact dark clouds and 93 raindrops. We've arrived back at our hotel early,
frustrated by not having completed our tasks for the day, mindful that tomorrow
will now be even more intense as all at the church realize it is their last
chance for all that we bring, but a bit happy to have some time to relax with
tea and stories. Keep us in mind tomorrow, particularly the 5 on our team
for whom 'the third day of a medical mission' is a new experience.
We know that the Astros
are still loosing and that the Royal Baby has arrived, we've gotten feedback
from families to our blog and the tremendous video (Chris was up late last
night!), we're safe and bonding, but we miss you all very much. Keep the
prayers coming and celebrate with us just how great is our god.
In Him,
Lee
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