Clinic, day 3.  Chris and Butch here to give you a quick summary of the work that occurred today in the name of the Lord.  The medical clinic saw ~92 people today, and the dental saw 40 – 50 folks.  It is our hope we eased their pain and opened a door for them to venture through to discover Jesus. 

Pastor Rolando was able to continue sharing Jesus with the people today using the Evangecube as one of the tools.  The Evangecube is a folding cube that begins with Adam and Eve.  The cube shows the fall of man and how we were cast out of the garden of Eden.  It shows how we needed a Savior and that Jesus came to Earth to live a perfect life.  It shows Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as he died for our sins.  The final picture on the cube is the empty tomb as Jesus did as he said he would by rising from the grave, defeating death once and for all.

We should have know today would be busy; at least in the morning.  As we rode to the clinic we saw folks 2 – 3 miles from the clinic, walking to the clinic.  Some of the people traveled many miles on foot or horseback/donkey/mule to attend the clinic.  One woman traveled 2 hours on foot with 2 children.   One woman, who’s husband died 3 days ago walked to the clinic with 4 children.  Many on the dental side were repeat patients from Saturday, Sunday, and/or prior years. 

In the dental clinic, one of our favorites has been a 5 year old boy named Marcos.   Marcos was in previously, and he had 2 – 3 teeth extracted one day, but was too small for additional anesthetic for the other side.   He was back today.  Marcos is a very brave little boy; he is about 43″ tall and 45 – 50 pounds, and here he is walking into a room with some 6 foot plus people and a “few” of us over 200 pounds.  Both times he walked bravely to the chair, all business — ‘here, hold my hat, let’s get this done guys.’   He never flinched, never moved during the shots (about 3 -4 each day) or during the procedure where he had 2 – 3 teeth extracted each day: Butch would have run.  

For some reason Marcos became a marking/ talking point, similar to a mascot if you will for the dental team.   It is our hope that he recalls us, our kindness, and help in easing his pain, and connects to the love of Christ and his Grace.  We all will remember him as well as other patients who came in and gave us complete trust that we would ease their pain.  We hope, as noted above, that we have opened a door for those that follow us to bring these wonderful proud people to Christ.

As for us, we think that we have gotten more out of this experience than the people whose pain we eased.  We were glad to have entered into their world, albeit for a short time.  The only way to really bring the rest of the world to Christ is when we give ourselves away and enter into their world.     

As we drove to our hotel after our final day in Chanco we were able to sit and reflect on all the love we were able to show to the people during our 3 days.  But more than that I think of how much God taught us this week.  To be thankful for what we have, to be thankful for our health and that we are able to visit a skilled doctor to get care, and that we are able to worship a glorious God that provides all our needs without fear of being cut out by our communities.