Crack open your jars of clay, it’s time to get working

Monday morning on the medical mission trip is a good example of “hurry up and wait” as everyone rushes to make sure that all the equipment is loaded to carry to the clinic site and then work like crazy to make sure that all of the departments within the clinic are up and running before the first patients arrive. Everyone pitched in to make sure that the gear they need was in working order and that we had some sense of how we would move our patients to and from their waiting areas and in to see the practitioners to tend to their ailments. Along with this work, the evangelists trained and prayed that the Lord would guide their words while speaking to the lost in the neighborhood. This preparation took until about 10:30 and then we really go to work in the clinic.

The typical path a carioca follows in the clinic is that they will wait in line until they are given a chart number that will stay with them the duration of this day’s visit. The wait in line can be very short (practically nil) on the first day and up to several hours on the following days as word travels that there is free health care available at the church. Once the person comes into the clinic, they fill out a little bit of paperwork that tells the clinic not only their chief complaint, but also asks some questions concerning their spiritual life and whether they are members in a church and have a Bible at home. After this is done, the person is moved to a waiting area based upon which clinic they are visiting: medical, dental, or optical.

Once in the waiting area, a member of the Evangelism team visits with each patient in order to share the Word and offer the plan of salvation to the patient. This time is critical for us in our effort to serve God and help new believers take the first few steps to the Kingdom. Each evangelist is allowed to use whatever tools they feel necessary to share the Word with the people. Not everyone accepts the plan of salvation, instead choosing to move along to the clinic area and receive their treatment with no obligations. Some, however, are willing to take the first, gentle steps to their new relationship with Christ the Savior. I have to admit that there is great celebration and rejoicing among the evangelists when someone prays to accept Christ into their heart and surrender their life to Him.

This is what makes our time away from family and work all worthwhile…

Everyone is tired but excited to be here. Although we didn’t have a full day’s workload, we were still able to see many patients and share the Gospel with them. A daily feature of our mission are “the numbers”, an account of how many people were seen in each clinic as well as how many decisions for salvation were made. The numbers are not important in the sense of keeping some sort of score to show how well we toiled for God, but instead to serve as a reinforcement and encouragement tool for the team to keep running Paul’s “good race”. These numbers will be placed on this site each night so our readers can keep track of how the Lord is working in Rio while we are here.

Dental Team
Cleanings: 20
Clinical patients: 26
Teeth extracted: 35

Medical Team
Adults: 53
Pediatrics: 24

Pharmacy Team
Prescriptions: 232

Optical Team
Patients seen: 87 (and we are still minus our optometrist due to flight issues!)

Evangelism Team
Decisions made: 51

God is working miracles here in Brazil and all of us are honored and humbled to be allowed to be part of His movement. All of us will rest easy tonight knowing that we are only instruments of His grace and we are grateful for the chance to be here.

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