Three down, one to go!

Good evening!!

Today we were able to release the three patients we had in the CTC! All were doing well enough to send home, so we are rejoicing very much!

I do have a confession to make... during the photo shoot for the last post (posted here on the 27th), i was minding my own business and snapping pictures of the patients, when Steve said,

"Hey Nate, why don't you take a video of them putting the IV in??"

Hey, that sounds like a good idea. Then we can put it onto the blog, and people can have a real, live video of what it's like for our staff to place an IV into someone!

Great idea... until i started to record it.

Here's where the confession comes in; I absolutely cannot stand needles which stick into human beings. It gives me the chills to think about shots, vaccines, and things like that. If I need blood work done, I can guarantee I'll have a sick stomach by the end...

So, you can just imagine that as I began watching and recording the operation, my blood began to run a little thin... Jared stuck the needle... I felt week... he began probing around for the blood vessel... I began to get sick... the woman winced as he moved to another vein and continued to probe... my blood went cold... he pulled out the needle, as the blood began to clot... the world began to slightly revolve, and my vision began to blur...

Now, I'm sure I would have been able to at least SURVIVE the first round, but the problem was Jared had to move to the other arm, since the blood vessels were sunken and shrunk from dehydration.

As they cleaned up the mess from the first try, I stopped the camera and backed away. Someone asked if I was ok, and I said "yeah" and went into the other room to find a chair...

On my way my vision almost completely whited out, and my mind was spinning. I decided everyone will just have to settle for pictures, not a video :) :) Try as I might, I am still unable to watch :) :)

Thus, with my confession over with, here are some pictures of a lady that was rushed over this morning. She was severely dehydrated, so they took her in and immediately put her on a couple IVs.

They were in such a hurry, I didn't get there soon enough to take pictures as they came in...

Once again we can see the concerned family and friends waiting outside the gate.

Another crude stretcher resting on the compound grounds; evidence of another Cholera victim...

You can see how very dehydrated she is by her sunken eyes.

As I took pictures, she didn't even look over at me...

Virginia too down her name and other pertinent information.

Faithful Jared, keeping his post!

At least the view is beautiful from up there!

Sometimes the shift can get long if there's not much to do...
Good job Jared!!

This evening she is doing better, but she's not out of the woods yet. Please keep on praying for her!

Also, recently we have been feeling the deep need of spiritual revival here. Please pray that the Haitians here would be brought to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that those who are already in the family of God would be revived and brought into closer fellowship with the the Crucified One. Pray for us, that we would live exemplary lives before them, and that we too would be enabled to minister, not just in these physical ways, but in that which will endure throughout the eternal ages to come.

God bless you all for praying!

-Nate

An exiting morning...

Good morning to all, once again!

Things were looking pretty bright for the CTC the last few days... it was basically empty!

But keep on praying! We're not out of the woods yet...

Yesterday we had a man come into the CTC with some dehydration, and other typical symptoms. We admitted him and put him on an IV. Then there was another man that came in earlier this morning with some mild symptoms, so we just put him on observation...

Around breakfast time, though, a whole crowd came to the gate, bearing an elderly lady who was stricken with Cholera. The team got right to work, washing her down and prepping her for admission.

Below are some pictures...

 Concerned friends and relatives of the lady that was carried

in to the CTC today.

You can see the lady sitting on a makeshift stretcher/chair contraption.

I'm not sure how far away they traveled, but it must

not have been too comfortable...

 Here's the man that was admitted for observation this morning... 

seemed like he was doing ok :)

The guards began the de-contamination process 

with those who carried her to the CTC.

Here's a closer look at the chair contraption...

Pretty ingenious, I'd say!

Jared and Virginia worked on getting an IV into the lady...

Those veins can be hard to find, when the patient is dehydrated!

 Once they were done, she was covered up, and 

resting peacefully.

Faithful Jared... cleaning up again :)

Hurricane preparations!

Greetings to you all in the precious name of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords!

Last night we had two people come into the CTC. Thankfully neither were in bad shape, though the second was a bit dehydrated; we actually questioned if he really had Cholera. The first was released and the second was sent to the clinic for further medication and treatment...

On a different note, today we have begun preparations for the immanent arrival of Hurricane Irene; she's not going to hit us directly, apparently, but we'll at least get a good amount of rain and possibly some wind out of the deal.

Thus, we are sealing up the CTC, and praying that we don't have too rough of a time!!

Here we have the outer wall of plastic, which we have
reinforced with lathe strips...

Most of the extra white plastic walls and out buildings have been broken down...

Virginia doing last minute laundry on the roof

An above view of one of the observation tents before we took it down

The crew cleaned the observation tent really well in preparation for teardown

Dolan working hard :)

Pull, yank, pop, whatever works....

Now we just have to pick up the pieces

Here's Jared sealing up the windows with plastic

Jared working, Dolan trying to look like he's working..... :)

Emptying the hand wash water.

We covet your prayers as the hurricane nears. Please pray that we wouldn't get much wind or rain, and that none of the people in the mountains would suffer from mud slides and all the other complications that come from too much rain and wind.

A special thank you to all of you dear supporters! If it wasn't for your prayers and consistency in keeping up to date with things here, the job would be much harder.

God bless, and we'll keep you posted as things progress.

Great is HIS faithfulness

Great is HIS Faithfulness!

This past week I spent some time seeking God in a special way. One evening when I was on shift at the CTC I went upstairs onto the roof of the CTC and was praying. As I was looking around at the mountains and praying, God spoke to me and said “See how big I am, I know all things and will take care of you of you totally trust in me. Before I had went upstairs to pray, I had started the proclaimer (which is a radio type device that only can play the Bible the one we play is Creole so our patients can understand it) as I was coming down the stairs, it was playing Matthew 7 where Jesus talks about how fathers know how to give good gifts to their children. It was just an added special blessing to me.

Yesterday in the CTC when I was on shift we had a 2 year old boy come in who was dehydrated and had diarrhea several times. Whenever I tried to give him his medicine he would vomit it back up. I tried several times to start an I.V. on him but I was never able to even find a vein on him. I then called Virginia to come and try but she was not able to get one started either. Thea, Virginia, and I talked together to decide what we should do. We decided to see if we could get the child to drink enough for us that we would not have to do either an I.O. (which is putting a needle into the bone and giving fluid that way) or starting an I.V. in the patient’s external jugular vein. I am very grateful to report that God allowed the patient to drink and not vomit it up again. The patient was well enough this morning that I was able to discharge him. I am glad for God’s faithfulness in this situation even though He chose not to allow us to start an I.V., He still chose to heal the patient.

As of right now we do not have any patients at the CTC. We have had a few patients that we treated and released. I am glad that we are able to still keep the CTC open even though we have not had very many patients because a few of the patients that have come in recently probably would have died if they had not been treated.

May each one of us continue to display Christ to all we come in contact with.

Jesse Sutherland

Well, my time to write has come again!  Time flies when you have a schedule to stick to, and I'm not sure I like how fast it is going.  I am enjoying having just a few patients, even though we still have to be on shift or on call, it frees up a lot of time!  

Yesterday, we went to T-Goave for the day, everyone except Jesse who volunteered to stay with the two patients in the CTC.  We went to market and got to spend some time there without being rushed, and Steve did some business.  Then we went to the ocean and ate lunch. Afterwards, the guys went down the beach a ways and we all went swimming.  It was so much fun!  I had a pair of goggles, and I saw some of the most interesting sea creatures and plants. I really wanted an underwater camera to take pictures of them, but at least I have them in memory!  We had to be careful where we put our feet down because there were sea urchins around.  As it was some people got a few short spines in their feet which Shana picked out with a needle.  After we were done, we went to pick up some Haitians at Pastor Levi's house, and the dump truck engine started making a funny noise.  So we waited there in T-Goave till Grandpa Harold came out with his truck to pick us up.  The moon was shining so brightly on the way back to Ailegue, and there was a lovely breeze, so I didn't mind it being late!  Everything included, it was an enjoyable day...

Today, after doing some other things in the morning, Amanda and I had time to help Jared with the house painting project.  The one house is now finished, and Steve's house is partially done.  I enjoy doing something other than CTC work, so I'm glad there is painting to do.  The guttering looked awful next to the white paint, so I decided to treat it with clorox and a scrub brush.  The whole house looks so much better now! 

The other night when I was in the CTC on shift, I heard the witch doctor and her cohorts singing and chanting.  They went on and on, till the early hours of the morning, and it reminded me again of the darkness that reigns here in Haiti.  The darkness of sin and Satan is everywhere in the world, but some places (like in the States) it is more concealed.  Here it is out in the open, and Satan is worshiped freely.  Please pray for us here and for every child of God in Haiti, that we would be so one with Christ that His LIGHT would shine through us freely, shatter the darkness, and bring many people the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ the Righteous!
--
For His Glory,

Virginia

Report...

August 8, 2011 – 1 a.m.

Greetings to all from a CTC in the beautiful mountains of Haiti! All is quiet and peaceful here as I write this, at a few minutes past 1 a.m. The crickets are chirping a happy song, our one patient is sound asleep, and Thea (my shift partner) is dozing too. The CTC shifts currently are more relaxed than they were with a lot of patients (at least that’s what I hear). J It’s been a lot of fun getting to know Thea and the others down here…. The fellowship & companionship during long hours at the CTC are quite enjoyable. J Like someone said… “Who would have known cholera could be this fun?”. I suppose our patients don’t enjoy it quite as much, but it’s wonderful to see them get well and be ready to go home after coming here quite sick.

Just a few thoughts about my shift so far….

- Tonight there is just one patient, and he seems to be doing fairly well. All week things at the CTC have been a bit slow, with never more than 5 patients, and often just one or two. There were several shifts that we didn’t have to work, since no one was here. I was perfectly happy about that the first time we were supposed to work the “graveyard shift” and got to sleep all night. J

- A few minutes ago there was a tarantula just outside the CTC… those critters are not my favorite, but I squashed the fear enough to sneak close and get a picture.

-For anyone who might be coming down in the future or wondering what it’s like to dump buckets of diarrhea, etc…. it’s not as bad as I would have thought. J It takes a bit of humility and grace at times, but I would highly recommend it to anyone! J

-One really fun thing has been learning to do IVs. I got to practice for the first time here, and got a couple in successfully…. Poor Jesse was my pincushion! J I now also have a nice purple bruise on my arm from the one that was done on me… never knew a simple IV could make a person look so beat up!!

 -5:30 p.m.

Just an update as I go to send in this report…One more lady showed up this morning shortly after 3 a.m…. she was treated in the fishtank and released. Also, the man that we had overnight was discharged earlier today, so there is no one currently in the CTC. I was able to get a little sleep today and help around the house…. It IS a bit rough to work that midnight-8a.m. shift! We appreciate your prayers….. pray that we would daily walk close to Jesus and let Him shine through us to touch the hearts of the people all around us.

~Sharon Swartzentruber

p.s. In the pictures you have me & Thea (after we survived our long night shift), the tarantula from last night, and laundry drying on the CTC roof in the sunshine this morning.... it was beautiful up there!!

Update!

Hi to y’all!

   Well this is my first time writing a post and my mind went blank! I’ll try to see if I can up with some things… 

   It has been rather slow here at CTC. In the past week, there were a total count of 5 admitted patients. We had 3 at one time right after I arrived. After that, it’s been one here and there. Right at this moment we have one man here. he happens to be related to a couple other patients we’ve had in the recent past. Yesterday we had a young boy for a couple hours. His dad left him and went back home to get some food. This poor little guy was terrified of us “whites”. He cried and cried for his dad and really wanted to leave. His dad took a long time in returning… and we weren’t sure what to do. It was all we could do to keep him from running around the trail alone. Finally his dad showed up with food… and it didn’t take long to release the little fellow!  

   My shift mostly consists of changing IV bags, emptying buckets, refilling drinking bottles and trying to persuade them they need to drink, and helping with whatever needs to be done. The other day, Jared brought in several loads of stone to spread around where it was kinda muddy. Then him, Virginia, one of the guards and I dug out a little area right in front of the steps. Then we filled it in with stone. Now the amount of mud tracked in isn’t near as much. 

   One of the days I also got to help with PD. It wasn’t as bad as I had thought. Sure, it’s kinda gross… but it’s nice to get a short break and relieve the stress that can build. Or in the case of the past couple days, boredom. 

   One blessing is getting to know the Haitians. Some of the local children know me by name, and although my Creole is almost nonexistent we can still communicate a little bit. Smiles go a long way, and hand motions sometimes helps. Yesterday I was doing laundry at the wringer washer. There was a Haitian lady standing there watching me. She was quite fascinated with the way the wringer worked; she tried helping and when her fingers would nearly get squashed, she yanked them back and giggled at me. I was a little worried at first, but it turned out ok. I let her help me put things through, then as soon as I got hangers in my dresses she ran them over to the clothes line. Neither of us could understand a word of the other, but we were enjoying ourselves! She had a blast helping me and I didn’t mind. It was neat to be able to work side by side…. 

   Yesterday afternoon, we didn’t have any patients so some of us went on a hike. We hiked to the top of a local mountain. The view was really neat and it always amazes me to see what our God has created for His children to enjoy. The steep, rugged mountains… the sunshine filtering down… the breeze!! The little river rolling at the bottom… the noises… the fresh air… the beautiful clouds. Praise to the Lord on high who has the whole world in the palm of his hand! Yet he cares about each of us and all the dear people that surround us. 

  I’m writing this on Sunday evening. This morning was my first service in Haiti… and I really enjoyed it! A couple of the songs I knew by heart already, a few of the others were repeated in good ol’ Haitian style enough times I could sing along. And sometimes Shana explained to me what was being said. The seating is a little tight and it is a blessing to watch everybody work together to make room for one more.  This evening we enjoyed spending time with other missionary friends singing… on the way back, singing in the back of Grandpa’s truck is a blessing! Maybe a bit of a song could touch somebody’s heart tonight as we drove past…

   Looks like I did manage to find something to write about! Hope I didn’t bore everybody too bad. Thank you all for your support and prayers! They are felt…  God’s hand is over us here. 

                                                                           Blessings in Christ our Father,

                                                                                                 Amanda Cook

Saturday August 6th Update 2

       Well it’s been awhile since I’ve written an article because I haven’t been a part of a normal shift for the last several weeks. As of yesterday I will be part of a shift again for at least the next two weeks.  I’m sure most if not all of you know that our numbers in the CTC have been getting lower and as of right now we don’t have any patients at all. We had a few on Tuesday that were getting well quick so we discharged them early Wed. morning so they could get home before the rain came from Hurricane Emily. We had a lot of preparation to do before we got the 20+ inches of rain that was predicted for our area as well as the 50-60 mph winds. One of the things that we had to do was take down all of the plastic that separates the CTC from everything else. The plastic had been nailed to posts that were spaced about every 8 feet. Once we tore down all of the plastic we took it inside to one of the empty rooms and then we also had to bring in all of the buckets, civets, totes, etc. Steve and I also put plastic up on the windows that go into the nurse’s room to keep the rain from blowing in onto our supplies. I also hauled in about 7 loads of gravel with the gator on Wed so the place wouldn’t be swimming in mud when the rain hit. 

       We spent the day yesterday just kinda waiting around for what was suppose to happen to actually happen. I was sitting in the hammock gently rocking in the breeze for a while as I watched the clouds come in over the mountain with lightning and a little thunder. As time went on I could feel the breeze pick up and before long the rain started to fall. It went from a nice little drizzle to a downpour that came down blowing sideways. It wasn’t long before I had to go inside because the rain was starting to get me wet on the porch. It only rained enough to drop a couple of inches and then we got news that the storm had lost strength and wasn’t gonna hit us dead on as previously forecasted. With the amount of preparation we did and with how little rain we got it almost seemed like our efforts were in vain but I know that it’s better to be safe than sorry. I spent pretty much the entire day today (friday) getting the CTC rearranged back to normal. It took awhile to put the plastic back up because it was well over 100 feet of plastic but I was able to get it up without any problems. If you look at the picture you can see that I'm putting plastic around the entry door to the CTC from the mission compound. Also if you look in the background of the picture you can see the tarped off windows on the CTC that needed to be taken down as well.

       Thanks again for all of your prayers and please do continue to pray for us and for the Haitians.

                                                                                                            ~Jared Stump

Saturday August 6th Update

My Jesus I Love THEE

“My Jesus I love thee. I will serve thee where ever you lead me. I will clean up vomit and empty buckets of diarrhea. I will medicate (even if they spit it back in my face) the patients you send my way. I will strive to display you to all the people I come into contact with. For you have died to set me free and to place eternal life in me.”

Greetings from Haiti! It is so good to be back in this country once again. I thought that I would write a little update on what is going on down here and give you all that are planning on coming to help out a little snap shot on how things are done and what to expect.

Since the last update we have not had very many patients come in. Right now we have one patient in the fish tank (observation room) where we keep patients when they first come in to see how bad they are and if they can be treated and released or if they need to be admitted for extended treatment. We also have boy who is around 12 years old who I admitted this morning. We have a few other patients that we have treated and released the past several shifts. Yesterday we got the CTC put back together and all the plastic put back up around it that we had taken down in preparation of the storm that did not come. 

Yesterday I went out to the CTC to see if I could be of any help and there was a little boy in there that would not take his medicine so I helped out the nurse on duty and put the medicine in a syringe and tried to force it to the back of his mouth. Well, it did not go so well and he ended up spitting some of it into my face. After a couple more attempts we were able to get it into him.

How things work!?!?!

We have three team leaders, one for each shift. We work in 8 hr shifts. You work every other shift three times then you are off for 4 shifts then you start over again. Right now we have the shift leader and one other helper on duty at a time. Each shift has its own set of chores it is supposed to do as well as taking care of the patients. 

What is involved in taking care of the patients you may wonder? One of the biggest concerns (on the physical side) we have for each of our patients is that they get/stay hydrated. To do this we have to estimate as close as possible how much liquids they are getting into their body either by drinking or by I.V. You also have to estimate as close as possible how much fluid is leaving their body by the way of diarrhea, vomit, and urine, thus the need for us to dump the buckets of body fluids. It is also our job to make sure that the I.V.s stay running and that the patient’s drinking bottle gets refilled as soon as it is empty. Of course there is also the initial medication that needs to be done.

Personal experiences

• I was put in the position of a team leader which I was surprised.
• I find it difficult at times to empty the buckets of body fluid (the care givers’ buckets are the worst to empty).
• I was blessed the other day when I discovered that the Haitian gate keepers and the one patient were listening to the Bible on their own accord.
• It has been such a blessing working with other Godly youth.
• We do have fun moments with each other as well as times of singing.

 May each one of us continue to display Christ to all we come in contact with and be good representatives of HIS!

In Christ,

Jesse Sutherland

The Tropical Storm that wasn't...

    As you all probably know, Emily was due to visit us yesterday.  
    Preparations for lots of rain and wind were done on Wednesday, some late into the night, and then we went to bed.  
    I had to go on shift at midnight, there were three patients in the CTC.  Steve came over to check on things before going to bed, and as the patients were all nearly totally recovered, he instructed me to wake them up at 4:00am and send them home around 5:00am - if it wasn't raining.  So, at 4:00, I proceeded to rouse my sleeping patients and tell them that a cyclon was coming and they needed to go home before the rain came.  
    Well, at 4:15, it started raining.  
    The patient's caretakers came and started talking at me, and it was really frustrating not being able to understand them. I got the gist that they couldn't go because it was dark and they had no flashlight, and they would get wet.  So I told them they could stay for now but if the rain stopped they had to go.  Thankfully the rain let up around 4:45 and I told the people it was time to go.  I gave them my flashlight (they all lived in one area), but they were still very concerned about getting wet.  
    I stood there wracking my brain, trying to think of something I could give six people and a baby to keep them dry.  My eyes fell on a surgical gown that was lying on the shelf- and the lights came on!  Those things are water proof!  Thank you Lord!  I dug six out of a box, and tied them on my wondering patients.  I told them it was for the rain; I'm not sure they believed me!  They didn't protest though, and after wrapping up the baby, I sent them on their way.  
    I didn't really believe they would get home before the storm started, but I had just read again the promise that "if you ask in faith, believing, you will receive".  So I prayed that God in His almighty power would hold back the storm till the people got home.  God is good!  Hour after hour went by with no rain!  
    I came off shift at 8:00am, and went over to Steve's house, and he said the storm slowed way down and was kind of sitting out over the ocean.  I don't think that it was my prayer alone that stopped the storm, but I do believe it was the combination of all the prayers prayed by those who are interested and involved in the work in Haiti!  Later on, Steve said the storm disintegrated, it just wasn't any more!  The winds still obey His will!  
    I do wonder though just what my patients are thinking right now.  "That white Mis at the CTC was crazy!  She woke us up and sent us home in the dark, dressed up in funny clothes, saying there was a cyclon coming, and it hardly rained, to say nothing of the wind."  
    Oh, well, I don't care, I'm just glad there was no storm! 

    Keep on praying for us here as we strive to serve God and be a light to those in darkness.

    God is still powerful, and works even through mortals like us.  Isn't that amazing?

--
For His Glory,

Virginia

Out of Patients

     Hello everyone, I'm going to try to give a little update on the past few days. We have not been having many patients, which is a little surprising since we've been having rain almost every day and that usually gives more patients. But we're definitely not complaining about it! I guess the Lord is answering our prayers! 

     On Saturday we got three new patients and they all needed IV's. One was an old lady who was very sweet, on Sunday morning she was having her own little church service, singing and praying! There was also a cute little boy who was a professional whiner, he was very afraid of blas and whined whenever I smiled at him. But it's always kind of fun to have a little person around. The other one was a little old man, he was very quiet and cooperative.

     This morning around 10:30 the last ones were sent home and now we left our guard over there to call for us if any more patients come. So today we had a bunch of fun, Virginia, Meredith, and I went to clinic and helped take the people's temperature and blood pressure and before lunch some of us hiked up the mountain. After lunch it rained. Then Steve and some of us went to a funeral, which was very interesting. Some people that have been at Haitian funerals before said that this one was very calm compared to the ones that are not christian. Those trails sure were very adventuresome after that rain, they were amazingly muddy and slick! But we're all glad that we went. 

     After supper we had a bunch of fun together and no one had to be in the CTC. So for now we're just kinda waiting to see what happens. You all can continue to pray for us, that we could be a witness for Christ to those we come in contact with.

Serving Him, 

~Amanda~

Giving IVs and Writing Down Charts

(Written July, 31st)

   As my time here at the CTC comes to an end this week I've thought about the many nights I went through with no sleep, the decisions we made with the different patients, the difficult patients we worked with, the kind hearted patients also that came through the door, those that were thankful and that we deeply touched their lives, and those that were difficult that we wondered if we made any difference on the outside, but know that just having them here in the clinic did change something as they saw the testimony of our lives.  I also had to think of the many funny times (that we had to have to balance the stress).  As I look back, I can see the importance of us being here, of loving the unlovely, the messy, the weak, the frail, and giving them just a glimpse of Christianity.

Sometimes I caught myself getting caught up with the "work" of the day, but most of the time, I know as the Haitians saw us scrambling around the CTC compound, I believe they saw Christ in us and through us.  May the Lord add his increase to what they saw, that it would last into eternity.

  I guess maybe I'll just write a bit about my day yesterday...we had quite the morning as far as giving IV's to people...a little three year old boy and an older lady who were both severely dehydrated were brought in...thankfully the girls who had been on shift before Kirsche and I had already called Michael to come and give the IVs. He got the IV in the old lady on the first try, but sadly to say the little boy was a completely different story! For one thing, he hated "blas" (white people), and so whenever anyone white would try to touch him or his bed, he'd start up a high pitched wail...there were three of us holding him down as he tried to deliver a pinch here or a bite there while Michael tried in various different places to get the catheter in a good vein...which was pretty difficult considering how dehydrated the little boy was! After a couple tries and a few too many wiggles from the little boy at the wrong time, Michael got the catheter in and a few hours later there was a definite difference in the little guy and he seemed to be feeling a whole lot better. 

   Anyhow, it's pretty nice taking things a bit slower now for a change over at the CTC...for awhile things were kinda stressful. One time, a new man had just been washed down with bleach water by one of the guards, and then he was brought in and placed on a cot. Kirsche was busy somewhere and so I took it upon myself to try out the few creole words I knew to see how much of the chart for this patient I could get filled out before Kirsche came back...

"Kijan ou rele?"  I asked the man's name..."Aswemaenainiyee" is about what it sounded like back..."Kisa?" (what?)...I could not understand..."Aswemaenainiyee" was the mumbled reply. I decided I would ask once more, and see if I could get it right this time...it only sounded like a bunch of muffled mumbles coming out, but maybe this time it would be more clear..."Kijan ou rele?"  He replied "Aswemaenainiyee" or however it was he said that...anyways, I got my pen and thought I should at least LOOK like I was writing something down, after all I'd asked the guy three times what his name was and I had my chart and pen in hand all ready to mark stuff down...I looked for the easiest place on the chart to mark something down besides the name and wrote "F" for "Female"...I was feeling pretty down about not getting the name written in when Kirsche came back, but I gladly handed her the chart to fill out the "rest" of the information...she got the chart and looked at what I'd filled in so far, so looked down at the patient with a very perplexed expression on her face and then she looked up at me and asked, "THIS is a FEMALE?" I looked down at the chart to see what I had written and then looked back up at Kirsche dumbfounded...then I looked again at the man lying on the cot in his gown in front of us. I tried to find an excuse for my scatterbrained moment in writing that on the chart, but it was kind of hard to explain it all at the moment...and it didn't help that it struck us both funny right then...the poor guy probably wondered what was so funny on that sheet of paper and why we were having such problems filling out his information... then I just had to leave so I went to spend a bit of embarrassed time by myself in the nurses' station while faithful Kirsche "finished" the chart.

   The next time I tried filling out a chart (which took awhile for me to bring myself to do), I tried to make sure my mind was all there with it, while Kirsche just looked on with a funny little lopsided grin on her face as she watched me fill in the blanks. ;) 

   (The picture of all the charts, by the way, is from a week ago)

   Anyhow, I guess I should probably close now. The people just keep coming and going through the CTC...we continue to hand out the little "25 Bible Stories" booklets to each patient before they leave which they all seem delighted to receive! 

   Please keep praying for the people here. Not just for their needs physically, but also spiritually...we all need the Lord or else our work here is vain!  

Meredith Keller

Update!

Things are kind of back and forth at the CTC right now.  We will have one patient in the evening, then the next morning there will be twenty that come in with "boiling stomachs" and diarrhea.  So, life continues just as it has been over there for the past two months.  

One lady came in and there was something definitely abnormal about her.  Her leg went down from her knee, then jutted back and continued to her foot.  Michael asked her what had happened, and she said that when she was in school she broke her leg.  Her dad didn't want to take her to the hospital because he thought they would cut her leg off.  So they just wrapped it up and let it heal.  It is one of those startling things that you don't expect to see, so it really stood out to me....

For His Glory,

-Virginia