Life and Death are in the hands of the Lord...

Around the CTC today there is a sense of somberness, a little more gravity, than previous days. It seems like the inevitable nature of death has be brought fully into our view, and that we have to battle it with more vigilance than ever before.

Last night, we lost another patient...

Friends and relatives brought a casket for the deceased man...

The elderly man came in yesterday, severely dehydrated. We immediately tried putting two IVs into him, and after some struggle, were successful. It seemed like he was recovering as well as expected. We went on with the other patients, making sure to check on him, keep his IVs filled, etc. All seemed going well. His was the hand in the pictures we posted yesterday, showing the skin standing up after being pinched.

Then, during the night, as Thea was going into the CTC building, the man's wife stopped her; she told Thea that he was getting worse. She asked Steve to go and check on the man. He came back and told Thea he had passed away already. She came in and checked, and sure enough, he was gone...

It was amazing how quickly he went, so we were wondering if he had something else wrong with him. Everything had been going so well. It was definitely a shock to all of us.

Closing the casket after the body was lifted in...

They carried the casket away, headed for the burial.

Not all has been gloom though! We have been able to release over 35 people today. Some were in observation, and were not very bad, but it is amazing to think that so many people have been here, and have left revived and restored!

People being released! What a joy...

God is still on His throne, and we are reminded that He is the giver and taker of life.

We had another lady give us a scare; she was sitting there, and suddenly, slumped over, unconscious. Wilman (one of the Haitian helpers) ran over and grabbed her up off the floor. He yelled for water, and began to splash it on her face. We lifted her up back onto her cot, and after slapping her face, and splashing it with more water, she finally came to.

Here's the lady that passed out.
Anita is giving her another IV in this picture, shortly after she came to.

We put another IV into her, and set her up with a faster flow-rate. She seems to be doing ok as of this evening.

One praise report is that the little girl who had the EZ-IO (see the previous post) will be released soon! We removed the EZ-IO from her leg last night, and replaced it with a normal IV. She has improved so much, and we are rejoicing that she soon will be going home!

Removing the EZ-IO... it looks pretty painful!

Here's a closeup of the EZ-IO needle.
Pretty torturous looking if you ask me!
But it's a real life saver.

Thea and Anita team up giving the new IV to the little girl.
They got it on the first try!

We have received some very good help in the recent days... Myron has been leaving off some of his duties to give a helping hand, and Jonathan Widowski is down with his wife, Lissa, to help with the CTC. It is a real blessing to have their assistance as things continue to build up around here.

Myron and Jonathan change and maintain an IV.
(DISCLAIMER: Jonathan did not want his picture on the blog)

A little girl takes some ORS.

Please pray for strength and patience for those who are working at the CTC. It is rewarding work, but it can become tiring after a while.

Also, please pray that we would not loose any more patients. It is very discouraging and very sad for us to try our best and then loose someone. If we looked at people as statistics, we'd say we're doing pretty good: over 99% success rate.

But, we don't.

Each one is an individual life that has been lost or saved; and the condition of their souls sometimes is unknown. It is our hearts desire that not one would perish, so that they can have the opportunity to be saved.

God bless you all!