Rainbows and Otter Pelt

This past weekend I drove my mom to Indiana for my nephew’s wedding. We took my dad’s Garmin and for the drive up it was great. Took us right to my older brother’s house with easy to understand directions. However, when we left to return home, I selected the “Go To Home” option assuming my parents address was programmed in. I am still not sure where it wanted to take us but in Louisville, KY it began directing us east, not south. So I pulled over to consult an Atlas I had in the car, trying to get an overview of the route, thinking maybe it was aware of another route I was not familiar with. I told my mom I was more comfortable with reviewing the entire route first and then it was easier to trust the GPS when it just gave me one step at a time.

Hmmm – that thought sounds familiar. I have also said I would be more comfortable if God would reveal the destination, or give me an overview of the route. Then it would be more comfortable to take the directions He only reveals one step at a time. Because I would have a general idea of the outcome. It has been downright scary at times standing still, waiting for the next step to be revealed. Or take the next step when it is revealed and doesn’t make sense. Just like when the GPS directs you off the road you thought you should take and puts you on a route that you do not understand.

Proverbs 16:9 tells us “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” And Psalm 37:23, “The steps of a man are established by the Lord; and He delights in his way.”

As I was thinking about this analogy, and how comforting it would be if God would reveal the end goal, I realized He already has. His goal is for us to become more like Jesus. 2 Corinthians 3:18 states “we are being transformed into his image”. He directs our path so that our encounters and experiences will give us opportunities to develop into the character of Jesus. The NIV translation of Psalm 37:23-24 is “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.”

I will strive to firmly place my step along the path God directs me, even if it is just one step at a time and the entire path, or even the next several steps, are not revealed. I will strive to trust that my GPS (God Positioned Steps) is directing me on a path that will result in making me more Christ like.

Making new friends, reacquainting with friends made last year, and serving God by serving others. Those are what comes to mind when I think of my mission trip to Ukraine. We held 5 days of clinics and saw 558 people. The number of people is less than my previous trips this year but the number does not tell the story. The medical clinics in the Roma camps are not like other clinics. The entire family comes and is seen by one provider. If I remember correctly, the largest family for the week was 11 people. And they do not just discuss what their ailment is. A complete history is told, not just health history but life history. What a privilege for the providers to get to sit and listen, showing interest and caring for each individual.

Being in pharmacy, I do not have direct contact with the people but I obtain an overall perspective of the different ailments encountered. We averaged about 4 medications per person. Some only received vitamins and worm medicine while others received 6 or 7 medications, ranging from antacids for stomach pain, antibiotics for infections, and medications for high blood pressure. I had the opportunity to calculate dosing for children for pain medicine as well as antibiotics. That is something that the pharmacist generally does in the states but the pharmacist on our trip allowed me to do it.

I do not have a good understanding of the culture of the Roma. Each trip I have learned a little bit more. This trip, my room mate, who is one of the providers, was sharing about a lady she saw that had given birth to a stillborn baby two weeks ago. The umbilical chord had become wrapped around the baby’s neck. My friend explained that in Roma culture, it is considered the woman’s fault. Initially, I thought she meant any problems in childbirth but she said no, anything is considered the woman’s fault. The doctor and husband were both blaming the mother for the death.

This trip, I had to battle some spiritual warfare. I would like to claim I soundly defeated the enemy but that was not the case. Often we tend to pray a prayer for protection and believe our mission trip is going to be all sunshine and roses. In reality, we are waging war. And warfare can be ugly. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11-12 to put on the full armor of God so that we may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. And that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. When we are building God’s kingdom, we are tearing down satan’s kingdom. He can not steal us from God because we are sealed by the spirit. But he can make us ineffective. And he knew just where to hit me – my insecurities. For the most part, I recognized what it was and made some attempts to overcome it. But I should have proclaimed the name of Jesus over the attack and been more resoundingly victorious. Hopefully lesson learned and I will be better prepared next time.

Thank you to my friend Diána, for “the rest of the story” on the Roma lady I mentioned above. I am grateful to her for expounding on this encounter our team had with this lady. Her comments are below:

Dear Susanne, I interpreted for Kathy when we met the mourning woman you mentioned in this post. I feel obliged to add that while sadly it was true that her husband and the doctor were blaming her for her miscarriage, saying she shouldn’t have lifted heavy objects while pregnant, her mom, siblings, and most of the Roma community would keep assuring her about how it wasn’t her fault, and told her that this could have happened to anyone, lifting or not. Kathy did a grand job supporting and praying for her too! 🙂

I just felt it was important to share that most of the people and family did not put the blame on her! 🙂 ❤

It is hard to comprehend what life would be like to live in a society where you are discriminated against. How do you have hope when reality is you will always occupy a lowly place in society. Not because you have no skills, have no ambition, or are not smart enough. Only because of your genes, which you have no control over. That is life for the gypsies in the Ukraine.

And then you meet the man who is hunchbacked and radiates joy. He leads worship on Sunday, speaks from his heart about his love for Jesus, and loves on the children like each one is special. That is when you realize their hope is in Jesus and in the eternal. Their circumstances may not improve here on earth, but they have a heavenly mansion to look forward to. It brings your life into perspective. In America we tend to complain, or protest, and the least little discomfort or perceived injustice. And here are these people who have much to be bitter about but still live in the joy of the Lord.

For the past three days, we have seen 378 people. The people are so sweet. This morning when we arrived in camp, so many children came running, greeting us with szia (pronounced see ya), which is their “hello” and each one wanted to shake our hands.

We have been busy in pharmacy. Medications have been averaging 3-4 per people. Lots of antibiotics, muscle cream, and some blood pressure meds.

As I write this, I am sitting in the Charlotte, NC airport waiting for my flight to Budapest, Hungary for my next medical mission. It has only been two weeks since my return from Colombia, and I returned with a viral respiratory infection that I have been battling.

Colombia was hot and humid. We held 4 clinics, saw a total of 1229 people with 211 salvations. The large majority of people who attended the clinics were Venezuelan refugees who do not have access to medical care in Colombia. One particular village we were in had a strong influence of witchcraft that the refugees had brought from their country. The pastors were so grateful we came to their communities to provide medical care as well as bring the good news of Jesus Christ. As we were beginning the trip, I recalled Isaiah 61:1; ” The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners”. We were there to tell the people about the one who is able to bind up their broken heart, give them freedom, and release them from darkness – Jesus Christ. For two days, 5 countries were represented on our team: United States, Colombia, a doctor from Cuba, a dentist from Honduras, and a team member who grew up in Brazil as a missionary kid. We were able to provide prenatal care to pregnant women, antibiotics for infections, allergy meds, and remove decaying teeth as well as repair damaged teeth. One of the Colombian doctors was able to preform some more complicated procedures. One afternoon, he asked several of us to gather around an older gentleman and pray before he performed a procedure with a needle on varicose veins he had in his arm. After we prayed, the Cuban doctor told us it was a very dangerous procedure.

You May wonder why I travel on these medical mission trips. 2 Corinthians 5:15 says ” And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” I am responding to the call Christ has made on my life. He has placed a burden on my heart and called me to international missions. I am living for Christ, to show others the love He has for them.

This morning as we rode through the city of Cartagena, it became drastically obvious we were leaving the tourist areas with high rise condos and navigating towards the less affluent areas on the outskirts of town. As we traveled closer to the bluff where the monastery to the Virgin Mary is perched overlooking the city of Cartagena, the streets narrowed, turned from hard surface to dirt and the homes, while they were well kept, were much smaller and a bit rundown. We drove past an open air market where fish were laid it on tables ready for purchasing along with an assortment of fresh fruit and vegetables.

When we arrived at clinic site, the children of the school sang songs for us and welcomed us to their community.

Clinic began a bit chaotically. I was trying to organize and sort the medications when patients began showing up so we quickly began pulling prescriptions and in between kept trying to sort the many sample medications that were donated. It is quite a challenge because the names are in Spanish. Gratefully I have a Colombian medical student assisting us in pharmacy and he has been able to translate or tell me what the medications that are not available in United States are for. Interestingly, Benadryl is illegal in Colombia but we have samples of codiene and hydrocodone to give out. Today I had the opportunity to use some of my schooling. One of the nurse practitioners needed a Z pack. We had a liquid azithromycin so I figured out the dosing for the equivalent.

There was a thunderstorm in the afternoon with intense lightening but we did not lose electricity. I stepped out of the pharmacy and looked out the back door of the building. Water was flowing down the road like a muddy river.

We had a total of 309 people in clinic and 104 salvations. After closing, the pastor thanked us for coming and for our work. He comments that in the community they have lots of fights and today we fought also. But in a peaceful way by demonstrating the love of God.

“Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established” Proverbs 16:3

A week ago, I returned from Honduras where traveled for my first medical mission this year. Our day of departure had the potential to be quite eventful. The Honduran government had recently voted for hospitals and schools to become privatized, which means if you do not have money, you would no longer be able to acquire an education or medical care. On Tuesday, doctors and teachers were protesting across the country. Many major roads were blockaded as part of the protest. We had not heard if there were planned protests for the day of our departure so just in case, we left Choluteca at 5:00am to hopefully make it into Tegucigalpa before any roads were blocked. If we encountered a road block, the plan was we would walk through the protest with our luggage and the rental car company was going to pick us up on the other side. Fortunately, we did not have to implement that plan. Other than morning commuter traffic, we encountered no delays and made it to the airport on time. We did have to wait on plane for take off about 45 minutes due to thunderstorms in the gap between mountains that we had to fly through. But we still made our connection in Atlanta and arrive safely home.

Overall, it was a memorable and exciting trip. We held 5 clinics, each on in a different village. The first was in Las Chapernas. If I recall correctly, the people of this village used to live in a floodplain and every rainy season, many of their houses would flood. So the mission we worked with, New Beginnings Baptist Mission, purchased the land that is now Las Chapernas, built houses for the people, and relocated them. The last day of clinic was at Colonia Williams and that village was also created by relocating a community. The group of people that moved to Colonia Williams were living on the side of a very busy road and several of the children had been killed from being hit by traffic. For the 5 clinics, we saw a total of 1173 people, handed out 5685 medications, and had 173 salvations.

Paz preaching the gospel while patient waiting in chair

Pharmacy set up at Javier Soriano

For the first two days, I worked with my friend the Honduran dentist, Paz. On the first day, we had trouble with the compressor that would operate her drill so she was only able to do extractions. At one point, she gave the patient the lidocaine shot to numb her mouth and then started evangelizing to the people in room waiting. At first, I wondered what was happening, why she was talking to everyone. Having worked with her before, I quickly realized what she was doing, even though I did not understand a word she said (because she was speaking in Spanish). The second day, she worked for over an hour removed an impacted wisdom tooth. In the United States, we would go to an oral surgeon for this procedure. Many people in Honduras do not have that luxury. Paz told me 7 years ago that she is one of few dentists that will pull impacted wisdom teeth in the village clinics. She is providing a treatment that is not available to many people in that country.

The other three clinics, after I would help Paz set up her dental room and train someone to assist her, I would spend the remainder of the day in the pharmacy. I was able to apply some of the training I received in school calculating doses. Along with distributing over the counter pain medications, cold medicine, antifungal creams, and muscle rubs, we also distributed an assortment of antibiotics and high blood pressure medications. I noticed the quantity of antifungal creams seemed to be more than other places I have visited and I wondered if it was because of the high humidity of the area as well as excess moisture from daily rain showers. This is the first trip I have taken where I had to take a medication to help prevent me from contracting malaria. I was hesitant to take it but after experiencing the abundance of mosquitoes I am glad I did. Even with treating my clothes and using insect repellent daily, I still received some bites.

Now that I have answered the call to mission work and travel on multiple trips annually, I have noticed a difference in how I respond to each trip. When I would travel once a year, the experience would impact me similar to a spiritual retreat. For a week, you would be focused on God and what He is doing in you and through you. I would return on a spiritual high. Now, I am still immersed in God’s work during the trip but I am focused more on what He is doing through me, not searching for what He is doing in me.

One observation I had that I find a bit humorous. The first day of clinic, I asked God move in a mighty way that day. We had the problems with the compressor, witnessed a few people accept Christ, but nothing jaw dropping and spectacular. That evening as we were retiring for the evening, an impressive amazing and powerful thunderstorm rolled through. The lightening flashes were brilliant and sometimes the thunder seemed to be right on top of us. I laughed to myself and thought, well I did not specify how I wanted to see God’s might displayed and it definitely was in that storm.

It is good to be home where once again I can flush the toilet paper and take a hot shower. But I was very grateful to have a flushing toilet and a shower, even if the water was tepid.

This morning the air seemed cool and comfortable, not humid like previous mornings. Each day we have gone to different villages to conduct medical clinics and share about Jesus’s love. Day 1 – Las Chapernas. Day 2 – Santa Irene. Day 3 – Castancia. Today has been our busiest day so far with 285 people seen, 1086 medications handed out. 10 people accepted Jesus.

Each day we have experienced an afternoon shower or thundershower and usually another one at night.

Last night, my friend discovered an Iguana hiding in her closet! So glad it was her and not me.

Everyday has been hot, tiring work but oh the joy and satisfaction from serving God and being about His work.

Today I was reminded how much I dislike the dental drill. Paz spent almost two hours working on an impacted wisdom tooth, which in the United States would usually require an oral surgeon. She had to use her dental drill to drill into the bone, attempting to get the tooth out. We saw 215 people in clinic today and gave out 1073 medications. This afternoon I had the opportunity to spend a little time in pharmacy and hopefully more time tomorrow. But I have enjoyed working with Paz again.

Today was full of memories. I worked with Paz, a Honduran dentist, which if you read my previous post you know that was what I did on my very first international mission trip. The air compressor kept tripping the breaker so she was limited to extractions. The first kid started crying and I thought to myself it truly is like the beginning, screaming kids and all. Paz pulled 31 teeth in 3 hours, with power outage, thunderstorm (where she wouldn’t let me touch the metal dental tools), and she even took time to share the gospel. She led 6 people to Jesus.

Philippians 3:13 “but one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead”

Two weeks ago, I finished school and earned my associates degree in Pharmacy Technology and now am off on my first mission trip of the year. I am returning to where it all began – Honduras. In 2011, after two years of my friend Karen trying to persuade me to join her on an international mission trip, I succumbed. We flew into San Pedro Sula and rode a bus many hours to La Esperanza. I innocently thought I would be trying to teach people to brush their teeth. The dentist however, had other plans . We were cleaning dental instruments and numbing gums. I was way out of my comfort zone!

This year, I will be teaming up with the Honduran dentist again. I will be splitting my time between pharmacy and dental, working with Paz again. I am returning to where it all began! Where my passion for international missions was born. I am excited to see what God is going to do this trip. In me and through me.