Hello friends & family,
We enjoyed a little more rest this morning only to wake for COVID testing. After that unpleasant process, we loaded the buses for our rest day on Catalina Island. We drove to a city called La Romana, took our Dramamine, and boarded a boat! There was an unfortunate event with a smaller boat sinking near us but our boat was able to welcome them aboard. The Chilean children and grandmothers looked quite frightened but one of the students asked an interrupter to pray and thank the Lord for the protection he gave them. The family was very touched and thankful. After our short detour, we enjoyed snorkeling on the coral reef and cliff jumping before arriving on the island. The water is crystal blue and extremely salty so we were able to lay back and float quite easily! We were all marveled at the beauty of the island! The locals served us a lunch buffet—even had fresh fish they made over the grill. The team scattered—some chose to take a nap under the palms, others played volleyball and frisbee in the water. We worked on our bargaining skills while purchasing some surprises for you all and a few treats for ourselves! We left with our tanks filled! We returned back to the Score Facility to enjoy an Argentine Barbeque by a few local pastors. They served us a delicious meal of local meats and my favorite condiment chimichurri. The pastors shared their testimonies on how Jesus has worked in their lives to save them from desires of the world—they both dreamed of becoming professional baseball players in the United States. Our team has beautiful unity—lots of deep conversations coupled with plenty of laughter. It has been an amazing experience to see the students grow in their medical confidence as well as their boldness in sharing about what Jesus has done in their hearts. Many students have learned how to share the Gospel and pray with their patients, giving holistic care to the entire person: body, soul & spirit. We have approached the throne of God with our supplications. He is faithful and good, and we are spending our last evening together talking of everything He has done for us and through us for the Dominican Republic. The future of healthcare is bright with these men and women who will be caring for the generations of patients for many years—on U.S. soil and beyond. I dare to say, many of these students will one day be physicians who continue to give their lives and skills to serve patients all over the globe and to serve our Lord. Please pray for safe travels back for our team tomorrow. We are excited to share more stories with you. What a joy to watch the students live out Romans 10—“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” In Christ, Sarah Story, RN Natalie Barefield, PA-C
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What’s up everybody!
One last day of waking up before 6:00AM! Today marked our last day of clinic. As we filed in for worship at the crack of dawn we were filled with excited anticipation to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the Dominicans once again. We kicked off the morning singing to the Lord about returning to the heart of worship (the worship team being Dr. Brian Shaw, Ivana Smith, MC Carlton, and Seth Baxter, I would be remiss if I did not include the entire team’s names verbatim), and centering our souls on truth from the scriptures as Hope Harris led us for our devotions out of Titus 3. The mess hall was filled with hearty laughter as we gathered and ate breakfast together and we were soon loading the buses for a final time to serve the Dominicans. We unloaded our buses at Experimental (Municipio Consuelo), a village in which many of our translators and their families lived. It was a delight to serve and care for the families of our translators who have given so much of themselves on this trip to make our medical care and evangelism possible. It was a joy to see our translators showing us their children, mothers, and grandparents: trusting them to our care and inviting us into their lives in an even deeper way. There were many beautiful moments and stories shared today. We met a woman who came to us after missed periods, and after a pregnancy test we were able to share the (well received) news that she was pregnant! After giving her a supply of prenatal pills that would last for her remaining pregnancy, she was ushered to our evangelism station where she excitedly received Christ. There was a boy with a moderate-severe hydrocele on his testicle who we were able to start coordinating fundraising for within the church. There was a woman whose marriage was failing and whose life seemed to be falling apart, who we were able to encourage with the hope of Christ, and though she said she was not a Christian because she said she no longer read her bible or went to church anymore, she was able to leave with the hope and truth of Christ. As we packed up, the church was filled with song as we sang in Spanish with the Dominicans, praising the Lord in their native tongue. We prayed over their church, and before we disembarked for the SCORE compound, shared a bittersweet goodbye with the translators that we lived alongside and grew close with (shoutout to Willy and Piña, I love you guys!) When we returned, we met for our last session of worship, and our last session all together in the upper room. Tears fell as one after another student and doctor stood and presented passionate stories, wisdom, and testimonies. We encouraged each other to not let the trip ending be the conclusion of this beautiful family that God has brought together. We encouraged each other to not let the medical system and the culture in America to swallow us up and place idols in our hearts. We encouraged each other that we are not alone, and that we will always be here for one another. I am humbled to have been a part of a team that has welcomed outsiders with open arms and has loved and served each other with such tenacity. “Great Physician, heal through me”, I wrote these words in my devotional right before we began our first day of clinic. As I set up each chair of my station every morning next to Dr. Brian Buning, I would repeat this prayer. Through every early morning and every late clinic, through exhaustion and setbacks, God has used us to be His healing hands. We have been used as instruments of mercy, and that is a privilege that I cannot properly express into words. I am blessed that my first students were those on this team, and it is the highest honor that the first patients of my career were on this mission trip. I am undeserving to have met as wonderful people as these, but God has been kind to me. -- Dr. Brian Shaw Orlando Regional Medical Center – PGY-1 ¡Hola a todos los amigos y familias del grupo CMMA!
The group was up and at ‘em again before sunrise around 6:00am to worship and spend time in prayer before starting our day. Dr. Brian Shaw, Ivana Smith, and Mary Claire Carlton welcomed Seth Baxter (our newly christened drummer) to the team to lead the group in a time to praise God with our worship. Britton Ethridge (the author of Tuesday’s blog) brought a word from multiple Bible scriptures to remind us that God’s spirit is not only with us at all times but is going before and behind us in all things. The kitchen team (who has been dishing out AMAZING meals all week) served up some Food Network©-worthy breakfast to fuel us up for the day. Students and providers alike then split up to spend time in The Word before packing up the bus to hit the road. The team arrived at John 3:16 Baptist Church in San Pedro and the whirlwind of transforming a church building into a fully-operational multi-disciplinary medical clinic began. At this point in the week, we have all gotten pretty good at throwing suitcases full of supplies, setting up impromptu triage stations, and creating clinic “rooms” like a well-oiled machine, so setup was over before we knew it. As the patients had been lining up outside the church before we even arrived, triage began immediately – with students and providers taking histories, making diagnoses, creating treatment plans, dishing out and filling pharmaceutical scripts, providing comprehensive physical therapy, providing prescription glasses, and most importantly discussing the love, grace, and never-ending mercies of God, Jesus, and the Holy spirit. Due to a lighter clinic load today, every group was able to spend more time evangelizing and praying over every patient. While we may not have seen every patient come to a point where they felt ready to make a decision to follow Christ with their whole heart, we have been so encouraged to be able to be used by God in any way that he has planned. The group has seen spiritual growth and healing in many of the patients that we have been able to minister to, providing much-needed watering to seeds that have been planted into the hearts of many of the local Dominicans. It has been gift to be used for the purpose of furthering God’s kingdom. We have been able to see the curiosity of many people to know and learn more about God and His free gift of eternal life. Sweaty and a little tired, the group started packing up the clinic after the last patient had been seen, and in no more than a half hour, we were headed back to SCORE to devour another incredible meal of pollo fríto (fried chicken!) and enjoy fellowship with one another. We are definitely feeling a little physically fatigued at this point, but our hearts are so, so full. We gathered again to praise the Lord in worship. Singing and reminding ourselves that “His love is enduring!” and “His praise should forever be on our lips.” So many of us have felt led by the Spirit to trust God in taking steps that have initially felt uncomfortable for us – diving into the spiritual lives of others through language and cultural barriers, praying over intimate needs of people who had been complete strangers 20 minutes prior, providing medical care in very early stages of our training, and meeting our patients where they are at in any way we are able to. Tonight after worship, Dr. Bob spoke on Acts 17. He discussed Paul traveling through Athens and witnessing idolatry everywhere he went. This is not a problem of the past, but this is a problem of the heart. It is everywhere. We live in a broken world, and we are broken people, and we are in constant need to remind ourselves of the gospel – that “Jesus and the resurrection” is the foundation of our lives. There are so many things we can make idols in our lives by putting those things above the Lord, but they will fail to satisfy our souls every single time. When we share the gospel with others who are attempting to find peace and security in many different idols, we need to be prepared for all sorts of reactions and responses. Through it all, however, we can have immense peace in the truth that God is constantly working out all things for our good and for His glory. Thank you all for you continued prayers – God is listening, working in the hearts of the local people, preparing a way for us, and answering prayers daily. It has been such a blessing to be a first-hand witness to those answered prayers! Please continue to lift up prayers for the team and those that we will encounter – that God will go forth before us and open up the hearts, minds, eyes, and ears of all those that we will come into contact with. Please also lift up all those that we have ministered to thus far – that God will send workers to water all of the seeds that have been planted! Yours in Christ, The Three L’s of UAB – Lis, LC, and Luke Hello friends and family of the CMMA team!
Today has been our third full day in the Dominican Republic. We’re beginning to move beyond the initial adjustment period and really starting to sink our teeth into the work of the week – spreading the Word of God and acting as his vessels to deliver healing to the communities of this beautiful country. The day began at 6:15 with worship from our musical team of Dr. Brian Shaw, Ivana Smith, and Mary Claire Carlton followed by a group devotion led by Lis Pettibone lifting our spirits and raising our energy for the day. Our journey today began at 8:00, and took us to the community of Quisqueya, where we set up our clinic at a local church with the wife of Pastor Miguel providing guidance and support to us throughout the day. Yesterday’s volume of 150 patients was exceeded today, thanks to a tremendous effort again by our optometrist, Brett Bryan. A total of 160 patients (100 medical, 60 optometry) were treated today physically as well as spiritually with the grace of God allowing us to deliver medications, medical advice, and the Gospel to the patients of this lovely community. Despite a new location, the process and Spirit of Christ remained the same with members of the community receiving clinical care, physical therapy, and optometry care as well as spiritual care through time spent in evangelism stations headed by Duane Baxter and Bobby Parks, with students Luke Anderson and Hope Harris, all working to spread the Word of God and soften the hearts of those in Quisqueya. After dinner and an ice cream run at Plaza Leche Y Miel, the team reconvened at 18:00 and discussed notable events of the day. Stories were shared of people who were aware of Jesus but had not yet accepted Him as their Savior before today as well as others who today only began to consider a relationship with Christ. The day was concluded as we broke into our small groups and discussed our time at the clinic, what we’ve been learning, and the reading of the day from Philippians 2:1-4; 4:4-6. We ask for all of your prayers that the members of Quisqueya may continue to live happy, healthy lives and that any seeds of the Gospel that were planted today are watered and nurtured and bloom beautifully in the future! Best, Nick Friend USACOM Medical Student To our partners in prayer and spirit,
Today began our “normal” work schedule for the week which means the full team gathered at 6:15 am to sing praises together (led by our incredible worship team mentioned in yesterday’s blog post) and hear some encouragement and guided devotion led by CMMSA staff member, Alex Foxx. He taught from the passage about Martha and Mary from Luke 10 and emphasized the importance of taking time to “sit with Jesus” as well as serving Him. After devotion, the team received their station assignments for the day in clinic. Clinic groups had a moment to pray over each other and the work that would be done throughout the day. Breakfast and loading the buses followed immediately after and we left the mission compound just before eight in route to Consuelo and the Iglesia Bautista Dominica (the local church housing us for the day). A total of 150 patients were seen during our eight-hour work day, and a special shoutout to the optometrist (Brett Bryant) who provided care, prayer, and gospel presentation to fifty of those 150 patients! We provided primary clinical care, physical therapy, optometry, and pharmacy to men, women, and children ages 3 – 77. The medical team saw patients with: intestinal parasites, sickle-cell anemia, upper respiratory infections, torn knee meniscus, hypertensive crisis, ear infections, severe skin conditions, and many more conditions. Most patients were prayed for by students/providers, as well as spending time with our “evangelism stations” on their way out. Many Dominicans would initially say they were Christian, but when asked to explain their faith were unable to describe who Jesus is, and the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As expected, there were complications throughout the day such as loss of power to the building (the fans!), a provider suffering from heat exhaustion (who needed to rest for an hour before returning), and the optometry building losing power which meant for a few hours Brett (the optometrist) was working double time sorting through over 1000 pairs of lenses and using trial and error to find the best correction for each patient. Difficulties like this are part of the process, so your fervent prayers are coveted and necessary! This evening we just finished worship, share/encouragement time, and a message delivered by Duane Baxter (CMMSA staff) where he encouraged us to not neglect the reason we began the pursuit of medicine, our hearts. He cautioned us that the world/healthcare will tempt us to focus solely on the legal, financial, and scientific aspects of medicine. He posited that the cure for a weary heart isn’t always leisure, but sometimes it is pursuing “full-heartedness” such as serving in the capacity we are this week. Please continue to pray for the safety, stamina, morale of the team as we depend in a special way on the Lord’s sustenance to provide care for the people of the Dominican Republic. With Joy in Christ, Britton Ethridge, ACOM Medical Student Hey friends and family of CMMA team members!
Today was an exciting first full day in the Dominican Republic. Everyone began their morning with breakfast together and attendance at a local church. The beautiful service was presented in both Spanish and English, giving us a glimpse into Dominican culture. The message was led by Dr. Bob Nilsen, who spoke on the book of Ephesians and how it shapes our definition of church. After church, the team spent the afternoon organizing the medical supplies and preparing for the clinics we will host this week. Most students spent time sorting pills, packing medical bags and learning about the flow of clinic. Following dinner, the team gathered for worship led by the wonderful Dr. Brian Shaw and CMMA students MC Carlton and Ivana Smith. Afterwards, small groups gathered to share testimonies and discuss Psalm 1:1-6. We enjoyed the time of fellowship and the opportunity to pray over the week to come. As we embark on our first clinic day tomorrow, please join us in sending lots of prayers and love to both our team and the Dominican patients we will be serving. We are praying for smooth and effective teamwork, as well as the opportunity to make a long-lasting impact on the people we will be treating. Thank you for your continuous support and encouragement. We miss you all and can’t wait to share our experiences when we return! Best, Yulong Huang and Kahlea Haladwala USACOM |
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