One of the people I have encountered on our trip is a man named Rafael. Rafael helps around the church and has been with our group for most of the trip. He has helped load our bags, helped to transport us around the city, and has been around for most of the day during our clinics. I have had the opportunity to speak with Rafael a lot in the last few days with the Spanish that I do know. He is a very light hearted person, and has been very patient with my trouble in communicating. He has a very jovial spirit and loves to joke around with the members of our group. As we talked on our bus ride to Choluteca from the airport, Rafael told me about some shoulder and back pain he has been experiencing, and I suggested that he come to our clinic when he was able.
Each day in clinic, after each patient has gone through a triage process they are more or less randomly assigned to a treatment team. After lunch on our second day of clinic, Rafael entered the room of my treatment team, and I do not believe it was simply by coincidence. As we talked with Rafael and asked about his back and shoulder problems, we were able to also learn about his family life and situation. We learned that Rafael was under a lot of stress and had a lot of worries about various aspects of his life. With the help of Aston, one of the translators on our trip, I felt led to share with him Matthew 6 25-34 in which we are told “to not be anxious about your life…but to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” These verses have always been a comfort to me in times of uncertainty or anxiety and a reminder of God’s love for His children. As we continued to treat Rafael, we were able to ask questions to dive deeper into his spirituality and his walk with Christ. As I heard the power with Christ had radically transformed Rafael’s life, I honestly had to hold back a few tears. It was amazing to have assurance that someone I had developed a bond with was also my brother in Christ and was a reminder of Christ’s saving grace. The next day Rafael’s mother came to clinic. I was able to catch a glimpse of the end of her treatment as she and the team that treated her prayed together outside. She, Rafael, and the students and therapists are pictured in a photo attached. On the ride back to the hotel I learned that not only had the team prayed over her, but she asked if she could pray over each person who helped treat her. Her boldness and love of others for Christ are something to be admired. Although I came to Honduras with a focus of ministering to others, I have been so encouraged by the ways in which Christ has been able to use others to reveal His promises and provide spiritual growth. Whether it is through patients we are treating, fellow members of my team, or translators, God has facilitated conversations which have opened my eyes to the depth of His love for us. I am also continually reminded that it is not by my strength or merit alone, but is only through Christ and the direction of the Holy Spirit that I can further His kingdom. Please continue to pray for our team and the people of this community and that He may be glorified. -James Crockett It’s around 5:00 in the evening, and we have just come back from our first day in clinic. Yesterday was a day filled with worship with the people of La Iglesia Bautista de Nazaret. Tommy, one of the leaders on our trip, preached the gospel to the local congregation in both the morning and evening worship services with the help of a translator named Asten. It’s amazing to see that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit transcend language and culture. It was a reminder that we are all children of God, and that the power of Christ is capable of changing all of us. The Spanish language has been an interest of mine since learning it in high school, and the ability to sing to God in this language was a very moving experience.
This morning before heading back to the church to begin our clinic, I was filled with both excitement and some nerves. Would I be limited in my ability to remember skills learned in PT school this semester? Would I be able to communicate in an effective way? Each day during this trip, we are given a devotional to meditate on for that particular day. Today’s Bible study looked at 1 Timothy 1:1-7. In this passage, we are reminded that, “God gave us not a spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.” God is bigger than any limitation or weakness that I may have, and his Spirit is able to strengthen us in such a way to help glorify His name. Once arriving to clinic, we divided into five teams with one therapist paired with one or two PT students. Patients arrived and went through triage and were then assigned to a treatment team. A unique aspect of being a physical therapist is the ability to spend a large amount of time with your patients. On this trip in particular, it allows us the opportunity to evangelize to our patients. Our aim is to address more than the physical needs of the patients; it is also to “diagnose” if our patients have a walk with Christ and if they understand the magnitude of that relationship. We praise God for the many of our patients who already are believers, but we also ask that you pray for those patients that we saw today who do not know Christ or who are lukewarm in their faith. We pray that any seeds planted today will continue to grow and that God will reveal himself to these people. We prayed over each patient before they left, for their physical needs but also for their spiritual needs and their concerns over their families or friends. For those who were already followers of Christ, we were able to encourage them, and I also found the encouragement they gave us had a big impact. It was a reminder of 1 Thessalonians 5:11, “Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” -James Crockett |
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