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
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