My experience this week feels next to impossible to put into words, but I will do my best. It was my first experience outside of the US as well as my first experience on a mission trip, and I have learned so much about myself and the world. This week has been absolutely filled with love, compassion, learning, laughing, sweat, hard work, humility, and new relationships made. God has been everywhere I look this week. I feel changed in a way that is difficult to describe, but tonight Teresa shared some text from the book she is reading titled "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard J. Foster and the passage relating to service and humility really summed it up perfectly. He writes about how service allows you to see the people you serve in a new light, you can not only see their position in life from a new perspective, but you can see their pain and you can now identify with the outcasts. To sum up our week I asked the team to put our heads together to crunch the numbers and determine the *approximate* number of people served (and other interesting statistics).
- 145 water filters installed - I did not have the pleasure of working with the water team this week but based off what I have heard from others on the team this seemed to be the most touching mission. The team enters a home and with the help of interpreters demonstrate the use of the water filters, how long they last, etc. and then the team prays with them. Many of them get on their knees and cover their heads to receive the blessing, and one woman told Jessica, "Yes you can pray for me, I have been waiting for this."
- 125 hygiene kits given away - Estella (one of the mission leaders) rounds up girls in the Batey to provide education/demonstration on use of the kits our church members have made. The kits, if taken care of well, will last the girls up to 2 years.
- 255 patients served in clinic - We learned a lot as a team about teamwork in clinic. We worked together to fill prescriptions and get patients seen/served in a timely manner. They were weighed, had their blood pressures taken, assessed by the doctors and dentist, and waited for their medications to be ready. Our wonderful interpreters (Eddy, Juan Roberto, David, Gilberto, Yuya, Emilio, and Manuel) helped do patient education about medications.
- 233 kids in VBS - Kids received anti-parasitic medication to start the day, followed by a bible story (translated by Estella into Spanish), and a related craft. Estella is a key part of VBS and is fantastic at getting the children in gear. I overheard her speaking to a particularly ornery group of girls who where just staring at her while she gave instructions and after a brief pause with no action from the girls she said, "Do you not understand Spanish?" She's the perfect amount of class and sass.
- almost 800 lbs of luggage - Each team member brought a checked bag with some of their belongings for the week and some extra supplies for the week, as well as a second checked bag full of only supplies for the week. Needless to say, we will be traveling MUCH lighter back home!
- 9 large pizzas - The number of pizzas orders tonight at dinner, which was way too many.
- 3 languages spoken - Several of our wonderful interpreters speak English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole in order to communicate with us and the people in the Bateys.
- 1800 pounds - The amount of rice we helped distribute in the Bateys.
Many, many thanks to our church family who have been praying for us this week.
Shelby Hogan
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