True Feelings: The Vents of an Inexperienced Missionary (#4)

8/4/10


I felt like I was benefitting from Jim Elliot's life efforts today. We treated 5 or 6 Quechua Indians in our clinic today. They are a branch of the indigenous Indians who migrated down from Ecuador to parts of Bolivia. They are a very unique people. They all dress with 4 to 5 layers including an apron on the outside. Our interpreters have difficulty understanding them. Best of all: They are all very strong and sure of their faith. It's easy to see the influence Jim and his wife have had on their entire culture. I felt honored to come across these people on the mission field. I got a photo of a couple of them that I posted at the bottom of this blog entry.

As far as the clinics went today, I was an official doctor... At least according to the Bolivians. I saw my own patients and made my own diagnoses. I've really learned a lot in just the last three days of doing a clinic. It's been very beneficial to apply things learned in school. One of my patients had Chagas disease, which is only found in Bolivia and Paraguay. This excited our team physician, Dr. Carey. He totally stopped all orders of business to get out a tropical disease textbook and teach us students about the uniqueness of our case. It was really interesting. We've run into cases of tuberculosis, Pneumonia, and even a staph infection. Needless to say, I've used about seven bottles of hand sanitizer. This experience is priceless. Dr. Carey even sent us home with his text book to read more about Chagas disease. Guess you can't avoid homework even when you're on the mission field. (Edit on 8/5/10: I got in trouble for not reading my homework. Uh oh.) I'm merely a beginner. It's so easy to treat the symptoms and not the root cause of the problem. I really have a desire burning deep down to learn more. I want to be knowledgeable. I want to be the best I can possibly be.

I got to have dinner tonight with seven engineers and businessmen. I was easily the poorest and least intelligent person in the room. I tried my best to not foolishly spill my coffee all over the table and interrupt the wealthy aura of the room. Nonetheless, it was a unique opportunity for one of our team members to share his testimony with them. I'm not sure why I was the only other one invited. Maybe it was simply my beautiful face.

I've been too busy to write much lately. And I know I'm too tired to remember all the exciting things I've experienced. This Friday (8/6/10) is Bolivia's 188th Independence Day. There will be a huge parade that we will get to attend. The president, Evo Morales, will be in the parade. Its sub 40 degrees here and my fingers are getting stiff with the lack of a heater. It's time for me to go crawl into my sleeping bag. It's very late and I must wake up early. We are going on a 100 mile journey tomorrow to set up a remote clinic. Over 20 people came to know Christ for the first time today. Praise God. Praying for you.

Love,

Stephen