"Help" is not always what you think

On my last post I told you about a 103 year old lady (Mrs. Victoria) that Hannah and I were taking care of. We were seeing her daily (even over the weekend) checking on her, cleaning and treating her wound etc. I would pray with her although she did not know I was there most of the time. Her family asked us to eat lunch with them Sunday. We had a nice time getting to know them more. They were so gracious, seating us at the table while the waited on us, and only eating after we were finished.

After lunch I went in to Mrs. Victoria's room to check on her. She had stopped eating several days prior, and by the way she looked to me, I felt she was very close to death. We discuss this with the family, and I told them I would be very surprised if she lived through the night. After a while longer, we left to go take care of another lady with a wound that lived near-by (who happened to be related to Mrs. Victoria), and when we arrived at her home in less than 5 minutes, we had a message waiting for us to come back quickly. So we cleaned and changed her dressing and returned to Mrs. Victoria's home where were told that they thought she had died. After confirming that indeed she had, we spent some more time with them talking and offering what little help we could, at least that is what I thought.

This afternoon I went to her funeral that was held at her family's home. Strangely, Mrs. Victoria and I share the same birth date. She was obviously a very special woman. I hate that I did not meet her when she was well and vibrant, but I am grateful to have known her none the less, regardless of the circumstances. So many people came to show their respects and celebrate her life. As a part of the service, they thanked us for being there when she died. They said it helped them so much. I was so touched by this sentiment.

You see, I thought I was helping Mrs. Victoria by trying to "heal" her wounds and illness (which in a way we were), but God had a different kind of "help" and healing in mind. We did not do anything special or spectacular, and most of what we did, does not require special training or skills. It was not our knowledge and expertise that impacted this wonderful family. What we did that had the most impact was show love, compassion and care in a real and practical way. These are things that we can all do everyday to show the awesome powerful love of Jesus.

Swine Flu, yucky belly, busy days and warm welcome

I know what you're thinking... "that is quite an interesting title".. And it is, but this has also been quite an interesting past couple of days. It is very rewarding to see the look on our patient's faces when we come to visit them or we see them in the clinic. They are SOOO excited to see us. One of our short term volunteer physicians from the UK said to me: "You are like a celebrity; everyone has been asking when are James and Hannah coming back?"

Well we are back and we "hit the door running" so to speak. I stepped out of our house onto our porch Wednesday morning just to look at the scenery when I was approached to speak to a man who had been coming to the clinic 2-3 times per week while we were gone looking for me. He wanted me to come see if I could help his 103 year old grandmother who had recently had one of her legs amputated and it was now infected and he could not find anyone to help her. I have been to their home yesterday and today and she will require myself or Hannah to come there every day for quite a while. We have also been busy preparing for the next group of students that arrive this weekend and as we will not have a physician for the first 2 weeks in May, I will be supervising all of the clinics also. Needless to say, busy, busy busy.

Tomorrow is a national holiday so our clinic will be closed. However we will still be working some, but I hope and need to slow down a little tomorrow and over the weekend. Our stomachs (mine especially) are "re-adjusting" to local foods (if you know what I mean) and that has got me a bit weak.

AND on top of all this there is the Swine Flu which I recently learned that we should not call it that to "protect" the pigs... you gotta laugh about that. I spent the better part of this morning in a meeting with local Ministry of Health officials discussing Belize's response to the pandemic. I would ask for much prayers regarding this. I am not afraid for myself, but I do have some concern for Hannah and the kids. We have only had a few suspected cases in the northern part of the country but it is only a matter of time.

Anyways, I know this is a lot but I think you are pretty much updated for now...

Back in Belize

Hi! Long time no post... sorry about that. I'll get back on the blogging train asap. We made it back to the clinic in about 20 minutes ago. We arrived in Belize yesterday afternoon but we missed the last bus so we spent the night and bused down today. We are very tired, hungry and THIRSTY (we basically dehydrate ourselves for the 6 hours bus ride b/c it does not make any bathroom breaks to speak of).

We had such a GREAT visit. I hope we got to see you. We saw MANY of our family and friends but unfortunately not all. Although nothing compares to being home in the states, it is strangely good to be back to the tree-house here at the clinic. There is SO much to do and we will be playing catch-up for a little while.

I look forward to sharing the rest of our time here with you. Please pray that we will be effective and fruitful hands and feet while we are here! More later...

home sweet home

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we made it safely back to Mississippi. All of our travels went very smoothly. Thank all of you so much for all the prayers. Hope to see you soon!

Homeward bound

We are very blessed and excited to be able to come home for a few weeks. Aidan has yet another eye appointment and I've got to pay the tax man. Plus we need a break. This past 3 months have been NON-STOP, which is good in many ways, but also very tiring. We start the trek to good ole Mississippi early in the morning (Monday) and will arrive in Jackson sometime Tuesday evening. We are going to try to see as many family and friends as possible while home. I hope we see you soon! Please pray for us as we travel.