Bubbles
“When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of their troubles.
Psalm 34:17”.
The day started with devotions at 6am. Mike played his guitar. What a pleasant and encouraging way to start the day, in a land of not much artificial light, we met on the open air 2nd floor balcony to see the sun rising and the day starting. Today was the first day of our clinic. Being the first day we had trepidations of what the day held, how will this go, do we all know how to do our assignments, do we have all the right supplies, etc.? With our devotions said and God in our pocket, we were off.
We drove to the first clinic, to arrive with 100+ people waiting at the school for us. We step out of the van, the crowd looking at us as if we were celebraties. A quick assignment of which room was which, setup of supplies and so it began. The crowd was given numbers, and a bench to sit on. The crowd: adults and many, many children waited very quietly and patiently without extra toys for amusement. So many high blood pressures! It was uncommon to have a blood pressure in the normal range! This is what the result is when medication and the money for medications are not available. It was shocking! As we took their blood pressure and sent them on their way you think to yourself, what will become of them? Blood pressure is an easy enough item to fix in the states, and so monumental over here. Things we take for granted in the states, we don’t even consider life without the resources to handle the medical problem.
Bubbles were a BIG hit. The children loved chasing the bubbles, marveling at the large funny shaped bubbles, or the many bubbles at once. The children were very happy when the drone flew over them and they waved at it. Playing ring around the rosy, “and we all fall down”! Hah, so simple, and so much fun for the children. They just loved the attention, and being touched and smiled at. The children were pure joy.
The sun, heat, and line never reduced throughout the day. Near the Equator there are 12 hour days all year long, so the sun sets at 6pm. With still 100+ in line at 4:30, how incredibly difficult it is for anyone to decide, who is seen and who is will go home. We gave VIP passes to urgent cases to speed them to the front.
The Lord delivered us from our troubles and fears. A good day.