Hello everybody back home! This is Scott and I will quickly tell you one of many stories that will remain with me for the rest of my life.
Before breakfast this morning, there was a HUGE line of people ready to receive medical treatment. It is wonderful to be a part of what God is doing here, both medically and spiritually. With bottles upon bottles spread over many the tables in our clinic/OR/pharmacy/cafeteria, we began the most intensive day.
So far, my job has been helping take vital signs for our patients. This has also allowed me to interact with the medical team and witness their work. I have been honored to serve God next to such a skilled team. Their service continues to inspire me on this trip.
While serving one gentleman with a cyst the size of a golf ball growing off from one of his fingers, I witnessed God’s work in a very real way. With Allen stitching up his finger after the surgery, the man spoke to me. “I have no father,” he said with a desperate voice.
Of all the things he could have said, this was what he wanted to tell me. He did not talk about his condition or the pain from the surgery. I am thankful I did not miss a chance to speak to him and tell him that he does have a Father who loves him very much. His smile after surgery said everything, and I do not doubt that his life has been changed today.
There are countless other stories like this and I’m thankful I could let you in on just a glimpse of what God is doing here. We were also able to minister to the children of the Mole by having a beach party with them. We swam and played games. For a few hours the children got to take a break and just be kids. It is so rewarding to see their smiles, and receive their hugs.
Praise Jesus for his continual strength and provision for the team. All glory goes to Him for what is being accomplished in Haiti.
See you all soon! - Scott
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From the Medical Team:
Today has been our most productive day so far.
On Monday we had a great clinic, but we spent a lot of time setting up so we were only able to see 30 or so patients.
Tuesday was a great day also, but we had to ride an hour and a half to get to the town, so we didn’t start until around noon.
Yesterday had potential to be a full day of medical treatment, but our truck broke down on the way so we were delayed over an hour with the start of our clinic, keeping our numbers in the 30’s once again.
Today we had the clinic at the Mission house. We had plenty of room and tables so we were able to have all three providers treating at the same time. The previous days we have had limited room and had to use wobbly church benches as surgery tables.
Today we had sturdy tables and plenty of chairs. We saw 51 patients with A LOT of procedures. I removed a very large lymphoma from a ladies shoulder, removed several cysts, and multiple other lesions and growths. I don’t know exactly what procedures Rob and Allen preformed, but it seemed like every time I had a spare second to look over at them they were elbow deep in blood.
We each have a nurse working with us. Jen has been working with me for the past few days and she has been a tremendous help! She has also learned how to suture and do some other procedures while we have been here.
Brandy and Andrew have been keeping Allen and Rob running smoothly. Lauren is bouncing around between everyone, and she has held the flashlight on a few procedures that she might want to forget.
The “pharmacy” was rocking today also. Nick has picked up on the names of medicines and the dosing very quickly, and he has almost learned how to read Allen’s handwriting. Ha. Jill has picked up where she left off and is doing great.
We started seeing patients around 9am, and we sewed up the last one at 6:30pm. We ate lunch in shifts so that we could keep the clinic rocking. Scott and Danny have picked up the art of triaging and can whip out come vital signs like a seasoned pro.
Many of my patients have been living with their symptoms for years. This one young man has had two very large cysts on each cheekbone for 5 years. The cysts were about the size of golf balls, and were not cosmetically pleasing. I was able to remove both cyst sacs and I believe that the scars will be minimal.
He was very gracious. I asked him if he knew Jesus, and he said “no”. This was a great opportunity because most patients that I ask about this say that they already know Jesus. I asked him if he wanted a member of our team to talk to him about God and pray with him before he left and he was very eager. This was a great moment and Nick and Sergio were able to witness to him as we continued seeing patients.
We are taking a boat ride to a fishing village tomorrow morning, and then doing clinic here again in the afternoon. I am very excited. Haiti has been a life changing experience for me. I never understood the living conditions and circumstances of people in third world countries, but now I understand. We all miss our friends and families very much, and cant wait to get back to you. In the meantime we will continue to try to touch the lives of as many people as we can while we are in this country.
Allen says Hi to Lorrie and Ava and says that he loves you very much. He also says hello to everyone at the clinic and that he misses the staff.
I have to give a shout out to Jessee, I miss you and will see you soon!
Bye for now.
-Mike Burton
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Pleasant Valley was unable to blog today. There was a mix-up with their MAF flights and they had to fly to Port-au-Prince tonight. They are overnighting at a hotel and will be flying home tomorrow as scheduled.
This morning they went hut to hut and passed out solar lights! They had a wonderful time spreading the love of Christ. They told me that the last house they stopped at they were taken back by how thankful they were. They kept saying for God to bless THEM. How humbling!
They weren’t able to pass out the animals today. Our plan is to pass them out tomorrow on their behalf. It was such an honor to serve alongside them this week. They not only blessed the Haitian people but they were such a source of comfort and love to our staff and family!
