Tim and Linda: Chapter Four

Dear friends and family,

Linda and I are back in Otavalo now. Resting, and shopping a little. The past ten days have flown by very quickly. We have been blessed. We returned from Lita and Rio Verde yesterday afternoon. Pleasant weather, beautiful sights, exhausted team, but peace.

Medically, there has been the usual great diversity of pathology seen in the seven days of clinics that our team has held. Included in the list for adult medicine would include a chronic tear gland infection (caused by parental abuse), probable tuberculosis, a piece of steel embedded in a cornea, multiple ear canals occluded by wax (and on two occasions, by an insect), fractures of a wrist and of an ankle (one sustained by falling from a bridge hanging thirty feet over the Rio Verde), endless cases of back pain caused by living in these mountains, several cases of pneumonia, PID, and cellulitis, one abscess of an eyelid, several major depressions, several cases of severe hypertension, one fellow with angina, another with phimosis and possible adenocarcinoma, multiple cases of roundworm infestations, one fellow with a colostomy wound abscess, etc., etc. One 40 year old man was blind as the result of an accident. He depended on his ten year old son to be led along. My compatriot, pediatrician Bill Harrell, saw many interesting pediatric cases, including a child with severe enlargement of his liver (probably due to a liver fluke), and one case of a pseudo-scorpion bite of the scalp (turns out the boy´s sister thought she saw a scorpion on the floor, and accidentally hit him in the head with a broom). All in all, a very interesting assortment.

Through all of this, the people we served were very thankful and appreciative. They showered us with smiles, hugs, kisses, handshakes and gifts. We felt as though we were able to help them. We of course recognized that most of the help given was short term, at best. But they were glad that we had come, and it spoke of the love of Jesus to them. The missionary family in Rio Verde -- Kevin and Kathy Bruce and their three children -- are wonderful people. They told us that in the fourteen years they have been serving the Awa people, that many of the Awa have rejected their efforts to bring the gospel and other help to them. However, as our team returns each year they are seeing doors beginning to open to deeper relationships with the Awa. This is of more lasting significance.

The apostle Paul wrote this to the people at Colossae: "Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving; praying at the same time for us as well, that God will open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ..." I feel that this is why we go -- to be a part of the work to those here in Ecuador for whom Christ died, rose again, and lives today. The body has many parts, each playing a different role, but all significant in God's plan. We are blessed, and He is glorified.

Linda and I will be travelling with the team back to Quito this afternoon. We will fly out early on Sunday morning, and arrive in Miami around midday. We should arrive back in Kentucky around 5pm on Sunday afternoon. We look forward to seeing each of you in the coming days.

Awed by His bountiful love and power,
Tim and Linda