Rio Verde

Dear family and friends,

Our team this year had nine members - me, Shelia (our leader), Phil (Shelia's spouse and translator), Leah (the Duncan's daughter and a nurse who coordinated the pharmacy), Corey (19 yr.old student, Leah's helper), Bill Harrell (pediatrician), Jan (peds nurse), Janet (home health nurse who saw patients), and Alvaro (a mental health worker in the public schools of Columbia who translated for Janet). We had a great and experienced team.

One act of God's providence occurred last Sunday on the way to Lita. A dump truck was sitting in the opposite lane as our bus was coming around a curve. A bus coming from the opposite direction passed by the truck, leaving our bus but a few extra inches on our side of the road. Many prayers of the moment went up in those few seconds, and the two buses passed safely by one another.

The first day in clinic at Rio Verde was a day of much activity and clinical diversity. I treated an asthmatic women with a nebulizer, a lady with pneumonia with an antibiotic injection, and a family of three children with bad cases of impetigo. One lady had a large ganglion cyst which required aspiration. We saw Gloria once again. She has had scleroderma for several years, and we bring her annual supply of medication. She is doing well. We met her daughter, who is on a national soccer team for Ecuador. One man we examined had been acutely confused for four days. His diagnosis eluded us, and we recommended cautious observation and hospital treatment if not improving.

One very interesting family was a couple in their late fifties or early sixties. They had two children - a son who is ten and a daughter who is four - both of whom had Down's syndrome. It was difficult for us to know how difficult a task these parents had in raising these children. Nevertheless, they were very kind and loving. Shelia hugged the little girl, who took a particular liking to Shelia's nose. She kept pulling on it until it became quite red. Then, when I had my back turned during my exam of the boy, he caught me off guard when he tweaked by backside. I jumped about two feet, and all six of us laughed!

It was a great two days at Rio Verde. God is surely bringing His kingdom to this remote corner of the world.

In awe,
Tim