Day 8: An uplifting smile for a weary team

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. “But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord offerings in righteousness."

Malachi 3:1-3

The team has returned from Lita and the land of the Awa. The sixteen of us spent four days conducting Bible school sessions and health care clinics. We had nearly 200 patients a day for health care. We saw the usual aches and pains, as well as less common diagnoses such as the residual of snake bites and traumatic eye injuries. We served in Lita, Rio Verde and Palmira.

The road to the remote community of Palmira has undergone impressive improvements. The team was provided superb transportation to and from these communities each day by means of dump truck.

The Bible school team was assisted this year by the work of fireman Pat Boggs. Pat taught the children about fire safety, as well as how to respond in the event of fire. He was well received by all.

A big event for the medical team this year was the provision of a pair of hand prostheses for the man we know as Augustine in the community of Rio Verde. We have known him for many years as the man who had lost the distal half of each arm in a dynamite accident many years ago. Remarkably, he has managed to get by over the years with help from family and friends, but I had never seen the man smile. At this year's global missions conference, Shelia Duncan discovered an entity that provides prosthetic hands, so we obtained six of them. With Shelia, Connie Baker, missionary Kevin Bruce, pastor Wilman Varela and Augustine's son in attendance, adjustments were made, and Augustine was fitted with a new pair of hands. He was able to feed himself, and to pick up a cup. It will take time to learn how to use the prostheses, but for the first time, we saw him smile. We pray that God will continue to soften his heart so that he will be able to receive Christ soon.

We returned to Otavalo tired, but it was a good tired. God is working in each of our lives, continuing to remove the dross. Today (Thursday) we go to a new community to continue providing service.

In His grip,

Tim and Kim