Medical Brigade 2023

The last week of February brought much excitement to Rus Rus and surrounding areas. In an area where medical help is extremely difficult to obtain and travel is difficult, the people will sometimes walk for a day or so to be seen by a doctor. They bring what food they can carry and expect to be seen that day or camp overnight. I talked to an elderly lady who had walked 15 hours from Nicaragua to Rus Rus. Imagine sending your grandma on a 15 hour walk to visit the doctor! Yet these people are accustomed to the travel. I can hardly comprehend the fortitude it would take to carry a baby through the jungle on a day’s hike, in addition to the food and water needed for the trip. Some people arrived with no thought for provision or how they were going to feed their children. This year it seemed that nearly everyone arrived on the first day, some even began arriving the day before. We had a lot of people camping over night, sleeping in the churches, homes of friends, or in any empty building they could find.

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During this brigade we saw over 800+ patients, from the elderly to babies. Assisting us this year were 6 doctors, 4 nurses, and a lot of others who all came with willing hearts and a desire to serve. As we prepare for a brigade we never know who God will send to help us, but each time He always sends just the people we need. He sends the right amount in the right time. He sends the people, who we pray, have been touched, and healed by God. Maybe through the care and the compassion each person feels as they step onto Rus Rus soil will be a door, a seed panted or a heart transformed.

This year has been incredibly busy, and at the same time such a blessing. We have been so blessed to have had resources to put on a Christmas party complete with gifts, two different VBS’s, and a medical brigade. Alone, we would have never been able to pull these events off and we are so grateful and acutely aware of how blessed we are to have such a great support team behind us and the mission.