by Kevin Smallwood
Well, here is an update from the week. All that I can say is that it was another awesome experince. So, Monday (May 19, 2014), we boarded the boat in a town called Belem. Belem is called Bethlehem in english. Here is where we met the entire team. There were 13 Americans from Mountain Christian Church, and 19 Brazilians from Familia da Fe' Church. Though there was the language barrier, no one minded. Our team had 2 people that spoke Portugese and their senior pastor from Brazil, spoke English. We all had a great time. No one really cared that we couldn't speak each other's language. We all managed to get the tasks at hand done.
We had a 7 hour boat ride to the village called Cachoeira Do Arari. Once we docked, We got ready for the day of serving. This trip was sponsored by the Bible Society of Brazil. Their representative gave us brief history about this project and the organization. Once that was finished, we had a devotional time and then we were excited to get the day going. I was one of 3 other medical professionals on board that was helping to provide the medical care. People were already in line before 7:00 AM waiting to be seen. Some travelled a great distance to be seen.
While the villagers were waiting to be triaged, People from the Familia da Fe' church had set up little stations to keep people occupied. There was Isaias who dressed up as a clown and would go around entertaining the the children with different Bible stories. The kids loved him. There was Marco and teammate who had another station doing hair cuts. Then there was a station for ladies to have their nails done, and another station for kids to have face painting. This was helpful keeping everyone occupied for awhile until they could be seen by the doctors.
Before seeing the doctors, they had gone to the triage area where our wonderful nurses gathered information about the patients that we would see. Once we got settled, we started to see patients. We saw many patients over the next 3 days. The ages ranged from a few months to elderly. The oldest patient that I saw was 85 years young. I think the only ailment that he had was high blood pressure. He look very well for his age. We saw many illnesses ranging from Colds to GI to Arthritis to Hypertension. Just like family medicine. The days were long, but so rewarding. I really enjoyed getting to pray with them after we saw them. The team really worked well together. So, we spent 2 days in Cachoeira Do Arari, then we went to another village called Cara'cara. Many of the people we saw there had similar medical complaints.
I unfortunately, had a young man who had a stroke. We had to get him to the hospital that day which was a little difficult. They wanted to wait until the next day to send him to the hospital because that was when the Neurologist would be there. I told him he could not wait, so the had sent to the local hospital in the area and then made arrangements to fly him to the major hospital in the city of Belem. I think of all the resources that we have in the US and even the bigger cities in Brazil, and realizing how easily we can get to the resource really make you thank God for the provisions. That is why many people in these remote village don't see doctor because they can't get there or they don't have the money to do so.Over the 3 days that we held the clinic, we saw approximately 550 patients, and the Dentist saw approximately 100 people. We were tired at the end of the day, but what great days they were.
Our last day on the Amazon, we had a debriefing time. It was very special because it allowed us to share our experiences there. It was also a time where some shared their testimonies. We then had communion. I love being able to take communion with with people from other countries. It really signifies for me how Omnipresent God truly is. That we can speak different languages, but when it come to celebrating our God, everyone understands, without even having to say a word. He is so universal. Once the evening was done, we boarded the boat and we started to head back to Belem. We had a day where we had a chance to sightsee and do some shopping. I got many things for my family and friends. I am the shopper of the group. Thank goodness, I have many friends from our team who had extra space in the luggage to help me get my things back home. All in all, it was another wonderful opportunity to serve. I love it when God provides these opportunities. I also love His ability to put everything into proper order for the mission trips to happen.
As I said at the beginning of this letter, it was an awesome time. I really hope that I/ we get to do this again soon. Alex Fonseca ( the pastor at Familia da Fe' Church) had informed me that they may try and do this again next year. I told him I would love to do this again with them. Hopefully, if God allows,this will happen. Thank you all for partnering with me again. I really appreciate your love, encouragement and support over the years. May God continue to richly bless you all. I will be going to the Dominican Republic next week for another week of serving the medical needs of the people there. Looking forward to this. This will be my first trip to the Domincan Republic. Please pray that our work there will glorify God and that many seed will be planted for those that do not know the Lord.
I have attached some pictures from the trip for your viewing. I hope you enjoy them. I really enjoyed taking these pictures.
Be blessed,
Kevin
To view a MSFT OneDrive folder (no log-in needed to view) of more Brazil pics
click here
https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=3C01D0691467B3C2&id=3C01D0691467B3C2%211152&authkey=%21AIQa47_NnlmtzFQ
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