Clinica en Luz Divina

My soccer buddies

Playing soccer

The brand new baby girl

Working on a patient

The loaded truck

Signing people up for medical

The matching medical team




This past week we had another clinic just outside of Pulcallpa in a town called Luz Divina. We arrived Sunday morning bright and early, set up clinic, and saw our first patients for the day around 11 am. In dental we saw 12 patients for Sunday which was a good number to start with for the first day.
The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. David, Manuel, and I slept at the municipality were we where having clinic. Every morning we would get up early so that we could pass out tickets out to the people in line around 6 am. This was the first clinic that I helped sign people up after they got their tickets which was fun but slightly difficult. One of the factors that made it slightly hard was trying to spell peoples names on the sign up sheet. Although I can understand quite a bit of Spanish now spelling names is a completely different thing. But after a few days I started to get the hang of it. Just another new thing that I have learned while being in Peru.
One of the really fun things for me this clinic was playing soccer with the kids at night right before the kids program. I had a lot of fun and they really enjoyed getting to play with a tall white kid! In the evenings after clinic we would have a kids program and then get to go to the evening evangelistic meetings. I really enjoyed singing the songs and listening to the speaker because I could understand most of what they were saying.
The first part of the week was pretty slow for dental. We would have anywhere from 15-20 patients in the morning and about 10-15 in the afternoon. However on Thursday and Friday we got the proverbial storm of patients. Both mornings we had close to thirty partients in the morning. Normally that wouldn't be so bad but Manuel was gone so it was just me and Laura in the clinic. We literally pulled teeth from 8:30 in the morning until around 1-1:30 in the afternoon without a break. Needless to say my back was pretty sore but it was a good experience. We had some difficult patients and some really tough teeth. A couple of my patients I had to have someone come and hold their head so that I could apply enough pressure to pull the tooth. We also had some very scared patients but amazingly we didn't have any screaming kids. Another exciting thing that happened in dental was the new chairs that we got from the money that Dr. Fillman raised. The new chairs are amazing because they are much more comfortable for our patients and for us.
Another cool thing that happened during clinic was the birth of two baby girls. Although I didn't get to see the births I got to hold one of the little girls 20 minutes after she was born which was a truly amazing experience. Although this clinic was hard and their was several times when I felt discouraged or exhausted God was always there. Their were numerous times when I didn't think I would be able to get a specific tooth out and I would send up a little prayer. Right after that the tooth would come out and I could praise God for his amazing power.
One of the most memorable experiences for me this clinic was one patient that I had in Dental. When she came in I could tell that she was extremely nervous and scared so I tried my best to try and keep her from having too much pain. At the end after I had pulled her tooth she had a big smile on her face and thanked me for not giving her any pain. That comment made the lack of sleep and stress of the week all worth it.
This past clinic was one of the best that we have had so far. We were able to help hundreds of people both physically and spiritually. Please pray for the people of Luz Divina while the evangelistic campaign is going on these next coming weeks. And continue to pray for AMOR projects and our team. I know that your prayers work because things happen every week that show us God is working!