Thursday's clinic was very good

The dinner at Safari Park was quite a treat.  We arrived before sunset to see the beautiful grounds with every kind of plant and animal imaginable.  The hotel grounds is a huge complex, with may pathways, bridges, various buildings and theaters.  After along walk, you eventually arrive at the dining area that seats several hundred people.  There is a small combo that plays before the meal begins and Allan, our driver requested our theme song for me, Jambo Bwana, as their first song.  It's a catchy tune that welcomes people to Kenya.  Our meal began with a small salad and rolls, followed by some potatoes and other vegetables.  We were instructed as to which of the sauces went with which meats.  Then it was meat, meat and more meat until eventually we had all surrendered.  There was pork sausage, ostrich, chicken, camel, goat, lamb, pork ribs, crocodile and several other kinds of meats, all very good.  There was a fruit and dessert bar that followed.  We couldn't stay for the big Africa stage show, since it started at 9pm and we were all exhausted.  The band saw that we were getting up to leave and played Jambo Bwana for us, since almost nobody had been there in the dining hall before, but now it was packed.  I gave them a big appreciative wave. I slept well until about 2am and then was up for about an hour doing this blog.  I now know why they have the senior special at Luby's at 4pm.  I really can't eat big very late anymore.  Still, a great time was had by all.  We have done several things on this trip that Pastor Kevin had never done, and this was another one I know he really liked.  I've been very pleased to be able to share some of the different things with the team and him that Catherine and Allan have helped us to find.

Our Thursday was packed full of surprises that God had in store for us, just as every day so far had been.  We got off to a slow but steady start under overcast skies which quickly burned off.  We were spared any rain and it was a beautiful day.  Our bullhorn that we had desparately been wanting finally arrived from one of the other teams.  Our good friend and super volunteer,  Barrack, went out mid-morning with our wonderful driver Allan in the pop-up van and people started streaming in more quickly for the rest of the day.  By noon, we had already registered 150 patients and by the end of the day we had seen 340.  For the most part, the clinic flowed very smoothly, with occasional bottlenecks at the triage and reading glasses stations.  Pastor Kevin helped clear the backlog at reading glasses when it occurred and I jumped in with Pastor Robert and Kevin several times to help push more people through triage when it became overly crowded.  Praying over each and every patient individually is a powerful experience.  Of course, we always pray that our clinic will be a blessing to each person's needs, that our doctors and team have the skill, knowledge and wisdom to help in a cure for the problem at hand.  Many times, people will tell us stories of great personal struggles that they may not share with their friends in the community and we lift those up to the Lord as well.  And we witness to those who are not already believers.  It's a nice luxury to reach the point where we have a team with such easily interchangeable parts when a slowdown occurs anywhere.  If we can have the same success with the megaphone, as they call a bullhorn here, tomorrow, coupled with the normal last minute nature of the Kenyan people, we could be in for a very big day on Friday.  I would not be surprised if we saw 500 or more people before we need to shut down, pack everything up in preparation for our departure for home Saturday and our closing devotion and goodbyes.

Francis removes a foreign object

We were again able to refer several people for sight giving cataract surgeries and a foreign object was even removed from a patient's eye by Francis, one of our doctors.  He put on one of the headlamps that we use when assembling glasses, sanitized his hands and then did what he had to do.  Pretty awesome. 

After dinner tonight, I spent some time with Debra getting the certificates of appreciate ready for our closing ceremonies tomorrow.  The volunteers really get a big kick out of being recognized for their efforts and we make sure their full name, properly spelled, is on their award.  We usually have the pastor and team leader call each person up individually to be recognized and to have their picture taken.  It's very special.  It's bittersweet to realize this mission is almost over.  Each of us has been very excited about the human care ministry we've been performing here and the way the Gospel has been spread.  That's about it for now, I've got to get some rest before the big finale tomorrow.  More pictures and stories will continue to be added to the blog over the next several weeks, so please keep coming back to see that take shape. Click on the link below to see what's out there so far. To God be the Glory!

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