#i want to be a pair of eyeglasses in my next life so vinnie can suck on me...

[ilovemesomevincentprice]

Vincent Price as Carl Carmer

Convicts 4 (1962) dir. Millard Kaufman

[viviansjourneytotruelove-blog]

GHO Goes to the DR - DAY 3: 3/20/17 -- Clinic Day 1 in El Dique (Dental Assistant/School Trip)!

This morning, I did manage to have breakfast (an omelette and some hash browns) and we had devotionals before going to the clinic. Paula Cunningham, the wife of the medical director (Tom Cunningham) and a registered nurse, shared about trusting in God. She talked about how she homeschooled her children and so they were able to take their four children with them. She was worried about the safety of her children but ultimately realized that she had to just trust in Him. Robin, the RN that’s in charge of triage, also shared. Afterwards, We made our way to the clinic and at first, it took a little bit of time to get set up. Everyone got set up in their own stations. Outside under the tents were triage people. On the first floor was counseling, the pharmacy, and dentistry. On the second floor were the doctors and reading eyeglass clinic. On the third floor were more doctors and the lab station where we do urine dipsticks, urine pregnancy tests, and glucose finger sticks. The fourth floor was the bathroom and cafeteria, which served as the children’s ministry when we weren’t eating there. I was assigned to dental that morning. Dental took a particularly long time to get set up because they had a sterilizing machine and suction machine to put together. I was paired up with an 18 year old pre-dental student named Aysia Cooper. We filled up tubs with water for washing instruments and also a tub with what I assume is similar to the Cidex we use at Charles B. Wang before we sterilize the equipments. They also brought metal equipment so those were the ones that went into the sterilizing machine. All dirty equipment went into the tub with soapy water first. Then we rinsed off the soap in the next tub. Plastic equipment went into the Cidex-like chemical for 30 minutes before being rinsed and dried for re-use. Metal equipment were simply air dried and then put into the sterilizing machine for 15 minute sessions. Dr. EJ, a dentist and Dr. Ken’s wife, had me pray for some of her patients. She had told me that the patient had just accepted Christ and so I prayed for them as a translator helped me translate. We are partnering with local churches and high schools that send students and volunteers to help translate for us. It really is beautiful to see an entire team of brothers and sisters in Christ work in unity for Him. I was so surprised because Dr. Mike, the other dentist on our team, was doing surgical teeth extractions and it was just so mindblowing how we were doing that right in a church-turned-clinic. At 1PM, it was lunch time and I was by Bob that he volunteered for me to go to a local school to share my testimony. Then I had remembered that I deleted my testimony from my e-mail drafts folder the night before. I decided that it must have been a part of God’s plan for that to happen and I just went on the fly. I went to the public school with Brandon, Cameron, and Vinnie. Brandon was brought to another school that was walking distance away and we waited for 3PM and thought about what we were going to say. We were given a classroom of about 20-30 children each and were told to tell them about Jesus. God really worked through us. Although it was a public school, the principal allowed us to come because she wanted to instill “morals” into the children of the school. Diones, the pastor of Oasis church, told us that this neighborhood, Los Minas, was filled with a lot of drugs and fatherlessness. Right there and then, I knew God had called me there for a reason. I ended up in a class of 7th graders. There’s a group of young kids who used music to try to reach out to nonbelievers. They went first with their songs and I was blown away by how amazing they sounded. A high school senior named Maria translated for me. I told the class my testimony and honestly, at first, I was a little discouraged. They all just seemed to stare blankly at me but I did my part and trusted that God would do the rest. At the end, one of the staff asked them who liked my story the best and all of them raised their hands enthusiastically and my heart melted. I also met another translator named Noemi, a 29-year-old who teaches at the Oasis church’s school. She and I really clicked. She told me that she goes to Queens, NY from time to time since her dad is there so hopefully she and I can reunite before we go to heaven someday. By the time we got back, it was about time to leave so we packed up and Day 1 at the clinic was finished. It’s simply so amazing how much you can feel like family with people you’ve just met and I dare say that nothing else can take credit for that except for God’s sovereignty and power. We came back to the hotel, ate a buffet dinner, and had devotionals at 7:30. This time, Dr. Brad Allen shared a little about his struggles with pride. He says that he had always struggled with pride and allowing God to sit on the throne in his life. So many times, he finds himself taking the throne back from God and it’s important to remind ourselves that we must put God there instead. Brandon Gilliland, a soon-to-be first year medical school student, also shared. He talked about Colossians 3:2 - “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” Everything we do, we must remember who and why we are doing it and this missions trip was no different. After devotionals, I changed to go swimming. Hannah and Aysia joined me even though it was raining outside. We all  ended up in the sauna with David and Brandon and had a few good laughs. Went back to my room, took a shower, and got some rest for clinic day 2.