Medical Team from Texas

So I apologize to everyone for not writing for over a week. Last week was super busy and I didn't get home until about 8 or 9 every night. The reason was because there was a medical group from Texas that came to help out at the sister church of the one I have been attending since I got here. It is a Quichua church in a city called Duran, which is about 20 minutes from Guayaquil. They were here until yesterday. We went to the church and did basic check ups from Monday until Thursday and Friday was a free day. We went to the Historical Park and saw all kinds of animals. I took some really great pictures of some parrots and flowers. I will definitely post all of my pictures on facebook when I get back.

This past week at the Quichua church I helped mainly at the intake table getting basic information from the people and finding out what their problems were. A couple of days I had to listen to them explain their problems to a nurse who was from Guayaquil and couldn't speak English and my job was to translate it on their intake form. Other times I would be the one who listened and tried to extract the basic idea of what was said and write on their sheet. We had a nurse practitioner and a doctor who saw patients at the same time and they always needed an interpreter. A couple of times I helped out with that when Jim or Elena (the two main interpreters) needed a break. And I will be honest, that was one of the hardest things I have ever done. After not too long of doing this I felt like my head was about to explode. But it was such an awesome experience to see the gratitude in their eyes, it was totally worth anything difficult I had to do. That was also the first time I have prayed in Spanish for someone. I'm still not sure of what I said but I later prayed that if I said anything remotely rude or ridiculous that the Lord would help them to understand what I was trying to say and that they would leave blessed.

The group that came was from Houston, Texas and they were so much fun. I am so glad I was able to spend the week with them serving this church. The pastor and his brother (who is the assistant pastor) were so much help too. They were the ones who helped us keep the flow of the patients going smoothly and a couple of times they helped interpret Quichua to Spanish when we were talking with some of the older members of the church who didn't speak Spanish well. And even a couple of times the translated Spanish to Spanish for me because sometimes the people would talk so fast or low and they could see that I was struggling. The pastor and his family were so wonderful. It took until Wednesday until it felt like they were loosening up to us some and I think the Quichua culture is more closed than that of the Latin culture in general. The last day the pastor spoke to the group after everything was over and expressed his gratitude for what we had done and then I could see that both he and his brother were tearing up. I can't express how blessed I felt to have done something I considered so little and not very well done and to have them tell us how much it meant to them. They presented each of us a gift; typical Quichua handmade things. Everyone got a bag that said Ecuador on it but they gave me a belt that the women use to wrap a few times around the waist of their skirts to keep them secure. The reason they did this was because I had seen one of the women wearing one and said how much I liked it and they remembered it and got me one! That was wonderful.

But the week is now over and now begins another, the last, one. Another group from the states is coming tomorrow to help with a conference the pregnancy center is having. This will probably be another busy week but I will try to post at least once or twice, But my flight is Monday (can't remember the time I will have to look) and then I will spend 3 days in Lawrenceville with MTW doing debriefing. So I leave Monday the 27th from Quito and leave Lawrenceville the 30th. Can't wait to see everyone again!