Ditto

Today was almost a carbon copy of the first day. Here are the highlights and differences:

• Tony (a member of the church in Concord) brought a large box full of mangoes, pineapple, and cashew fruit.
• We had two critical medical personnel who could not work today. One had pink eye and one was admitted to a local hospital with pneumonia. Please pray for them.
• When we arrived at the clinic, there were 30+ people already waiting for us. Chaos ensued. We had to stop taking patients about half way through because we knew we'd never be able to see the rest today. To accelerate things, we stopped cleaning teeth. We ended up seeing 100+ even being short by two.
• Angela returned from yesterday with salt fish, green bananas, and plantains.
• We prayed with several people today. A common theme seems to be young woman with babies, no job, and no man. I keep being struck by the number of children taking care of children (their own or others) without adults around.
• Noyle returned briefly and we continued our conversation on the way God works in the church.
• I played soccer with the kids at VBS. Even though they called me "old man", they picked me over Randy. I even heard them yell "pass the ball to the white guy" by which they meant me.
• David shared his story with me. He and his wife (girlfriend at the time) went to a clinic in 1989 at one of the local stadiums. A stranger named Paul Winkler sat down by David, introduced himself, and asked if he wanted to study the Bible. David said yes, was baptized soon after, was married soon after, and now is the minister at the Grand Anse church. He went on to describe the value of regular church attendance in the process of maturing of a christian.
• Caleb gave the devo tonight. He and Jenny are a huge blessing God has given us.

Tomorrow will be very busy. I'll try to get in one more quick blog before we leave early Thursday.