It had been already almost a month and a half that I was able to participate on another missionary trip to the country of Peru. This time it was realted to medical purposes. Since I could not take the entire week off from work, I was only able to join the medical team for a couple of days. The had gone on the previous days to another city to do anothermedical clinic. It was 10 of us in total. Two ER physicians, one registered nurse and the rest of us just volunteers with some knowledege on medical issues. As I arrived to the airport that wednesday morning, had to deal with a couple of concerning situations. First, one of my luggages did not arrive on time and second, I was stopped at customs for the medicines I was taking. Beforehand, I knew that there would be a risk because according to Peru's customs department regulations, all medicines are to be declared and approved. I could not do it because the majority of the medicines I got were donated to me a few days before my departure and had not enough time to do the proper paperwork. I had no other choice than to pray and asked the Lord for His help on softening the customs personnel hearts if I get stopped for any reason. To my amazement, the Lord was behind it and after a brief explanation of the purpose my trip and some papers I took as a back up, I was let go. It felt for a moment like my soul had come to my body for that was of great concern to me more than anything else. At the end, I was the last person from the flight to leave the airport but with a great sense of gratefulness. Praise the Lord!!!!

As always it is a great feeling to be able to help out those in a less fortunate situation. My job was to work as a translator and also assisiting the physician I worked with in anything that he might needed. I would run to the pharmacy to check on available medicines before prescribing them, I would also weight kids on the scale, apply bandages after a shot was given, and I even saw myself given a B12 injeccion to a patient. I had never done that before in my life but I did it this time. And to make it better, I did it with such confidence like if I would be doing this as a way of living. Unbelievable!! While we were seeing the patients, the members from the local church were in charge on keeping the place organized, some were evangelizing, others were playing with the kids with balloons and art and crafts activities in order to keep them busy, others also were once in a while bringing water for the restrooms reservoirs to keep them filled as it was being used and lastly others were preparing our lunches. They did a great job in overall. We were just impressed how smooth it went those two days. One of the things I would like to mention is that even though as I said before it is a very rewarding feeling to be able to lend a hand to others, on the other hand, it could also be heartbraking. Our solely mission is to go there with the purpose to help as much as it is in our hands but some times we cannot please them all. We depend mostly on donations and there are instances in which the physicians feels a person might need further treatment and since we mostly work on impoverished areas, we sense that those people may not after all do it because of their very limited financial situation. We give them pain medications for the moment to ease their discomfort but it will come back again if they do not keep treating themselves. I have had people as a translator brake down in tears telling me about their conditions. As a human being that I am with emotions and feelings, I had been really struck by it to the point on making me feel sometimes helpless and had made me realize how, but how blessed I am living in the United States. I must admit that the Lord had touched my heart to help in a couple of instances to some of the people thru the local church with either financial help or getting them medical supplies. I thank the Lord for having used me in such a beautiful way. The last day of the clinic, as we did it last on last year's trip, did some grocery shopping for some families from the local church that were in need. We drove to their houses and delivered them personally. It was indeed a nice feeling to see the expression on their faces. After the clinic was over, we had quite a good number of medicines that were left over. Before my trip, I had already contacted two local orphanages and offered them our help with the meds plus some kids clothing as well. So I had the task to separate them for them to come and pick them up at the place I was staying. They both came and the Lord even opened the doors for the local church to do an evangelistic ministry outreach on one of the orphanages. The Lord is good!! I say He is good because He protected us from being almost robbed the first day of the clinic as we were on our way to the proposed site. Thanks to the quick sense of what was happening and reaction of one of the local cjurch members, we were able to leave that placed that we had stopped to purchase right away. I am sure the entire trip was something that we, all who ministered, would never forget. That self rewarding helping feeling would be something no one will ever take away from our lives. Thank the Lord for again alloeing me to be part of something that my hearts enjoy on doing from His kingdom on earth. Until the next trip, Lord willing. Enjoy the pictures posted below.