Chichigalpa, Nicaragua

For eight days in June, six of us from Warners Chapel were in Nicaragua for the 2002 Medical Mission trip.  While in Chichigalpa there was a medical clinic set-up.  This clinic made it possible for people to see doctors and/or dentists depending on their needs; a pharmacy was operated for those who needed medicines; those who suffered from head lice received a free lice treatment shampoo; and a benevolence area was set up for people to receive clothes, toys for children, and a few pounds of rice and beans.

While the clinic was open, several teams went out for evangelism purposes.  Often the teams would not make it past the front wall area of the clinic before Bible studies were started.  Anyone who studied was given a copy of a Spanish language Bible.  Additionally, many people were handed tracks as they walked past on their way to school, work, or elsewhere.

Statistically, the following was accomplished:  2,405 people were admitted to the clinic to see the doctor.  The dentist saw 193 people and pulled a total of 249 teeth. Unfortunately, he was not equipped to do anything else for those suffering dental problems.  A total of 2,363 people passed through the pharmacy with 8,772 prescriptions filled.   492 people, mostly children, received a shampoo treatment for lice.  905 families were served by benevolence; that is, they received some clothes, toys, and/or food.  While all this was going on, 251 people accepted the offer for a Bible study. Of these, 31 precious souls were baptized for the remission of their sins and 1 was restored. Some of the 251 stated their desire for more study, while others indicated they would obey the gospel once they corrected a problem hindering them from doing so then.  One example of those needing to make corrections was a couple who were both divorced from their first mates.  Each had divorced because of fornication; but because the Catholic Church does not recognize their right to divorce and remarry, they were simply living together.  They planned to marry and obey the gospel.

These statistics tell a part of the story, a very important part, but not nearly all of it. For these numbers cannot show you the gratitude of a mother who received needed medicine for her child.  The expression of gratitude on the face of the diabetic as a team member washed her feet, applied antibiotic ointment, and found clean socks to help promote healing rather than amputation.  You do not see the joy that some small toy, maybe outgrown by a child here, brought to a small child.  These cold facts revealed in numbers do not allow you to witness the look of desperation on the faces of those who stood in line all day, and in some cases all night, until they saw the doctor or were turned away at the end of the day.  Nor are they capable of showing the joy that was expressed as men and women saw the simple truth of the gospel and then washed away their sins the same way people have done since the first century.

We need to look beyond the cold facts and see souls in need.  May we learn to look past cold facts through faith and see precious souls in need of a Savior.  Once we do it for those in Nicaragua, then maybe we can turn to the cold facts of Forsyth County and begin to look past them and see souls also in need of a Savior. We may then need to feed someone, help with some medical problems, maybe provide some clothing, and in the process touch hearts with the gospel of Jesus.

—Denny