Second screening..

 This morning I was meeting with my supervisor for the hospitality department, and there was an overhead announcement. Today was the second medical screening for the ships stay in Benin. However, the ships surgery time slots have already been filled for the rest of the it'sstay in Benin... for a variety of reasons..  Therefore they couldn't take many more patients, and although they tried to spread the word that this screening was no longer really happening.. we had about 1,000 people lined up on the dock this morning waiting to be screened for surgery.

So as I was meeting with my "boss" they announced that if anyone wasn't working.. they could go off the ship and pray with the people who were being turned away. So .. there I was. not working. so off I went..

I had the opportunity  to stand alongside one of the many doctors, as he saw patients one by one and told them their diagnosis, and that we had no more spaces to operate on them. I was put with Dr. Greg and his wife and I would listen to what the translator and he said back and forth and then she and I would take every other patient to another translator and pray with them.

It was both interesting, and challenging. These were the people from the thousand, who stayed after being told there were no more spaces available for surgery. And it was so sad because we were still turning them away. But I learned that sometimes in cases like these. this is still okay. To have western doctors and nurses and people or anyone just listen and care about your problems. And talk to you about what you can do so that something might progress more slowly. Or Simply to know that it is not cancerous. 

I saw many goiters, hernias, tumors, and often just seeing the relief on their faces when they realized, yes they might have a goiter, but they have no other symptoms.. so its simply the lump there. They're fine. There was one older man who thought he had bugs in his head and said he felt them crawling inside his nose. Said he couldn't breath and smell out one nostril. Dr. Greg saw he had a growth inside his nose and told him it wasn't cancerous. And this was blocking his airway and smell. He also had a tremor, and therefore his head was shaking.. and this was causing him to think these things. --- Simply to have a western doctor tell you, you are going to be fine. It will not get worse. THIS will not kill you. Someone that you trust, encouraging you, will make a world of difference. 

One lady simply had a yeast infection so he could just write her a prescription.  A lot of cuuute little girls and boys with loss of movement in one hand or arm from nerve damage from birth. The doctor would immediately ask if the mother had difficulty during labor. And always this was the case. And these were VERY sad because all these mothers wanted their child to have surgery ... only to realize it was something that would never be able to be fixed. So we would quickly switch the focus to the fact that she had a beautiful strong son or daughter..who was perfectly fine except for her hand. And that she needed to be strong and help her daughter work around that..

Anyywayysss..

It was really neat. Then we would pray for them with a translator. Assuring them they were made by God, and they are a gift from Him. They are unique in how they were created and where ever they go from this point in their lives that they would come to know and love and trust in the Lord. That he would become real to them. And that they would see how much we love them, and HE love them. And then they would be on their way! But thats all we could do. It was an experience.

I feel like I could go home satisfied already! .. but I haven't even started work yet! .. I start tomorrow! love, lindy