First in a series.
Diane and Randy Pettit
1 Corinthians 6: 19-20 NIV
Much of team preparation for this mission trip is about the preventative maintenance of our individual health. For the first timer, it is a daunting proposition to secure all the immunizations required. About the only vaccination I could credit to my record was a Diphtheria Tetanus shot. The conditions in Haiti are such that the list of preventative drugs is long and intimidating to someone who only ingests a once a day vitamin and occasional ibuprofen. Our recommended list includes injected Hepatitis A and Polio vaccines. As well there are pills prescribed to ward off Typhoid and Malaria. We must be judicious about how we drink the water on the island, carefully zapping with a SteriPEN each vessel containing the H2O.
Bathroom in Haiti - lacking infrastructure.
The Haitian people live every day in a land with little infrastructure to speak of, including accessible medical treatment facilities. Recently this country has ranked second only to Afghanistan with the highest maternity/neonatal mortality rate on the planet. There is also an abnormally prevalent incidence of high blood pressure within the populace. Today our team is traveling to this Caribbean island with the purpose helping Haitian folk to better honor God with their bodies. For a week we will travel to different Churches and schools around Port au Prince setting up medical and optical triage clinics to attend to prescreened patients. We will diagnose and treat everything from hypertension to ear infection to nearsightedness.
Clinic window view
In his epistle, the Apostle Paul was admonishing Christians of the Church in Corinth because they were allowing their prideful fleshly desires to get in the way of God’s wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit. The Haitian people we serve do not have the means and methods found in most societies to maintain their bodies, yet their faith has formed within them a welcoming sanctuary for the Holy Spirit. It is amazing grace that abounds throughout each clinic when we minister to these gratefully humble people.
Abba, may we always maintain within, the open and humble heart of your precious Son, so your Spirit may flow freely through us. Amen
Bradford Bosworth
September, 2018
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