North-side vs. South-side

Down a path through thick island jungle to a small cleared out soccer field under the hot midday sun all the students from both the North-side and South-side Spanish schools were having a soccer match.  What fun to be in the middle of it!  Bare feet and socks for those without shoes and such energy from the excited crowd.  In the middle of it I look down and a little boy has sidled up alongside me. When I put my arm around him and say hello, he leans in for a long hug.  I love the moments I get to love on these kids.  The highlight of yesterday was sitting on the deck looking up at the kids on the benches as I doled out bandaids to every miniscule cut and prickle and sliver.  Kissed fingers and giggles: it was grand.  It's in those moments I just drink deeply of amazement and wonder. God loves these kids so much and I get to be a part of it.  

One afternoon

Walking down a dusty path a woman runs up to me and says I must come.  I don’t have my medical bag with me, this was suppose to just be a pleasant walk out in the community.  I follow a growing crowd of onlookers over a rickety boardwalk to a small house over the shallow water.  Inside is an elderly man who has been ill for some time.  And today he’s very sick.  Making a quick appraisal of the situation, it was back to the clinic to call doctors and discuss arrangements and possible causes.  Over the course of the next 24 hours as we awaited the doctor and transportation to the hospital, I dressed wounds, placed an IV while other team members lent assistance, and marveled at the care and sweet attention of God. 

In a giant world on an obscure island in a tucked away community in a simple house lay a man who was sick.  And God moved multiple individuals and put us all in place so that as he pleased he could serve this man. That there would be someone to bandage his wounds and ease his discomfort. That someone would keep a cool damp cloth on his head and pray with him. That we would hear his praise to the Lord for his health in the midst of obvious discomfort.  I am awed by Jesus and his compassion.  I don’t always understand the circumstances, but His love is sure and his redemption promised.