Hope for the Hopeless

I have so much to say about our experience in Peru that it’s hard to know where to really start. The experience was unforgettable and life changing. All of my worries prior to leaving seemed to melt away when I saw the people and began to realize their need.


We arrived in Lima on Friday evening and we took a 12 hour bus ride to the town of Chiclayo. Upon arriving in Chiclayo on Saturday morning, we went to set up our “clinic.” I use the term clinic loosely.




It was a one room, dirt floor building where they have church. The different areas of the clinic were partitioned off by a tarp. We set up triage, 3 doctor’s rooms, pharmacy, eye exams and eye glass dispensing. The bathroom was in the middle of the room (luckily, it had bricks around it).

The clinic was open Sunday through Thursday. Triage helped assess the need and determine where the people needed to go next. The doctors visited with patients and prescribed the few medicines contained in our pharmacy. Those in the eye exams used a testing method to determine which prescription glasses were needed. The pharmacy handed out the medicines and ensured the patients understood the directions (in Spanish). And the eye glass dispensing team tried multiple pairs of glasses on the people until they found a pair that helped them see or a pair that they liked. The OM Peru team was in charge of preaching to the people and determining who could come into the clinic and in what order. They handed out tickets.

Wait your turn!


triage

pharmacy

eye exam

doctor

eyeglasses

Any (OM Peru) preaching to the waiting people

Initially, people were able to visit both the doctor and eyeglasses, but about mid-week, the crowds were so large that they decided people could choose eyes or doctor, not both. Many people that we saw in the afternoons told us they arrived the night before at 7pm or 9pm and slept outside. Some people traveled upwards of eight hours to wait. And sadly, some traveled and waited for hours and did not get into the clinic.

Jeremy worked in the pharmacy. Pharmacy is a very needed position, but the downside is that the pharmacy team has very limited interaction with the people. But they are an invaluable part of the clinic!

counting pills

The pharmacy team

Jeremy- hard at work

I , on the other hand, has lots of interaction with the people. I helped out with the eye exams. It was a great experience to watch people who couldn’t see or had difficulty seeing to realize that we could find them a pair of glasses to help. Lots of them were overjoyed at the possibility of reading their Bibles or being able to leave their homes. At the end of each day, I was exhausted. I spent entire days trying to recall the Spanish I learned 7 years ago. That was mentally exhausting for me!

Some days it seemed like the long line of patients never ended and lunch didn’t come for hours and hours, but overall, the trip seemed to fly by.

Tine & Heather- eye exam

Borroso?!?!

Each day we woke up, had breakfast in our hotel (bread and jelly) and took the short bus ride to the clinic. We had lunch at the pastor’s home every day. They were extremely gracious and cooked lunch for our entire group and never complained. We worked at the clinic for the afternoon and took the bus back to our hotel. We ate dinner at various restaurants in Chiclayo each evening. The food was mostly chicken, rice, and potatoes.

One of the unexpected great things about the trip was the wonderful people that were part of our team. Our team was A+!

The team from the US

one of my favorite team members- Dad!

me and Heather- we spent A LOT of time together

Jackie, me and Jessica- friends from OM Peru

On Wednesday, we had one of our largest crowds. Every time we ventured outside the clinic for a break, people would surround us and beg us for a ticket to see the doctor or get glasses. We would tell them to ask the OM Peru team for a ticket. But it was hard to see the pain and fear in their eyes and know their desperation. I didn’t take many breaks after that.

Before I knew it, Thursday came and it was time to pack up the clinic. Lots of people were not seen, but we also impacted a lot of others. The final count was 203 Peruvian people who made decisions to follow Christ. And I think the medical and eye glasses team saw around 1,000 patients.

When I went to bed on Wednesday night, I was really struggling with how much these people needed help. The poverty is unlike any that I have ever seen before. I had that feeling that we are doing so little and this small one week clinic is barely scratching the surface of the need in the community. It made me want to throw up my hands and say forget it. We can’t do enough, so we should do nothing.

Our purpose for being in Chiclayo was sharing Christ with these people. The eyeglasses and medical clinic were an added bonus, but not our reason for being there. I completely understand this, but looking in the face of this impoverished community and merely offering vitamins and a used pair of glasses is very difficult.

It made me so sad for these people and I didn’t understand why God was letting this happen to them. I was listening to my iPod as I was praying and trying to go to sleep. The song “Cry Out to Jesus” came on and I really listened to the words. Of course, I have heard the song dozens of times before, but this time, I really listened. I stopped crying and I understood.

Cry Out to Jesus

To everyone who's lost someone they love

Long before it was their time

You feel like the days you had were not enough

when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains

Keeping you back from your life

You believe that there's nothing and there is no one

Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless

Rest for the weary

Love for the broken heart

There is grace and forgiveness

Mercy and healing

He'll meet you wherever you are

Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on

They lost all of their faith in love

They've done all they can to make it right again

Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains

You try to give up but you come back again

Just remember that you're not alone in your shame

And your suffering

When your lonely

And it feels like the whole world is falling on you

You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus

Cry to Jesus

To the widow who suffers from being alone

Wiping the tears from her eyes

For the children around the world without a home

Say a prayer tonight

We may not have been able to help every sick person with their medical needs or a blind person find a pair of eyeglasses. But we could tell them about Jesus and that is something that far supersedes any of those physical needs. They can cry out to Jesus and He can help them more than any medical missions team from the United States. Their situation may seem hopeless, but there is Hope for them.

I’ll never listen to that song again, without thinking about the people in Peru and saying a little prayer for them. I know we didn’t reach everyone, but I hope those that we did will be changed. I know that my life will be changed forever.