Day 4

Today was another great day of clinic!  We traveled to a village called Villa Verde.  We set up our clinic in a local church.  When we arrived, we were told this village is known for its witchcraft and voodoo.  We were excited to share the gospel and love the people through medicine, PT and OT.

The physical therapy team saw a man who was stabbed and as a result suffered from a spinal cord injury with neurological deficits from 25 years ago.  He seemed very discouraged by his circumstances.  He did not have a wheelchair and they were able to give him one.  They also provided him with therapy and exercises to improve his strength.  Occupational therapy also worked with him.  They educated him on functional use of his hands and performed weight bearing activities with him.  He left in much better spirits.  The gospel was presented to him and several patients today.  

In the afternoon a few team members decided to take a short walk in the village in hopes to share the Gospel message. To our surprise, a young man named Charlie shared his testimony that served to encourage us! He had been physically abused by his father as a child to the point of abandoning his family to live with his friends in Villa Verde. He mentioned that he left his home searching for a solution to his ease his wounds inflicted by his father. Charlie said that after a friend had shared Jesus with him it wasn't until he had a vision of God that he surrendered his life to Christ. He said that God told him, "I am your solution, your Heavenly Father who loves you and will never leave you nor forsake you." It was without question the Spirit was alive in Charlie, and he is currently leading a small ministry where he is collecting donated items and distributing them out to village members in hopes of sharing the Gospel. 

The medical team saw 70 patients caring for several ailments.  The Physician Assistant Students were very involved in patient care and have been fine the opportunity to interview, assess, diagnose, and come up with treatment plans with some oversight.  They also had the opportunity to provide spiritual care through prayer and encouragement.  It is awesome to see them loving their future profession.  

We had Wacky Wednesday with our scrubs.  Score provides us with our scrubs for the week and some of the choices are quite colourful!!  We had a fashion show and competition for wackiest!  Pictures and possible video to follow.  

Enjoy a video of clinic and pictures from today.  We are really enjoying ourselves and ministering to the people of the Dominican.