These, among other words for body parts, symptoms and ailments, comprised my vocabulary this past Sunday and Monday. Why? Over the weekend, I served as an interpreter in a free medical brigade as I tagged along with a team from the US.
On Friday, a group of 14 Americans (from Colonial Heights Baptist Church in Mississippi) arrived in Barranquilla to spend a week serving the community through construction, evangelism and medical care. Bernardo (the pastor of my church here) and his wife Mildred host teams like this several times each year. They invited me to spend the weekend with them at the camp in Galapa (a municipality just outside Barranquilla) and to help with interpreting.
I can truthfully say that the weekend was one of my top three highlights of my first two months in Colombia. It was refreshing to get out of the city for a few days and to be in the company of fellow Americans. But more than that, what a fulfilling use of time. Especially amid my recent discouragement with language learning (see the previous entry), it was rewarding to be able to use my Spanish to serve others. God doesn’t require perfection; rather, it is availability and willingness that please Him. I’m realizing that I often cross the fine line between striving for excellence and proud perfectionism.
Also, the campaign displayed the body of Christ at work! Some used a hammer, others a stethoscope and others their mouth, but “each one should used whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10).
In our makeshift clinics,
between two doctors we saw about 150 patients per day. The majority complained of gripa (translated as the flu, but really it’s the common cold), but we also saw scabies, skin fungus, acid reflux, arthritis, kidney infections, epilepsy, high blood pressure, yeast infections, malnourishment and parasites. And tons of pregnancies, often with girls as young as 15.
Serving in the brigade brought on mixed emotions. It was a joy to bring this free service to some of the poorest communities in Barranquilla. The people’s faces lit up when we handed them their prescriptions for free meds and vitamins. You could see the weight being lifted as they envisioned the coming relief from their pain.
But the joy was tainted by the reality of how short-lived their reprieve would be. We can give these young moms prenatal vitamins, but we can’t do anything about teenage pregnancy. We can give the kids a parasite pill, but we can’t replace their infested water with safe water. We can give the old ladies medication for their arthritis, but that too will soon run out.
That’s why this medical campaign would be incomplete without also bringing the truth of the gospel. Members of this Mississippi team also shared their own stories of hope with the Colombians they met. Though it may not have been the material desperation we see here, we all were once “sick” and in need of a remedy. Through Christ, we have hope, forgiveness, and a reason to live. In the past few days, dozens of people have received not only relief from physical pain, but have begun a relationship with God, the best Doctor of all.
At the risk of breaching the “too long of an entry” mark, I want to post the lyrics to “Instead of a Show” by Jon Foreman, the lead singer of Switchfoot:
I hate all your show and pretense
The hypocrisy of your praise
The hypocrisy of your festivals
I hate all your show
Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stomp on my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show
Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
Your eyes are closed when you're praying
You sing right along with the band
You shine up your shoes for services
There's blood on your hands
You turned your back on the homeless
And the ones that don't fit in your plan
Quit playing religion games
There's blood on your hands
Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show
Let's argue this out
If your sins are blood red
Let's argue this out
You'll be one of the clouds
Let's argue this out
Quit fooling around
Give love to the ones who can't love at all
Give hope to the ones who’ve got no hope at all
Stand up for the ones who can't stand at all
I hate all your show
Instead let there be a flood of justice
An endless procession of righteous living, living
Instead let there be a flood of justice
Instead of a show
I hate all your show
I love this song, and I saw it played out through this team. It wasn’t about “religion games,” but rather about giving “hope to the ones who’ve got no hope at all”. Faith without works is dead (James 2:20).
