Thursday, June 30, 2011

WEEK of JUNE 27-30th

MONDAY and TUESDAY were still very cold and patients trickled in. The group that wasn’t seeing patients braved the elements and went visiting with me. We had some great conversations.




MONDAY Jordan’s host family gave a mini concert for the girls. Her host family is very musically talented – they sang and played the guitar.

Jordan and her host family




MONDAY Sarah spent the night.



TUESDAY we were all invited to Sarah’s host family’s house for dinner. Before and after the meal, we huddled around a charcoal fire to stay warm.

Sarah's host sister preparing dinner




Sarah with her host sisters


Jenny has been craving rice while she has been here


WEDNESDAY was bible study.

We’ve continued to have classes in the afternoons. We’ve given each student the book Preach and Heal by Charles Fielding, MD. They’ve been reading through it and then we’ve been discussing it together.



A couple of the students have cooked for their host families. Jordan made pancakes (they were such a hit that she made them 2 nights in a row!) and Rachel made omelets.

Jenny got her first pique –a flea that burrows under your skin. It’s nothing to worry about…just dig it out. She was a good sport.



The plan is to leave at 7:00 FRIDAY morning. I am sure that there will be tears shed by some! We hope to arrive in Ciudad del Este by noon and have time to shop before catching the ferry over to Argentina. SATURDAY and SUNDAY we’ll be at the waterfalls.

Thursday and Friday it is suppose to rain which will make the dirt roads a muddy mess. Please pray for travel mercies as we cram all of us into our car.

COLD

The weather turned C-O-L-D.

I mean the kind of cold that forces you to sleep with your gloves, hat and a scarf on.

The kind of cold that keeps you drinking hot tea all day long.

The kind of cold that keeps your laundry from drying.

The kind of cold that makes you not want to take a shower for three days straight.

The kind of cold that keeps you under the morning covers 30 minutes longer.

The kind of cold that makes you wear 3 and 4 layers INSIDE the house.

The kind of cold that make me long for central heat.





PS this is what she was wearing INSIDE

WEEKEND of JUNE 25-26th

It was the plan (before we knew that it would be so darn cold) to have a youth reunion Saturday from 3-5. Before the event, I was lamenting to the interns that probably no one would come due to the cold and rain. Paraguayans normally do not venture out in cold damp weather. An hour later I was praising God that around 20 youth came. The 4 guys played ping pong outside with Jeff and the rest of us (girls) squeezed (and a tight squeeze it was) into my tiny living room. We played the usual games like Uno, Jenga and Uno Stacko, but we also played funny games like: balancing blocks on a tongue depressor in your mouth, moving a cookie from your forehead to your mouth without using your hands, and picking up marbles with chopsticks (that was a suggestion from our Taiwanese intern).
It was a lot of fun and the girls laughed a bunch. They had so much fun that they all came back the following day, SUNDAY, for more.



















SUNDAY was cold as well and I stayed home from church with the kids (how’s that for a fair weather missionary?) Sunday afternoon a bunch of girls squeezed into my living again. This time they listened as the interns gave their testimonies. It was a very powerful. I pray that the words spoken will penetrate the hearts of the listeners!

Next, we celebrated Jenny’s host sister’s upcoming birthday. Jenny made a cute flower cake.

Jenny making a cake for her host sister


Rocio blowing out her candles

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

DOCTOR ESSENTIALS



Stethoscope,
Prescription pad,
and
terere.

(short) WEEK of JUNE 22-24th in SF

WEDNESDAY is rained a bunch and their was little patients. In our town, when it rains, things (including school) close down and people stay at home. Unfortunately, Jordan is sick again, poor girl.

THURSDAY the girl took a tour of the health outpost. That evening we had to quickly end bible study due to the impending storm.

FRIDAY some of the girls and I went visiting, since the rain finally had let up.

Two of the girls gave testimonies this week for the patients waiting to see the doctor. The other 3 will do theirs next week.

Rachel and Brea spent the night this week. We played games – Bananagrams and Settlers.

In clinic this week the girls did on ultrasound on a mentally handicapped lady that has been sexual abused multiple times and is now pregnant. They consulted with a man who’d recently had a stroke. They saw TONS of high blood pressure, diabetes, and menstrual abnormalities.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Trip to the JESUIT RUINS

June 19-21, 2011

SUNDAY we had a great church service. It is fun to watch the little kids flock to the interns. The interns are definitely getting more comfortable greeting people and starting conversations.

As soon as it was over we head to Yuty (about 1 ½ hours away) where we joined our team’s church’s father’s day lunch.



About 2:30 we drove to Encarnacion. We stayed at a German hotel with tons of personality.

7:30 we saw a drove to a Jesuit Ruin and watched light show and then came back to the hotel for a late dinner.

MONDAY morning after breakfast we began our tour of two Jesuit Ruins – Jesus de Tavarangue (in the morning) and Trinidad (in the afternoon). The interns were thankful that we had watched The Mission at Andy’s house to gain some historical context. The Jesuits played a huge part in Paraguay’s history and in the story of the Guarani peoples.

The Ruins at Jesus





















Ruins at Trinidad



Tangerines! YUM!











Mid-afternoon we headed into town for me to do some grocery shopping. We had hoped to find an internet café for the girls to use, but we had no luck with that.

The purpose of this mini-trip is not only to help the students understand Paraguayan history better, but also to do some mid-trip debriefing. When the students first arrived in Paraguay we gave them a list of about 15 goals that we wanted them to be working through while they were here. How wonderful to look back at the past three weeks and recall God’s faithfulness and be able to look ahead to the next two weeks with a renewed joy.


TIME 20011 Goals
- To become more Christ-like in my attitudes, motivations, thoughts and actions through what I am learning during this experience
- To more fully understand God’s heart for the lost of all nations and his mission of redemption
- To gain a fuller understanding of my strengths/ gifts and weaknesses as an individual. Where is God working in and through my life and where is He working on me?
- To carefully consider my future role in world missions and how I can promote missions back at my home church
- To be able to articulate what it means to be a health care professional with a Christian worldview
- To humbly accept the role of learner and avoiding the temptation to prematurely judge Paraguayans or missionaries
- To learn flexibility and patience, being relationship-oriented, not task/event-oriented (like latinos)
- To lean on the Lord daily through personal prayer and time in His Word
- To reflect daily on what I am learning (e.g. journaling)
- To appreciate the realities of the missionary calling and daily life, the joys and the triumphs, as well as the costs/ sacrifices, difficulties and struggles they face
- To appreciate and learn about the Paraguayan people, their culture and their languages
- To maintain unity and peace on this team at whatever the cost
- To experience joy in the midst of my daily routine
- To understand the history and present situation of the body of Christ in San Francisco and to commit to praying for the Paraguayan church
- To become more willing and adept at sharing my faith, even with limited language abilities
- To understand how SIM Paraguay works and the value of a mission family/ team
- To seek God’s direction in using my Paraguayan experience to know the next steps to take in my upcoming major life decisions

TUESDAY we packed up and began heading back to San Francisco. We arrived at noon in Yuty where our team mates, Christie and Dan, had prepared a great lunch. After lunch, they gave their testimonies and then Christie then shared a paper she'd written entitled: Werewolves and Witchdoctors: Biblical Responses to Animism in Paraguay. It was very eye opening!

Driving the rest of the way home it rained and we slipped and fishtailed on the muddy roads. We pulled one Toyota out of the muddy ditch where it had gotten stuck and saw one poor guy wipe out on his motorcycle trying to get out of our way.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

The young DR MCKISSICK at work









SATURDAY, JUNE 18th

We had a great mobile clinic this morning in a small colonia about 10 km away called Noguera Kue.

It was a dusty day.


Jeff welcoming patients into the clinic


Seeing patients



Jeff sharing a bible story with the patients before treating them.




Brea at work


Rachel at work


Patients drinking terere while waiting


The waiting patients


Here's what my kids did during the mobile clinic.


Jordan and Micah


Seeing patients


Jenny taking a blood pressure


Taking a terere break


The girls in front of the mobile clinic


At 3:00 I welcomed youth into my home.









This past week a couple of the students have attended a funeral for a baby born premature. They had seen the mother in clinic earlier in the week. One girl attended a burial and another girl participated in the annual prayers for a dead grandpa.

The girls attended another San Juan festival. Much of the same went on as last weekend.

The girls have been enjoying running together in the afternoons. Running – for exercise - is not something people do around here so the girls get tons of looks from those passing by. Brea’s host sister stays on the track with them offering terere as they come around!

In clinic the girls have been doing tons of OB ultrasounds. They quickly realized that teen pregnancy is a HUGE problem here. Jeff’s been letting them pray over these patients. On OB ultrasounds, they’ve been also able to see twins and a molar pregnancy.

The students have all been enjoying baking with their families and learning how to make some of the traditional Paraguayan dishes. <!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE Here’s a recipe for empanadas:

EMPANADAS

For the dough, mix 1 egg, flour, a pinch of salt, a little oil and some water until dough is soft and rollable. Roll in to 15 thin circular sheets.

For the filling, sautee ground beef, chives, chopped onion, grated garlic and salt.

Fill dough shells with 2Tbsp of filling and seal shut with fork. Fry for 3-4 minutes in oil.