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Meeting Spiritual Needs in the Midst of Physical Suffering
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Ephesians 6:12

We had just flown into Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The March humidity and heat hung like a thick blanket in the air upon our arrival. Jason and his wife Meghan immediately went to work corralling the team as we exited the plane. Marcus and Alecia, medical students from Marion University, helped gather the additional bags of medications and supplies in customs. Slowly, our team began to make our way to the parking lot. Our next leg of the trip was to travel to the Baptist Guest House where our team would be staying for the week.

Suddenly an argument broke out among the Haitians helping us with our luggage. This group was a small army of luggage helpers, many of whom were determined to be part of the process so they could receive a tip. It immediately became apparent just how desperate these men were to provide for their families.

As I boarded the bus, one of the men aggressively approached me holding out his hand saying, “Tip! Tip!” We were instructed prior to our departure to carry some one and five dollar bills for these occasions, so I quickly reached in the pocket of my travel vest and gave him $5.

We started to leave the airport when one of the team members asked if they had secured the luggage on the roof of the bus. Perplexed, I said that I was not sure. Then another team member said, “Look ahead of us. They have someone lying on the luggage of each vehicle!”

The bus lurched forward through the dusty parking lot as we left the airport. In the midst of these harsh conditions, would we be able to communicate the love of Christ? Would our medical mission team be able to meet their immediate physical needs in a way that would help them understand their eternal need for Christ? It was at that moment that I began to wrestle with the Lord for an answer to this question.

Jerusalem: A Community in Need

I have been on six previous international medical mission trips, but had not been to Haiti. Prior to the trip, I had read online from various news sources about their delayed elections and some recent incidents of political unrest in Port-au-Prince. Additionally, despite an enormous outpouring of financial support from the international community after the 2010 earthquake, little progress had been made to improve the country’s infrastructure. Was there any hope for this place?

The bus gears continued to grind away as we made our way through the city. A few experienced team members pointed out locations where tent cities were previously located after the earthquake. The government had funded an effort to relocate these internally displaced people (IDP) to locations outside of the city. In return for relocating, families would be given a plot of land in this community so they could begin rebuilding their lives. Jerusalem was one of these cities which was approximately thirty minutes north of Port-au-Prince and the Baptist Guest House. We would be serving this community during our week-long medical outreach.

Outreach Preparations

Although we were all exhausted from travel after our arrival on Saturday, much still needed to be accomplished. Our team of forty needed to settle into the guest house, meet with our Haitian hosts, and plan for our week ahead. After worship services on Sunday, our team quickly began the process of opening luggage containing medications for organizing our mobile pharmacy. This process on short term trips has often been called a “pill packing party.” Tables are commonly organized according the organ system. The nutrition and GI (gastrointestinal) table has the most items to sort as we provide all the adults and children with a supply of vitamins during their visit. Other commonly distributed items like acetaminophen, and anti-inflammatory medications are repackaged for ease of distribution as well. Shoes, eye glasses, dental equipment, and children’s ministry supplies are grouped together in different labeled suitcases to make their distribution at separate stations more efficient upon our arrival to clinic. As an assistant to the medical director, I was given the task of handling the “red suitcase.” This contained emergency supplies and medications for needle sticks and treatment for life-threatening allergic reactions. After dinner on Sunday, we had one final team meeting to discuss clinic procedures, safety issues, and management of common conditions.

Our team’s spiritual preparation was emphasized as well. Jason Doddridge led a session on use of the “Evangecube.” (www.e3resources.org). This is an excellent tool that has pictures illustrating the gospel message. Although we hadn’t met with our interpreters yet, we planned on using this tool to keep our message of the Gospel consistent and simple for our patients. After much prayer late into the evening, our group retired for the night with great expectations that God was going to do an amazing work in our midst.

Mission to Haiti as a Platform for Life-change

It was now the third day into our trip and the Lord had been working on my heart. I had been wrestling with the overwhelming challenges around us. Through prayer, His word and the encouragement of others, I now had a vision for what He wanted me to do. If I continued to focus on the tremendous poverty surrounding us, my enthusiasm for service to Jerusalem would have been crushed. Instead, I had to focus on the Savior and the divine appointments he had prepared for me each day on mission. I wanted the students and interpreters to witness the value and priority I placed on serving each patient with the love of Christ in both word and deed. As a result of this modeling, I would trust Christ to use these experiences as a catalyst for life-change in others. (Much of what we do as mentors is “caught, not taught”–as the saying goes.)

Upon our arrival at the clinics each day, the crowds were waiting for us. Jason and Pastor Rod went to work with church leadership to establish an organized patient flow through the medical stations. One of the Nurse Practitioner students, Cat, was paired with me in the clinic. She will be completing her degree in the fall from Purdue University and had not served previously on a medical mission trip. She spoke fluent French which was a tremendous blessing as many of the patients who spoke Creole could understand her and vice versa. We also had an interpreter paired with us who spoke very good English and Creole. I was Cat’s preceptor for the trip, which allowed me to see her grow by leaps and bounds in clinical knowledge.  I also observed her comfort level in sharing the Gospel with her patients increase. Warren and Alecia, first year medical students from Marion, rotated with me and other providers as well as helped in our pharmacy during the week. I was so encouraged to witness them both praying with patients and loving on them as they learned about clinical medicine. I was witnessing these students lives being changed right there on mission!

At the end of the week, the impoverished Haitian city of Jerusalem had been changed. Over 1300 patients were seen and more than 100 prayed to receive Christ or renewed their commitment to Him! Our team’s hearts had been changed as well.

Written by Dr. Andy Koon, MD
Central Indiana Council Member

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