We thank Ken for sharing his story. We thank him and other workers who donated their time, their expertise, their love and compassion to the people of Haiti!

Many prayer-partnered with Ken on his journey, for travel blessings for him and his team, for his wife and children who were left behind in Dallas, for the success of the medical mission work he was a part of, and for blessings to the people of Haiti!

God be praised!

Ken said that it was not an easy drive from the airport to the city when they arrived in Haiti. The ride to the city was long and tedious because of bad roads and traffic. He could see loaded trucks entering the city, and empty ones leaving and was glad that supplies were able to get in. That day and the next few days, he saw scenes such as what CNN news aired just after the earthquake showing the morbid devastation in this country. It looked like a war zone. He saw the “crumpled” hospital where 200 nurses died, some whose bodies were never recovered. He saw many “tent cities” where displaced families lived, with only a dirty creek providing them water daily. The air was infused with the smell of burning plastic, and in some instances they had to wear masks when they entered buildings because of the strong stench.

Many Haitians were homeless and lived off the street. Post earthquake tremors were common, and people did not want to sleep inside buildings which could collapse. So they slept in the street, some with mattresses, some with none. They got wet when the rain poured, as well as had to endure the heat which would go up to more than 92 degrees by day. Many families were separated, some had entire  families killed. Amputations were a common occurrence, some patients losing an arm, or both legs. Many children were orphaned.

Ken worked with doctors and nurses who came from other countries. He worked with medical teams from Germany, Bangladesh, Spain and the US. The North Carolina Baptist Men (surprisingly with women workers also) were there and had put in sinks in the basement of the hospital which became its kitchen. While he was there, he saw members of the US marine unit come on their off duty days to build shelves for supplies and medicine in the hospital.

Daily, the hospital where Ken worked at, had a long line to the ER and the triage area was always crowded with patients waiting to be seen. On his 8th day, he was sent with a nurse to a clinic outside Port Au Prince. The 19 mile journey took them 2 hours because of bad roads. That day, however, the two of them saw 209 patients.

Everyday was an exhausting ordeal for the volunteer medical staff. The hours were long, the physical state of the hospital and satellite clinics were not at their best. The medical conditions of patients they saw varied. Supplies and medicine were sometimes limited, sometimes unavailable. One of Ken’s pictures showed one of the doctors lying on a gurney, being infused with IV fluids as heat and exhaustion also got the better of him.

In the hospital, Ken worked in wound care, most times tending to patients who had been brought to the burn unit. One day, a patient was brought in, with second and third degree burns on half of his body, from his chest to his thigh area. Because of the severity of his burns, and because the hospital did not have resources for this extensive of a medical problem, they knew this patient was going to die. The best they could do for him was to just make him comfortable and ease his pain. But God stepped in, because the following day, a full plastic surgery team from Atlanta arrived, complete with skin grafts, burn medicine, etc. Yeayy! This man now had a second chance.

Death was particularly not uncommon in this hospital and in this country at this time. Ken’s group could not save everyone. But in a place where life and death hung in the balance at every moment, Ken, as well as others in his team, knew with certainty that the hand of God was everywhere. God works in mysterious ways, indeed!

The Mabuhay Fellowship prayed for me and my international trip during its February 2010 Sunday at Five.

The Wednesday before, the body of Westminster Presbyterian Church also did. So did my choir at its last rehearsal. But what happened on the day I left for my trip showed me the power of cumulative prayer and God’s hand in our lives.

God works in mysterious ways. Sometimes he blesses us directly, sometimes he uses us to bless others. May we be always sensitive to these times in our lives, and always be thankful that we are a part of His work on earth!

I got to the DFW airport an hour late for the usual 2 hour check-in time for international flights. But the clerk who weighed my luggages had a smile for me. She asked me if I would volunteer to take a later flight. I agreed, and this is when she announced that because of that, she is giving me a $500 travel voucher, good for any future American Airline flights. She was also not charging me for my $100 overweight baggage fee, and was also giving me a $10 lunch voucher so I won’t get hungry. I felt blessed.

I ate a hearty brunch, but still had $5 left over on the voucher which had to be used that day, so I bought a bagel and cream cheese to snack on later in the plane. I sat by gate 36, then got on the phone to my daughter in the Philippines. By 1140 I heard my name paged to go to gate 39. I did, and then realized that I was sitting at the wrong gate. My flight was leaving from gate 39 and not 36. They changed gates and I did not hear the announcement. I would have missed my flight. God brought me to the right gate.

I approached the lady at the counter who looked me over. This one did not have a smile for me and looked very serious. I thought I was going to get bumped off as I was late for boarding. She looked over my passport then took out another voucher. “Sign here.”, she said. “The price went up!”. It was for an additional $300 travel voucher. I received a total of $800 in travel vouchers, and since I spent $1200 total for my ticket, I felt very blessed at that time indeed.

I followed the thinning queue to stand in line for boarding. Behind me, two young Filipina students were talking in Tagalog. One of them was in tears and said she was very hungry. I heard that they left Mexico at 5 am, thinking they could eat breakfast in Dallas, except that when they got here, they did not have the right currency to buy food. Now it was almost 12 noon and they were both very hungry.  The paper bag I was holding seemed to rattle its contents, reminding me of the bagel and cream cheese in it. So I turned around and handed them the bag. “Here’s your breakfast!” I said. They both looked at me in shock, but took the food, with gratitude in their eyes. They did not have to thank me, because I realized then and there that the food was really for them. That was also the last time I ever saw them…. not on the plane, not in Narita, not in Manila.

God works in mysterious ways! Thank You Lord, for your gifts of abundance. Thank You for your grace and love. Thank You for letting me understand that the extra blessings You have given me were meant to be shared and passed on to others, that they may in turn be blessed by You. Truly, You have made me understand through this experience that all great things come from You.  Amen.