When the Waters Rise

"When the waters rise, around me I am safe, in the valley Lord, you are near always!"

They sure were right in orientation when they said the enemy would attack. In one short week, I've felt so much be attacked. Things I love being taken away, and now even my health has been taken. Today the nurse became the patient. I have been feeling sick the past few todays, but when I woke up this morning, I knew it had gotten bad. I went to see Dr. Araujo at the clinic, and it turns out I have some kind of infection. I didn't quite catch what with all the spanish, but I believe its something with my throat... idk. It sure feels an awful lot like walking pnuemonia to me. Regardless, I will not let this stop me from the ministry God has called me to here. Satan can attack me as much as he wants, but My God is greater, My God is stronger. And My God never lets go of me.

I've noticed some things are different here in El Salvador as far as the way they approach medicine. My first observation was that they give a whole lot of shots here. It turns out that most of the shots they give are a mixture of various vitamins. The doctor explained to me that since people eat so many carbohydrates here and very few vegetables, they give people vitamin shots to compensate. I don't understand why they can't just eat better. From what I can observe, it seems like preventitive medicine education is needed here. A lot of these problems can be fixed if people knew the proper way to take care of themselves. I was also confused by my prescriptions today. While yes I was prescribed an antibiotic, I also was prescribed acetaminophen. Isn't that just an ingredient in a lot of pain killers like tylonel? Why would he prescribe that? It seemed odd. They also run a WHOLE lot of tests. They almost never make a diagnosis without lots of lab work. It just doesn't seem as efficient as in America. But they have their way of doing things and it works for them.

I have been so blessed by the hospitality and love everyone here as shown me. I hope that I can only return that same love. There is so much opportunity for evangelism here. There are drunk people at every corner, and many of them are even outside the church. I will continue to pray that God shows me how I can evangelize in a place that I do not know the language. The gospel is so important, and I want everyone to hear it. Lord use me.