Wednesday afternoon the local merchants came to the compound to sell their crafts. I always wonder how all of these personally "handmade" items are found in so many different places throughout a country. That may be a blog for a different day.
The prices are based on a sliding slide that seems to depend on factors I do not understand. As is true in most countries, the bargaining is always part of the process. There is definitely a "white tax" and let's just say some on our team have helped the Haitian economy much more than others.
Thursday morning was met with the arrival of another baby by C-section. Overnight there were four other babies born naturally. The hospital is very crowded with surgical patients, new mothers and people who have contracted Chikungunya. The outbreak of this virus is epidemic here, you cannot find someone who hasn't had at least one family member sick in the last several months. Patients become infected when bitten by mosquitoes carrying the virus and suffer symptoms including very high fever, headaches, and severe joint pain lasting weeks. Several of the patients admitted this week had fevers reaching 105 and many are children. The halls are lined with beds, the rooms are overcrowded. The moans of those who are trying to recover from motor vehicle accidents, gasoline explosions and surgery are joined with the wails of the infants, and the soft conversations of family members speaking with doctors and nurses in a mix of English and Creole. The distinct smell of urine lies just under the scent of Lysol. Often the smell of wood burning creeps into the fragrance as the family members prepare food for their patient just outside the wall of the hospital. All these sounds, smells and sights mix together, I am reminded that I am not equipped to help these people.
...BUT I do know the One who is.
Revelation 8:3-4 tells us that the prayers of the saints go up before God, carried by an angel in the form of incense to the God of all at the throne. Isn't that something?! My prayers are like incense, a pleasing fragrance to God himself.
We are equipped to help these people, we can pray....
And so, amid the structured chaos this morning, one ill equipped middle-aged American woman stood quietly and prayed a prayer to her Maker.
Glory to God alone.
"Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand". Revelation 8:3-4
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