Thank you, Erie E. Free!

Hi Leslie! I hope you are rested and ready to go! We look forward to hearing how everything is going! Love you Baby!

Greetings! Our team arrived at the Solid Rock Missions guest house in San Juan de la Maguana around 10:00 on Saturday night. It was a long day of travel, about 24 hours! When I climbed into bed I was greeted by a friendly little roach. I screamed, my roomate captured him, and we all slept well out of pure exhaustion.

Yesterday, we got up, had devotions with breakfast, and went to a church that has long been connected with Solid Rock and Northwoods Community Church. I don't speak much Spanish, but I recognized several songs that we sing often in the States. During the cermon, the Dominican pastor interviewed our Pastor Steve about how to transform from a "traditional church" to a "community church." Very interesting. Pastor Steve spoke on becoming "an outward focused church" vs. an "inward focused church."

We had lunch at a traditional Dominican restaurant--lots of rice, beans, and fried chicken! In the afternoon we unpacked our large amount of supplies (many of which YOU donated), and had some free time to walk around the barrios and play with the children.

Today, we have oral surgeries going on (about 30 tonsillectomies!), chiropractic care, physical therapy, and child ministry. Seven members of our team headed toward Haiti at about 8 o'clock. Please pray for them as they minister to the broken people there. Also, pray for their health and safety as diseases such as Dengue fever have become more prevalent there since the earthquake.

I have stayed back at the guesthouse for the morning...after being ever so careful to avoid the water here, I somehow got sick anyway. They say that the worse your symptoms are, the faster you recover. Well, my symptoms got BAD yesterday afternoon, and I'm feeling much better, less than 24 hours later! I think I will head to the hospital to see some patients this afternoon, and I'm looking forward to it.

It's lunchtime! I'll sign off for now, but I'll be writing more soon. Thank you all for your prayers!

-Leslie

Hi Leslie:

Glad to hear that you are feeling better. Pastor, Jerry and I spent part of last evening with your grand parents. We had a nice conversation learning more about their life experiences. You are in the process of creating some for yourself right now.

I am praying for you daily. Stay well and I know your smile will earn you many new friends.

Hello again!

I am feeling 100% better today, and enjoyed a full day of working with patients! This morning I worked with our team chiropractors here at the Solid Rock "compound" clinic. They saw patients with spine problems and sent anyone with orthopedic issues over to me. Let me just say that the interpreters here are AMAZING. I would not be able to do much without them. Many of the patients I saw this morning had foot or ankle problems due to walking on uneven terrain, poorly healed fractures, and/or terrible shoes.

I spent this afternoon with one of my professors and a couple classmates at the hospital clinic in town. We saw some patients with spinal problems, orthopedic issues, and neurological insults. Even though I know that many of these patients are in extreme amounts of pain, they all seem to tolerate treatment very well and are extremely thankful for every minute we spend with them. There is so much going on here at the guesthouse and in the clinic! I'm not sure about today, but yesterday the oral surgeon was able to see 10 patients, and the ENT was able to do 2 surgeries. Praise God! Unfortunately though, the anesthesiologist is not licensed to work with pediatrics under the age of 8, so our ENT is unable to treat a large number of cases he was planning on treating. Please pray that these children can be seen by a doctor in the near future. Just now, as I was typing, one of the Dominican doctors brought in a woman whose jaw had dislocated during a dental procedure. Dr. Otte, our oral surgeon, had retired for the day and was out in the courtyard helping the construction team pour cement for a new basketball court, so he ran over to the clinic and “popped” the woman’s jaw right back into place! Wow! We are so fortunate to have such a wide range of highly skilled professionals serving God here in the D.R.

I know it’s cold and snowy at home, but here it’s HOT and HUMID! I guess I can be thankful for the heat, because only the heat takes the edge off the icy cold showers Personally (and selfishly), I feel very blessed that our doctors are performing surgeries, because usually the power goes out every night at 11 o’clock here in San Juan. But, when patients have to stay in the clinic overnight (because they have had, or are going to have surgery) they use the generator…and when they use the generator our fans run all night long! Well, that’s about it for today! It’s almost dinner time now. I will try to update you all again tomorrow. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Leslie... Thanks so much for your posts! We will continue to pray and think about you as the week goes on!

Pastor

Hey Leslie--Quinn had said you were sick; so glad to hear you're feeling better. I've been praying for you and the team everyday. I know there is alot of help and healing going on because of all of you! Love ya, Barb

Today was a day of many emotions. Since it was our last day here in San Juan, we had to say “hasta luego” to the patients we have been seeing and to the staff and translators with whom we have been working so closely. In the United States, physical therapy treatment usually last for a few weeks, or sometimes even months. Here, we have only been able to see patients three times at the most. I found myself having to hold back tears several times as we said goodbye for now. One of the team members gave me some great advice today. She said, “You shouldn’t think about how much there is left to do here in San Juan, you can only consider how much God has accomplished during your time here.”

Though I was sad to leave the clinic this evening, I was overjoyed to see my classmates who had returned from Jimani. They have incredible stories and pictures from their experience across the border. I can't wait to share some of their stories with you! We had the chance to catch up with each other at dinner at a Mexican restaurant. After talking, I think that most, if not all of us would like to come back to the Dominican Republic and/or Haiti again soon. Though it has been challenging, exhausting, stressful at times, this has been such a rewarding experience.

Hopefully we will all sleep well this evening. No one seems to know whether or not the doctors did surgery today, but if they did we will have power again tonight! Tomorrow (Friday), we head back to Santo Domingo. While we are there, we will take a tour of the capital and then spend the night at a resort hotel. We are all looking forward to that! At the hotel, our whole team will have dinner together and have a chance to debrief. We’ll share stories and relax a little before we head back to the cold :-) I can't wait to see you all and share stories and pictures! I will probably try to get one more post in whithin the next few days. Thank you for everything!

-Leslie

P.S.--I showered with a lizard last night, and a few minutes later I found a tarantula on my computer. Just thought you'd like to know!