Location, location, location.

We have now ended our fourth and final day in the mission field.  I’m hoping to add final totals in a future post, but I can tell you that 2053 people that were ministered to both physically and spiritually.  I know that we had several hundred professions of faith and all of the people received a clear presentation of the gospel. 

I’ve given you a basic day-by-day schedule and I’ve written about the impact the first day had on me.  Rather than give you a rundown of each day, I thought I would highlight some of the many “God-sightings” that occurred on this trip.  This will take several posts as there were many, many God-sightings.  This first one will take this entire post and it is about God putting us where He needs us to be.

The courtyard of our second impromptu location.

Our second day’s clinic didn’t have much of a crowd.  By about noon there were no other people waiting to see the doctor.  We had seen about 250 people by that time.  One of the Nationals (mission jargon for in-country believers that provide support) said that he knew of another place we could set up our clinic.  It was at the home of a Hindu who, although quite poor, is a bit of a leader in his village.  He is what e3 Partners calls a Person Of Peace: someone who may or may not be a Christian, but is influential in their community and friendly to Christians.

Doc, Charles, and Tom returning from a hike across the rice fields to see the boy.

After a bit of a drive that included having to make a lengthy detour because of a questionable bridge, we arrived at the home of this person.  We were able to set up the clinic using his courtyard, one bedroom, and his back yard.  People soon showed up in droves as the word got out and we served another couple of hundred people.  At the end of the clinic someone Doctor Lynn (hereafter referred to as “Doc”) with news about a boy that was bedridden about two kilometers away.  Doc, Charles, and Tom hiked across the rice fields and when they arrived at the home they found a delightful young man who had gotten surgery on his knee following an accident.  The knee had become infected and unless the boy got to a hospital within a day or two, Doc was sure that he would loose the leg.  Doc did the best he could and left the family with some heavy-duty antibiotics and advice to get the boy to a hospital as soon as possible.

The next morning Charles woke from his bed with one thought on his mind: Get the boy to the hospital.  He prayed that somehow we could make it happen by the end of the day.

After our clinic today Doc left the rest of the team to go back to Tezpur early so he could meet with a surgeon at the main hospital there.  Doc was able to arrange for the boy to be admitted and treated.  The hospital agreed that the only cost would be that of medications.

It amazes me to think about the fact that we were where God needed us at the time God needed us.  Take a look at all the “ifs” that could have gotten in the way and resulted in this young man loosing his leg.

IF ten American’s had not felt a calling to India and

IF that calling hadn’t included a clinic at that particular spot in India and

IF we would have had a large crowd for our only scheduled clinic of the day and

IF someone wouldn’t have told us about another possible location for a clinic and

IF our team leaders would not have been flexible enough to change our plans and

IF there wasn’t a Person of Peace in the village that was willing to host us and

IF there wasn’t an alternate route to the village that bypassed the rickety bridge and

IF someone hadn’t come to the makeshift clinic to tell Doc about the boy and

IF Doc and the other’s hadn’t been willing to hike several kilometers in rice fields and

IF Charles hadn’t woke up the next morning with nothing but that boy on his mind and

IF Doc would have been delayed not gotten back to Tezpur in time talk to a surgeon and

IF the hospital couldn’t admit him and agree to waive much of the fee…..

That boy would have lost his leg and possibly his life.

There are a lot of skeptics that would call all of this coincidence.  I used to be one.  I remember my friend Mark and I having this discussion once and he said, “It may all be coincidence, but I find that coincidences sure happen a lot more often if I pray about it and get God involved.”

It feels awfully good to be in a place that God wants you to be when He wants you to be there.  I need to try it more often.