Mechanics

It came to me this afternoon as we were rocking around on a rough country road in between clinic locations that I haven’t talked much about the mechanics of the trip we’re on.  Sorry about that.  This is a trip that is taking place as much in my soul as it is in the country of India and my writing has reflected that.  So, with my apologies for it’s tardiness, here is a bit of the day-in day-out of the mission.

Breakfast and a devotional start the day.

e3 Partners is a church planting focused mission group.  As such, all of their missions have church planting as the goal for the trip.  At its root, church planting is about evangelism and e3 uses a variety of methods to assist in the task of evangelizing.  One of those methods is to provide free medical clinics.  In India one of the appeals of a free medical clinic is that poverty is so prevalent that most people can’t afford the 10 rupee (about $0.20) fee of the regular hospital.  Yeah.  I know.  They don’t have twenty cents.  The pharmacy is an added bonus as in addition to the cost of drugs, there simply aren’t many real pharmacies in this part of the world.

Setting up the exam, pharmacy, and counseling areas.

We are traveling with a physician loaded with a fairly large pharmacy to treat common ailments in India, and also an optometrist with prescription drugs for eye treatments and a large arsenal of reading glasses.  In addition to these two men we have seven lay people including myself.  Providing logistical, organizational, and overseeing the mission is a full-time leader from e3 and our in-country partner.  We partner with local churches and believers that provide interpreting, crowd control, and registration services

The day’s schedule runs something like this:

6:00am: Out of bed to start the day.  Shower, read, personal devotion, etc.  I like to get up even earlier and go for a short stroll while I think and pray.

7:00am: Meet for breakfast and a short I Am Second devotional.

8:00am: We load up the bus for our drive to the day’s location, generally 40-60 minutes away.

9:00am: We arrive on location and set up areas for the medical, optical, and pharmacy stations.  A registration area is also set up.  Counseling areas are set up so that one team member and their interpreter can visit with the patients in groups of one to six or seven once they’ve received their medications.

11:30-1:00pm: We split up our lunch breaks so that there are always counseling stations available to patients.  Lunch consists of PB&J sandwiches, a juice box, and a banana or two.

2:00 to 4:00pm: The clinic closes, counseling is wrapped up, and goodbyes are said to our hosts and interpreters.  Sometimes the same interpreter will work with us the following day, sometimes not.  It depends on the distance from their home and their schedule at their real job.

4:00-5:00pm: The trip back to the hotel.  Generally a much quieter bus ride as we’re all pretty worn out, physically and spiritually.

5:00-7:00pm:  This is free time.  Take a nap or a shower, catch up on email or whatever.  I spend some of this time preparing to write to you.

7:00pm: Dinner.  We gather and tell our thoughts from the day.

8:00pm: An official summary of the day including a count on professions of faith, people ministered to, and other details.  Generally we’ll close with another I Am Second devotional.

8:30pm:  You’re off.  Sleep, read, whatever.  I’ve been using some of that time to simply digest the day and perhaps do a little writing.

Tara and Carly handling the pharmacy.

There are other many little details that I’m leaving out such as stops at roadside stands to pick up bananas or water, making pb and j sandwiches for our lunches before we head out, and the daily search for something suitable for American girls to use as a restroom.  Heck, American guys for that matter.  (Peeing is fine, but have you ever squatted in the mud to take a dump?  It’s not fun trying to keep your balance and your pants out of the mess.  You can thank me later for the visual image that just brought up.)

Each day is different in it’s own way.  Above is a typical day, one that we would put on paper as a schedule.  In India there really is no such a thing as a schedule.  Do a google search for “India Standard Time” and you will find lots of references to this fact.

The core of the mission: Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We were told that our team would be sharing the gospel with about 300 people per day.  That has not been the case.  The first day we shared with about that number.  The second day we presented the gospel message to almost 450.  Today the crowd was nearly 700.  Each person that comes through the clinic is ministered to spiritually and hears a clear presentation of the gospel and is asked for a response.  I don’t have the exact figures yet, but we seem to be hitting about 40% of those that hear the gospel are making a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. 

It is amazing and humbling to think about and I thank you for being a part of this mission to bring Christ to what is spiritually a very, very dark land.