This post is a bit longer, but we’re excited to share this exciting Medical Clinic mission update! Getting permissions and permits from the government has always been a bit of a struggle with final approvals often coming hours prior to when you need them, and this year was no exception. The uncertainty of approval was more stressful this year because of additional scrutiny by the government towards NGOs (non-governmental organizations) which required some additional documentation. Because of the uncertainty, we notified our team that approval may not happen, and we would spend our time working with a school in Condega.
Everyone that we knew was working on our behalf to get approval. On Friday morning, prior to our team’s arrival on Saturday, and we had to go to Managua with another round of requested paperwork. Prior to leaving, Heilym asked me what I thought was going to happen. In my lack of faith, I told Heilym that our plan was to drive to Managua, turn in our paperwork, have a nice lunch and come home. As we were approaching the last town outside of Managua, Heilym received a phone call saying to come quickly because they just approved our paperwork. There was one final, required letter that we still had not submitted, but we just kept going. With just a bit of trouble and a phone call to the director, we received our letter.
I don’t know what God used to open the doors for our team’s approval, but I do know God is ever faithful and never late!
We just don’t always understand His timing. That story was just the beginning of what turned out to be an incredible week at our clinic. With a small team and a renewed focus to pray with every family that came through our clinic, we saw God work in many, many situations. We were able to provide both physical and spiritual healing to those who came through our clinic. One of the greatest blessings was praying with members of the police force.
Our time with them was a great blessing. The community got to see them as real people not enforcers for the government. Hearing from them that they were as afraid for themselves and their families as the people were, softened many hearts toward the men and women in blue. It was a wonderful week of healing and renewal. Please see our needs for this ongoing ministry.
DB