What I've been up to

It’s been a while since I last wrote. Nothing too out of the ordinary has happened at the hospital in the last two weeks. I’m really hoping to see a birth/delivery while down here. I think I’d like to work as a labor/delivery nurse in the future and I’d like to see what I can while I’m down here. I only have 4 days left at the hospital here in Quito and I haven’t been guaranteed the opportunity to go down to the Operating Room to watch a delivery yet.

I continue to get experience working in a hospital and being in the environment. My Spanish has definitely improved quite a bit and I can converse fairly easily with the patients and their family members. I’ve also been able to be more of a help to the nurses and understand what it is that they need when they ask me to get things for them.

The past two weekends we’ve taken trips to different places in Ecuador. One weekend we went to a hot springs and this past weekend we took a trip to the coast. I had a bit of a hard time accepting going on two trips to relax as part of our mission. But as I was sitting in our room at the hostel at the coast, I realized how much I needed the break. We’re constantly doing something and I took advantage of the weekend at the coast to take some time away from everyone else and spend some good quality time with God. It’s always been a struggle for me to pull myself away from spending time with people - I never want to miss out on the fun, but this weekend God reminded me that He wants my time as well.

Last night was a bit difficult. One of my roommates, Carolyn, left to go back to the US. She’s had a rough summer - personality differences with her original boss, 3 trips to the ER - stitches from a fall, rabies shots from a dog bite, and viral encephalitis (inflammation in her brain from a virus). After being in the hospital for 5 days from the viral encephalitis and being told she could stay in Ecuador but she couldn’t go on any of our trips, she decided to head home with her mom (her mom came down the day after she was admitted to the hospital). It was hard to see her go and I know it was even harder on her knowing that we’re all still down here and together. Our group has become very close this summer and to see one of us leave has been hard on everyone. If you could pray for her continued health as she recovers back home and goes in for more tests, I would really appreciate it.

We have 17 days left down here. It’s crazy to think that we’ve already been here for almost 7 weeks. We have one more week in Quito and we leave for Shell, in the jungle, in a little over a week. We’ll be spending several days working in Hospital Vozandes - Shell and as far as I know we’ll also be doing some sort of work project. I’m really looking forward to it. The hospital administrator in Quito has already invited me to come back to Ecuador and work at Shell after I’m done with Nursing school. Some of the missionaries that we’re working with this summer were down here over 10 years ago working with the Waorani Indians in the jungle east of Shell. The Waoranis are the Indians that the 5 missionaries - Jim Elliot, Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Roger Youdarian, and Pete Fleming - were attempting to reach with the Gospel when they were martyred. It’s been really interesting to hear stories from them about how radically the lives of many of the Waoranis have changed since the incident with the 5 missionaries.

I hope to write more before leaving for Shell. Maybe within the next week I’ll be able to see a birth. Thank you for your continued prayers, I appreciate them all!

God's Strength

I really didn’t expect time to go by so quickly here. This week was a little slower paced and we had more down time after work. Once again, I really enjoyed working at the hospital, and being here continues to confirm that nursing is where God wants me.

Monday was a little difficult for me. I’m not a real big fan of needles. Whenever I’ve needed a shot or blood drawn or anything, I’m fine as long as I don’t see the needle. On Monday, Blankita, the nurse I was with, took out two IVs of different patients. I wasn’t really prepared and got a little woozy after the first one. I took a break to get some water and then went with a different nurse when I couldn’t find Blankita. She took out another IV and once again, I was a little woozy. I went into our little office and sat down and told my boss that I wasn’t feeling too good. I wasn’t sure if it was the needles or the Yellow Fever shot I had received four days before. Jenny, my boss, was going to take me to Linda, the missionary in charge of the hospital students. I called Linda and told her and she told me to stay and take some advil and do what I could. I went back up and sat down for a while and ate some food. After that I was doing much better. Blankita kept asking me if I was doing okay and she felt bad about me not feeling well earlier because she didn’t know.

That night I realized that working in the hospital has helped to confirm where God wants me, but I won’t be able to get by on my own strength. On my own, I may always struggle with the sight of needles and poking and hurting people, but I can put it in God’s hands and trust that He will get me through it.

The next day, I followed a nurse around as she gave meds to the different patients. In the first three rooms we went to, she checked IVs. At the first room, she had to take out the IV and put it in somewhere else. As soon as I realized what she was doing, I started praying that God would give me strength and that I wouldn’t become light-headed. The nurse had to poke the poor lady two or three times, but I made it through (and so did the poor lady). Then we moved on to the next one and the next one, and with God, I made it through. I did stop and eat a few crackers quick, just in case. It’s definitely a lesson in trusting in God and knowing that even though I know what He wants me to do, He’s still telling me that I need to keep the focus on Him, and not what I can do on my own.