Sam's reflections

I arrived in Haiti one week ago unsure of what to expect but certain that God was going to do a work in and through me. Haiti is a mouth shaped island nation surrounded by the crystal blue waters of the Caribbean on one side and soaring mountains on the other. Over and over I was amazed by the beauty of the country. My team was met at the airport by our partner organization Samaritan's Purse(SP) and we traveled to there main compound in Titanyen Haiti. SP has been in Haiti since day's after the earthquake and has plans to stay for the long term. They are currently operating feeding programs, shelter programs, rubble removal programs, water and sanitation programs and medical clinics with the hope of changing the future of Haiti by using these programs to provide opportunities to share the “Good News” of Jesus Christ with the people of Haiti. All of the SP staff and volunteers have witnessed God on the move in Haiti. Out of the devastation of the earthquake hearts are open to the gospel and record numbers of Haitian's are turning to Christ.
Our team was split in two half of us went to the Citi Soleil clinic that I spoke much about prior to the trip and half of us went out on the first ever mobile team. I was assigned to work in the pharmacy and I volunteered to go on the mobile team. Each day our mobile team would pack two buckets full of meds, supplies, chairs, tables, ensure and water and travel to a different community north of Titanyen. We traveled to three churches, one shelter community and an orphanage. Our team consisted of 3 docs, 3 triage folks, 2 pharmacy workers, 7 interpreters and 1 driver.
Day 1 we traveled to Williamson a town near the sea that had little to know water. This day was challenging because SP had never done a mobile clinic before and things were so different from the way my mobile clinics have run in the past. I was uncertain of what I was doing. Not knowing how to mix meds that I had never used before, calculating how much meds to give, etc. At the end of the day, I was frustrated, hot and tired and knowing that it would be a long week if I didn't do something about it. So after making sure supplies were ready for the next day I spent time praying and asking God to change my heart.
Day 2 started with devotions (we had these every morning). This morning Dr. Brian (one of the Docs on my team) gave the message on Philippians 2 and talked about how he had the gift of surrounding himself with people he didn't deserve . As I sat and listened I realized I had no reason to be frustrated or upset because I to was surrounded by people I didn't deserve. That day went better than the previous day but I gave the wrong medicines to two patients. This really upset me because I had gone to Haiti to help the people and now I may have been doing them more harm. I confessed my errors to the team and received such amazing love and encouragement to trust that God would work it for His good.
Day 3 we went to a shelter community that SP had established just a few minutes up the road from our compound. This day we had to set up two tents in which to work under. The morning went well and we saw many patients but after school got out and we had lunch order was lost and the day deteriorated fast. People were everywhere and it was difficult to work and continue to show God's love when you barely had room to move or think.

Day 4 Pastor Bilda's church. Pastor Bilda is the head of evangelical churches in Haiti whose life was changed by missionaries who shared the love of Christ with him as a child. This day was such a contrast to the previous day. Everything was organized and there were many church members to help us. This day I saw my first ever starving child. He was a 4 month old who was basically skin and bones his 21 year old mom had brought him to the clinic. She told the triage nurses that she had been involved in an accident around the time of the earthquake and was unable to nurse so her milk never came in and she couldn't afford formula so she had been giving the child candy. The mom went on to say that the baby was a curse and had brought her nothing but problems. Our team and the church members rallied around her to pray, encourage and help her. We tried to give the baby ensure that we had brought with us but the bottle the mom has bought had a huge hole in the nipple and liquid would flood the baby's mouth and he would choke. One of my team members went to the store and bought them formula and new bottles. While she was doing this the Haitian doctor on our team had ordered IV fluids for the child. They brought the scripts to me in the pharmacy and I struggled to find out whether I was to give them or if the baby needed to go to a hospital to have it done. The Haitian's explained to me that you could purchase the supplies at a pharmacy and have a nurse come to the house and administer them. I ended up giving them the supplies but after they unsuccessfully attempted to arrange for the nurse from the church to do it they returned to me asking if I would try. So here I am in Haiti trying to start an IV on a 4 month old severely dehydrated baby. All I could think was I am not adequate for this task and I began praying for help because I knew I couldn't do it by myself. After three unsuccessful attempts I gave up and moved on to trying to get the baby rehydrated by mouth first. We opened the new bottles we had purchased, filled it with oral dehydration salts and attempted to have the baby drink. Again it didn't work now the hole was to small and the baby would suck and suck and nothing would happen. Finally, the idea to syringe feed the baby came to me and that is what we did. The Haitian student nurses and I showed the mom how, let her do it and left her with instructions to do a syringe full every 3-5 minutes. I didn't want the mom to feel shamed because we were all so worried and questioning her so I stopped and prayed for her asking God to help her and to help this baby. I had done all I could do and had to leave the rest in God's hands.
Day 5 We went to an orphanage in Titanyen. The compound had one small building and many Coleman tents. It was difficult to get the number but I think there were between 10-15 true orphans there. The head man Emmanuel asked us to pray for him to find a way to support the orphanage because he had no job. We set up our clinic under the trees and then the rain came. This is the first daytime rain we had while on the trip so we braved the elements saw the children and the neighbors and called it a day.
It is ironic I thought that I was going to Haiti to help the earthquake victims directly but I never got to see the destruction caused by the earthquake only the aftermath as scared, broken people try to pick up there lives and move on. Every person in Haiti was affected in some way by this tragedy and there lives will forever be changed by it. The hope for Haiti is that God is able to use all things to accomplish his purposes and He is doing this in Haiti.

As for me, I am so incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to go and be a part of and witness first hand what God is doing in Haiti. I am humbled by the love, encouragement and praise I received from my team members and the other people working for SP. I truly was surrounded by people I didn't deserve and who I can't thank enough for being the hands and feet of Jesus to me. I learned that God's grace is sufficient, He is all I need and that it's not about what I do but about who I am in Christ.
-Sam Brogan