As the pandemic continues and stay-at-home orders for most countries remain, our work in each base is looking much different. However, we are blessed to continue finding ways to serve God in the communities to bring light and hope. Today’s story comes from April and Jhanna, our Health Care Site leaders in Quinigua, Santiago, Dominican Republic.

Our work as missionaries and ambassadors of Christ is to share His love, His gospel, and peace that transcends all understanding. For some of us, this means visiting a member of the community, installing a water filter, and then sharing a cup of coffee as we talk about Jesus and His overwhelming love. In our case, sharing that love and hope means having our patients’ afflictions, whether severe or mild, be both physically and spiritually healed.

As we went into the pandemic, we had to adapt and look for a variety of ways to reach and help our patients. Even with the precautions and measures that the clinic has had to take during these months of quarantine and social distancing, we are grateful that we’ve been able to stay connected with the community and serve our patients through the technology available to us.

One of these means is through a cell phone we made available to our patients before the sites closed. Over the past few months, we’ve been able to talk with our patients, answer medical questions they have, give advice about medications or treatments, and share encouragement through the scripture.

Before the site closing, we had two patients that were receiving regular wound dressing changes with us, and at first, we were concerned about how their care would continue. We decided to teach their family members how to care for the wounds and which supplies to use, and both patients sent us pictures regularly of how they were progressing so we could assess and give advice. We are happy to say that both patients have fully recovered!

We are grateful to the Lord for his protection and for the opportunity to serve still, even in different ways.

We ask that you keep us and our base in Santiago in your prayers as we look forward to re-opening the clinic following all the safety precautions.