Special Pictures

Mercy Ships

CARIBBEAN MERCY REPORT

LA UNION, EL SALVADOR

( this page is long winded and is intended for those of you who like to read stories about the outreach, if you just care to see the pictures, [ click here ]

THE BLIND WILL SEE….

Amado arrives early to assure a place in line for the Caribbean Mercy's
eye surgery screening. Hundreds line up with him, all hopeful of
receiving attention. Amado enters the exam room and Dr. Russ Leavitt
studies the eye that is clouded and causes Amado pain. Peering into the
slit-lamp, his brow furrows. "I've never seen anything like this
before," exclaims the eye surgeon. He discovers a tiny shard of metal
imbedded in Amado's eye that has begun to rust. A cataract formed
around it, silently steals his precious sight. Crewmember Deb Gephardt,
is among the crew working at the screening site that day. She too looks
through the slit lamp at the anomaly, pondering how this twenty-year-old
has suffered with it for almost two years.

Amado is scheduled for surgery, knowing that results will be determined
when the cataract and metal are removed. It's difficult for the surgeon
to tell how deeply the intruder has penetrated the eyeball. Surgery
day arrives and Amado waits at the Caribbean Mercy Dockside Unit. His
leg swings back and forth unconsciously. "He's nervous," says his
mother. A television plays the Jesus video while a slight breeze
brings some relief from the heat of the day.

When it's time for his appointment, Amado is escorted onto the ship with
a nurse. Deb sees them in the hallway and stops to pray for him. He is
grateful to see a familiar face and appreciates her kind gesture. The
surgeon skillfully lifts out the rusting sliver of metal and removes the
clouded mass from his eye. Amado returns home with a patch over his
eye and hope in his heart.

By public bus, yellow taxi or a borrowed truck, the patients arrive the
next day with patches over their repaired eyes. All eagerly await the
moment when restored vision will fill them with new images.
Anticipation builds as the nurse removes Amado's patch. He blinks
repeatedly to clear his sight. A smile spreads slowly over his face as
his eye comes into focus. Right about then, Deb comes in to visit
Amado. He excitedly tells her that he can see well and that the pain is
gone.

They chat quietly while the nurses check the other patients, including
Amado's uncle who also receives surgery. Deb begins to ask Amado about
his faith. He acknowledges that he used to attend church but hasn't
gone for seven months and that he has a Bible but doesn't read it. Deb
tells of the importance of spending time with our friends to get to know
them. In that same way, we must spend time with the Lord, both in prayer
and by reading the Bible. Agreeing, Amado, whose name means ‘loved one'
bows his head and prays to rededicate his life to the Lord. When he
returns for his next check up, Deb will give him some devotional books
to help him in his new path to follow Jesus.

…THE LAME WALK…..

His round face accentuates the big smile that stretches across his
cheeks. Seven-year-old Oscar is always smiling, concealing the
suffering he has endured in his short life. Born with severely bowed
legs, Oscar tires easily as he tries to run and keep up with the
neighborhood kids. He tolerates the obstacle of being different, but
the mockery of his classmates stings like salt on a wound.

At the age of four Oscar underwent the first operation to repair his
legs. However, the surgery did not help at all. After months of
recovery his mother was desperate; a second operation was still needed!
The next surgery resulted in only a slight change in the angle of his
legs. The third operation eight months later ended in frustration
without further improvement. Making matters worse, while in his cast,
he contracted a severe post-surgical infection in his foot that required
emergency intervention.

After three failed attempts to correct his legs, Oscar's family was
afraid to believe the Caribbean Mercy team could help him. "At first we
didn't want the operation, we didn't want Oscar to suffer any more,"
said his aunt as she wiped tears from her eyes. "But then we saw a
little girl who had a similar condition. The ship team operated on her
and now her legs are straight. We began to have hope again for Oscar."

Caribbean Mercy Orthopedic Surgeon Dr.Tim Browne took special pains when
operating on Oscar's legs. Brave Oscar sleeps while the doctors and
nurses correct his damaged limbs. When he awakes, his family waits
eagerly in suspense for the casts to come off. Will Oscar's legs be
straight?

Today Oscar rests at home while his family proudly looks at his straight
legs, still in casts. Oscar shares the deepest thought on his
seven-year-old mind: "I can see that my legs are straight this time….now
the kids won't make fun of me anymore."

After talking with a crew member, Oscar's Aunt expressed a desire to
have a Bible and to continue their new friendship which God had given
through Oscar's surgery.

…THE DEAF HEAR…

"Not a day goes by without a poignant story that can bring tears of joy
or sorrow to your eyes," explains Dr. John Browne who works at the
hearing clinic. Motioning with his hands, he demonstrates some of the
sign language that a deaf and mute nine-year-old named Cecelia Elias was
taught by her father. Cecelia lives in a remote area where education
is rare for the healthy and nearly impossible for the deaf. Her father
developed his own form of sign language to help her. We are anxiously
awaiting for the fitting of her hearing aid in a couple of weeks.

Another patient is three years old and considered profoundly deaf and
mute. During the hearing test, she suddenly twists towards the sound as
she hears something, perhaps for the first time in her life. She will
soon have a window to the hearing world when she receives her new
hearing aid. A different patient amazes the staff. A nineteen year
old arrives with no outer ears and no outer ear canal opening. He has
finished high school and is studying in his first year of university.
Help is being sought in the USA for his needed surgery. Every patient,
from the youngest at age three to the oldest at 93 has an impact on the
team.

Resources are limited nationwide to help the hearing impaired. At a
small school in the capital, a creative solution was found to enable the
children to share the few hearing aids available. The students each
have been fitted with their own earpiece. When they need a hearing aid
for class, they can ‘check it out' from the office and use it with their
own earpiece. The hearing aid must be returned for the next student's
use.

To date, Dr. John and Ginny Browne have touched the lives of 350
patients in the clinic. They identify many untreated ear infections and
prescribe necessary antibiotics. The Brownes are sponsored by a Hearing
Conservation Program of the Rotary Foundation, and Mercy Ships. The
Brownes brought the Hearing Conservation Program to Mercy Ships after
visiting their son, Dr. Tim Browne, in El Salvador.
The Lord touched Dr. Tim's parents in a remote village when a man came
begging help for his hearing loss.

A new spark was ignited as retired OB/GYN Dr. John Browne and his wife
Ginny, retired Medical Social Worker, connected the resources of the
Hearing Conservation Program and the outreach of Mercy Ships. They
contacted Dudley Anderson and Darrel Micken, Hearing Aid Specialists and
founders of the Hearing Conservation Program. John and Ginny completed
six months of training to give hearing tests and create hearing aid
molds. They now provide these services in El Salvador. Mr. And Mrs.
Dudley Anderson and Darrel Micken will come shortly to fit the hearing
aids. The Lord is stretching Dr. John and Ginny as they work in their
small Navy base clinic. To do hearing tests they have to unplug the
room air conditioner during 105-degree weather to reduce noise. Once,
a hearing test was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise. A two foot
iguana was running across the roof and began digging into the eaves
right over the testing room. Their assistant threw a green mango to
chase it away.

To expand the hearing program, testing equipment, instruments and
pharmaceuticals will be donated to a local school for the deaf called La
Escuela de Audicion y Linguaje in San Miguel, El Salvador. Dr. John
Browne is currently training the school staff how to use the equipment
so that they can continue the program after he leaves. Dr. John and
Ginny realize that the need for hearing aids is great. They are making
a difference, one life at a time, projecting the installation of 125
hearing aids this outreach.

…AND THE POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM…

"This is God's provision!" exclaims Gene as he excitedly points to a row
of trees. The men from the village cock their heads in amazement,
listening attentively to discover why this foreigner is so pleased about
their trees. "I've been looking all around El Salvador for these trees
that can be used to make a natural insecticide." They begin to nod in
agreement as the realization of the ‘goldmine' available right in their
yards becomes evident.

Gene Tate is in his element -- the garden. He leads the Agricultural
Department of Mercy Ships. With great zeal, he demonstrates the
procedure for turning a compost pile, and checks the progress of
‘manure tea', a natural fertilizer made with obvious ingredients. His
practical lessons for the Mayan people of this simple village include
seed sowing, drip irrigation and creation of natural fertilizers and
insecticides. Gene infuses every lesson with Biblical truths and
insights that inspire the gardeners to look beyond the plants, to the
Creator. He encourages them with his infectious enthusiasm of both
plant and spiritual growth.

Gardening may not seem a useful tool for prison evangelism, but for Gene
Tate, it is his natural platform. Gene transforms despair to hope as he
works with 12 inmates teaching them gardening and Biblical principles.
"One of the things that was really fun to help the guys discover was
that the first week they were asking questions about the soil and
technical things. The second week they were asking me questions about
the future, ‘If I raise this, can I plant this….If I plant this, can I
do this…' They were looking beyond today and were beginning to dream and
have restored hope for their futures. That is the key to their future."

The ship's evangelism team, Esperanza, works alongside Gene in both
locations. In the village of Sube y Baje, the team teaches literacy to
the villagers, because only a handful of people could read and write.
As a Mercy Ships medical team ministered in the prison, the Evangelism
Team performed dramas, led worship, counseled prisoners and prayed with
inmates. Other days will be dedicated to a bible study for the inmates.

Meanwhile, the ship's Crew Evangelism Team, comprised of those who work
full-time in other departments, goes out on weekends. Heading for the
village of Tiguilotal, the team encounters a roadblock as five or six
cattle meander down the middle of the street. On six miles of bumpy,
dusty road avoiding rocks and potholes, they pass an occasional house on
the way to their destination. Finally approaching the village, they see
a group of women in a spring washing their clothes. "That's where we
get our drinking water from," explains the Pastor riding with us.
Little girls and women walk down the hill towards their mud-brick
houses, heavily laden by jugs of water on their heads.

Upon arrival at the village, they pull to a stop in front of the
church. The Pastor runs out to greet them. Shyly, members of the small
church extend a hand of welcome. The building only has a roof,
surrounded by large adobe blocks that are stacked up where the walls
will one day be built. The crew, hearing of their years of struggling
and saving, pledge their support to help buy cement.

The crew team now begins the dramas, a personal testimony and
preaching. The puppets get the most attention, as the animated
creatures belt out songs in Spanish and dance above the makeshift
stage. Some of the children run to look behind the curtain, fascinated
to see how these furry creatures worked. Two boys riding a horse stop
to watch without dismounting, listening intently. The service ends when
the local Pastor gets on his knees and prays fervently. Afterwards,
crew pray with members of the community and leave hoping to have planted
some seeds and watered existing ones.

MOBILE MEDICAL TEAM VISITS ISLANDS

The Crossroads Students medical team mobilizes early to meet the Navy
ship that will ferry them across the Golf of Fonseca to reach an island
where locals anticipate receiving treatment. Everyone embarks and they
begin their journey. Sheets of water spray over the bow instilling a
feeling of excitement in the intrepid explorers.

At the island of Perico, the team is met by a small flotilla of dugout
canoes that shuttle them and their supplies the last 200 yards to shore.
Supplies are lugged up a rocky trail to the ‘clinic', a school that has
been dismissed for the day.

Throughout the day, many patients complain of stomach ailments. Some of
their problems may be attributed to the severe lack of drinking water, a
precious commodity which is laboriously delivered to the island by
dugout canoes. Of the 102 inhabitants of Perico, the team sees 95.
When the day comes to an end and the team leaves, they are confident
that they have touched the majority of lives on this little island with
hands of compassion and prayers of hope

NO MORE PAIN FOR CONSUELO

"I couldn't even lift my fork to my mouth without my shoulder
dislocating," recounts 58-year-old first grade teacher, Consuelo. She
winces at the memory of her pain. Her well meaning family dislodged her

shoulder when they were trying to restrain her during a convulsion, the
result of a head injury. Although she received medicine to control the
seizures, she suffered constant pain in her shoulder. Many times she
returned to the local hospital for relocation of the shoulder under
general anesthesia. In an attempt to immobilize her shoulder, she was
put in a cast for three months that covered from her waist to her neck.
When it was finally removed, Consuelo's hopes were dashed with the
realization that the shoulder was no better. Thereafter, she spent her
days at home trying not to use her arm for fear of dislocating it again.

When the Caribbean Mercy arrived in La Union, Consuelo was referred to
the ship by her doctor. She attended screening and Mercy Ship's
Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Tim Browne evaluated her shoulder and determined
that she needed a shoulder replacement. He didn't have the necessary
prosthesis so the only option was to find someone in the US who could
somehow provide it for Consuelo.

Meanwhile, Orthopedic Surgeon Dr. Mark Carlson was in the US planning to
join the Caribbean Mercy in La Union for his first outreach with Mercy
Ships. He had been in contact with Dr. Tim by email in preparation for
his visit to the ship. Dr. Tim sent Dr. Mark a series of e-mails,
including digital photos of Consuelo and her X-rays, asking if he could
help find the prosthesis, and Dr. Mark agreed.

Dr. Mark petitioned help from a prosthesis company in the US who agreed
to donate the shoulder replacement. However, there were six sizes to
choose from. Relying on his experience as a surgeon he determined to
the best of his ability the best size for Consuelo to take to El
Salvador. During surgery, it became obvious that God had guided him
because the prosthesis fit perfectly.

Now Consuelo rests comfortably, imagining the future when her newly
operated shoulder completely recovers from the surgery. "I'm so happy
now, and give thanks to God and to the doctors who came to help me.
Only God can pay you. I thought I would lose my arm because we didn't
have the prosthesis. I have cried with joy." Consuelo is looking
forward to having full use of her arm again and being able to return to
her work as a school teacher.

MY EYES WERE HEALED BY GOD WITH HANDS BLESSED BY GOD

"Yesterday I was blind but today I can see!" exclaimed 38 year old
Carlos Cortez after his cataract surgery. Six months ago he was with
no hope to see again, he
could not do anything with out someone to help him, even his
three-year-old daughter helped Carlos find the restroom.

When diagnosed with diabetes one and a half years ago, Carlos didn't
imagine that it could take away his precious sight. Rapidly his sight
declined as cataracts clouded both eyes until he was left completely
blind. Life changed radically for this young father of six children.
Unable to continue his job he became dependent on his wife who sold
tortillas to bring some income to the needy family. Knowing that only
God could heal him, He started praying and after four months of waiting
for God's divine healing he noticed that his prayers began to be
answered. He heard about the "Caribbean Mercy Ship" coming to El
Salvador and he knew that they had Eye specialists.

Carlos attended screening and was scheduled for surgery on April 26.
However, due to an unforseen cancellation in the surgery schedule, he
was offered the opportunity for surgery much sooner. On the day that
the ship called, his wife had gone to the hospital to get his insulin.
Carlos was going to go with her but had decided at the last minute to
stay in the house. Since he was alone with the children, the only
option was to go with his 14 year-old daughter on the one and a half
hour bus ride to La Union.

Carlos and his daughter were at the first bus stop en route to La Union
when his wife passed them in another bus going towards their house. She

didn't see them and had no way of knowing that Carlos was on his way to
the ship for surgery. " There goes your mother." said a neighbor girl
who saw his wife go by in the other bus. Carlos and his daughter
listened as the bus rambled down the road towards their house.
Unexpectedly, it suddenly stopped. A tire went flat at that moment
which gave his daughter the opportunity to run and talk to her mother.
She explained about the surgery and Maria, his wife, quickly joined her
husband to take him to La Union.

The 14-year-old daughter returned to her house where her three year old
sister wondered if daddy would be able to see when he came home. All
of the children could hardly wait for him to return to find out the
results of the surgery.

Carlos arrived at the ship anxious to have the opportunity to see
again. As he was being led up the gangway, he gave thanks to God and
entered the operating room in joyful expectation of receiving the answer

to months of prayers. Surgeon Dr. Paul Miller worked to remove the
cataract. Still on the operating table, Carlos suddenly exclaimed, "I
can see the blue color of your shirt!"

Carlos went home with a patch on his eye and the certainty of restored
vision. When he returned the next morning, emotions ran high. Carlos
explained that despite the patch, "I could see the shadows of trees
passing the bus. I knew that I could see. I'm so grateful!" With
giddy laughter followed by a tearful release of emotions, Carlos and his

wife celebrated as his patch was removed. "The first thing I want to
do is share Gospel with other people, I know God has given me an open
door to enable me to work in full time ministry." he exclaimed.
"Yesterday I was blind but today I can see, I can write again, I can
even sign my name".

IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE

El Volcancillo, with a population of 700 hundred people, is a little
town situated approximately 15 miles away from La Unión, El Salvador.
An ordinary paved road leads the way to the community. However, as you
approach the vicinity, the main drive turns into a dirt path which makes
access difficult.

Women start their household duties very early in the morning, and the
same time the men head to the fields to spend the entire day working
under the sun. Some kids have the opportunity to attend the local
school, but the littlest ones stay behind with their moms.

There is a well down the road that plays an important role in the life
of the village. It provides murky water to irrigate, cook, and hand
wash laundry. It is common to see the women scrubbing their clothes on
a rock as little kids carry some containers back to the house. This
well not only sustains the basic necessities of life, but also creates
community bonding.

Because of the great need in El Volcancillo to have a pure, abundant,
and sufficient source of water, our well drilling team was sent to
improve the conditions of such a precarious area. For the town's
people, water means progress, development, and a healthier life.

Although, after having dug 200 feet into this rocky terrain, the
drilling team have yet to find the vital resource. We would appreciate
your prayers as the team perseveres in order to discover water.

"For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry
ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on
your descendants." . . . Because I provide water in the desert and
streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen."
Isaiah 43:20b


ESPERANZA–GIVING HOPE

Through the efforts of the Esperanza Team and Crew Evangelism, the
number of people touched by Christ has continued to rise. This week,
990 El Salvadorian people heard the message of salvation bringing the
outreach total to 10,129. The team was able to pray with 34 individuals

for special needs and witnessed 29 people who made public confessions of

faith this week. In all 323 people have come to know the Lord,
including 26 recomittments of faith. Two of those were students at a
local high school. It was awesome to see these two young girls raise
their hands in the midst of their 300 peers.

The Esperanza Evangelism team were in prison too, but not in Jail. They
were sharing the Gospel with the men who listened intently to the
Message. Desiring more Bible knowledge, the men asked about the
possibility of a regular Bible study. Craig Snow, Chief Operations
Officer has committed to teaching the guys twice a week for two hours
each session. "There's an unusual hunger that's evident in the prison
among the guys," says Craig, "for getting deeper into God's Word than
just the surface." The men direct the study with questions and then
Craig takes them down the paths of their interest using the Bible as
their guide.

PRAYER REQUESTS as of April 07, 2000

Please join us in prayer for wisdom and direction as the ship's
leadership plans our future itinerary.

Pray for our adopted community, Sube y Baje, that we would be God's
instruments to impact this little village in a great way during our stay
in El Salvador.

Continue to pray for the ship's crew, for health and safety for the
teams who are off of the ship and the crew working on the ship.

PRAISE POINTS

One well has been dug in Subi y Baje. The team has changed locations
and another well project is underway.

Esperanza, the ship's Evangelism Team have been well received at many
villages as well as the local prison.

The Agriculture program is yeilding good fruit. Gardens started by Gene
Tate are growing well and the villagers in Sube y Baje are motivated and
encouraged to put into practice what he taught them.

The Oasis Church from La Union has agreed to take a team to Sube y Baja
every Sunday and will seek to find teachers committed to continue the
literacy program after we leave.

Esperanza, the ship's evangelism team has shared the Gospel with over
10,000 people so far on this outreach.

The garden projects started by Agricultural Specialist Gene Tate in Sube
y Baja are growing well. All of the villagers are excited about the
project and they are teaching their neighbors in the area what they have
learned.