Day of the Kings

Many Dominicans are celebrating today- it's the Day of the Kings....when the Magi brought gifts to the Christ.   And I am celebrating too.

Today was the last day of the barrio clinics this week with Team One and I must say I've had a blast.  It's been a GIFT to spend time with these guys.    Our first day was spent at the clinic in El Cercado (yay!  a personal favorite of course...and got to quickly slip out to visit precious family and friends...thanks to Pastor Morales and his moto- YAY) where the team saw well over 200 patients.   Day 2 was spent in the campo Sabana de Chen,  20 minutes further west from El Cercado.  Amazing!  And another 200 plus patients.   Days 3 and 4 we traveled FAR west, essentially to the Haitian border...to the towns of Macasias and Pinon (spelling? not sure?).   We were so close to Haiti today that folks were crossing the river border to get to us.   90% of our patients today were Haitians and the poverty we encountered was overwhelming.   I have such a strong sense that God has guided us very specifically to the regions we were in all week.  It was beautiful to see some of the things that I experienced this week:  the gratitude, the smiles, the beautiful babies (you know I had to kiss and snuggle and carry just a few around!), the gift of 4 oranges that one sweet little lady brought us in Sabana de Chen, the competitive boys that I played baseball with yesterday (the tennis balls were a huge hit!),  the old and infirm folks who stumbled their way to the clinics or were carried there by family, the blind people who were led there, the pregnant bellies that I can't keep my hands off of,  the waving, the "when will you come back?" questions.    It's hard to leave.   These last two days, this team would stop at some of the poorest houses and drop off some prepared food bags (rice, oil, onions, garlic, salami, beans).   Several of the houses had absolutely nothing to eat that day and one woman remarked that she had been praying for food when we arrived.    One was a house of 4 girls.   A 9 year old caring for her 3 little sisters waiting for her parents to come home from working in the fields.   It's humbling AND exhilarating, watching Christ in action both through observing this team and observing the folks they are serving. What a gift.   Feliz Dia de Los Reyes.

I'm thinking about how extravagant those gifts from the Magi were.....to Mary and Joseph.  And how extravagant the love of a Savior is to me- He who brought me here and guides me and sits next to me on the gua-gua while we stare at the mountains and sky and bounce over the potholes and rocks.    How extravagant that I get to have these days, however long they last.

There's no place I'd rather be, right here, right now.