Kim Schmied, Hand of Hope
After spending a week in the remote jungles of Peru on a Hand of Hope medical/dental missions outreach, I am reminded yet again that God’s love truly knows no bounds.
It is a truth that has been well established in my soul for many years, yet every time I experience God on the mission field, it manages to catch me off guard as if I am discovering it for the very first time. I am reminded that there is no heart His love cannot reach, no soul beyond His grasp, no individual outside his line of vision.
In each corner of the world, the needs of the people look different. In some places, like Ethiopia, they are glaringly obvious and visually devastating. While in others, like the jungle village of Mazan, Peru, you have to look a little more closely to see them. You may not see belly after belly distended in malnourishment or bodies riddled with disease. But you will see severe tooth infections and open wounds that when left untreated could easily become just as life threatening. You will see babies covered from head to toe in scabies and mommas hoping and praying that their children find some relief.
The heartache of a mother watching her child suffer is the same regardless of geographic location or the severity of the physical condition. But just as the heartache is the same, so too is the joy and hope they experience when offered a solution.
Whether that solution is a tooth extraction or medicine or the sound of her child’s carefree laughter as they blow bubbles and get sufficiently tickled while waiting in line, each person that comes through our clinic is touched and changed. Each one is reminded that they haven’t been forgotten and that there is a God in Heaven who not only loves them, but who will go to great lengths to reveal Himself to them.
During our five days of clinic in Mazan, we were able to treat 2,541 patients, extract 304 teeth, dispense 8,651 prescriptions and lead 593 people to the Lord. The fact that God has chosen to partner with us, His children, to fulfill His purposes in the Earth is a humbling realization. And then to experience that partnership firsthand is nothing short of a divine privilege.
With every medical outreach we do, we have a unique opportunity to meet people in their time of need. And through that need, we have an even more unique opportunity to introduce them to the God who sent us, shower them with His love, and give them a hope for the future that will last long after the medications are gone.
Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.
