The FaithCare teams encounter all sorts of medical needs on our outreach trips! Some people just need medical care, others need dental care or glasses, some people need major surgery like hysterectomies, goiter surgery, cholecystectomies, prostatectomies, etc., some have surgery to restore vision, and some may need a 25 to 75 pound tumor removed! On one trip, we were even approached by someone who wanted to have a tattoo removed. It wasn’t a life-threatening condition, but it was a basic outpatient medical service we could provide which otherwise wouldn’t have been available or affordable, and was an incredibly important service to that patient.
Is there anything we don’t treat? We do have some basic guidelines for things we don’t treat because, unfortunately, we are limited by supplies and the short-term nature of our trips. (We’re hoping to start providing more long-term care now that the FaithCare Nigeria Kuje Hospital is complete – read more.)
One example is infertility. Although this is a common ailment in third world countries, we simply don’t have the facilities, equipment, or follow-up time necessary to do the lengthy testing and treatments needed.
That doesn’t mean we send these patients away empty-handed though. One mission trip in particular we were approached by a couple who had been unable to have children and desperately wanted our help. We explained to them why this wasn’t something we were able to treat, and then we offered to pray with them before they returned home.
It might seem like we sent them off with a pat on the shoulder but no real help – we can’t actually help you, all we can do is pray for you.
However, prayer is indeed the most important part of our mission trips. While we have limitations and limits, nothing is impossible for God!
When we returned one year later, the same couple came to us, along with their three-month-old-baby. It became evident that they must have become pregnant immediately after coming to see us and receiving prayer. It was all God. In fact, it’s always all God; all our mission trips and everything FaithCare has done over the past thirty years. That’s part of the beauty of mission trips, we get to witness Him working and even join Him as He brings physical, emotional, and spiritual healing.
God is the reason we do what we do; the true source of Health, Hope and Healing!
