Something seems to be out of sorts. We finished up the last 2 days of clinics, and we are feeling lost. Not because of what we weren’t able to accomplish, but because we couldn’t do more. The last day of clinic was probably the reason for this. We had a usual day of clinics on Thursday, seeing several hundred children, no issues, straight forward. Then Friday came. About an hour drive from Puri, is a small fishing village, population 25-30,000, all contained in within a 2 kilometer square parcel of land.
About 30% of the population are children, or so we suspect. That’s around 900 children. Now consider this. All, and I mean all are malnourished, sickly and isolated. There is room for about 370 children in a school, and the rest of them have nothing. 
You ask why? This village is a village of “displaced” people, lower caste, unwanted by the general population, wanting for much, but given nothing. We came upon this place due to a change in plans. Divine intervention perhaps, but it was good that we did. By seeing what was, and knowing what was not, we all came away feeling that we had to make this fishing village a priority. And that is in the works.
The 17 ream members, Kelly, Michael, Sue, Jeremy, Tyler, Simon, Heather, Lauren, Marlene, Anne, Peggy, Sarah, Justin, Amanda, Lara,and Carleen
worked hard and without fanfare. Pharmacy, data entry, nutritional assessment, medical examinations, crowd control, and pastoral care ran without a hitch. It was all because of the coordination and implementation of the India team: Judith, Sudip, Daniel, Kevin, Mark, John and Raju. We saw close to 1400 patients in 4 and a half days, and left with a sense of well being knowing that we did what we were asked to do. Serve. It wasn’t what we brought but what we left behind. A dose of grace, a pinch of love,and a teaspoon of compassion measured a thousands of times over. The ingredients of His love for us.
In all things give thanks,
David
