Gloria a Dios

The wound was grapefruit sized, only oblong in shape. It covered the tiny baby’s bottom on one side and he cried loudly as the doctor examined it. This was only the second patient seen (398 to follow) in our makeshift clinic in a tiny building in Guadalupe, Nicaragua. The doctor, was shaking his head and saying, “We have to get this baby to the hospital because this wound will not heal without IV antibiotics.”

I have never seen a wound so severe. It was multi-layered and
multi-colored. Our team doctor, Dr. Josh Timock, who works at urgent care at Children’s Mercy South, explained to our team that a wound like this in the U.S. would be treated at a burn hospital. But in Nicaragua there is only one burn hospital, many miles away and it is private, which means off limits to a 15 year-old mother living in the mountains on a dollar a day. Even the free hospital located 45 minutes away was cost prohibitive for this young mother who couldn’t afford bus fare or associated costs of remaining in the city during the baby’s treatment.

In my pocket I had several hundred dollars. This money was donated by you and other members of our congregation and city. You generously gave it as part of the April Collection Connection as we gathered medicines to take on the trip. One of you even said, “Take some of this money with you to Nicaragua and use it when a need arises.” I decided that this was the need. As I gave the mother $150, another team member gave her a plastic grocery bag filed with snacks, soap, toilet paper and other items to comfort the mother on her trip to town. One of the missionaries loaded mother and baby into our rickety supply truck and drove her across the bumpy dirt road that leads to the hospital

Recently I received an email update on the baby. Two weeks later, he is still in the hospital, but he is recovering. A simple $150 dollars saved a life. The email message was entitled Gloria a Dios. Though my Spanish is terrible, I had no trouble translating this: Glory to God. When I think of the medicines and money given by Kansas Citians who will never know the face of that baby; when I think of our mission team members – business leaders, doctors, nurses, lawyers - who give up a week of vacation to sweat and eat beans and rice all week; when I think of the mission organization we partner with – CEPAD; Gloria a Dios seems to sum it all up.

—Carla Aday

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Members of Pastors' Class volunteered at Cabrini Green Housing Project during their spring trip to Chicago, IL April 15-17.

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