Clinic in Viet Tri, Hanoi, Viet Nam

Clinic in Viet Tri, Hanoi, Viet Nam

Most of us slept less than the night before. The traffic noise, and the hard beds were a little tougher to deal with. We had devotions in Mike’s and my room this morning at 6:45. I read Matthew 18:1-6, and we pondered what it meant to keep a little one from coming to Jesus. We turned the conversation to the positive with the happy thought of receiving Jesus with each child we served today.

The clinic was up two flights of stairs. There are only 7 men, and a mountain of bins to move. All seven of us were dripping wet by the time we got started, or should I say ready to start? We had a line of people when binh and Raina were asked to meet with Communist party officials and explain our procedure. They gave us three observers: two doctors and a pharmacist. Binh welcomed them and we were allowed to start. All three of them were actually very pleasant people.

I was assigned to give out toys at the very end, and to help our pharmacist. This means I got to nod and smile at our observer. She seemed very professional and was courteous with her questions. She stayed an hour, and then left without saying good-bye.

Giving away toys was really fun. I got to help each child choose a toy. Some had “buyers remorse” and came back to exchange it. I couldn’t say “No.”

We served about 85 children. Most of them are developmentally or physically challenged: Downs Syndrome, deaf-mute, blind, or a variety of other issues. I was able to pray for each child.

We had lunch, and then had to haul everything back down two flights of stairs. Wow. My legs and back can already feel it!

We check out of our hotel at 4PM, and then take a train to our next clinic at Sa Pa on the border of China. We will arrive there at about 06:30... We get to rest and prepare for our next two big clinics. These are back-to-back, so we are cautioned to actually try and rest on Monday.

Thanks for praying!

James

PS - Here is where we had our clinic and a photo of Bethany (from Australia) hand-painting with a child.