Note: Britney is serving Christ as a missionary in Magdalena, Guatemala. Here is part of her most recent blog post - see http://britneyinguatemala.wordpress.com for more.
Redemption by bjvillhauer
June 27, 2011
What a powerful moment I had in the clinic while the doctor was ministering to one of our patients, a middle-aged woman named Carolina. She came to the clinic because she was suffering from a lot of pain in her head, neck and shoulders: symptoms of tension and anxiety. Dra. Sara always spends plenty of time with our patients and ministers to their deeper needs, beyond physical health. We learned that Carolina was abused by her father as a kid. She was abandoned to the streets at age 17, was homeless, and raped. She eventually got married, had 5 children and six miscarriages and was sexually abused before she left her husband. She still carries all of those scars with her today. All of that pent up anger and bitterness in her heart have been haunting her for years and causing her to suffer. The doctor spent a long time with her, counseling her, consoling her and bringing her hope. This is one of the scriptures that she shared with her:
Isaiah 54:4-8
4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
5 For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
6 The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you,
but with deep compassion I will bring you back.
8 In a surge of anger
I hid my face from you for a moment,
but with everlasting kindness
I will have compassion on you,”
says the LORD your Redeemer.
What a beautiful and applicable testament of redemption for Carolina. This life that she has suffered through can be redeemed! She no longer has to be captive of her past. She can experience God’s full forgiveness when she cleans her heart of resentment. (Matthew 6:14) It was so powerful to experience this liberation with her as we cried and prayed together. I am so inspired by Dra. Sara’s ability to speak truth into the lives of her patients. She sees to their physical needs and provides the medicines they need to heal their bodies. But also leads them to the spiritual healing they need. The verses that she shares with them are so appropriate and life-giving.
Seeing Pillatre and Haiti in 2006 and comparing it to 1988, it is two different worlds. In 2006, we stayed mostly in the Pillatre compound or at the Laguerre home/compound. This is a huge contrast to the trip in 1988 where we traveled across Haiti in bus and camped in tents behind the Pillatre church.
