As mentioned last week, I will be sharing with you from my Journal of our Medical Missions trip to Ecuador. Last week's article was somewhat of a synopsis of the mission trip. This week, I am going to talk about the first two days of this journey with GOD.

The impact of the trip really hit me about 3 hours into our 5.5 hour flight. I was sitting next to an off-duty flight attendant who happen to be on his way home to Quito. He also shared with me that his mother was on the flight and was sitting towards the front of the plane. He had on a Twin Towers "Never Forget" pin on his uniform lapel. That's what got our conversation going. I learned that he grew up in Queens.

He asked why I was headed to Quito and I explained our team. About that time, his mom walked back to say "hello" to him. He told her, in Spanish, about all these "Christians on board" that were headed to help in Ecuador. She smiled and said, "I knew I felt GOD's presence very strong here." It turns out she and here family went to an Evangelical Christian church in Quito! I also got to spend time sharing testimonies with a member of the team I had never met before.

The next smile came across my face as we were coming down the escalator into customs in Quito (at about 11pm, by the way). There was someone up in the glassed-in lobby area above us holding a sign that read "BIENVENIDOS WoodsEdge!" (Welcome, WoodsEdge - the name of our church).

It took about an hour to load a bus and a SUV with all the bags and to get us to our guest houses. As I was unpacking, a huge smile came across my face... my wife had packed a small, stuffed monkey in my bag - along with an accompanying Valentine's Day card. It was a reminder of not only her love for me, but that she was prayerfully sending me to serve. I love you, Cindy!

The next day, to make a long story short, one of our team members got lost while out for a morning jog. While most of the team went to visit an orphanage, I was one of four who stayed behind to look for our teammate. The story has a great ending. The member got back to the guesthouse. And, had the person not been lost, I probably would never have been able to have spent some quality time with the missions doctor in Quito, with the other team members searching or would have been able to see an ER and some ambulances in Quito.

We had some awesome worship and prayer time. As I prayed, I asked our REAL CHIEF, "What do you want me to learn on this trip?" My plea was, "Teach me, oh GOD."

HE did show me two things at the onset - we had all submitted to HIS will to "go forth and serve." And, HE also revealed to me that we were being prayed for by family, friends and our brothers and sisters in CHRIST back home. This was a team effort. A virtual army of prayer warriors were "with us" on this mission to serve GOD.

Stay tuned for more next week. Until then, stay safe and know that you are loved and being prayed for, as you serve...

...On HIS Shift,

"As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went--into villages, towns or countryside--they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed."

- Mark 6:54-56 (NIV)

 Thirty-three people, including yours truly, returned late yesterday from serving on a medical missions trip to a poor area south of Quito, Ecuador.

If it's okay with you, I am going to take the next STRESS RELIEF articles to tell you about the trip. A trip? No, much, much more than just a trip.

This was my first medical missions trip and my first foreign missions trip. You've probably heard this from every single person who has been on a mission before, but I must repeat it, "You have got to go on a mission trip. It will change you forever." Man, what an understatement.

We started out at Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. 33 folks, each with two bags to check in... one with the personal items and one laden with some of the 500 pounds of drugs and 70 pounds of vitamins... all the drugs and vitamins were donated by a medical supply house!

There were four doctors, a dentist, an optometrist, five nurses, a physician's assistant and myself, making up the medical portion of the team. We were joined in Ecuador with a missions doctor and a nurse, giving us a total of 15 people serving in a medical capacity. Others worked in the "pharmacy" tent. Still others worked with the children. There were set-up folks, who coordinated flow. Then there were four to six people in the "Prayer and Counseling" tent. It was a group of men and women, most who had never met before, who came together with a single "missions mindset" - to serve GOD by serving others.

The final totals were staggering... we saw almost 1300 patients in five days of clinic. More importantly, almost three hundred of those people accepted JESUS at their REAL CHIEF!!!

Our verses this week are a model of a medical mission... the Quichua people in the little village of Santos Pamba saw JESUS in our team... they brought their sick... and many were healed. Many were saved - in more ways than one!

In the next few articles, I will share some things from my journal that I kept.

I want you to know that I felt your prayers. I want you to know that GOD heard your prayers.

I can't wait for the next opportunity to serve...

...On HIS Shift,

PS - Be sure and check out our new Forum - www.emergencychaplain.org/forum

" I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."

- Philemon 1:6 (NIV)