This quarterly update is brought to you by Melissa Birchfield, a one-month intern at MIM (MEDA International Missions). We rejoice at the opportunity to recount everything that the Lord has done during the past three months at Clinica Betania.
At the beginning of July, we wrapped up a dental and vision brigade with Living Hope Bible Church of Issaquah, Washington. Over three and a half days, we saw 71 dental patients on the lower floor of the clinic, and 229 optometry patients on the upper floor. Many patients were able to receive both types of care: essential dental treatment (e.g., extractions, fillings) as well as a pair of eyeglasses to meet their needs. Most importantly, every patient heard the gospel from church leaders who connected with them upon check-in. Living Hope team members also shared their own testimonies as patients waited for their treatment. Praise God for all the seeds that were planted this week!
In mid-August, we were blessed to have the support of Dr. Erik Linn from Montana Avenue Baptist Church in Caldwell, Idaho. Dr. Linn partnered with Dr. Fernando Villatoro to conduct a general medical brigade at the clinic, seeing a total of 203 patients over four days. Church leaders came in every morning to share the gospel with patients. It is our prayer that He would use these brigades to not only address people’s physical needs but also to convict their hearts of their need for spiritual healing.
Our last group arrived in September: New Life Bible Church from Pueblo, Colorado. This was actually their second time with us this year, as they had sent a group down earlier in May. Their dental team, led by Dr. Andrew Comerci, got a head start on Sunday afternoon seeing nine seminary students as their first patients. Over the next three days, we served a total of 185 patients at the clinic (56 for dental care; 129 for general medical services). As always, evangelism was prayerfully incorporated into each appointment, with three team members sitting down with patients individually to share the gospel. On Friday, we brought the New Life brigade to the village of Ocho de Mayo, where we have a relationship with a recently established church plant. There we saw a total of 13 dental and 78 general medical patients. We are grateful that the Lord has provided these venues for outreach beyond our immediate vicinity.
Apart from the group brigades, a total of 30 dental and 416 general medical patients have visited the clinic over the past three months. (This is lower than patient numbers we have had in the past simply because we needed to prioritize the brigades over daily clinic visits.) The Lord has granted us the opportunity to develop relationships with these patients and offer them biblical counseling services. Please pray that we would be faithful in pointing them to Christ through these ministries.
Praise God for continued progress in furnishing the upper floor of our clinic. We received four dental chairs in September and are awaiting four more. Lord willing, our upper floor will be ready in time for next year’s dental brigades. Dr. Robb and Sherry Kensinger, who served alongside us in Honduras for several years and are now back in the states, have graciously helped coordinate the process of acquiring these chairs from different churches and clinics. Thank you, Kensingers!
Looking forward, we would like to ask prayer for guidance in planning future projects. We have new partners who are interested in working with us in the upcoming year, which is a huge blessing! We crave the Lord’s direction in determining how to steward our time and resources as we seek to make Christ known in our community.
We have many projects ahead of us for 2023:
Installation of dental chairs
Painting the second floor
Setting up the third floor
Preparing a counseling room
Bathroom construction
Dining area construction
Humidity correction in the basement
Parking lot pavement
Fan installation
Intercom installation
Annual children’s check-up
Bringing brigades to nearby villages
More information can be found on our Projects page. If you would like to learn more about any of these projects and how you can get involved, please email us at clinicabetaniahn@gmail.com or follow the Contact link on our menu bar.
Thank you all for the ways you are supporting Clinica Betania. Your prayers and financial aid are a great encouragement to us, and we praise the Lord for your partnership in this ministry. He is at work!
Living Hope Bible Church | Montana Avenue Baptist Church | New Life Bible Church
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