Airplane Prophesy

Bear with me on this posting.  It is very different from my usual musings.  


I had a very unusual experience on the Amsterdam to Entebbe flight.  We were several hours into the flight and I had just come back to my seat after making a bathroom visit.  A middle-aged British gentleman came to my seat to say that he had noticed me on the flight and had received a prophesy from God that he needed to share with me if I wanted to hear it.  Well, when someone tells you they have a message from God what are you going to say, right?  I am paraphrasing, but he said, "God is going to lift the shackles of my life on this trip.  Any perceived limitations will be lifted and something amazing is in store for us on this trip."  Wow. 


I have to tell you that his words really spoke to me.  I had been worried concerned about the medications that I ordered for this trip.  I worked with Mary and one of the physicians from last year's trip, Amy Stucky, on the medication order.  I had ordered triage equipment.  I was responsible for making medical decisions for this trip having never been on this trip before.  In regards to what we could bring, there were concerns about weight and volume of supplies due to airline restrictions. I had told myself and some other members of the mission team that we would pack just what God needed for us to have on this trip, but did I really believe it?   I had very real doubts about my nursing ability to be able to be a valid asset to the team.  I have been on two previous medical mission trips to Haiti before but did I have real skills that would be beneficial to see such a volume of people as we were likely to see?  


I must tell you that all of my doubts, my "shackles", about my nursing abilities melted away as soon as I got to work.  It felt very natural to be working as we did.  I got into a rhythm of seeing patients that clicked for me.  I was hot and sweaty during those clinic days but very content to be doing just what the Lord would have me do at that moment.  By all rights I should have been a walking zombie - having had so little real sleep since the night before leaving home, but I felt great!  


As far as the medications go, we didn't bring all that we needed.  We had prepared for 1700-2000 patients but saw 2125!  We had no way to know what diagnosis we would be seeing.  When Dr. Jeff Jones and Pharmacist Penny Pickering joined us they brought medications from the previous clinic with them.  It was exactly what we needed to compliment what we brought.  By the time we finished clinic after the 5th day we had depleted just about everything that was brought by us and by Penny and Jeff.  God had provided just what we were going to need.  Our "perceived limitations" were indeed lifted.  


Something amazing was indeed in store for us on our trip.  We went to Uganda to be a blessing to the people that we served but we were the ones who walked away having been given blessing after blessing by the Africans we served and the Africans with whom we had the pleasure to serve.  God is good!