Nov 14 to Dec 14 I was again in Shenyang, northeastern China working alongside my colleagues at LIGHT – Liaoning International General Health Trainers. This is a full-time team of Chinese healthcare personnel providing care to the most vulnerable people of this enormous city.
One memorable day the I drove with the LIGHT team to the countryside. Twice each month LIGHT holds clinic here. It was bitterly cold when we arrived. But still some sixty townspeople were waiting. As I was examining an elder woman her companion asked 他们为什么在这里 (“Why are they here?”). She replied 因为真正的神爱我们 (“Because the one true God loves us”).
Another day we did clinic at a very humble retirement center – a bittersweet experience. Generally the only people who are relegated to retirement centers are those who are penniless or who have no children who care for them. Yet these precious elders were radiant and enthusiastic to receive us. The headmaster immediately lead me to a room of bed-bound people, mostly hemiplegics, who were covered with scabies. In my presence they were scratching vigorously, causing me to recall how horribly I scratched from this infection when I was twenty-two. Our only medication for scabies was little tubes of sulfur – a remedy that is hardly sufficient. While I continue to feel anguish for these people, my heart is also warmed by the thought of such care and concerned expressed to them by the people of LIGHT.