I started getting sick on August 3rd, our first travel day from Ecuador to Peru. It wasn’t anything major, so I didn’t give it much attention. I was banking on my “impressive immune system” to handle it, but it couldn’t. We got to Cajamarca on the 6th, and found our home to be a cute little clinic that was currently under remodeling–planning to open back up within the month. I wasn’t feeling super great on the 9th, and my team fought for me (against myself) to take a day and rest before we went to the villages in the mountains. Surely that would knock this cold out, right? WRONG. We went further up into the mountains, where we stayed pretty cold during our week there. My body was trying to keep me warm, which meant it didn’t have the extra energy to fight off this cold.
Well, it didn’t actually let me know that until we got back to Cajamarca this past Sunday, and even then I didn’t feel that bad. I didn’t start feeling bad until Tuesday, when me and Bets took Allison to Trujillo to meet up with Karissa. This definitely wasn’t something to ignore anymore. We got back to Cajamarca around 5:30 Wednesday morning. I went to bed and didn’t really wake up–with the exception of taking some Mucinex–until sometime that afternoon. I was exhausted–physically, emotionally, spiritually.
This month has been a battle–I could tell it would be coming into it…and it’s been amazing to see my Father fight for me. It’s been beautiful to see my squadmates, my leadership, and my friends and family back home fight for me. these past few days.
So, back to the story… I slept my Wednesday away expecting to wake up the next morning feeling fantastic. That didn’t happen. It is now August 20th. 17 days later… I have felt so frustrated the past few days. I just want to be ok. I want to be able to go do ministry with my girls. I want to be able to do something more than lay in bed all day. But, I physically can’t–my body won’t allow it. I’m done–there is nothing more that I can do. And so I spent my day in bed again, until about 2:00 this afternoon. Mel Jo comes over and gently wakes me up to tell me that I have a doctor coming to the clinic to see me pretty soon. Our nurse, Canada, suggested it while I was sleeping. THANK YOU, Canada! So, our pastor calls the doctor who worked at the clinic before the remodeling started, and she made time to come by.
Around 3:00 this afternoon, there’s a knock on the door. My doctor is here to see me. 🙂 So, me and Mel Jo make a walk down the hallway to the doctor’s room–thanks for being my translator Mama Mel. The doctor checks my ears and my throat, and lets me know that I DON’T have an ear infection (thank you, Jesus!!) but that the pain in my ears was just from all the congestion I have. So, she gets out her little prescription paper and rights down 4 different medications to take over the next few days. FOUR! First thought: Yay, that’ll knock that right out! Second thought: Crap, that’s going to cost a lot of money that I don’t have. Third thought: We don’t even know where a pharmacy is.
The doctor walks us to her assistant, and her assistant goes to some back room for quite a while. She comes back out with all of the medications I needed!! What??? Where the heck did that come from? I was thinking we’d have to go find a pharmacy somewhere in this city. Turns out we live right down the hallway from one. The assistant asks me for my ID, which I have to walk back down to my room to get. I grab my card too since I don’t have any cash on me, all the while I’m praying that it won’t cost much. She writes down all the info she needs and tells me that’s it. Wait, but how much does it cost? No cost. Absolutely nothing.
In the span of 30 minutes, God provided me with the doctor I needed and the medicine I needed, for absolutely no cost…and just a walk down the hallway. Thank You, Father, for this amazing blessing to see, yet again, just how well you truly care for me. Thank You for Your provision. Thank You for seeing my needs, even when I didn’t know I needed them until you had met them. THANK YOU.
With love,
Ash
