I am very fortunate to have served in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Santa Cruz is a very large and diverse city. The Bolivian people seem reserved, but are also very kind and welcoming. The missionaries and local church that hosted us for the week are clearly passionate about serving Christ and the local community. Our clinic was set up in a school on the outskirts of the city. Lines for the clinic often started forming the night before and filled the whole block. Throughout the week, the medical and optical clinics treated a total of 2,036 patients (we saw just under 200 of these in physical therapy), with 751 decisions for Christ! 

A majority of the patients that we treated in PT were experiencing chronic spine and/or shoulder pain as a result of many years of hard work. On the last day of the clinic, a patient came to PT in a wheelchair; he was able to walk but only for short distances. 

I brought one cane with me and it sat unused for most of the week; however, I quickly realized the Lord provided it for this purpose! After working with him on mechanics, he was able to walk to the far side of the school. 

The theme for the week in our morning devotionals was redemption. It was amazing to see this play out during the week, as people often came for some sort of physical relief and left having heard the story of The Healer.