Adventures in Argentinian Hospitals

This month I have spent a good amount of time in Argentinian hospitals.

I have had a couple of sick squadmates, and being a person who both speaks Spanish and has some medical knowledge, I often make the trips to the hospital.

It would be best if no one required trips to the hospital, but our late-night adventures have provided opportunities for quality time with squadmates and have given us opportunities to get to know each other better. Both of these friends are healing and recovering but prayers for the health of the whole squad are greatly appreciated.

This month we also spent a couple of days doing ministry in a local hospital. We went on Christmas Eve to encourage and hopefully bring some Christmas spirit. We prayed for patients and their families in rooms, waiting rooms, and outside of the hospital, and we worshipped in the lobby and sang some Christmas songs. From this day, our time of worship stands out the most. Our guys played guitars while everyone’s voices echoed off the walls. The people in the waiting room watched intently or joined in when we sang Christmas songs that they knew. It was so fun to fill the space with worship and the joy of the Lord.

The day after Christmas we went back to the hospital for ministry again. At first, we weren’t permitted to enter the rooms as doctors were doing rounds, so we went to the bottom floor which is the ER and prayed for people in the waiting room. I met a sweet man named Omar with sparkly eyes and chatted with him for quite some time while he waited to be seen.

After Omar we met a sweet 16-year-old boy Rodrigo whose brother, Carlos, was a patient in the hospital. Rodrigo was hanging out on the steps in front of the hospital and upon chatting with him we found out that on Christmas day his brother had had an accident with some significant head trauma. Rodrigo was super worried about Carlos and was brought to tears telling us about the incident. It was so sweet to see how deeply he cared for his brother. We chatted with him for a while and were able to pray for him and Carlos and it was a really sweet time.

A short time later, we were gathering in the lobby to start moving to patient rooms and I saw Rodrigo run to his mother and his brother. Carlos was actually up and walking around a bit. He had bandages all around his head and his face and eyes were swollen and bruised, but he had the most beautiful smile. After their sweet moment of reunion, Rodrigo pointed us out and told his family that we had spent time talking to and praying with him. His mom was so excited that he hadn’t just been sitting outside alone. They quickly returned to Carlos’s room because he needed to go back to lay down, but it was so sweet to briefly talk with them.

Then it was time for our group to pass through security and go to patient rooms to pray for people. My team was sent to the fourth floor. We had originally heard from Rodrigo that Carlos was on the fifth floor. I accepted that we would not be visiting Carlos’s room and since we had met Rodrigo’s family in the lobby anyway, I was content with the fact that someone else from our squad would be stopping by his room up on the fifth floor.

My team split up as we had two people to translate, one of the YWAM staff Alicia and myself. As Anna and I walked down the hallway we say Carlos and his mom at the end of the hall! He was, in fact, staying on the fourth floor. After stopping in a few rooms and praying for several patients and their families, we finally popped into a room and found Carlos and his mom.

Carlos had the biggest smile across his face and was excited to see us. It was fun to be able to then talk to him a bit and get to know him and his mother better. The day before his accident, on Christmas Eve, their house was robbed, and he was beaten up while Rodrigo was stabbed in the arm. Luckily, neither of the boys was severely injured and both boys were very thankful that their mom and younger siblings were not home at the time.

It had been such a discouraging and challenging Christmas season for this family this year, but both boys were so sweet, kind and their smiles lit up their faces. It was a blessing to be able to pray for these boys and to pray that next year their Christmas will be filled with all good things, but mostly that their lives would be filled with the love of Christ.

I really enjoyed hospital ministry and loved being able to lend an ear to patients and families during a difficult holiday season. I am so thankful for the opportunity for this ministry. I am thankful that people trusted us with their stories and took the time to chat with us.

I am thankful that I get to be here, doing this. And I could not be doing any of it without all of your support. Thank you all so much.

I have 1 more month to be fully funded! I am just short of meeting my goal and reaching the fully funded status. If you could join me in prayer, or financially as I continue the fundraising process, I would greatly appreciate it!

With love,

Kayla