This little girl was brought to us to look at her foot. It was covered with nasty tape that was flapping loose. When I removed the tape I could see a large infected wound site, but it was so nasty and crusty I couldn't even tell what kind of wound it was.
The family didn't have any money to seek medical care, but when her foot started to swell and get worse, since she and her sister both go to our school, they knew they could come to the mission for help.
First I questioned her what had happened to cause the problem. She told me that she was standing near the cook fire and hot oil had spilled onto her foot. I told them that I would need to soak her foot to get all the crust off. I'm not sure exactly which remedy they had used- whether charcoal, toothpaste, or something else, but it had collected a few days worth of grime and pus and formed a nasty, swollen crusty sore on the top of her foot. My plan was to first remove that mess, and then clean and disinfect the burn site as well as I could. 
Her mother did not want me to put water or soap on her foot & clean it. I never really could understand why... I finally quit trying to figure it out and explained why it had to be properly cleaned before any medicine would help. I finally got a hesitant OK to continue. As you can see from the picture above it takes a bunch of people working as a team every time we see a situation like this. The injured child, whatever family accompanies them, a translator, me, and one or more of our employees to help convince them that it's OK to trust.
It's frustrating, it's overwhelming, it's humbling, it's a blessing all rolled up in one whammy of emotion. I hope I've made a difference, hope I've done & said the right things, hope I've furthered and not hindered kingdom work, wondered why me, how do I dare do things I'm so minimally trained for, and I thank God for my blessed life, for allowing me to see & serve, for sending what we need, for all the wonderful people back home who care & help.
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