Lessons from El Paralítico and El Ciego

Looking from the foot bridge toward the Rio Marañon, which recently flooded

 

(translation = The Paralytic and the Blind)
In any of the experiences I've had overseas, there are always people suffering from conditions which began way before I met them, and will (unless the LORD brings about healing) for years to come.  My least favorite conditions in this category are ones involving the eyes.
First of all, eyes are amazingly complex, intricate, and powerful. They are the lamp of the body, a window to the soul, our means of taking in our world, the tools with which you can see to read this text, powerful communicators, and often tell a story we may not even know ourselves.  Secondly, eye problems were never my forte in medical training, and thankfully (or not...) I refer people to eye specialists when there's an eye problem.  Thirdly, I recognize the finality of conditions like blindness and have nothing in my "medical bag" to treat it.
The first day we arrived to Fundo Aurora (the Aurora Camp), we were approached about Rosa, a woman suffering from blindness for several years. We were asked to go see her, no doubt in hopes that we would be able to affect her condition.  We found her in one of the Cabinas, in the back room where people slept, laying on the plank floor on her sleeping mat. She was likely in her 40s and with her mother, who appeared to be easily 60 or older, now again caring for the needs of her daughter.  Rosa's husband had led us to see her.  We used a translator from Spanish to U*, trying to obtain some details about her condition, though knowing well that there was little we could do.  One of the lovely parts of understanding Spanish, is hearing directly from the person what they have said and often knowing what they mean.  I asked how long she had been suffering from this problem with her eyes.  "Tiempo" was the answer (translated to me from U*). "Time".... she's been dealing with this for ... time.   Still curious, I pressed for more of a sense - was this 6 months time or 6 years time?  After a few words of exchange, they picked the latter.  That is Time.
Upon examining her, she had an opacified (opaque, white, cloudy) lens in the Right eye, but a different appearing cloudiness to her cornea (covering the surface of the eyes) on her Left eye.  Kathy and I had little to offer except prayer and the recommendation for her to go to Iquitos for a visit with an Ophthalmologist. This is not a simple endeavor, but likely her only chance short of a miracle to have even some restoration of her sight.  We collectively prayed for her that Monday afternoon - in English, Spanish and U* - and went on our way, meeting people and making introductions.
Thursday afternoon, I was approached again by Rosa's husband. He wanted me to see Rosa again, and was concerned about her eyes, and headaches as well this time.  Admittedly, I was initially bothered, since I had already made my diagnosis & treatment plan: blindness, unclear etiology, not something I can treat, refer to Optho.  I felt I had nothing further to offer.  However, for her headaches, we had some tylenol, knowing full well that it is but a temporary measure; so with that in mind I returned to her quiet, dark dwelling.  This time accompanying me were Jacinto, a U* leader and believer, helping with translation, and Rafael a young man from the DR team who had expressed interest in being part of our medical work, and joined me to pray for people that day. I was so glad he did.
Rosa's husband brought her out from the back sleeping quarters into the front living space of their community's Cabina, and we sat together on the simple wooden bench, rain starting to fall on the tin roof overhead. We talked about her headache, I offered some tylenol, and again explained that I had nothing to treat her eye condition.  My bothered attitude softened and tears came as I felt the hopelessness of being blind in the jungle. They nodded as Jacinto translated, but then we offered again to pray for her, for them as a family.  They agreed.  Rafael and I prayed in Spanish, as did Jacinto, and we heard him praying for them to have faith, like the Paralytic, and his friends, reminding us as well as the LORD that Jesus healed such hopeless conditions... like paralysis, like blindness. 
As we finished praying, Jacinto began encouraging this family in the U* language to have faith, to ask Jesus for healing, and to remember the Paralytic and the Blind Men who Jesus healed in response to their faith, and His mercy.  (We knew he was telling them these stories because there are words that don't translate in to U* and so we heard "paralitico" and "ciegos" break through the otherwise unintelligible words to our ears.)

Rafael and I sat, humbled, watching this U* brother exhort his neighbors to believe... Even in the face of such a 'hopeless' situation.  We learned later that Jacinto had, just that morning, heard the story of the Paralytic and his friends who brought their hopeless situation before Jesus, in faith. 
Some of these lessons become much more plain in the Jungle, when faced with someone who has been blind for Time.