Ana Maria de Jarabacoa...

Ana Maria de Jarabacoa...
  She is 42, widowed with four children and a grandchild. I don't know all of the story, but I first met Ana Maria via Facebook. She had worked in the Episcopal church in the DR and met mutual friends from Charleston, who brought her to the states for medical care. My Facebook friends would post photos and ask for prayer. What I do know is that she loves the Lord, loves people and loves to pray.
  Now back in her home town, she felt led to go on a mission trip in her own country, so she made the five hour trip from the cool, highlands of Jarabacoa to the heat and humidity of Angelina and Los Conucos. The entire team is so glad she came.
  As we would daily pray with scores of patients, whenever Ana Maria wasn't checking a blood pressure or filling out a patient form, I would call out, "Ana Maria, por favor, ayudame, vamos orar!" "Please, help me, we're going to pray." - or some variation.
  Though limited, I'm not too bad with church Spanish, "Come, Lord. Touch this person with your grace. Touch them with your healing in their entire body. Heal their minds and fill them with your Spirit, love and peace. Give them many miracles in their family (everyone we were with needed miracles!) and visit them with your presence." Like a broken record (but with sincerity of heart) I would pray some arrangement of this over and over, but when Ana Maria prayed, her passion and faith gave me a sense that we were opening Heaven's gate and pulling the Kingdom down. You can understand why I would call her over as often as possible.
  Many of us on the team speak Spanish better than we hear it, well enough that the patient often would take off in rapid style explaining their problems. We would quickly call Ana Maria; she would listen, then explain in slower, clearer Spanish, some Spanglish.
  Our regular procedure, with two doctor stations, was getting basic patient information and their problems at the front of the church, examination by the Doc, with me assisting one (I'm not a nurse in real life, but I play one in the DR), followed by me anointing and praying, then a short trip to the "pharmacy" (a few steps up by the altar), then possibly to the optical or the dentist. Ana Maria helped everyone, everywhere, whenever we called, whatever we asked, all the while hanging in there, not used to 93 degrees and 96% humidity (no big deal for Charlestonians).
  It is now the last evening of the mission - we wrapped up this afternoon, returned to the retreat center, rested, dined, worshipped and debriefed. Tomorrow we will all begin to head back to our very disparate worlds - the four Episcopalians back north, the three Catholics back to Boston, five Anglicans and a Methodist back to South Carolina, and Ana Maria back to Jarabacoa.
  I'm sure that I will be processing and praying for some time about my time here, but one thing is for sure. I will forever be grateful and remember to pray for the young widow from Jarabacoa that loved Jesus, served the broken and showed me God's face and heaven's glory.