How do you take a team of 14, type-A individuals who love the Lord and are eager to love God’s needy as they learn how to respond successfully in a disaster, when no disaster has occurred?
Carl, of Arise Medical Missions certainly figured out this answer when he and his team of trainers created an atmosphere of extreme conditions for the DIRT team.
We lived for 5 days at an abandoned hospital set deep in the hills (mountains, to us Floridians) of Nepal. We slept in tents on concrete floors and were thankful for the walls and ceiling above us to protect from the piercing cold. We ate lentils and rice (Dahl Baht) for breakfast and dinner and had protein bars for lunch. And, if the walk on the dirty and dusty, rugged and steep terrain weren’t extreme enough, the 1/2 mile trek with around a 300ft change in elevation to the water source where 44 gallons per day were hauled by buckets certainly set in the reality of an extreme environment. Since the water was not fit to drink, all drinking water had to be purified. There were no showers for 12 days, 24 hour rotating security detail and all meals were cleaned and cooked on site in a make shift kitchen.
Our mission was to paint a local school for 750 children in the neighboring village. The real mission was quickly and clearly revealed when God opened up our hearts and revealed pride and ego issues amongst the team. There were disagreements on how things should be done, and communication breakdowns. The real problem was that this team of highly motivated and physically strong, men and women when faced with these extreme living conditions had forgot to put the Spirit of God at the helm. Suddenly, I totally understood Carl’s repetitive words of, “you must learn how to take care of the team first”. For the DIRT team, this meant bowing down our hearts, dying to ourselves and submitting to our Lord. Once Jxsus was at the helm, great things were accomplished. The men and women’s hearts were knitted together as a unified team and God’s wisdom began to fill our minds.
It was a real blessing when a surprise, simulated bus accident occurred and the DIRT team responded quickly, efficiently and as a unified team working to save the lives of the injured nationals. We had finally learned how to work well together, love each other and serve God.
Days later, the DIRT team took what was learned when we worked not only together, but also with a local youth group as well as some nationals, to help build the first playground for handicap children in Nepal. It’s not by might nor power, but by my Spirit says the Lord.
We are happy to be home with this experience under our belt and look forward to serving when the real disaster comes our way.

Trina (For DIRT)