I’m sitting on a dirty floor at Lenin Fonseca Hospital in Nicaragua trying to prove to boredom that I am stronger than he is with my issue of Conspire, an iPod and journal. I can feel the dozens of eyes as they stare at me and think, “Look at that crazy gringo with his iPod and notebook sitting on that nasty floor. Que loco!”. Yet they are all sitting on a bench with nothing. Just sitting there staring blankly at the wall (and the crazy gringo). I’ve been waiting with Juan for over 3 hours with no sign of a call to see the doctor. A guy just walked by me with a 5 gallon bucket full of dead fish. In a hospital. This place is a zoo. At moments it is a picture of complete and total chaos like when a door opens and people stampede to see who is going to be called next.

I am here with a friend named Juan. I’ve been here with him 6 or 7 times now trying to have a surgery that he desperately needs. This should-be-easy process is complicated for many reasons. I’ll do my best to explain.

First, let’s talk about the hospital. This is the hospital in Managua that is free to all Nicaraguans. Sounds great right? But this free hospital is run by people that are not qualified to run a hospital. That’s the first problem. The second is the “system” that is in place here. It seems so ridiculous.  You are handed a slip of paper from your doctor when you have an appointment. To get back into the hospital you need this piece of paper. The security guard will not let you in the door without it. Once you figure out how to get in you wait. Everyone waits. No sign in. No number system. No snack machines, books, magazines – nothing.

Now let’s talk about Juan. Shortly after we got here last August, another crazy couple came down to work with us. Their names are Joe and Julie (Joe is pictured right with Juan). They have some medical training so they started volunteering at the local hospital with another friend of ours – Seth. The three of them met Juan during their visits to the hospital and as they became friends they learned more about his story (you can find Seth’s post about Juan here). Juan had surgery 15 years ago to correct his bowed legs. His left leg healed fine but his right leg did not. The doctors put some screws in his leg damaging it further and the leg never fully healed. He also has a bone condition called osteopetrosis (or “stone bone”) which means his bones are extremely hard, making it very difficult to operate.

He has had a bone infection for 15 years now. Joe, Julie, the Hickersons and Seth decided they would help Juan get the care he needed so they took him to a better hospital to get a professional opinion and some x-rays. After this, he was all set to go back to the free hospital so he could have the surgery there. Seth continued to go back with Juan only to be re-scheduled or given any number of other excuses just to not operate that day. Seth must have gone to the hospital with Juan 10 times. When it came time for Seth to leave, I offered to take this over for him never having met Juan. In my attempt to let my yes be yes – this is where we are now.

I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like to live with a bone infection for 15 years. The doctors describe the open sores that expose his bone as “volcanoes”. Juan needs a miracle. His entire life has been changed by this. He has never walked like a normal man. There is no doubt that if Juan was born in America he would be walking today. This hospital is Juan’s only choice and you could argue that it is the hospital’s fault that his leg is in this condition in the first place. I’m looking at him now and he looks terrified at the thought of having to stay here again – scarred with what happened here when he was a boy. He tells me that if I’m not with him, they will not even see him or ignore him all together. Without his “Yankee friends” he says he’s hopeless.

Juan makes a very difficult journey to get to the hospital from his home in Tipitapa. The hour long bus ride is very painful and this morning he fell really hard while getting out of the bus in Managua. It took him 10 minutes of sitting down for the pain to subside enough for us to make the 20 minute cab ride to the hospital.

Most of the people I work with here in Granada have difficult circumstances today because of bad decisions they made in the past. This is not the case with Juan. He has never struggled with addiction. He has no self-destructive behaviors or compulsions plaguing his life. In fact, despite his circumstances, he spreads joy everywhere he goes. He talks to everyone and they instantly love him. His joy is contagious, heart-warming and encouraging. He truly is a blessing to know and be around.

So why am I here? I am here because I believe in a God that hears the cry of his people. I believe in a God that wants to heal Juan’s leg. I am here because, as my friend Joe Kidd put it, “The Lord has won the war and is much bigger than the stupid Nica system and any of satan’s forces working with it!”.