I wanted to thank you for your generosity in sending me to Nicaragua with The Radiant Initiative. It was such an incredible experience! Our medical team was able to help with around a few hundred people a day which was a blessing to our team as well as the community. I was able to provide rehabilitation with body work as a Physical Therapist and pray over several patients. Conditions were much different in Nicaragua as I did not have appropriate tables, chairs, or even a preferred temperature for treating patients. It was hot working the first day in a classroom with no AC. I soon shifted my focus on loving and serving people to the best of my ability and just embraced the process. There was a lot of children with hip and elbow aliments that I was not accustomed to treat but felt I was able to make a positive difference. It was hard to spread my time out with patients since many of them needed and requested more time with me. I speak a little Spanish and the communication barrier was also challenging. One middle aged male had a very difficult time using his left arm due to a previous elbow injury that needed surgery years ago. He did not make much money and relied on his physical ability to take care of his family. He was so desperate for help and was praying on the table while I was working on him. I was able to free up a lot of his nerve tension in his limb and enjoyed the look on his face when his mobility was restored, and a lot of his pain decreased. There was another 2-year-old boy that fell on the ground a few months ago and injured his elbow and could not bend it past 90 degrees. We were able to make good progress with range of motion, but it was challenging to get breakthrough. I reflect sometimes on how his elbow may have turned out in his future if we never crossed paths and could not receive any health care for his condition. I am glad I was able to help him improve his elbow function even if it is someone who just wants to play with his friends.
The King will answer and say to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it for Me.” Matthew 25:40.
Treatment was getting exhausting after a while and probably treated a weeks worth of patients in several days. Shortly into treatment some of our other team members from The Radiant Initiative was questioning my style of treatment. Over the week I was able to treat around half the team who wanted work done and some of them more than once. We all need other people to take care of us so we can continue to be productive with what we are all called to do. I was able to educate them and even find local therapy so they can continue improving their health and function when they returned home.
The last day we took a trip up to Chinandega to a place they call “The Dump.” I was able to witness families and children searching for any valuable items to recycle for a few dollars a day in the city dump. I met a 5-year-old girl Michelle at the dump who is the same age as my best friends daughter. She was happy and I gave her a hug and told her “Jesus loves you.” It breaks my heart to see people living in these conditions as she does not know any better. This place had severe financial poverty, but these children were content in other areas of life. Brittney and The Radiant Initiative team started building homes in this region years ago and now has over 80 homes for these families and now has a functional community with electricity and running water. Chinandega was hard to witness because it reminded me of myself a one point in life. I had severe physical poverty from chronic pain and injuries where I spent a decade of life in chronic pain and had to battle for my life since I never thought I would escape the nightmare of living inside my body. God has wonderful plans for our future if we continue to pursue him. If there is one thing I love doing, it is helping people reduce pain and improve their quality of life. The Lord is faithful and can bring life into any dead situation.
Listen carefully I am about to do a new thing, now it will spring forth; will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19
I was also able to meet a great group of people through The Radiant Initiative and hope our relationships will continue beyond our week together in Nicaragua. Many people were excited to hear about my trip once I returned home. I have been brainstorming of additional ways to impact and help them grow. I would love to continue to invest into the people of Nicaragua with their medical or spiritual needs. Thank you again for supporting me and allowing me to be apart of this wonderful experience!
God Bless!
Chad Zaabadick, PT, DPT