Bringing Healing to Harrisonburg

Rich Bsulak was running out of time. In pain and desperate for dental help, he rode his bike 50 miles to get to Harrisonburg, VA. With only one mile left, his tire blew out, and he walked the rest of the way.

That day, Rich walked through the doors of a free medical clinic made possible through your support. One of the volunteer dentists treated him immediately and extracted his tooth...and not a moment too soon. He told Rich that he was only days away from having an exposed nerve—a much greater and more painful problem.

“This helps you get back to normal life,” Rich told us while recovering. For him, it was worth every last mile.

On April 11-12, 2021, through the support of our partners, we provided health care for hundreds just like Rich. On this weekend, Hand of Hope, Joyce Meyer Ministries’ World Missions, partnered with Remote Area Medical to hold a free medical and dental clinic in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals traveled from around the nation to volunteer for this special event that provided free medical treatment, tooth extractions, mammograms, eye exams, medicines and other vital services for those who couldn’t afford it on their own.

“This is a very underserved area,” said Hand of Hope Medical Outreach Director, Ashley Wilkins. “It’s actually a refugee resettlement, and the people we’re serving are either uninsured or underinsured, so we are able to help and treat people who are normally unable to afford care like this.”

News about the outreach spread far and wide. By 11:30pm on Friday, nearly 100 cars had already lined up down the street and around the corner. Although the clinic didn’t open until 6am, these families knew it may be their only chance to receive treatment. Some even drove several hours in search of medical care.

“I got my self-esteem back today.”

Kay Norred arrived shortly after midnight. A year ago, she couldn’t have fathomed needing medical help in this way. But like so many others, 2020 changed everything.

“I lost my job like millions of others in the pandemic,” Kay said. “I was a television news director for the last 25 years. In one swoop, they called four of us in and let us go.”

In recent months, Kay suffered from increased vision loss and told the volunteer doctors that she could barely see the food on her plate. Without a job or medical insurance, she couldn’t afford to do anything about it, until now.

That very day, Kay received an eye exam and the team began crafting the lenses onsite for her new glasses. To say she saw the world with fresh eyes is no exaggeration.

“I got my self-esteem back today,” Kay beamed. “Today was the first day that I realized I’m not alone—that there are people who will come to small, little Harrisonburg, Virginia to take care of me.”

For years, Kay had partnered with Joyce Meyer Ministries to make outreaches like this one possible all over the world. But she never thought she would be on the receiving end.

While at the clinic, the doctors also treated Kay for poison ivy. And on the way out, she took the opportunity to pray with our team and receive some much-needed encouragement.

“I’m very thankful now to know that I can not only be a partner, but I can be a participant,” she said. “I didn’t realize I could walk in here a broken woman and walk out whole. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

It’s the perfect prescription…

Kay was one of more than 440 people who walked through the clinic doors this weekend. And like her, many had gone a long time without seeing a doctor.

“We are treating a lot of patients who haven’t visited a medical professional over the last year due to the pandemic,” Ashley Wilkins said. “We’re seeing a lot of diabetics with their blood sugar dangerously high. There are patients with dangerously-high cholesterol and blood pressure because they’re running out of medication. And it’s just been a wonderful blessing to be able to bring help.”

Partners of Joyce Meyer Ministries, it is your incredible kindness and generosity that has brought life-changing medical and dental help to Kay, Rich and hundreds of others in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

You also supplied so many of them with something they may not have even known they needed…love, prayer, and hope from the Gospel message! The perfect prescription for people who have walked through a tremendously difficult year.

They have been so receptive to prayer and to the Gospel,” Ashley Wilkins said. “Because you’re coming in first and meeting the physical problem and then you’re also meeting their spiritual problem as well. I want to say thank you so much to all of our partners. Without your faithful giving, we wouldn’t be able to come to places like Virginia and reach out to these precious people.”