Today is Wednesday, January 15, 2020, day 6 of our mission trip this year and day 3 of the clinic. The word of the day is PLANS. The related scripture for today is from Jeremiah 29:11 and says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for good and not evil, to give you a future and a hope.” In this passage, scripture makes clear that God plans good things for us; he envisions a positive future for us. It is up to us to discern the plans God has for us and follow his path for that plan. I like to visualize that God lights the path he intends for us and we need to follow that lighted path. It is with this concept in mind that we come to Honduras to provide care of basic physical needs of disadvantaged Hondurans. We believe that we can help the Hondurans we assist to better discern and follow the path God has lighted for them. In the process of doing this, we believe that our own path is better lighted and our focus on that path is improved through our assistance of the Hondurans. We have no doubt that, in this process of this mission, we receive, in the form of inspiration and spiritual growth, as much or more than we give. Today opened with improved weather; although the temperatures remain a little cooler than Is usual for this time of year (low 70’s), the skies are mostly clear, and the breeze is pleasant. Our crowd was much improved today, apparently due to better advertising of our clinic in the community, and the better weather, so we are grateful for that. We continue to have many beautiful babies, children, and elderly in the clinic as you will see in today’s images. Our dental prosthetics technician does amazing things every day to help the people in this community improve their appearance and dental function. The technician does not have his usual companion with him as the companion is sick with Dengue fever; all of Central America is experiencing an outbreak of this mosquito born viral illness. Today, Dr. Elmer, our supervising Honduran dentist, had a patient who desired to re-establish his relationship with Jesus after a long hiatus in that relationship. You will see a photo in today’s images of Elmer and Steve praying with this patient. I also held this patient’s hand as this was going on and could feel his body trembling and see the tears in his eyes. It was an emotional but rewarding process. It is for just such experiences that we come here. Another rewarding experience occurred when a patient from last year came back to thank JoAnne for the care she received last year which resulted in surgical correction of a bladder problem. This has greatly improved the quality of the woman’s quality of life, and she is extremely grateful. Today, Jim is out buying equipment for the medical clinic at Fuerzas Unidas, the hillside community here in Tegucigalpa that this mission team first served. Our mission team’s sponsoring church, First United Methodist in Frankfort, KY, sponsors a weekly clinic in this community at the Methodist Church there. The clinic needs a desk, chair, cabinet and some medical equipment such as a blood pressure cuff and a glucometer. Tomorrow, Jim and I will deliver this equipment and observe the clinic in action. Today’s photos feature the pharmacy and patient education as well as the usual ones of team members and patients. Helen was able to return to the hotel today and was able to walk to the bathroom with help. She is doing well, and the expectation continues to be that she will return to Kentucky on Saturday. The Honduran people continue to inspire us with their tenacity, friendliness and intelligence as they overcome the adversity of their condition which is mostly due to government corruption. Here is the link for today’s images: https://www.flickr.com/photos/167537108@N03/albums/72157712696921166
Please continue to pray and may God be with you! Roger