Today is Thursday, January 17, 2020, day 7 of our mission trip this year and day 4 of the clinic. The word of the day is PATIENCE. The related scripture for today is from Galatians 5:22-23 and says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” The reason I picked this word and this scripture for today is simple; my patience was tested today. Jim Burris and I went to the Fuerzas Unidas hillside neighborhood overlooking Tegucigalpa to see the clinic there sponsored by the First United Methodist Church in Frankfort, Kentucky, to see how the clinic was operating, assess the neighborhood for future mission trips, and deliver new clinic supplies and furniture. It seemed to me that it took all day to get a two-hour job done. I had to pray and bite my tongue and keep remembering what our priorities were. I know that if I am in the spirit and let the spirit lead me, I will manifest these “fruits” mentioned above but, being human, it is so easy to start trying to be in control rather than letting God be in control. It is easy to forget what our priorities are and end up saying and doing things that hurt someone and do more damage than the good we set out to do originally. That is why patience is so important. Patience is also important on mission trips and in other countries because things often move at a different pace; we must learn to adapt to this, not them to us. It is a difficult lesson and, for me, one that requires constant reminders because the North American way is so ingrained. One of the things we emphasize in our group is flexibility, but as the week goes on and we all get tired, we revert to our old ways and must be reminded. We must remember that things happen in God’s time, not ours. Jim and I found the Fuerzas Unidas neighborhood to be much, much safer than when we left there to take the mission team to a different site six years ago. The clinic there is going well. The doctor is there once a week and the nurse is there twice a week. The poverty is minimally improved but the church itself thrives. (https://www.facebook.com/Iglesia-Metodista-Unida-Aposento-Alto-254662901325023/?__tn__=kCH-R&eid=ARAy5nJtPYF7AfUZcKUpX6yh4PQfYrcW3ewDyG2eW2rRMJD1n3m5eQkTBJ7ChzWzxxarMqyzU8xH1Cvc&hc_ref=ARR250gd6LxBwyXS-j42L42xS8pJIR9NiTrRP9gSGxbiy_zeqCB-6UXP03oJbi576Ag&fref=nf&__xts__[0]=68.ARCkgaNQEYSsUhbikVCz5n5qy5bsYdG8b9pZL7CXxW14xh0LEY5lwqjYRp1FvQkoq3F8LAbOFDb46PDPdCdvlBFnBS_eMOs0NzdsSpSL5MPf29CSlIyQQOSUm2prfJ8-uquWOJ26PRFdhC-2ixGR79wYVGkuK8WqxhSoqp3gqp8vREO9YNZ6GiP0MW8jFqXCxJO-tCgWfBmonJES1CBgTrc1ZkTVRy8oaPHlrfaOoEmJnkhz0ZQjXEVEk3ziAKY_-SeAPrGoL1q2HW9GQ2NNl6gF7cZJ73DL3nOP0o0Xgna1QqptwxgYdFdjJatalLNtM-Z0WCJ4C0sANGF3oDYs3DQ). This week has flown by and is almost over. Despite rain and fog in the afternoon, our clinic at Ciudad Espana thrived today. The lab checked at least 30 blood glucose levels, some of which were as high as 400. Hypertension and diabetes are very common. Unfortunately, American style fast food and snacks have infiltrated the culture here, and high sugar items are ubiquitous. This is having disastrous consequences on the health of many Hondurans. Our patient educator attempts to correct this, but it is difficult. She also teaches about clean water, oral hygiene, and sanitation. Hondurans have access to come health care but frequently there are no medications in public clinics as the funding is inadequate or a government official has embezzled the money for it. Last night, our dental team gave an excellent seminar for several local dentists. Photos of this are included. I will note that Helen continues to improve and is now feeling well enough to help with the mission finances. At our meeting last evening, Charlie and TJ crowned her with a make-shift aluminum foil crown as the “Queen of the Mission.” We were also blessed last evening to hear from a Honduran missionary who goes down to the Guapinol area in southern Honduras on the Pacific Ocean. This is an extremely poor area where folks rely on fishing which is not always good. These people have very poor nutrition and almost no economy. There is a Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/elevahn/?fref=profile_friend_list&hc_location=profile_browser) for this mission, and we plan to look into this as a possible future site for our mission. Tomorrow, we will be closing the clinic early to break down and store most of the equipment. There will be a dinner at the inn tomorrow night to celebrate the mission and all the drivers, translators, and all associated with the mission are invited. Please click here for today’s images.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/167537108@N03/albums/72157712711190731
Blessings to all and thanks for your prayers! Roger