Honduran Mission Report 2005
On January 29th a group of thirty-five people will embark on a week-long mission trip to Tegucigalpa Honduras. This group includes nurses, doctors, evangelists, and their support personnel. Paul Darr and Don Stewart of Starfish Enterprises coordinate the trip through World Gospel Outreach in Humble Texas.
Over the course of this trip the group will minister to the basic medical needs
of these people who live in grinding poverty. Once the door to their hearts have
been opened by these acts of kindness, evangelists minister to their spiritual
needs. The goal is the goal of every Christian - to win as many souls for
Heaven as possible by attempting to live out the example set by
Christ.
This is the story of that mission trip, in the words and pictures
of those who were there.
Saturday January 29th -
We all arrived safely at the Mission House at 2:30 pm. Much of the checked luggage did not make it however, but we hope and pray it arrives by Monday so we'll have the medical, as well as evangelism supplies in time for the first brigade.
During after dinner devotions we spent time getting to know each other and finding out how each person was called to be here on this mission. Those of us who have been coming here for several years continue to be amazed by the varied and wonderful ways God calls people to this place to serve His people.
Tomorrow we'll attend a local church and then head to the Valley of the Angels, a nearby village just outside of Tegucigalpa.
Sunday January 30th -
From Holy Cross Team Members, Gary, Jeff, Matt, Tim, Ryan, and Cheryl.
Today was a day of becoming aware of the Honduran culture through Church( Matt and Gary chose the group that went to the all Spanish service and in spite of knowing no Spanish actually think they understood the sermon), travel, authentic Honduran cuisine ( rice, beans and chicken) and shopping in the Valley of the Angels (a Honduran village about 45 minutes from Tegucigalpa).
We realize that today is the day that we saw the beauty of this country and got our first look at the kindness that rests in the hearts of these people. This is truly our preparation for the remainder of the week when we will see the deep spiritual and physical needs of this nation. We've packed the bus, we've prepared our hearts and are becoming a close-knit team. May God guide us to lead the Hondurans to a spiritual awakening through our medical, dental, & optometry ministries.
P.S. Tim had Happy Birthday sung to him twice today. Ryan only got it once yesterday by the group and one wonderful solo by Cheryl. Ryan says hi to Dustan and Sean and Tim says he hopes they're being good boys. Tim really misses Norma. Gary wants Diane to know he is taking care of Matt and has not lost him. Matt wants to say hi to mom, Shell, Mike, and Sarah.
Honduras (video)
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Monday January 31st -
Today was our first brigade of this mission trip and for many team members their very first ever experience as a missionary. It's is always such a treat for the veterans to watch the new people experience the people of Honduras. There is simply no way we can give you the complete story in words and pictures, you have to be here and experience it to really feel the full impact of what this country and its people are like.
We thought today of the many people who made this trip possible, those who donated their time and resources and who walk with us every step of the way as we move among these precious people. We were especially blessed this year to have many children help us, from those students at Trinity Edwardsville who are praying for individual team members to those at Good Shepherd in Collinsville who made the hundreds of Salvation Bracelets we use in the children's ministry.
There are so many stories from today. There was the five year old girl who had to have a tooth cut out and cried so loudly the entire brigade heard her. Chris held her hand during the procedure and then consoled her afterwards. I'm not sure who touched whose heart more.
There was a lady with sixteen children, and an 84 and then a 100 year old woman who both walked there to see us today to ask us to pray for her children and grandchildren. Optical had its usual wonderful stories of huge smiles from both young and old patients who could see clearly again for the first time in many years. Medical was able to give comfort to most everyone they saw, this despite the fact that much of our medicines have still not arrived from our flight last Saturday. The pharmacy did an incredible job of making do with what we have on hand. This was also a problem in the children's ministry where we ran out of lice shampoo in early afternoon.
Please pray that Continental Airlines is able to get this luggage to us soon so we can do more to ease the suffering here.
Tomorrow we return to the same brigade site to help the many we left standing in line when we had to leave today. Whether we get our medical supplies or not, one thing is very certain, that God will bless our work abundantly. One team member who could not attend this year put it best when she reminded us that God's work is not so much done by us, but done despite us.
Placing the salvation bracelets on the children
Grace (video)
Reach Out and Touch (video)
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Tuesday February 1st -
From Friendship Lutheran Church, Taylorsville, NC.
Here we are Lord!
Today brought about many highs and lows for us. We arrived at
the site this morning early to see several hundred people already waiting on us
to receive much needed care. What we have to offer the people of the Honduras is
medical care, optometry, dental, pharmacy, evangelism and children's ministries.
Mary Ann and Lynette worked in optometry and pharmacy today.
One of the things that they witnessed today from the Hondurans is they always
said God bless you. The children loved the sunglasses so much that they would
constantly try to break line to get a pair. While these sunglasses are a small
token for us it is a special treat for them.
Barb worked medical all day and had some wonderful
experiences she would like to share. She took 32 stitches out of a man's hand
that had been in so long the skin had grown over the stitches. Getting any type
of medical treatment here is a luxury that we take for granted. Another thirteen
year old girl came to medical today just to receive vitamins.
During her medical examination Barb noticed she had what
looked like a small mole on the white of her eye. This young girl didn’t even
know about this. Barb and Dr. Boeren looked at her and took her to optometry and
where they determined it was probably a malignant melanoma, which would be a
fatal cancer if untreated. The optometrist referred her to a local hospital for
follow up care.
Larry has had two hectic days in pharmacy. He estimates there
have been probably 500 prescriptions filled each day. This has been an unusual
experience for Larry since he had to rely on Spanish speaking translators to
counsel each patient on his or her prescriptions. He has had a rotating staff of
five technicians that change every three or four hours to assist in the
pharmacy. Larry is getting thinner by the minute trying to keep up with all
these women and teens bossing him around in pharmacy. His hair is now gray.
Today Meg started out in evangelism and finished the day in
pharmacy. In between praying with the Honduran people she learned two Spanish
jokes from the interpreters. Some of the stories of the women trying to support
their families are really heart wrenching. However, she was glad she had the
opportunity to pray with them. And what can we say about pharmacy, never a dull
moment!
Well this only leaves Chris. Paul Darr and Don Stewart our
team leaders for this trip have used him as a floater both days to work at all
the treatment stations. This has enabled him to experience all aspects of this
Christian ministry in hopes that it will help train him to better understand how
the World Gospel Outreach medical mission operates and ministers to these
people. He continues to be amazed that while we are here to care for and witness
to these people, they have ministered and been a blessing to us in ways we
cannot begin to describe.
Late in the afternoon we packed up the vehicles and
headed back to the mission house. Upon our return some of us grabbed a beverage
to sit back, relax, and reflect back on our day. On a lighter note the ride into
and out of the barrios and dealing with the traffic is a hair raising
experience!
Prior to dinner, Meg decided to call Pastor Phil, her
husband, to check in to see how her kids and our church family back home were
doing. Chris overheard Meg beginning to cry. As he listened he soon realized
that something very tragic had happened back home. Tim Windsor, one of our
church members, was called unexpectedly to the church triumphant today. Tim
leaves behind a wife and two young children, a brother and his parents.
The six of us gathered in the garden below the mission house
to share scripture and prayer. We felt we needed to be together to pray for Amy,
Ethan, Katlyn, and Tim's family. While we are thousands of miles away our hearts
and prayers are with the entire Windsor family and our Friendship family. All
thirty seven mission team members are praying for the Windsors and our
Friendship family.
While we are here to minister, care for, and witness to the
people of Honduras we continually find they are blessing and witnessing to us.
We look forward to the rest of the week to continue our ministry here, however,
we also will be anxious to get home to our loved ones.
We also want to say a very special thanks to our Friendship
family and community who worked so hard to allow us this opportunity to be
blessed in this special way by serving God's people in Honduras.
Love,
Friendship Adult Mission Team
Barb Hollo, Mary Ann Icenhour, Lynette Johnson, Meg Thorsen, Larry Nichols and
Chris Jolly
Wednesday February 2nd -
From the St. Louis, Missouri group, Ascension, St. Lucas and Timothy Lutheran
Churches…
Last night we finally received the remaining trunks full of medical supplies. We
had run out of parasite and lice treatment, two things that were greatly needed.
Today was a sunny day of rest, restocking and recharging. But we realize that
even in our day of rest that the people of Tegucigalpa do not get a day off.
Their struggles are constant.
We started the day leading devotions for the brigade before taking a tour of the
Bridge house which is a transition house from the Ranch to the outside world.
The children learn to budget their money, buy groceries and basic survival
skills. The children can stay at this house as long as they are continuing their
education.
Next we went to Rancho Ebenezer which is located about an hour outside the city.
We toured the school and living quarters for the house parents and children.
Energetic members of our brigade played soccer with the children of the Ranch
and found out how thin the air really is up this high.
The evening was capped off with a wonderful dinner in the city at El Patio, the
first time we had been out in the city after dark.
We’re looking forward to our second brigade site which begins tomorrow. We feel
very blessed to go there and serve and proclaim the salvation of Christ.
God’s blessings and thank you to all of our family, church family and friends
for your prayers and support to make this opportunity possible for us.
Pat & Gina (the rookies), Marcia, Jody, Rick & Marla (the old-timers)
P.S.
Love to Elizabeth and family and friends, from Gina.
Love to Kim, Carisa, Paul, Mom, family and friends from Pat.
Love to Amanda, Megan, Billy, family and friends, from Marcia.
Love to Mom and Dad, Bill, Cunninghams, and friends from church, from Jody.
Love to Cortni, Jonah, Herman, Mom, Dad, family and friends, from Rick & Marla.
Getting There (low bandwidth video)
Getting There (high bandwidth video)
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Thursday February 3rd -
After a nice day off and sleeping in, we woke up without the sun once again. We started our day with a rendition of Good Morning Jesus (we miss you Stan). We were informed that we were going to a new site with a wee bit of a hill. Little did we know, it would be more like a mountain. The team loaded the bus for the trip to the brigade site.
During the ride we found out that we were going to our bus driver Manuel's church. Upon arrival we had to climb the roughly one hundred yards of the mini-mountain up to the brigade site. We nearly lost a few of the old-timers on the journey up. We formed a chain to lug the heavy trunks up the path.
At the brigade site we had to do a little bit of reconstruction to the facility to accommodate our large operation. We set up our respective areas and then joined hands for our singing and prayer. We presented a banner that illustrates our faith with the words Sola Scriptura, Sola Fe, Sola Gracia, and Sola Cristo to the congregation. The team then went to work at their stations and were blessed to find that the congregation was eager to serve and help our team in any way they could.
The faith of the area was incredible. Many of us who served in the evangelism found that we were being ministered to by the people with their eagerness to share their faith and love. As always the children were beautiful. Their huge eyes and cheerful smiles melted the hearts of more than one team member.
The day wound down and we found ourselves exhausted but incredibly
thankful for the time we were given to spend with these people. We slowly made
our way down the hill, again avoiding injury, loaded the bus for the bumpy
voyage home. We had dinner, devotions and prepared what was needed for our work
tomorrow. All of us are looking forward to our last day with both excitement and
sadness. We can only pray that tomorrow will be as joyful and productive as
today was.
Tyler, Krista, Kelly, Aaron, Kayli, Kristina,
Meaghan, Ryan, and Matt
(The Youth of the team that keeps things
interesting)
Faith Like a Child (video)
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Friday February 4th -
We awoke to a crisp cool morning here in Honduras. We were all excited to be returning to the brigade site today to work with the energetic church members who were helping us care for their people. We were also dreading the trek back up the rocky dirt path and dreading even more loading up the trunks at the end of the day for the trek back down. A heavy rope was located to aid us in lowering the trunks without having to carry them, so we felt prepared. Little did we know that God had other plans for us!! Manuel, our bus driver whose church we were working at, knew a few back “streets” that allowed us to get Pablo’s truck up to the back door of the church for loading of the very heavy generator and compressors and several other bulky pieces of equipment. God Bless You Manuel!!
As the last Honduran patients left and the trunks were all packed, we gathered in the church for a word of prayer thanking God for bringing us together and allowing us to be His servants this day. The church had a few surprises for us in addition to the heartfelt thanks to all. Each of the women on our team traveling to Honduras for the first time received a small hand made gift. It was a decorated seashell with a pearl inside. A note inside said, “You are a special treasure.” It was a very touching gift for those of us who received one and even for those who did not.
And then another surprise!! They had prepared a small service for us and we worshipped with them as a teenage rock band played and songs were sung. We knew that this was a special group of people after working with them the past two days and we soon found out first hand why that was. The joy and delight that they had for worshipping God was tremendous!! Indeed, even contagious as we all joined in! There was no language barrier, we were all worshipping the same God as one people and it was an experience that no one on this mission team will ever forget. When the last song was sung there were hugs for everyone and many tears as well. No one wanted this special moment to end.
We were then faced with the dreaded trek down the hill with the trunks. The church members treated us again by insisting on carrying all the trunks for us!! Needless to say no one argued with them! As we gingerly made our way down the hill, their agile feet flew down the hill with all our trunks!! God had sent us His Honduran angels to care for us and our rope was left unused!
We arrived back at the mission house to a delightful dinner and our final night of devotions followed by packing for the trip home. Devotions tonight were very special as we were energized by the work we were able to accomplish this week for our Lord as a team here in Honduras. We agreed that we had received much, much more than we had given. Even in their devastating poverty, the Hondurans’ faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior is strong. In their strength, we also found strength. We realized our team had quickly become a very cohesive group and even more than that, a family. As it was when we all left our families back in the States, we were now faced with saying good bye to our family here. Many shared that they treasured this new family as much as the opportunity to serve the Honduran people. We will always have a special place in our heart for these new relationships. Again, there were many hugs, smiles and tears all around the room.
Tomorrow we will have a long day of travel back to our homes in the States. We are grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord here in Honduras.
Trinity Lutheran Church Edwardsville Honduras Mission 2005 Team
Video to come soon.
Saturday February 5th -