Honduras, Spiritual Retreat

A mission trip though usually hard work is also a spiritual retreat. It gives us time away from our fast paced life of pursuing more to reflect on the blessings we already have. It clears our mind to contemplate on priorities of what is important on our journey through life. The following poem was written while in Honduras, it expresses how we came with our inadequacies and God used them to His Glory.



Psalm 107:23-24

Honduras, land of many needs,
You chose us Lord, your lambs to feed.
Carlos, your servant here
Warned us of deep waters, but not to fear.

The waters promise to reveal
Your faithful presence that we will feel.
Uncertainties of what lies ahead
Through equipment problems we are lead.

Cases lasting 'til late at night
Frustration, exhaustion we will fight.
Yet morning brings rested souls
And praise songs to Jesus rose.

The faces of the "least of these"
Remind us of the joy to please.
For you have blessed us beyond all measure
With gifts and talents to share our treasure.

Quietly, humbly they come with shy smiles
Hoping, praying we can help in their trial.
Oh, Lord, it is you who brought us together
To perform your work, they'll remember forever.

Such an honor to us you have given
To be your hands and feet to the living.
May we continue to hear your call
And be a blessing for one and for all.

We hesitantly walked into the deep
The waters stirred but your promises keep.
Our faith is stronger than when we came
It is your way that your name is proclaimed!

Medical Mission to Honduras

I spent 16 days in Honduras this month. This was my third visit to help surgeons in the operating room in the town of Gracias for the Luke Society. This is an organization that sets up medical clinics in 3rd world countries and supports local physicians to provide healthcare in the communities they live. Unlike others, this Michigan physician, his wife and the board members have raised money to build a surgery center to provide more operating rooms for medical teams to operate. Before this was available the medical teams used the hospital operating rooms thus closing them down for a week for local surgeons other than for emergencies.

The physicians see patients the first day of each week to set-up the week's surgery schedule. The first week was general and plastic surgery and the second week was orthopedic. The week before I was in Honduras a medical team did eye, plastic surgery and operated a GI lab.
Since the surgeon who began this ministry plans to work part-time in Honduras later this year, he is building a house for himself with room enough to house medical teams. Several volunteers came to help with construction, including Tom.


In two weeks we accomplished 94 surgeries that included shoulder, hernia repair, knee surgery, gall bladder removal, facial fracture, bullet removal, hand surgery ankle fusions, arm fracture and various minor repairs. The children are absolutely beautiful with big brown eyes, long eyelashes and beautiful skin color. They will capture your heart in an instant! We changed the lives of children with surgical repair of cleft lips and club feet.


The second week's team included several dentists and medical doctors who pulled and restored teeth, diagnosed illness, provided medications and passed out de-worming medicine. Each person received the gospel message and this year a children's evangelism message was acted out with a puppet show put on by children from the bilingual school in Gracias.
The warm, sunny weather was a blessing for travel to the villages for the dental and medical teams and for those of us who walked the mile to the surgery center each morning. We stayed in hotels in Gracias and ate at Frony's who is a woman from the Netherlands that came to Honduras for work in the Peace Corp many years ago and stayed. Her place has beautiful tropical gardens surrounding the buildings and safe and good food on a terrace overlooking the city.