Friends will say that it is so good of me to travel to help the poor of Honduras. I am always uncomfortable with this statement. I really feel, it is a privilege and a blessing to be asked to help. It's a long trip and we have to be careful to avoid contaminated water and food but that is the extent of our sacrifice.
The teams are always a different mix of people and each group seems to have their own dynamic. There is some I know and some I am meeting for the first time. When we sign up for a date, we don't know who will be going except for Mark and Becky who coordinate the trips. It is all in God's plan. It is for His purpose and praise. Here is our group of young and old, me being the old.
This year, after sleeping in comfort and hearing the sounds of the night (crowing roosters & barking dogs) we wake to clouds that burn off by the time we reach the surgery center. Each morning we have breakfast at the mission house and spend time in devotions before leaving for the clinic. It is a wonderful way to begin the day with songs of praise and prayer. We pray again with our patients.
In contrast to working in the states, there are no times set for the schedule. We usually care for the youngest patients first, then as they show up. Lunch break is when our meal is brought in and we shut down the OR for lunch. We stay until the cases are done for the day (6-7pm). Everyone helping each other and enjoying our work. No chaos. This year I worked with a plastic surgeon. We see a lot of cleft palates and cleft lips. Our patients are poor, they will never be able to pay for this surgery so it is such a gift. The parents cry with joy when they see their child after surgery. I heard a story about a Honduran woman who had this surgery at the age of 36 years several years ago. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she smiled and said, "I have never been kissed on the lips." We often take for granted the medical care we have access to in the USA. Here is a before and after photo.
We work for 5 days and then spend a day of recreation. This year, several of the team risked their lives on a zip line 1200 feet above the valley floor in the clouds. It was a cold rainy day but each one that went came back to us after 6 zip lines across the valley and down the mountain. I was not one of them. I couldn't imagine I would have the courage to hang from a wire that far above the earth. The next picture gives you some perspective of the platform and cliff.
More my style was our ride through the country side, photographing wild life and visiting a pottery shop.
This little girl was quite the sales girl. She is 7 years old and counted to 10 in English. I taught her to say "I love you" in sign language. Her grandma has the shop next to her home.
This was a fun group. We had lots of laughs and great devotions and discussions. Thursday night we had a Non Talent Show. That took all the pressure off for any expectations to impress. Everyone took part in the fun. We had a couple guys sing and dance a rap, one wrote a poem of our trip, another gave a lecture, a terrible guitar player, an 80s dance to Rocky, a quote of a very mediocre poem and an Amelia Bedelia style skit on how to make oatmeal and another skit of our work in the OR with props. Pretty much it lived up to its name as non-talent.
One of our team members remarked about how the year before he had such a calmness come over him during and after his Honduras mission trip. Jesus brother James says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you," James 4:8. We are filled with Christ as He promises and our work and time together is to His Glory and not our own. We are blessed, for sure but it is God's work.
