Mission Trip - June 2013

Saturday - June 1st:   

It's a God Thing Team arrived in Honduras Friday afternoon. We traveled to La Ceiba on Friday and spent the night. We found out Friday night, the container had been released from port and was on it's way to the Compound. On Saturday, the men went to unload our supplies so we could put some things in storage and get some boxes ready to take to the clinics. Later that morning, the remainder of the team went to the Compound to start getting our supplies ready. The eye team was able to get everything we need loaded on our inventory trailer which we later took it to Belaire where we will be having clinics next week. It has been a great work day and so much was accomplished. Tonight we are going to a youth rally at the church at Crusadas. We have been praising God for his goodness to us. He sees our needs and knows the perfect timing for everything. I have learned this week to sing praises to Him before the battle and then thank Him after the victory - whatever that may be. Es una cosa de Dios!

Monday – June 3

The medical and eye clinics went to Yellow Rock to minister to the people of that area today. There were so many people waiting on us when we arrived. We quickly set up our eye clinic in the school and began seeing patients. We were so blessed by the sweet and precious spirit of the people in that area who came to see us. Gloria worked the evangelism station by herself. She tried to talk to everyone to see those who were saved and those who weren’t. With this information, she could spend more time with those who were not saved and share the love of Jesus with them. Gloria said she saw approximately 35 adults and 15 to 20 children. She reported to the team during devotion that 5 adults got saved on our first day. If they were Catholic, she said she shared with them that it isn’t about religion, it is about why Jesus died for us. She reinforced with them that there is only one God.

In the eye clinic, we saw a total of 52 patients today. We had several new people who have not worked in our clinic before, but they adapted and learned quickly and we had an amazing team today. Last year when we came to Yellow Rock in the cloud forest, we were concerned that we would never see all of the patients before we had to shut down. Bucket, our team leader, told us that we needed to shut down at 3:30 so we could make the slow and long trip back to Belaire and then to the hotel we are staying in. Some of us were worried that we would not be able to see everyone before the end of the day. Last year we noticed that it seemed that time stood still at times as we were seeing so many patients in such a short amount of time. The same thing happened today and we saw every single patient who came through our clinic. God is always ahead of us and had this planned in His time frame – not ours. It was one of those “5 loaves and 2 fish” experiences again where God took just so much time and multiplied far beyond what we could imagine. We are all excited to see what will happen tomorrow. I praise you God for you are awesome and take care of us always. Es una cosa de Dios.

 

Tuesday  - June 4

Today both the eye and medical clinics were in Belaire at Evelyn and Jose's medical clinic. Our medical clinic worked out of Evelyn's medical clinic and the eye clinic was in the goat pen today. (by the way, I love the goat pen!). It was a wonderful and amazing day. We saw a total of only 48 patients today. As of this afternoon, the evangelism team had seen 5 people get saved. Today we were able to fit people who came in with glasses that improved their vision to 20/20 or very close. Things slowed down tremendously after lunch because the medical clinic had a patient who was a local priest transported in. He and several people had been severely attacked in the river close to us. Everything came to a halt as they tried feverishly to save the priest's life. It took a nurse practitioner, a doctor, another nurse and a vet to sew him up while the ambulance was on it's way. His wounds were extremely severe and Evelyn said he would never have survived this if our medical team wasn't here. Police were called to protect the clinic. As of this time the priest is still alive. Please pray that he will survive this horrible attack and those responsible will be found. All team members who were not working on the priest stopped to pray for him. He needs us to be his prayer warriors at this time. I will keep you informed. As always, it's a God thing - es una cosa de Dios!

 

Wednesday – June 5

 Miracles All Around-

 Today was a very special day for the It’s a God Thing team. We were on the front page of national news for helping the priest recover from his knife wounds yesterday. We received news today that he is doing well.

 Both the medical and eye teams were in Belaire again today. Our eye team saw a total of 75 patients. It was a busy but amazing day. In the goat pen you get immediate results.   God’s timing is perfect. The eye team was blessed to come across a woman today who initially had 20/200 vision which would be considered legally blind. Her vision was so bad, she couldn’t even make out 2 fingers from standing 10 feet away. By the end of her visit to the eye clinic, her vision was corrected to 20/20! We thank God He used unworthy servants like us to change this woman’s life. This was one of the many cases we experienced today.

 Dr. Kelly Page is serving the Lord this week as a dentist. Before she started her work this morning, she presented the plan of salvation through a puppet show. It was adorable and the kids seemed to really love it. Her main job was extracting teeth. Today Dr. Page had two teenage patients who wanted all four front teeth pulled. Because Dr. Page has such a big heart, she refused to pull them and paid to have the children sent to a dentist in LaCeiba. Dr. Page worked in a confined space with absolutely no lights or air circulation. It is also what we call…a bathroom, and it is being used…  

 The medical team saw 135 patients throughout the day which was incredible. They experienced everything from extracting bullets in the neck to cutting off fingers. They also came across a man who’s thumb had been completely chopped off by his brother. They were fighting over a cellphone.  They also took time out of their day to evangelize, which is giving the greatest medicine, JESUS!

 First thing this morning, the group of boys who always help the team, accepted the Lord as their Savior. What a blessing to see the impact of people ministering in the same town for several years. Gloria, the evangelistic expert also shared the Word with the town police. Several people came to know the Lord today. We are grateful we are able to help people physically, but more thankful the Lord allows us to have enough and share the gospel with others.

 

Thursday- June 6

Enough

Today was yet another incredible day for the It’s a God Thing team! The Lord sent a bunch of unequipped people to serve for Him, yet he gave us enough to accomplish tasks He had set before us.
 

The eyeglass clinic did have enough today. We were able to help 96 people, which came to a total of 271 people for the week!  That is above and beyond the number of people we have EVER seen in one day. The Lord used three school teachers, a welder, and an air force financial manager to help these people be able to see better. Although the team had no one who specializes in optometry, God gave us enough. We had enough people to run the clinic and enough of God’s grace to be privileged to be a tool for the Lord.

 

In the medical clinic things become stressful at times. Yet again, God gave His servants enough courage and strength to serve the people of Honduras. First thing in the morning a little girl, carried by her grandmother, arrived at the clinic. Many of our team members thought she was dead. Come to find out, she is handicapped and cannot control her muscles and she is also blind. This little 11 year old had a plethora of lice which had made her anemic. Had she not arrived at the clinic, she would have died that very night. It was a God thing… that God gave this family enough strength to make it to the clinic, and that God gave His servants enough supplies and courage to help this poor little girl.

 

The veterinarian team dewormed and vaccinated and gave mineral and vitamin injections and some antibiotics on sick animals. The team had a tremendous amount of help every day. David said the amazing thing was that so many of the people were willing to help him with everything he did and expected nothing in return.  A significant amount of the animal pharmaceuticals did not make it to our destination due to shipping issues.  Even without those extra meds, the supplies were enough to accomplish what God had planned. 

Evangelism had enough today as well. Gloria shared God’s word and His love with those who came through our clinics. Many of us spent some time this week working with her in evangelism. Gloria has enough passion for sharing His word and love for the people of Honduras. She also had enough Bibles to share!

Today was a totally amazing day for all of us in ways we can’t explain. We have seen miracles all week to let us know that God was present through all circumstances. He knew what we needed long before we arrived and provided enough of everything in every clinic. We praise Him and thank Him every day – all through the day. Es una cosa de Dios!

 

Saturday June 8

Today, the team split up and went in different directions. Most of the team went to Sambo Creek to zip line for a few hours but came back to Cruzadas to get the inventory ready to go to Roatan. Some team members took food and supplies to a young girl named Kenia. She had a brain tumor 2 years ago and was seen at the dump at that time by some of the team members. She didn't have any hair on one side of her head because of the surgery to remove the tumor which made her very self conscience.  Several team members decided to buy her a wig. She was so happy to receive such a special gift. She was so excited to see the team members again today and was so appreciative of all the things the team has done for her and her family.

Many of the team went to the hospital to see the priest who was attacked on Tuesday. He is doing great and was released from the hospital this evening. The doctor at the hospital told the team that he was very impressed with how well the team did the sutures especially under such challenging conditions. The family of the priest was at the hospital and thanked the team for all they did to save his life. His mother was in tears while thanking the medical team for what that did for her son. The priest told the team that he truly appreciated all that the medical team did for him and he called them his "good Samaritans". As always, es una cosa de Dios...It's a God thing!

 

Monday and Tuesday – June 10 and 11

 

Monday and today we have been in a remote village called Oak Ridge Bight off of the island of Roatan.  While we were there, the team helped over 150 local residents with eye glasses as part of our eye clinic set up at a local church and feeding kitchen.  We also had an evangelism team that passed out Bibles and prayed with all of the patients as they left.  We joined up with a team from Florence, AL who is helping us with the eye clinic and also a construction project at the church and feeding kitchen.  Funds were raised to build this church in the impoverished Oak Ridge bight around 2005.  The funds came from the Florence, AL church where the team is from.  On the second floor of the church is a fellowship hall with a kitchen which is called Rebecca’s Table. This was named after a young woman from the Florence team’s church who passed away in an automobile accident in 2003.  Her family worked to raise the money for the construction of the church through the help of the Florence congregation.  The feeding kitchen, Rebecca’s Table, is used to feed over 100 children in the area on Monday, Wednesday and Friday every week. For many of these children this may be the only meal they have all day. Our team had the opportunity to serve the local children during the meals this week. It has been a blessing to the team to be able to serve the needs of the people in this village.

 

Wednesday and Thursday – June 12 and June 13, 2013

Faith vs gratitude

The team saw a number of precious people come through our clinic the last 2 days. We were able to help most of them with either readers, prescription glasses or both. There were only 3 that we could not help with prescription glasses because the Retinomax would not read their eyes because of cataracts and/or pterygium. These conditions are caused by excessive exposure to the sun. We gave out all our sunglasses to those who came through the clinic and encouraged them to wear the sunglasses. We saw a total of 233 people this week with a total of 504 for both weeks. We were so excited to be able to minister to all these people. We know we are only touching a few lives, but knowing we have hopefully made those few lives a little better with improved vision is worth it. When 2 older gentlemen went to the evangelism station after going through the clinic, they looked down at the Bible they were given and got so excited because they could finally read it when they could barely even see it before! We had another young man come to one of our interpreters on Wednesday night. He had a small piece of metal in his eye that was very painful. The interpreter came to me to ask if we could do anything. I told her we should ask the doctor who is with us if something could be done. Steve tried to remove the metal but couldn’t so he tried to wash his eye. Then Steve told him to get to a local doctor as soon as possible. The metal was removed and the young man came by to see us today. He was so appreciative of what our doctor did to try to help him.

Our evangelism team prayed with so many people this week. There were a number of children who prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior this week. Some of the evangelism team had never worked in evangelism before but were blessed and excited beyond words about how many came to know the Lord. There were approximately 19 adults and children who prayed to receive Christ this week. They even did a little skit about Daniel and the Lion’s den with the children. They said they lost count of the number of people who rededicated their lives this week. When they shared with the team about what was going on in evangelism, they couldn’t help but cry for joy about what God has done.

I shared with Bucket, our team leader, about the fact that I was very concerned that Guf and Mary weren’t going to be able to come on this trip. They oversee the eye clinic every year. Mary has had some health problems so they decided to stay home. Guf asked me last year to be in charge of the eye clinic from now on. I didn’t want to at first but I prayed and felt God leading me in that direction so I said yes. I shared with Brother Chris, the pastor of our church back home, that I wasn’t really worried about taking over because I knew that Guf and Mary would have my back the whole time. God had other plans. I shared that I realized that for the last 4 years, I have put my faith and trust in Guf and Mary for these trips instead of God. I didn’t realize it then, but He made me realize this now. Emilie, one of the team members who went with us last year and this year, shared a devotion with me from Pastor Rick Warren. In it he told the story about King Jehoshaphat who was leading the Israelite army into battle against the Ammonites, Moabites and Edomite armies. King Jehoshaphat decided to put a choir before the infantry. They would march ahead of the army and sing praises to God for what He was going to do for them. This is found in 2 Chronicles 20:21-23. “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever. And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of the Ammon, Moab and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed. For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another”. God confused the enemy of His people and they turned on each other and destroyed themselves while the Israelites watched and were still singing praises to God. There is power in expectation. This is faith (praising God before the battle) instead of only thanking Him (gratitude) after the battle is over. I began to praise God then that He was in control of the next 2 weeks and I was only a vessel that He would use to accomplish His task (like the rope holders in Damascus when they helped Paul escape). My fears went away and I was at peace. I am not saying that everything went perfectly smooth – I had to get Jim and Clarke to help me fix a couple of mistakes I made with the inventory program.  But I learned from that and I will be better prepared for next year if God sends me back to Honduras. Faith vs gratitude. Where do you spend your time?

 

Friday – June 14, 2013

Children are a blessing from God

We didn’t have clinics today so we drove back to La Ceiba to the hotel there and then went to Cruzadas to take the eye glass supplies to the bodega. Later we went to Casa Cielo Children’s Home. We had a cook out there with several other teams and Papa and Mama Jones and their children at the orphanage that they run. This is an amazing couple who have such a tremendous love for these children who have no home and no hope for being a part of any family. With Papa and Mama Jones, they are a family and you can see it on their faces. Last year I became a sponsor of one of the children at the home. Her name is Breysi and she is 8 years old. Papa and Mama have a school that they also run which allows children in the community to attend as well. I had the opportunity to spend time playing with Breysi and the other children. We were at the house they are currently building for them and the children to live in which is much bigger than the very small house they live in now.  It was very sad to say goodbye to Breysi and the other children. I want to see them again before I leave but we won’t have a chance. If you would like more info about the orphanage, you can go to www.casaderoc.org. This is truly an amazing ministry and it was a blessing to spend time with them. This is another one of those life changing moments when you leave a part of your heart behind.

I want to add one more praise report about the eye ministry this week. Pat told me that she saw an older gentleman walking down the road as they were delivering washcloths and soap to young teenage girls. She shared that the gentleman she saw was one of our patients in the clinic. He was looking around and pointing at everything and smiling. She went up to him and he indicated to her that he could actually see. She took a picture of him and he just kept smiling from ear to ear. Pat stated that this trip has allowed her to see God at work in ways she never experienced before. We praise Him every day that He allowed us to come here and serve Him with the people of Honduras. Es una cosa de Dios! It's a God thing!

Saturday - June 15

Today we went to the church at Cruzadas where there was a youth rally.  We had a great time singing and praising God. Kayla, one of our team members, shared a message about hope with the youth. At one point the youth began singing  praise and worship songs again and most went up front and began praise dancing in the front and then all around the church. Then some of them came to us and began pulling us up to the front to praise dance too.  I thought about David in 2 Samuel 6 when he went dancing through the streets singing praises to God.

2 Samuel 6:14  And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod.

We can praise God in the quiet, privacy of our homes, in church raising our hands to Him or praise dancing in front of the church! (ok, Brother Chris, I want to see you doing that next Sunday!! - just kidding!)  However we choose to praise Him doesn't matter. The only thing that matters is that we praise Him with all our hearts - praise Him for his majesty, His greatness and especially for loving us when we don't deserve it. 

 

 

 

1.	The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; my father's God, and I will extol Him ... Exodus 15:2.
2.	Who is like You among the gods, O LORD? Who is like You, majestic in holiness, awesome in praises, working wonders? ... Exodus 15:11.
3.	He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen ... Deut 10:21.
4.	Hear, O kings; give ear, O rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing, I will sing praise to the LORD, the God of Israel ... Judges 5:3.
5.	I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, and I am saved from my enemies ... 2 Sam 22:4.
6.	Therefore I will give thanks to You, O LORD, among the nations, and I will sing praises to Your name ... 2 Sam 22:50.
7.	Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonders ... 1Chron 16:9.
8.	For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; 1 Chron 16:25.

 

AHMEN post by Tom Camp

Do short term missions really make a difference?
ASK SIEKO!!!!!

I was walking down the only street on Utila when a tall  fellow with a shaggy beard walks up to me and asks: “So, do you know Bucket?” As a matter of fact I do know Bucket.

He asked me to tell Bucket that he is alive and well, working for Jesus, and has been sober for 4 years. He works his farm, 1/2 of which is planted in okra and peppers, which he sells to the local restaurants. He generates 300 limps/day ( approx. $15/day) and states that Jesus is as real to him as “you are” - pointing to me.

Seiko says Bucket saved his life when he introduced Jesus into his life. He had lost his wife, his kids, and his grand kids. Alcohol has totally consumed his life until Bucket told him about Jesus and Sieko invited Jesus into his life.

Seiko told me that up until that time he was completely “Ego Centric”, but was now “Jesus Centric”. His only request was that I tell Bucket he loves him and he now owes his life to Jesus and what Bucket did to help him.

WOW, what a legacy.

Mission trip June 2012

Saturday, June 2
It's A God Thing team arrived in Honduras on June 1. We had the opportunity to minister to so many people already in the few short days we have been here. God has blessed this team and the communities that He has directed us to visit. On Saturday, Maria Jones took several team members (Kayla Cooper, Beverly Gallagher, Brenda McLain, Carla McGill) to Corozal  to work with children in the community. They had a VBS with about 140 children. They had an amazing opportunity to play, sing and share the love of God with these children. The children were so excited to be a part of this amazing adventure. At the end of the day, there were 24 children saved. The team members came back so excited they wanted to share with everyone at devotion that night what God had done in this small village. Praise Him!

Sunday, June 3
The team went to Word of Faith church in La Ceiba. We had an blessed time singing and praising God. Dale Hyche preached the message. Afterwards several came forward to pray. Brother Dale led one young man to the Lord. Again, praise Him for what He did!

Monday, June 4
The eye team went to Belaire. We saw a total of 32 patients. We didn't see as many patients as we hoped but we expect many more tomorrow. We saw a total of 11 saved today. Kayla was able to spend some time with some of the children and share with them. She then went to the house of Evelyn and Jose and talked with the babysitter. Kayla shared God's love with her and she accepted Jesus as her Savior. She was so excited and thankful for this opportunity to ask Jesus into her heart.
The medical team went to La Danta in the cloud forest. They saw a total of 235 patients. They had several evangelism teams with them who shared God's word with the patients. At the end of the day, they saw a total of 33 people come to know the Lord. There were so many amazing stories they had to share about the people they saw and were able to help and minister to. I can't relay all of them here but it was truly a God Thing in how He brought people to both clinics that we could minister to both physically and spiritually.

Tuesday and Wednesday, June 5 and 6th
We had an amazing two days working in both clinics. The medical clinic saw 296 patients the last two days and the eye clinic saw 128 on Tuesday and Wednesday with a total of 87 people who have prayed to ask Jesus into their hearts.  One of the evangelism teams had an amazing story to tell on Tuesday night devotional. A couple came into the medical clinic. After seeing the doctor, they went to the evangelism team to pray with them. Carla and Gloria  shared with us that they talked with the couple about their relationship with the Lord. They shared they weren't saved. Carla said she and Gloria shared with them and they did pray to receive Christ into their hearts. Carla then discovered they were not married but living together for a number of years. She shared with them that they should consider getting married after making this decision about their salvation. The man said he would think about it. Carla continued to share with him about the importance of this as a man of God. She told him that men in America will get down on one knee and ask the love of their life to marry them! The man did get down on his knee and proposed. Carla took a picture and shared it with the team. I hope to add that picture later. That was an amazing story and one that was truly unique. 

Wednesday brought many more stories including one about a young girl who had been in our clinic a couple of years ago. She needed glasses but she felt very afraid to have the eye exam again for a number of reasons. This was heavy on Guf's heart and he was determined to help her. She finally came down to the clinic with her mom and another team member. She was tested and Guf said he will personally buy her the perfect glasses when he gets back to the states and he will either bring them to her or have them sent to her. It was a blessing to see her so happy and relieved. It was a God thing again! Praise His name!

Thursday, June 7
Thursday was an amazing final day for the Alpha team. We saw more patients than any other day and there was a total of 93 saved for the week!  The people in this community are so grateful for our ministry but we feel so many times that we haven't done enough. Some patients come through that we can't help at all and it is sad that there is nothing that can be done for them. They still leave with a grateful heart that we are there and we tried. I think that God blesses us sometimes as much as the people that come through the clinics because of what we learn from the experience. I can't thank Him enough for the chance to come here and do His work. Praise His name!

Monday, June 11
posted by Brittney

The Omega Team arrived at the little school in the mountains where we would be setting up our eye glass clinic for the day.  As soon as we steped off the bus, there were people already lining up to be seen.  We very quickly unloaded all of our equipment and began setting up.  Brandon, Josh, and I set up the triage, as we like to call it.  Kayla and the girls from the clinic began registering people.  Lynn and the Guffeys set up shop and are quickly ready for business! Guf led us in a prayer, as he does everyday, asking for God’s hand upon all of us and that He would make a way for us…little did we know!!!  We decided we would see 35 patients today due to the lack of interpreters and other issues. But, that was NOT what God had in mind. Honestly, we had one of those “5 loaves and 2 fish” experiences!!  We got started and saw so many people before lunch. It was crazy how smooth things were going! God is so good!!

We take a quick lunch break and at this point we decide we can see a few more people. At 2:00 we talk it over and agree we will have time for a few more, but we would have to stop registering people, because there was no way we could get to everyone. But God quickly reminded us that “He is still in control!!!”  I promise you, it was as  time stopped!  People continued to trickle in each one desperate to be seen. We all agreed that we would stay late if need be, but we wanted to serve anyone that needed our help.  But, the Lord saw no need to stay late. Instead, He made a way for us to serve a total of 79 patients and load all of our equipment with minutes to spare!! Wow! How awesome is our God. I am so glad that I serve the Living God. The same God who once fed thousands with a few loaves and two fish will still make a way today for a group “nobodys” from Alabama to serve 79 poor Hondurans - even when no one thought it could be done. I am in complete awe! Thank you Lord for who you are, amen!

Tuesday and Wednesday, June 12 and 13

We had the clinic at the goat pen in Belaire again. When we first opened the trailer that morning, we discovered that many of the inventory boxes had fallen off the shelves and the glasses were scattered all over the trailer.  I thought that there is no way that we can get all of these glasses back into the correct slots in each box in time to start the clinic on time.  I started handing boxes to everyone and we just began piling the scattered glasses on the tables.  Everyone jumped in and started putting glasses back where they belong in the boxes. Withing about 20 minutes, every eyeglass was back in its place and we started unloading the equipment and other boxes. Amazingly, we started right on time with no problems. In fact, in the process of putting everything back, several duplicate glasses were discovered so we were able to pull the duplicates.  We probably wouldn't have found these for a long time.  God brought about another miracle.  He showed me that I am not in control - He is in control and He can do all things. He has reminded me so many times on this trip how He has us covered with His love.  I need to stop worrying and leave it all to Him!
 
 One little boy with an infected eye came to the clinic. His mom said he had surgery about a year ago and he had developed an infection since then. Guf asked Bill, Linda and Marlene if they would take him to Dr. Luis Ponce in La Ceiba. Dr. Ponce gave him an antibiotic and cleaned the eye and clipped a dangling stich on his eye. Dr. Ponce will follow up with the boy at a later time. Bill shared that he wasn't sure if he was the person to take him to the doctor, but he was so happy to see the results of the visit and what was done for the boy. He said that Marlene also began praying for another patient in the waiting room who had some serious health problems. Bill said it was a great day and he was thankful to God for the opportunity to do this. Another young girl came through the clinic who needed glasses who works with Evelyn in the medical clinic. We didn't have any glasses that would work for her but Guf said he will see to it that he gets some from the states and will send them back or bring them in August. The eye clinic saw over 400 patients in the last 2 weeks with a total of 101 people saved in both clinics and it was a blessing to see how God used this medical and eye team to minister to these people. Actually, I feel that I was ministered to more by what I learned and the love that these people have shown to us. I praise Him for allowing us to come here and serve Him in Honduras. Our God is an awesome God!!

Saturday June 16 and Monday June 18

We were in a clinic in a church with Dr. Dodson. We had an amazing experience working with 60 patients.  We did not have an evangelism team because we were seeing members of the church in the eye clinic. God brought together a great group of people who helped us translate and register.  On Monday, June 18, we were at Dr. Dodson’s church at his center. We saw another 60 patients and another wonderful group of people helping us. Dr. Dodson had a team working evangelism at registration.  It was a great opportunity to minister to the people in this community.

Wednesday, June 20 – Friday, June 22, 2012

We had a clinic at Corozol, Crusadas and at Mario’s church. It was another great opportunity to minister to so many people. Some of Peggy’s team brought prosthesis for the patients who came through. They gave one to a man who hasn’t walked in years. He can now walk. They had a walker for an 18 month old and this is the first time he has walked. We have seen over 200 patients in the last 3 days.  Several had to be referred to Dr. Ponce for more serious vision and other eye problems that we could not help. I hope they take the opportunity to see Dr. Ponce. Several people came in who were blind in one eye. We were able to help them with the vision they had in the other eye. We didn’t have electricity for several hours on Thursday morning and thought we would not be able to do the autorefractor for the prescription eyeglasses but after much prayer, the power came on. Today the computer wouldn’t start up so we got together again and prayed for the computer. After talking to Holland Kendall in Kentucky, the computer came back up so we were able to minister to all the people who came through. Awesome God!!!

Monday, June 25 and Wednesday, June 27

The team had a medical and eye clinic at the village of Plan De Flores at the deaf school.  The eye team saw over 40 patients and the medical clinic saw around 125 patients. It is an amazing school and we loved working with the children and the people in the community.  On Wednesday, the team had a medical clinic and eye clinic at the medical clinic in Limon. We saw about 60 patients again. We made a trip to Leonardo’s Home of Hope orphanage. There are about 50 children living in a 2 room building that looks more like a hut. They are currently trying to build a real building that will house about 100 children. Most of the children are HIV positive.  They wrote letters to each of our team members about how much they love us. They are such beautiful children – it was hard to leave.  This weekend we will be flying home.  This has been an amazing journey that I don’t want to end. God has shown me how much He loves the people of this country and how much He loves me to send me and the team here. I will be leaving a part of my heart here that I won’t ever get back. It’s a God Thing!

Mission trip June 2011

We had a wonderful opportunity to minister to the people in Belaire. We were located at Evelyn Castellar’s Clinica de Los Angeles in Belaire, Honduras. The eye team was able to service 216 patients. The team dispensed 134 pairs of readers and 63 pairs of prescription glasses. Patients whose near vision could not be corrected enough to read a Bible were given the large print Scripture book “La historia de Jesus Cristo”. Sunglasses were also given to all patients and their children who came to the clinic and they were informed about the importance of using sunglasses to protect their eyes. About 400 pairs of sunglasses were given to the patients who came through the clinic.

When each patient finished at all stations in the eye clinic, they went finally to the evangelism station with Brenda Hyche and our beloved interpreter, NaNa. Over 50 patients were saved and many others rededicated their lives. Bibles were given to everyone who came through the clinic. Evangelism was our primary mission and everyone rejoiced at the ones who were saved and rededicated their lives to the Lord. One man had a huge smile on this face when he started to leave after praying with Brenda and NaNa. The look on his face said it all. This made it all worth it.

Patients were also informed about ways to purify water and prevent dehydration. They were given an eye care booklet called “Los Ojos” and well as booklets on sanitation and hygiene.

“It’s a God Thing” Eye Team members included me, Dale Hyche, Brad Hyche, Hugh Guffey, and Mary Guffey from Alabama and Yaqui Sanches Calix, Patty Calderon, and  LDS volunteer Elder Jones from La Ceiba.  There were other team members who also helped including Angela Calvert, Michelle Hallmark, and Alicia Hyche. Brent Brady was a great help in carrying the inventory to Belaire and with assistance in our transportation. As always, God bless America!

Below is a link to pictures from the 2011 trip.

A mom and her baby with sunglasses.

A little boy from Leonard's home who wanted blue eyeglasses. Guf made sure he got the glasses he asked for.

                                 

Mary working the near vision station.

A few of the girls from Shalom Girl's Camp

Brad holding the daughter of one of our patients. She loved her sunglasses and Brad made sure she got a pair.

It's A God Thing!

I had the blessing of going on a mission trip the last two years.  I went with the AHMEN (Alabama Honduras Medical Education Network) group from Livingston Chapel United Methodist Church in Cullman, Alabama. There were a number of other missionaries from other churches who went as well.  I praise God and thank him for this opportunity and experience.

2009 Mission Trip –
Mission:
Our mission was two fold. One was to establish a medical clinic and eye clinic while we were there and the second mission was evangelism. We saw several hundred patients at each clinic during the two weeks while we were on the island of Utila. The second mission was to reach as many people for the Lord as we could during this time. We had people praying and talking with patients at each clinic as they were finished. We also had several other team members going out on the streets and in the bush passing out Bibles and talking with people. All total 53 people were saved – that we know about. One man who was saved was an alcoholic. His name was Nandito. He was saved our first week on the island of Utila. We asked him to join our team. He was so excited. We gave him a team shirt and he came to every team devotion each morning at 6 am and each evening at 8 pm. We have asked several churches to follow up with him. They have promised to follow up with all of those who were saved.

 Praise reports:

We want to praise God for the people who were saved which totaled at least 53. We had 2 break-ins at the hotel into our rooms at night . We were safe again. Finally, most of you heard about the revolution in Honduras on June 20.  President Zelaya was arrested early Sunday morning and escorted to the border. We were leaving about 8:30 to go to the airport in the city of San Pedro Sula. International flights were going to be stopped shortly.  Ours was the last flight to leave the airport. We actually flew out earlier than planned from Honduras. It was a relief to get in the air. It was sad to leave Honduras though because the people there are so appreciative of everything we do for them. I am thankful to have had this experience in spite of the drama we went through. God kept us safe through it all and we had our prayer warriors holding us up back home. They were our “rope holders”. Thanks to all of you who prayed for us. “It’s a God Thing”.

 And I can’t forget, God Bless America!

2010 Mission Trip -

We went back in 2010 to the island of Utila and the town of Yorito. We set up an eyeglass clinic and a medical clinic in each.  We had the opportunity to minister to many people again both medically and in evangelism. This was this team’s first time in Yorito in a long time. There were many people there who needed the services that the eyeglass clinic and the medical clinic could provide. Again, we saw many people come to know the Lord who came through the two clinics. We had the opportunity to minister to their needs both medically and also in sharing the gospel with them.  Many had never had prescription eyeglasses before and were very happy about being able to see much better than before.  One lady visited our clinic who had very bad vision.  Fortunately, we had a prescription that worked for her and she was able to see much better. The look on her face made it all worth it.  We had the opportunity to see Nandito, the man who was saved the previous year. He came to our meetings again and was excited to be a part of the team.  It was such a blessing to have Nandito with us again. He shared the things that had happened to him in the last year.  We committed to continue to pray for Nandito.

Missions at Home:  

This previous school year I wanted to get my students at school  involved in missions. Another teacher and I, Ms. Dutton,  had a community service project called “Vision for a Mission”. We had the students bring in used children’s eyeglasses. The winning class would receive a party during 4th period. We took up over 100 glasses! Our eyeglass team leader, Hugh Guffey, was very excitied about this project  because we did not have enough children’s eyeglasses in inventory so this essential part of the stock was replinished. Mine and Ms. Dutton’s student clubs, FBLA and FCCLA, were the one’s who took up the eyeglasses and kept a daily count of eyeglasses.  We had another service project which was creating and entering data into a database about the patients who were seen previously at Utila, Lamon and other areas that the eyeglass team has visited. The students spent about two weeks entering data into the database which is being used by Hugh and Mary Guffey to keep up with past patients and how they were served.   I let them know that they were missionaries here at home because of the work that they did concerning these patients.  This seemed to make them more excited about the project. We had the "Vision for a Mission" eyeglass mission project again this year (2011). We didn't get quite as many eyeglasses as we did last year but the FBLA members who participated were excited about the project. Two are pictured above with a few of the glasses from the first day. We never know how far away or how close to home our mission can take us. It was a God Thing again!

Es una cosa de Dios!
And again – God Bless America!