The Uttermost, Part 2

I realize that I am a horrible blogger, but for some reason, uploading pictures has gotten really difficult and I procrastinate. Anybody else having that issue? Plus, I've lost the spell check feature on the posting side, and I really need that.

Anyway, back to Honduras. I wanted to give you an idea of what church is like there, as well as the town of La Union. And then of course all of the fun stuff as well. So I'm going to try and let the pictures do the talking.

This is the local pastor of the baptist church that we were helping out. He was so appreciative of us coming, and some of the church members made us special pins to wear. I have mine hanging up in my cube to remember to pray for Honduras. I also didn't think about this at the time, but it does look like the pastor has wings. ha!

There is a very strong influence of the Catholic church in Latin America, and La Union was no exception. They had a beautiful church.

You would assume that a 4-hour bus ride up a dirt road in the mountains of central America, it would be desolate and void of technology. Absolutely not true. We all know that in the United States technology is firmly in our culture, but it has also taken hold here. Many of the houses had satellites and telephones and electricity. Kind of amazing if you ask me. This defintiely was not the case nine years ago.  

So here we are in the "Uttermost" and what will you find? A cell phone tower. Amazing.

Aren't you jealous of our luxurious showering facilities. Mr. Ellington did a fabulous job of heating the water for our bucket showers, but I could have used two buckets by the end of the day. ha! (This is not Mr. Ellington, but Kelly Gene).  You would think that you wouldn't feel clean showering in this, but its actually refreshing. Wouldn't want to do it every day of my life, but I can tough it up for a few days.

On Wednesday, a steady rain set in and made everything good and soggy. It was so wet that we couldn't even make it to church that night, and of course the concern was how was it going to be when it was time to go home. Well, Thursday morning dawned the same as Wednesday - wet. We loaded everything back on the trucks and the buses, and got 10 minutes out of town and the bus started sliding. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my life. But what happened next was really cool. We started sending text messages to friends back home asking for immediate prayer for safety, and after that first slip, we didn't have another one. Praise God! We hit pavement a few hours later and I wanted to get out and jump around.

Friday was our free/fun day and I went to Yolanda's for a morning of beauty. Yolanda's is a salon/spa we started going to in Tegucigalpa, and when we started going to San Pedro Sula, we found out there was a Yolanda's there too. It's smaller, but it's definitely worth it. I got a mani, pedi, hair washing, and styling. For someone who's seen all of the touristy stuff, this is a real treat.

 

After Yolanda's, we went back to the mall and had lunch and did some window shopping. Their mall was really nice and big, but the clerks in the stores would follow you around as if you were going to steal something, so that bothered me too bad to buy anything.  That night, we had our traditional banquet and group share time. I enjoyed the dinner and the group time, and I am so proud that I actually spoke from my heart without turning into a complete basket case. It is probably one of the most special times of the trip.

This is Monkey's lil sis Jessica (we said she was our pledge - ha!). At 13 years old, she looks way older than her years and it was fun watching her with the Honduras. Especially the boys. Her daddy didn't think it was so fun.

And finally, here's a family portrait, minus three others.

Saturday morning, we shoved everything back into our suitcases and headed back to the airport. We do a lot of hurry up and wait stuff on these trips, and due to weather back home, our departure time kept getting pushed back and back. I think we spent an extra two hours at the gate in San Pedro. We bought out all of the food that the one vendor had, even though there was a Wendy's on the other side of the security gate. Boo. Here's what most did while waiting...

We arrived in Atlanta, and of course I got pulled aside to be randomly searched. It made me so nervous, even though I didn't do anything wrong! Going through customs and immigration can be scary, but we breezed right on through and got to our next gate and had a few hours to wait until the plane left for Little Rock. On that flight, we had a darling flight attendant who was hilarious, and I made a new friend. I can't believe that I never slept on either flights coming home, but I think I was running on adrenaline by that point.  We made it back to Little Rock, only to find out that most of the luggage did not make it, but I really wasn't too worried about it because I was home.

Regardless of the travel and weather issues, we had a great trip. Those were only minor things Satan threw at us to try and get our spirits down, but it was great being on the mountaintop that week. In the three days we were in La Union, we saw 1400 people, gave out 6600 prescriptions, saw 700 dental patients, pulled 500 teeth, gave out 500 eye and sun glasses, and saw 450 people come to know Christ. And if that isn't success, then I don't know what is.

The Uttermost, Part 1

"But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8

On February 6, 2010, forty-two people from Arkansas arrived at Little Rock National Airport leaving for the warm, Central American country of Honduras. For most of them, it the trip has become an annual event, something that they plan for and look forward to all year. For me, this was a special trip that I was so excited to go on. It was my seventh time to Honduras since 2001, so it really feels like a home away from home. Here's a few pictures, and I will be posting more over the next few days.

God was very present with us on this trip and that was one of the snapshots of this trip for me. Even as we arrived at the airport, there were not enough seats on the plane for our group, but He saw to it that we all made it. (I pray that those people who gave up their seats will receive a huge blessing)!  Who else can you attribute that to but to God! 

We made it to San Pedro Sula around 1 p.m. and I was so excited to be in warm, humid weather. (Little did I know that back home it was going to be the Blizzard of 2010). The flip flops went on and the sunglasses came out, and I enjoyed the bus ride from the airport to Hotel Casa Blanca in El Progresso, which is a smaller town outside of San Pedro Sula. El Progresso suffered an earthquake back in May, and this was the remants of that earthquake. Kinda scary, but amazing at the same time.

Here's my buddy for the week. I always have a great time with my BFF Monkey, and I'm so glad I asked her to go to Honduras with me in 2002. This was our third trip together, and I was so proud to watch her work as an eye doctor this year.

In an even smaller town outside of El Progresso, our mission group has built a compound in San Manuel. They have a huge piece of land there and they are in the process of building a bunkhouse facility where we an stay (instead of Hotel Casa Blanca). The facility is going to be really nice when it's finished, and this is the work-in-progress.

You gotta love big, long bus rides up the mountains. Whenever we stop (and it usually is frequent), we always load up on goodies. Monkey and I nick-named this our "bar".

Only in Honduras will you see a truck driver hanging out underneath his big rig in a hammock.

This year, the village we went to help was in the mountains. WAY up in the mountains. It took several hours to get there, but the scenery was beautiful.  

When we got to La Union, most of us had "shaken baby syndrome." It was a bumpy ride and all of us had gotten shaken around like bobble heads, so when we stopped at this school we were like "yeah! we're finally here!"  The school facility was nice and big. Nestled in a valley between mountains, the view was great and the sun was hot. You could really tell you were higher in elevation. On the far side was the clinics, and on around the corner was the kitchen and sleep rooms. This area had electricity, and the bathrooms were OK. They didn't flush on their own, and only when you have to get a bucket of water to flush the toilet, do you really appreciate that technology. 

On the back side of the school was a new building with four classrooms, and we used it as more sleep rooms. Unfortunately it did not have electricity yet, so we had to rough it. This was mine, Monkey, Lesli, and Jessica's room, and we had plenty of space to spread out. Please note that I had a dressing table, a night stand, and a vanity. ha! (left).

Monday morning we opened the clincis. The process is one of the best out there, and this team worked like a well-oiled machine. First, the people go to a church service and receive a card. From there, they take that card and wait in line at the gate.

Then, they see one of the doctors or nurses, who with the help of an interpreter gives a dignosis of the patient. Here they also discuss the person's spritual well-being, and many pray the sinners prayer in that very spot.

The patient then leaves the medical clinic and stops by the eye clinic if they so choose. I hear the eye doctor this year was phenomonal.

The patient tries out the glasses and if they can read, is asked to read a scripture. They are also witnessed to here as well.

From there, the patient goes to the dental clinic. I try to stay out of here because I'm not a big fan of watching them extract teeth, but the compassion that each of the dentists and techs have is amazing.

And finally, the patient comes to the pharmacy. This is where I've worked for the past seven trips, and all of us are veterans, so we have a pretty quick turnover. The medicines are set up in order of the white card, and there are three of us who are pickers. We pick the medicine and then put it in a basket and give to the name-writers, who then write the person's name on each bag of prescriptions. Then the pharmacists check each medicine to make sure it is correct and age appropriate. The medicine is then sacked up and handed to the interpreter, who calls the patient's name and explains how to take the medicine.  The pharmacy is one of the few stations that has no direct contact with the patients, so we have a tract in each sack that explains how to become a Christian. Each morning before we start, we pray that someone will read that message and come to know Christ as their savior.

It's amazing that in this place that is dirty and hot and where we work so hard, that we have so much fun. But there are some funny jokes and good memories shared between this group.

Stay tuned for stories from church, the town, and other fun stuff coming in The Uttermost, Part 2.

It Happened!

The weathermen were right! The big snow came through Friday and we got an extra-long weekend due to the white stuff on the ground. It looks pretty, but this was actually really slick. The middle layer was sleet and ice, so there was no snowman making or snowball throwing. Brent and I had three days of togetherness, and let me just say I was glad to go back to work on Monday. ha! There is only so much wallering I can do, and I was ready to get back to my routine. I'm glad we got to see some winter weather this year, but I'm ready to bust out the spring dresses and flip flops! The bad news is that it's February, so we've probably got another few months of this stuff. Maybe I'll just go to the tanning bed to get some Vitamin D!