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.