Dr Isaac Hotz and wife Ann
Isaac Hotz and team saw nearly 300 patients in three and a half days. This included going out in a rural area of RonDon. There are so many setbacks. Wednesday we were without water and electricity.
People waited sometimes all day
There were more than several seriously ill people who needed a lot of care and yet this team made the best of it.
Dr Michele Myers and translator Marco
They were also a great help and encouragement to us personally. They made difficult situations easier. It was at this time we thought our van would be confiscated by the police. The police had pulled Nicolas over because he did not have some kind of documentation license plates, BUT the company that makes the plates has been on strike. They threatened to take the van if their deadline was not met. If they had confiscated it, It would not have been back in the same condition. Nicolas managed to get the right documentation in time. He is such a blessing.
Mark Strauss in triage
Kirsten, pharmacy
Several surgical procedures were done
Dr Isaac Hotz’s team of doctors and medical staff saw over 275 patients in three days and clinic is still going on today. People from the villages start coming to the mission center as early as six and wait in line until nine when the clinic begins. Tuesday, in spite of a heavy wind storm, then went to a nearby village, RonDon, to see 87 patients, some too ill to come to clinic.
Yesterday was more excitement that we like to have in one day. In addition to having no electricity and no water, the police pulled Nicolas over in our new van and said they would confiscate it if we did not get plates and some other documentation. The company that manufactures the plates has been on strike, and there are no plates to be found. Our concern was that if they did get the van, it could be a long to time to process and it would not come back the same. They gave Nicolas a grace time to get the documentation. That is not easy to get in a hurry down here, but Nicolas managed it and we have the van today.
The FUMC team left last week and we have been tying up loose ends since they left. More than several villagers have come for their "appointments" to have their eyes examined. What a blessing that FUMC left us with this ministry plus all the supplies to continue dispensing eye glasses.
Thirty five new students enrolled in the computer class this session making
it nearly 70 students total. English as a Second Language, which is learning
English through Bible study, got a big boost while Ellen LaGone was here
with the team. She has her masters in this and taught every day. This has
given Nelson much needed training. Each computer student now hears the Word, but also is studying it. So grateful to Kathy Pile and Amanda Lewis who jump started this in July.
This afternoon we are meeting with someone who may need help with medical
expenses. Tonight we bring in Isaac Hotz' team from CO.
The feeding program has expanded fast. Each morning we provide milk and either rice or oatmeal for the children. Their faces tell us thank you.
Victor Artega preaching in the church with Amanda Lewis translating
Dr Tom Pickard led a double quartet for praise and worship in the church
Sitting around the table in Cheryl's kitchen counting pills for the pharmacy
Marcy Ellis, Linda Bullard and Penny Buehrer set up a pharmacy in the “campo”.
Randy Ellis enjoyed the children when he was not working on painting the manufacturing plant.
Dr. and Mrs. Green with Linda Bullard and (back) Dinaya Pickard and Kallie Clark watch the soccer game from the sidelines.
Nicolas (our guard) with Mark Bullard
Jonathan Weaver with Joel Mejia on the soccer field. Jonathan was a formidable player.
Dr. Tom Pickard and Dr. Scott Clark see patients in the "campo".
Didn't post for a couple of days; by the end of the day I was out of gas. The last of 23 team members left today; we had a wonderful week. Four doctors and support staff examined and treated 700- 800 patients in four different locations. There were education programs; improvements to the manufacturing plant; and a number of sporting events including four soccer matches, two of them official: Honduras beat the USA 4-3; and Nelson's computer students beat the gringos 5-1. Mark Bullard also fixed nearly everything that was broken around the house. Matt Pile captured many of these events on film. Before the Friday night service we made two trips up and down the highway from Rondon to Chile and brought back two busloads of people. The service started late and was very long but hopefully some seeds were planted.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: I have noticed increasingly that when I'm not busy doing something, my mind wanders. That's normal, but normal is always good. Often my thoughts become worry; other times meaningless prattle. The result is, at best, wasted time. The apostle Paul addresses the matter in Romans 8:6, “So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the spirit control your mind leads to life and peace”.
This was the second Sunday that we had services in the new church. Victor Arteaga from Peru, by way of Tulsa, preached in the morning and afternoon. Before morning service we walked through the streets of Seis…. Pottersville still. Counting both services we had about 35 people; Melissa Paz and family came and Erika led singing…. This noon Nicholas and I went looking for Dr. Castellanos, the physician that the mayor promised us. When no one in either Seis de Mayo or Gran Via seemed to know him I stopped at a pulperia and asked the 2 men sitting there if they had ever heard of him. One said, “I’m Dr. Castellanos.” Turns out he lives just on the other side of the wall from the Center. He’s going to meet with us on Wednesday; speaks English and his daughter is a dentist.
THOUGHT FOR TODAY: To "do something different" may not be as easy as it sounds. On December 23, 1983 God made it clear, "you're not waiting for me – I'm waiting for you." It was another 16 years before I really took the step of faith.
I got a call from Marlon in Honduras yesterday. I hadn't heard from him or seen him in months. I'm not exactly sure why he called, but I suspect that he would like to come back to work for us. I hope the dorm project moves forward so that we can have him back. I called Nicholas this afternoon to make sure he got pictures of Dr. Rios's students doing their dental clinic. They had already left the mission center. As it turns out, it has been raining the last three days and is cold and only about 20 people showed up. With five students seeing patients, they were finished by mid day. Dr. Rios did say that they will be coming back at another time.
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day today. Jenny and Marco were here as well as Jeff and two of his friends, Miguel Bustamante from Honduras and Justin, a fellow ORU student from North Carolina. We talked by phone with Michael who was spending the day with the Fields family and other missionaries in Kentucky. Marisa called from New York City and Amy from Los Angeles. Even though we were not all together at least we got talk and share the joy of the special day. I had a note from Nicholas yesterday that Alfredo arrived in San Pedro on schedule, at one o'clock in the morning. Flor and the kids went to the airport with Nicholas and he said they had a happy reunion. Yesterday morning I called Dr. Rios in San Pedro regarding the student dentists he plans to take to the mission center. They will be going either this Sunday or next. This will be a very good thing for everyone.
Dr. Rios (dentist from Columbia) has asked permission to bring a group of five dental students to the mission center to treatpatients. This is for a social project they are required to do at the end of their dental training. Of course we told him we would be very pleased to have them.
Yesterday Cheryl went to the ladies meeting at Helen Gilin's house where Helen treated them to Russian borscht. While she was there I went to the hospitals to pick up laboratory reports, and also did Christmas shopping for the employees. The perspective welding teacher was supposed to be here at 1:30, but didn't make it. The president of Honduras was in this area and when that happens they shut the telephone service down. That slows everything will crawl. Today Nicholas took the little boy, Levi, to the hospital in San Pedro for a pre-surgery examination. His operation will take place on Friday at 3 PM. He is a little boy who broke his arm in and it was not set properly.
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