Honduras

Honduras. The poorest country in Central America and 2nd poorest country in the Western Hemisphere - Haiti is the 1st. Talanga, Honduras is a city of about 25,000 people and is the hub of 4 major highways in Central America. One of those highways is the Transamerica Highway that runs from Bogota, Columbia to Alaska, USA. Thousands of pounds of cocaine are dropped in this city each week. Drugs, Aids, and drug inflicted disease are rampant. In spite of this fact, the average family income for 1 month is $40. The people in this country are poor. The people in this city are poor. They may not have much, but God is there. He went ahead of this mission team and prepared the way. The harvest was ripe.

On February 6, 77 North Americans met in Houston and headed South to the country of Honduras. All walks of life. All ages. One belief: God is...

This mission team had never been to a city in Honduras before. There were many things to learn and experience that were different from the remote village life. The main difference: The rise of the middle class...and I use that term loosely. While most of the people in this town were literally dirt poor, there was a % of people who did have some means of a better lifestyle. We did see flat screens, cell phones, and Internet capabilities in some homes as we walked the streets. Several of us on the team were able to walk into the town center to an Internet Cafe and send a message or two on Facebook! Very much an unexpected treat...Cost was less than $1 for 1 hour (10 lempire).

Below are a few pictures. I am working on a slideshow, but truth is that I am still processing. There has been so much to absorb that words are still hard to come by. But for the sake of journaling, here is a snapshot of a few aspects of the week. I have focused more on the Meadville crew that went as those stories are the ones I know best. However, each person has a different perspective and remembers different things.

It is unique to be able to serve alongside my parents and others that I have known my whole life. On this trip in particular, I picked up a few medical "skills" and was able to contribute in a way that I had not ever before. Needless to say, I had a blast stepping into my parents world for a few days. I definitely can say that they have taught me all that I know...at least in the clinic on a foreign mission field.

The first picture is a typical house in the city. Notice the dirt floors. What you can't see on the right is stucco (white wall material that you see) counter with an iron flat area that is used for cooking...I guess the best visual is that of a griddle that is set into the counter. There was no running water in this house, but next to the griddle-type cooking area was a sink that water was manually hauled in and filled.


Funny story about this next picture. Dad had been seeing this man ride through town on his donkey. Everytime he would try to catch him to get a picture. FINALLY on Wednesday, the man stopped outside the clinic and Dad went over to him. He got a picture and Dad gave him some money (don't remember how much, but it wasn't much...) to thank him for letting him take the picture. The man descended the donkey to let Dad ride. Dad didn't take him up on the offer, but we all got a good laugh out of it. The young lady int he red/white shirt is one of our translators who saw Dad talking to the man. She went over to make sure he didn't get into trouble...ha!

Bro David. He was in charge of the tent services during the day. He is hard at work in this picture. I have to say...he ROCKED the house! I've never really had an indepth conversation with David before this trip. We sat together on the bus going somewhere and we really had good conversation. This guy is truly a man of God...in a very cool way.

Shoe Ministry. This team gave out 1800 pairs of shoes. Ms Anita went to Dirt Cheap and loaded up her husband's truck FULL of shoes and shipped them down to Honduras. If ever there was a woman who could make shopping a ministry, it's Ms Anita. Below is Ann Barrett helping a man try on a pair of new shoes. This was Ann Barrett's first mission trip ever. She worked in the Shoe Ministry and she would tell you that it changed her life.

Rice & Beans. Ms Sandra Clay headed this ministry up this year (not pictured). Her team gave out over 6000 lbs of rice and beans. Pictured below are (L-R) Randy Randall, Dr Walter Rose, and Jim Woods - all of Indianola, MS.

Church Dedication. This trip was the first time EVER that the whole team was able to attend the Church Dedication on any trip. This Construction Team was amazing. They built the walls and put on the roof in 3 days. They worked so fast that they were able to go to the Hospital on the 4th day and do some repairs there. God was amazing through those men!

Here's the "rest of the story" about this church. The small congregation that belonged to this church have prayed for FIVE years that they would be able to purchase land to build a church. F-I-V-E years! God used our team to answer their prayer. In my opinion, this team went to Talanga for them specifically. He wanted to show that congregation that they are precious in His sight and that He cares for them. Their ministry is powerful and God has blessed them in some pretty cool ways. This church building will be a launching pad for their ministry. I'll never know what all they accomplish and how many lives they touch, but I do know that God used the construction team in February 2010 to help affirm their ministry.

Bro David leading the Dedication. Love the pulpit!

Pharmacy. Mr Jimmy is on the left. Johnny Mc is on the right. It was Johnny Mc that shared the fact that he never thought he'd be in Central America mixing "kool-aid" with Jim Jones. This team had so much fun in the Pharmacy. Mr Jimmy is now the official Pharmacist in training and is the best bottle filler and pill counter any foreign mission team has ever known :)

Medical Clinic. This is a snapshot of 1 station. Doc Gabbert is on right and my Mom, Sue, is in the center. Susan Gabbert is working the door in the background.

This clinic saw approx 3000 patients in 3.5 days.

This is Nelson. He was the official "gatekeeper" into the clinic. He was evidence that you just never know who you will meet in the places that you go. Nelson was born in Peru and was raised there until his late teens. He then moved to the swampland better known as South Louisiana. He lived down around New Orleans for a little over 30 years. His wife is Honduran and last year they moved to Honduras where he began working with BMDMI as a translator. He had a cool accent: Peruvian, Cajun, and Honduran. He was an interesting character and I am so glad to have met him!

On the first full day of clinic, Doc G made a friend. This young girl has Down Syndrome. She was a precious and sweet young lady. However, she was no fool...she immediately figured out that Doc had goodies (candy) and she is asking for some in this picture...

An At-large clinic picture. You can see the 4 tables/stations in this room. There was a doctor and nurse practitioner at each table. Doc G and Mom on the right. Dr Prosser and Linda Fay in the back. Dr. Alfredo (Honduran Dr) on the left - can't really see the table, but it's there - and Dr Carey and Glenda on the left front.

Play-time! This is SuperBowl Sunday. Doc Carey and Dad are jamming to "Let's Get Crunk" in preparation of the Saints playing later that night...you just had to be there fully appreciate this. They were singing and dancing and rapping. The Honduran patients thought they had lost their mind...

Susan and THE newborn. This little newborn was only 23 days old. Susan was the first to get to hold her. She was absolutely precious!

Mom with a little boy. Best we could figure, this little guy was about Emma Claire's age. He was full of personality! When the cameras came out, he put on a show! We got to see this cutie twice...once with his Mom and then the next day with his Dad. Both days he was happy and full of enjoyment for the entire medical team!

A typical mode of transportation. We saw this man specifically and a bunch of others traveling through town on carts pulled by oxen. There were also quite a few that were pulled by Brahmans...strange. Especially knowing that the Sullivan family and many others pay good money to have a Brahman herd and would never have them pull a cart of any kind...

This is a picture that I took for my work folks. Being in the CSD (carbonated soft-drink) business, this picture was funny. Only in Honduras would you see CSD's protected by a machine gun toting police officer.

The picture below may resemble a Honduran woman, but to me it's the very face of Jesus. Here is why: On this day, I was working outside taking blood pressures. It was so very hot and I was not having the best day. To make a long story short, one minute I was taking blood pressures in an orderly line of patients waiting to get into the clinic. The next minute, I am in a mob crowd. Two women from the local church walk by and help Nelson regain control of the crowd. Right after things settle down, this lady walks out of the clinic and comes directly towards me. She taps my shoulder and as I turn to her, she embraces me tightly. She kisses both cheeks and speaks to me softly. I couldn't understand her, but I didn't have to. I saw Jesus right in her face. There were tears in her eyes and knew that she was God's messenger to me at that moment. Needless to say, the rest of my afternoon was quite different from before.

Hospital. There are a lot of pictures at the hospital. And I will be glad to post them on the part 2 entry. But I just love this picture. It was impromtu and no one is really posed. This was taken at the top of the viewing tower. We could see out across the valley for what seemed like miles. It was beautiful and peaceful. Honduras is a beautiful country with all the farmland, mountains, and natural habitat. This watchtower gave us the birds eye view.

The Meadville Crew headed for the airport. This is our parting shot from the Mission House. We were all tired and sad to see the week come to an end.

Funny. We thought David was straight-laced and very "preacherly" on this trip..until I ran across this picture that someone took. There are quite a series of shots on this event, but I have to say...that David is full of surprises! He enjoyed riding a Honduran Horse!

As I close this post, I'll end with what I said at the start. It is amazing to serve alongside my parents. To step out of my business world and into their medical world is a blessing beyond description. As I look back over the years, they have served humanity with their lives both domestically for a living and internationally for servanthood. God has blessed our family. I cannot wait to see what the future holds. Maybe one day we will get to experience this as a whole family...grands included.