Covenant Presbyterian Mission Trip to Honduras - August 2012

August 18-25, 2012 a 8-person short-term mission team from Paso Robles, CA served with us in La Ceiba, Honduras. They worked in a English class, Kids Club, construction, a medical clinic and more.

Watch this 2 minute, 15 second video to see how they did:

Soaring Oaks Mission Trip to Honduras - August 2012

August 11-18, 2012 a 4-person short-term mission team from Elk Grove, CA served with us in La Ceiba, Honduras. They worked in a English class, Kids Club, construction, medical clinics and more.

Watch this 2 minute and 10 second video to see their work:

A New House For The Ochoa Family

In the summer of 2012 we constructed a new home for the 7-person Ochoa family in Armenia Bonito outside of La Ceiba, Honduras. With the help of short-term mission teams the home was complete with cement floors, running water, electricity and a septic tank.

Watch this 2 minute video to see the new house:

Medical Brigade

This week we hosted two teams, one from our very own home church, Soaring Oaks Presbyterian Church, and another great group from Florida which consisted of an MD, Physician Assistant (PA) Instructors, and many PA students.  We broke the week up by hosting 2 medical clinics in the community of La Fe, and 2 medical clinics in the community of Armenia Bonito.  On top of the clinics, we continued with our on-going ministry of English Class and Kids Club.

patient education in La Fe

Provider station in La Fe

Provider station in Armenia Bonito

Taking kids to the river in Armenia Bonito

About half of what I do in my weekly clinic is patient education.  I really feel the only way to change a community is through good, basic, general education.  So, this was a great opportunity for the students to do teaching of their own.  I had them focus on water purification through the SODIS process (a plastic bottle, UV rays, and 6 hours is all you need), healthy eating, dental health, and parasite prevention.  They did a great job!  They did the education at both communities.  Total for the week they saw over 323 patients.  Meanwhile, the group from our home church continued building on the house for the sweet family of Oneyda, Carolina, and Samuel.  GREAT job gang!

Faith Presbyterian Mission Trip to Honduras - August 2012

August 4-11, 2012 a 14-person short-term mission team from Balentine, SC served with us in La Ceiba, Honduras. They worked in an English class, Kids Club, construction, sewing instruction, dental clinics and more.

Watch this 3 minute 25 second video to see their amazing week:

Rincon Mountain Mission Trip to Honduras - August 2012

August 4-11, 2012 a 7-person short-term mission team from Tucson, AZ served with us in La Ceiba, Honduras. They worked in an English class, Kids Club, construction on two houses and more.

Watch this 2-minute video to see their work:

Dental Clinics

This week we hosted two dental clinics in the community of La Fe, and two in Armenia Bonito.  All in all 83 people received free dental care.  The dentists tell me that most were cracked/rotten/abscessed - imagine not being able to eat due to the pain in your mouth, and not being able to afford dental care.  What a huge blessing it is to have a great dental team care for the needs of the people of La Ceiba.

Carolina having her teeth worked on

Children working on puzzles while they are waiting to be seen

The teams leave tomorrow morning, and our next two teams arrive.  Next week is going to be a big week!  We have a huge medical brigade coming.  Included in this week we are going to be doing two days of education in both communities.  The education is going to include water purification, dental health, pregnancy health, and parasite prevention.  Education is the key to changing the overall health of the folks in both very poor communities.

Madison's first day of her senior year.

And finally, Madison started her first day of her Senior Year.  School here ends at 11th grade.  So she's a Senior!!!  I'll also be volunteer working at her school.  I will be teaching a drama class - it's an elective, so I will see how many kids may or may not be interested in doing drama.  My "first day" is next Wednesday, and am excited to be able to bring some Shakespeare to some Honduran kids!

During orientation we express to people the importance of the "F" word - flexibility!  Things may change, hurricanes may come, and we need to be ready to change with it.  Hurricane Ernesto came flying by and basically left us with a lot of rain - it was far enough off shore that we really weren't hit by any winds.  Because of this, however, it changed construction plans, and had people from the village staying at home - we still were able to treat a number of patients at the dental clinic.  The first two days we have been in the village of La Fe, for the next two days we will be in the community of Armenia Bonito.  Armenia hosts our huge project, which will provide plenty of rain coverage, so hopefully this will bring people in.

Both teams, Faith Presbyterian Church of Ballentine, SC and Rincon Mountain Presbyterian Church from Tucson, AZ have been troopers!  They've been involved in English Class, Kids Club, Dental Clinic, Sewing with the girls at Puerta de Esperanza, construction, and all around loving on kids!  It's been great to see and can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings for us.

Update

This week we have had time to take a deep breath.  This is a time to become rejuvenated before our last month of teams.  Included in this next month we will have a dental team, and a full medical team.  So we will be busy.  And in the same time, Madison starts school next Thursday - so the logistics of getting her to and from school and working with teams will be a bit tricky.   God's busy, keeping us busy, yet healthy, so we are thankful for that!