Priorities in a Third World Country

People ask me, after living here for 7years, if I have become blinded to the beauty that is Honduras.  And the honest answer is no.  Every time I drive out to the clinic in Armenia Bonito I am confronted with the amazingily beautiful mountains in front of me.  I see the incredible flowers that bloom year-round, and the trees bursting with huge mangos.

(my clinic in the village of Armenia Bonito)

However, this week brought to my attention the things that I have become blinded to.  The trash...trash in third world countries is a reality.  People are working so hard just to put food on their table, where their trash goes is the last thing on their priority list.  Where we had clinic yesterday is right across from a common dumping ground for trash in the community:

 My eyes looked right past it - it wasn't until someone on the visiting team took pictures of it that it brought it to my attention.  The other thing was military and police presence.  They are everywhere you look.  I guess in the murder capitol of the world that is a GOOD thing - but again - until people were taking pictures and asking about the military and the police did it remind me of their presence. 

So that got me to thinking.  Why have I not lost the ability to see the beauty in the world, but have become blind to the trash and police/military presence?  I know there is a sermon in there somewhere, but honestly, I think it has come down to priorities, and a small sense of self-preservation.  Beauty makes me happy - it reminds me of the presence of God and His creation.  It is uplifting...it is humbling...it is the sense of positiveness in all things, even in the darkness of living in the most murderous country in the world.  Let's face it - trash is a downer.  We pride ourselves in the United States about how clean we are - how orderly.  Our Home Owner's Associations demand it, and we meet our obligation by keeping our grass only 1 inch high, and our trash cans off the street before the end of the day on trash day.

It's Hope.  That's why I still see the beauty and not the trash.  God brings Hope through His son.  And that's what I want to portray to those I serve.  The Hope in Him that is beauty.  Trash is the thing we discard when we are done with it - it no longer serves a purpose.  Police and the military are there to protect us.  Once sin entered the world, the first murder occurred.  Living in the most murdurous country in the world we see it or hear about it EVERY day.  There are more than 300 murders a year in our own little city of La Ceiba.  Man is sin.  Only in the Hope that is Jesus Christ can this country come out from under the darkness it is in.  So I choose to see the beauty in the world - focus on that, and not lose sight of the sin, but my priority is the light in the world, not the darkness.  

p.s. One thing I have NEVER gotten "over" or become blind to is the chronic state of serious poverty here in Honduras.  I think the day I do is the day I need to leave the mission field.  

Medial Brigade

This week we hosted a small medical brigade with Dr. Diane, Dr. Greg who brought along an ultrasound, Dr. Wade - a dentist, a number of nurses, a dental assistant, and a lot of other willing hands.  The week brought some interesting things.  A number of twins were diagnosed via the ultrasound (57 ultrasounds done in total), 82 patients saw Dr. Wade (should have gotten a total number of teeth pulled!), and lots of general patients were seen as well.  We touched 766 lives during this week.  On top of the patients we saw, this was a tough week on the team.  It was extremely hot, and heat exhaustion was a serious problem we were encountering almost every day.  Many of the remaining visiting team was out doing construction, and hanging out with kids. 

In addition to the team here this week, our sweet daughter, Madison, returned from her 5 1/2 week Germany trip.  She received 9 college units, learned a lot, and had a lot of fun as well.  We are so glad to be back as a family, at least for a little while.

  

Medical Brigade makes the news

It was pretty cool...today the local news came out to the medical brigade and interviewed our own Doctor Roger who gave an overview of the ministry that was being provided this week.  I'll do a follow-up recap of this weeks medical brigade at the end of the week.

#45TVinforma -- Una brigada médica llega a La Ceiba, gracias a La Iglesia Misión para el Mundo, se lleva acabo en el sector la colonia El Edén, con un aproximado de 20 o más médicos norteamericanos, nos comenta el Doctor Roger!! Más detalles en el Diario del Mediodía y Radio el Patio en estos instantes...

Posted by 45TV El Canal de Los Ceibeños on Tuesday, July 21, 2015

 

Medical overview

Ever wonder what it looks like to go on a medical mission trip somewhere in the world?  Having done more than 500 mobile medical clinics, established a permanent clinic in a third world country, and worked in disaster situations, I've seen a lot...here is a video to give you an idea of what it looks like to be involved in medical ministry.

Medical team and construction

This week I had the privilege of working with two docs from Westminster Presbyterian Church of South Carolina, and my friend Denise who currently lives in Florida.  We had a full week of medical clinics, from a mobile clinic in an outlying village, and finished up in the permanent clinic in Armenia Bonito.  The rest of the team did a full week of construction, spent some time with the Peter Project (our street kids ministry), and taught English class at our Hig School.  

Overall we saw 159 general consult patients, and 50 additional children were treated for parasites and given children's vitamins.  We saw a variety of patients with a multiple variety of illnesses. 

This is an interesting place, mentally, for me.  As our job roles have changed, my position is going to look very different.  Medical brigades and the clinic have been so much a part of my life over the last 7 years,  In that time frame, I have easily had over 16,000 patients come through my mobile clinic and permanent clinic.  I am excited to see what this next chapter is going to look like.  I know that there will always be a medical/mercy ministry component to what I do...it is just part of my genetic make-up.

Mobile medical clinic in barrio El Trejo

Running an EKG on one of our patients

Sweet little 95 year old patient we saw in clinic

Growing things

I have always loved growing things.  In The States we always had a huge garden.  Finding things to grow well here has actually been quite challenging.  Because of the extreme heat and tons of rain that floods things out, I struggle with making things grow the way I am used to.  About six months  before we left to go back to The States this furlough, I purchased a papaya from a local fruit stand.  Now, I am not a huge papaya fan, but I know the nutritional value of them so use them a lot in fresh smoothies.  So I took the seeds out of the papaya, and threw a bunch of them in a pot with some soil.  Well...they took off.  By e time we returned from furlough the trees had started fruiting!  However, not so sure I will actually be able to enjoy the fruit of my labor so as some local fruit bats have found out about my tasty papayas.  All in all, it is the growing of things I love, so that's okay :-)

Here is e planted tree right before we left

The trees after we returned

And some fruit that the bats are enjoying...

Readjusting to life in Honduras

Well, we have returned, and started things off with a bang.  Two days after our return we started a leadership assessment of the men on the team.  Folks from Mission to the World have come down to be a part of this process.  It is a great way of looking at strengths and weakness in areas of leadership and is designed to give some insight into each couple evaluated.  We have not only been evaluated, but are part of the assessment team.  During the same time we are trying to get our house in order.  We have literally been going non-stop since our return, and have not even managed to unpack, we are still living out of suitcases.  Gratefully food is provided during this week as our stove and oven are not functioning, and we are not home to be able to have a repair person come evaluate it to be fixed, or if it is even fixable.

Life here has continued on as expected.  New businesses have opened, many have closed. My he clinic has been running well, and continued mobile clinics in numerous communities have continued as well.  We are going to take the next few weeks to get our house in order, spend time together as a family and just live before we start evaluating what our role here is going to be.  Summer teams are right around the corner, so there is that as well.  We have numerous international trips planned including a trip to Africa to do some information exchange.  They have a great seminary program up and running and we want to learn from them, and we have done much in terms of medical/mercy ministry and they are looking at starting something and want to learn from us.

So that's us in a nutshell...no different than usual, the Pettengill's running 100 miles an hour, but that is how we roll :-)