Accomplishments

What was accomplished—
The doctors at Luke World Missions asked us to provide infrastructure for the clinic in El Castaňo. This included finding a doctor and opening Andrew Clinic, a wonderful facility that sat empty and unused for most of the 4 years since it was built. When our focus was changed to infrastructure we thought that this was totally out of our area of expertise, especially when you think of trying to do this in place where you know no one and can’t even speak the language. But with God, all things are possible.

Before we ever arrived in Honduras, God was orchestrating his great work. David made a contact that led to another contact that led us to a doctor. In February we had a doctor and office administrator and opened our doors full-time to serve people. Our goal was 20 patients a day. The last two weeks that we were there, we were making that goal and more! In addition there is a housekeeper and groundskeeper and a CEO, Dr. Martin of RioViejo, that oversees the clinic. Additionally, we met with the Honduras Minister of Health and were taking the necessary steps to have Andrew Clinic certified with the government.
Other projects completed included: cleaning and making the clinic patient ready which included repairs to the water system and air conditioners, painting, a new roof and the installation of security doors.
We were privileged to work with various teams—a work crew that built a new school, a group of dentists that did 4 clinics, friends that helped our clinic staff provide 3 outreach clinics, and our own Continental Divide VBS team. (50 individuals accepted Christ as Savior!)
David had the opportunity to give daily devotions for the middle school and high school students.

New security doors for the clinic. This was important because of the glass doors that were all to easy to break in.

The Honduran Minisiter of Health made a visit to Andrew Clinic. This part of the process to have the clinic certified with the government. This is important in that then government would provide some medicines and medical providers. In Honduras every graduating doctor and dentist must give one year of his time free in service to the Honduran people. By being certified there is the possibility of Andre Clinic being one of the places where these graduates might serve.

VBS in El Castano

March 27-April 6 we had a group from our Continental Divide Association who came to provide an EBV (Vacation Bible School) for the students of the El Castano Interanal Biligual School. We were happy to see our friends from Coloardo and so excited that they had come to work here with us. It is so wonderful to have those we love come visit and to minister along side us.

The group arrived late on the night of March 27th. However, they were up early to start prparation for the week ahead. They looked over the rooms and chapels and made plans for the location of all the learning stations kids would be involved in--worship, missions, Bible Study, crafts, refreshments and games. The teachers had already introduced the theme, Boomerang Express, and had the rooms decorated and had taught the children most of the songs. It was so hot--107 on Friday and not any cooler on Saturaday, so they took both Sat. and Sun to decorate the chapels and to gety set up.

They were so amazed and thrilled to be here and thankful for the opportunity to hall all of the students pre-k through 9th grade, every day for a week. Tenth and eleventh grades were not to be included because the administrator said that they were behind in their shcool work due to the soccer schedule.

On Monday things started off quickly with the excitement of the children. However, it was a rough day; many things did not go as smoothly as they had hoped. One problem was that they had only brought two Spanish speaking workers due to a passport problem. There was trouble with understanding the schedule. However, that night as the group met and deiscussed the problems, they prayed and God visited. They discussed adjustments to be made.

The next day the teachers and the students understood the schedule and the rotation. There were students who helped with the interpreting. And the upper grades saw what was going on with VBS and asked the administrator if they could participate. They were allowed!YEAH !!!

The rest of the week went great. On Wednesday there were 10 decisions for Christ. Moses Jimez worked and minister with the high scchool students. They even did a "community service" project, giving out clostes at the government school not far away.

On Friday there was a program for the parents. The students sang some of their songs and Moses preached. God did an awesome work. A total of 48 accepted Jesus as their personal Savior. There was a wonderful bonding among the group, the group and the teachers, and the group and the children. There were many thanks, joys, and tears shared!

Clinic in Camelote

Clinic in Camelote
On Friday March 27 our staff traveled once again to Camelote. This time though we did clinic. Leaving at 6:30 we were set up and ready to see patients at 7:30. We had another Honduran doctor, Dr. Josue Lagos. He and Dra. Mirna saw and treated 106 patients. One lady was in hypertension crisis and our visit was lifesaving. Others included diabetes, parasites, colds, and infections such as impetigo and pneumonia.

Dr. Mirna examining one of the many children.

Sara kept us all on track so that patients were seen in an orderly fashion. She also stopped registering patients at 11 so we could be finished by noon.

Dr. Josue Lagos from El Progreso assisted us today. Without his help we could not have seen so many patients.

This shows some of the many patients as they waited to see a doctor.

Home Delivery

Home Delivery

Meet Jose΄ and Douglas. They have a truck and sell produce. Twice a week they now deliver to our door. This is cool because now I don’t have to fight the traffic and mass of people in El Centro. The produce is beautiful and the price is good!

Father's Day in Honduras

March 19—yes it is Father’s Day in Honduras. I wouldn’t really mention it but because of what happened this morning I must tell you all.
I have written about these vehicles, cars or trucks, loud speakers on them. They often pass by and are in El Progreso and have recordings that advertise and make announcements. This morning at 3 am one came by and kept passing by. Loudly it proclaimed “Feliz΄al dia de Padres to all the padres in El Castano”! Over and over and over—it must have passed by a dozen times. And to add to the celebration there were gun shots—again over and over. I told David I would be shooting whoever had woke me up at 3 am. Only this morning did I learn that the message was just part of the holiday celebration.
In the evening there were tons of fireworks. Hondurans love their illegal fireworks!!!!

Outreach at Camelote

Yes, even Honduras has a Camelot, except it is “Camelote” pronounced “kam-a-lo-ta” and it is a far cry from the ideal of what we read about. Camelote is a small mountain village about 30 minutes from El Castaño. It consists of about 75 homes a few puplierias, two churches, and one school. We took our staff, Sara and Dr. Mirna and went to the school to provide parasite medicine for all of the children. We had been told there were about 80 students, mas o menos (more or less). It was more! 132 total! It was awesome. We will be going back on the 27th to provide a clinic. Pray that God will use us not only to minister to physical needs, but to the spiritual needs as well.

The Deluge

The Deluge
I don’t think I have mentioned to much about flooding INSIDE the clinic, but it has been an issue. There was a plumbing leak upstairs that was causing it to constantly drip (more than drip) in the patient waiting area. We kept a couple of large trash cans to catch the water and emptied them daily. Thankfully that was fixed back in February. We finally found someone who knew what the problem was—a leak in the upstairs floor. This required breaking up the concrete and tile and finding the leak. Thankfully they found it quickly—only about 6 large tiles had to be chiseled out along with the concrete. However, when they found the leak, water gushed up like “Old Faithful” flooding the commons area and running down the stairs. At that time Nancy and Keith were here and along with Nellie, we “scooped” the mass of the water with dust pans and then mopped. Only a couple hours work and in less than 24 hours the leak was fixed. Flooding ended, or so we thought.
At this time we are putting a new roof on the clinic. It was damaged several years ago during Hurricane Mitch and had never been repaired. Anytime it rained we had buckets out to catch the water. A new roof was long overdue. Recently we got approval from Luke World Missions to have the roof replaced.
After the contract was signed, which is a major ordeal with the language barrier, work began last Thursday. Now, it has not rained much here in about a month, but yesterday, the bottom fell out. Once again we were flooded inside. This time the commons area flooded, running down the stairs and flooding the clinic. Two of the dormitory rooms were flooded getting mattresses and furniture wet. Thankfully in the commons area, Nellie started moving the sofas so that they did not get wet. With four of us working, it took about 3 hours to get it all cleaned up. I have had enough indoor flooding!