Group Season February-May 2010

Here is what Michael and I have been up to the past few month's, "Group Season". The numbers quoted in this blog are from Healing Hands Global.org. Images taken by Rebecca.

Seacoast Church West Campus Charleston South Carolina - February 20th-27th

Pastor Ron Hamilton returned with his wife Libby and nurse/dental assistant Stacey, along with 2 nurses Geri and Pat. With their help we were able to see 90 dental patients in 3 different villages. They provided 101 extractions, 82 fillings, and 23 cleanings to the people of our area. Pastor Ron was the first dentist to provide fillings last year and he definitely raised the standard of care by leaving us the necessary equipment to provide restorative care to the patients who come to our dental clinics!

Bay Community Church Daphne, AL and Dr. John Tucher from AZ - March 6th-13th

We held 4 brigades in 4 different villages of our river cove, covering 309 people with medical care and giving them medicine that will change their lives. We visited 3 schools, educating 269 students about the importance of basic hygiene, and equipping them with the supplies they needed to make a difference in their homes. In 4 days we touched 578 lives with the love of Christ.

In May, we hosted 4 teams and visited 11 villages, hosted our hygiene education program in 11 schools, painted 4 classrooms in 2 different village schools, shared the Gospel message with 545 students, held 2 dental brigades in Las Minas and 1 in Rio Viejo, made tremendous progress on the construction of the Williams home, and added much needed outdoor living space onto the dorm!

Life Church from Tennessee - May 1st-8th Education Team!

We were able to break in our new interactive educational program consisting of 4 stations: Dental Hygiene, Healthy Eating, Hand Washing, and Crafts.

Big Lake Heights Church of God and Michael's Sister came to visit - May 8th-15th

We hiked and did a medical brigade in Pirineos and did health education in Japon.

Healing Place Church Educational Team - May 15-22th

We went to 4 schools taught health education and painted a school!

Healing Place Church Construction Team - May 22-29th

They brought service and hope back into the Williams hearts. There house is almost complete.

Jubilee Church - May 29th-June 5th

Construction built onto the dorm covered area for vehicles and outside lounging.

Education and Medical Teams Painted a school in Los Limpios! It was the teacher's dream to have her class room painted.

Before and After.

Last week we had our pastor and a few other members from Bay Community Church come to visit us. They came to paint our dorm, snack shack and the William's new house. It was really great to have familiar faces come to see us. We had sunny weather for two days, then nothing but rain for the rest of their visit. Despite the weather conditions, they got the job done. Thank you Pastor Jerry, Rob, Frank, and Jeff.

As they were painting and we were seeing the transformation, it made me think of how we are before and after Christ. We are dull and plain before salvation, and then Christ makes us into a new creation. It really encouraged me to continue my daily time with Jesus. You really need the daily "you" time with Jesus. Are you spending the necessary daily time with just you and Jesus?

Before

After

The New Year So Far...

We’re behind on our blogs, so we’ll catch everyone up on what’s been going on. After being home for the holidays with our families, which was absolutely wonderful, we arrived back in Honduras on January 2. Since then, we’ve had to hit the ground running. The long awaited container from our very own Bay Community Church arrived. It seemed like the whole community showed up to help. It would’ve made the Rio Viejo 10 o’clock news if we had it. Thankfully, we had some extra hands to help with all the new equipment, because we’ve hosted 2 families, the West’s and the Lalonde’s for the past 3 weeks.

Last weekend we made a trip to Las Minas that included a huge toy giveaway. The people began arriving about 4am, and the lines didn’t seem to have an end in sight. We knew that God needed to intervene, because there didn’t appear to be as many gifts as people. At the days end, we gave gifts to nearly 500 kids, and everyone enjoyed the event.

This past Thursday we also hosted a dental team from the US who saw approximately 35 patients in half a day. They definitely got the job done. Now we’re transitioning and preparing to start group season in another 3 weeks, so we are excited to see what God has in store for us this coming year.

Thanksgiving in Honduras

Thanksgiving is a time when we find ourselves counting our blessings a little more than usual. I admit this year was different for me. It was my first Thanksgiving away from my parents and sister, but we knew our families were in the States healthy and thankful themselves. However, we had even more of a reason to be thankful. Instead we spent Thanksgiving Day with approximately 25 missionaries from Honduras. They all made the journey up the mountain to spend the day in Rio Viejo, so you can just imagine how much food it takes for that many people. It was quite a Thanksgiving!!!

We've also been getting a lot of diverse experience. Rebecca has been photographing a lot of the local flora and is working with Wendy to use some of the pictures to decorate the dorm. She is really being able to showcase some of her talent.  I’ve  also had some great opportunities to assist with some procedures that I’ve never had the chance to experience before.

 We also had the pleasure of having Daryl Brewton and his wife, Stephanie, and daughter, Gabby stay with us over the past two weeks. Daryl is a professional photographer in North Carolina, so we were able to take advantage of his time here. He took some pictures of us at the river behind the Healing Hands Global compound. Daryl also accompanied Dr Martin and myself to Las Minas that is a village in the deep jungle about 4 hours away. We had no electricity, minimal water, and slept in hammocks inside the clinic. The people of Las Minas couldn't have been more welcoming and hospitable. They made it quite a memorable experience.