DR. KENZIE BARTON:A couple days ago I removed infected toenails of a young boy and numerous warts on a little girl. Throughout our time, shots have been given, and a girl has been in labor.  Through all of this, I have not seen patients cry out in pain or resist unpleasant procedures.  They keep a straight face, stay quiet, and hold still. For those of us from the United States, this is quite unusual to witness, particularly from children.   I could attribute this phenomenon to our precise doctoring skills– numbing areas perfectly, etcetera– but I don’t think this is the answer.  The people of Honduras have an unparalleled stoicism. They are tough and endure hardship with a straight face.  This perseverance speaks to their ability not only to tolerate medical procedures but to endure the harsh conditions this country throws at them.  From weather to disease to terrain, Honduras strains the people who live here.  It burdens families and takes lives too soon.  It turns a 30 year-old into seemingly a 60 year-old.   The strength of the people is necessary…it’s admirable…and it’s a quality on which we all can work.  We give thanks to God for this example He shows through His Honduran people.

Today in the Limon clinic we saw 176 patients and gave 674 prescriptions as we finished our final clinic of the trip.   It was a full day, but not as large as yesterday’s clinic in Icoteas.   As we wrapped up today’s clinic a lot of time was spent cleaning up the clinic and organizing the supplies, medical equipment and pharmacy for the next season.  The best news from clinic today was that 10 adults gave their life to Christ!

NATHAN:

Today the youth team spent the morning speaking and sharing the Gospel at a school with over 150 teenagers from Limon.   Alex Greer, Kaitlyn Kempson and Kaitlyn Street shared their testimonies and others did games, skits and music.  At the end of the presentation at least 10 students gave their life to Christ!  After we finished at the school we went to the orphanage where we put in book shelves and books for the children.  After lunch the students served in the clinic and then we all went to the Orphanage to spend time with the children and have our annual party with the kids.  Leaving Limon is never easy, but it’s comforting to know that these children have a safe place to stay and they are eating and being educated in school.   Many tears were shed tonight because these children are part of our family and it’s never easy to say goodby to family.  All the children send their love and appreciation to Ebenezer for your prayers, support and love for them. Thank you church for always caring so well for the least of these!
Tomorrow (Wednesday) we travel by van and then planes to Roatan.   We will be there doing a health fair and worship service at Pastor David Kelly’s church.  We will fly home from there on Saturday.

** This morning the Tuareg Cross was passed from Dr. Connor to Kim Andrews.

…By the way, the wifi in Limon has been little to none.  If you haven’t heard from your family – that’s why.  Everyone is good!!

CLINIC REPORT…from our 5 doctors:
Today the medical staff headed up the mountain to Icoteas. There they set up a clinic in a small building that we visit each year. Today however, the lines were much longer than usual. People came from various villages around the region to be seen by our doctors. The team began seeing patients around 9:30am after travel and set up and saw their last patients today at around 7:30pm. Over ten hours of procedures, obstetric ultrasounds, evaluating patients…that included 274 patients and 947 prescriptions…just today! This medical team rocked today! There were also dozens of cases of malaria diagnosed and treated. Some of the craziest cases today included five extractions of bugs from ears. As strange as some of these cases were, image how grateful these people are tonight having been released of these problems by professional physicians who are in short supply in this area. One woman that Dean saw today left her home at 6:00am this morning to walk her sick child down the mountain to the clinic and wasn’t seen till nearly the end of the day. Even after that long day of standing in line (no nice waiting rooms here) she was grateful to get care and medications to heal her child. Can you imagine a 12-14 hour day that included a two hour walk each way to get help for your child in Florence? May we all be more grateful the next time we have a long wait at our doctor’s offices.

ANNIE KATE:

Today, the youth team got to see the culmination of almost a year’s worth of planning on the Plan De Flores School Library. Over the course of the fall, we collected used English children’s books and classified them according to their difficulty level. People also donated money to help purchase many Spanish children’s books. In addition to the books, we were able to bring a child-size table and chairs, a durable floor mat, posters, a world map, a globe, and stuffed animal characters from a couple of the books. 

From the moment we arrived at the school, we could see the excitement on the kids’ faces; they eagerly crowded the door to the library as we unloaded the lumber and books. Due to the preparation we did earlier in the week on the boards, the bookshelves went together pretty quickly. As they were assembled, other people worked to hang 4″ boards up on the walls so that we could hang up posters. The second that one of the five bookshelves was bolted to the wall, a set of books quickly found a new home. All together, the new library contains approximately 1600 books. Best of all, an entire shelf is devoted to Bibles and other Christian reference books.

Thanks to the efforts of lots of hardworking, detail-oriented people, the Plan De Flores School Library looks impeccable. At the start of this project, I never could have imagined such an incredible end result. For those back home who picked out specific books, know that your mark is evident, for several of the books contain handwritten notes of encouragement. And, yes…the library has the entire Harry Potter series in Spanish. From the few glimpses I got to have of teachers and students exploring their library for the first time, I have no doubt that they are overjoyed. I hope and pray that these kids will grow to love reading as much as I do, as well as develop a thirst for God. 

NATHAN…
A side-note about Annie Kate’s post: One year ago this week we were asked by the principal of the Plan De Flores School if our team would be willing to help make a library for their small rural school. That night, both Derinda and I knew that Annie Kate Watson needed to come on the 2016 mission trip and help coordinate this effort. A few days after our return from last year’s trip, I contacted Annie Kate and told her we felt like the Lord wanted her to consider coming this year. She said that she felt like she needed to be on the team too. She told me in that conversation that just a few weeks before she had a dream that the Lord wanted her to make a library for Honduras. Wow! God is so good. He had already planted this in her heart before the principal even asked us. It was so amazing to see a year of planning by one of our students, her mom and our youth team come together today! Thank you to all at Ebenezer and throughout Florence who gave money and/or books to make this possible!  You should be proud of all our students and the way they gave so selflessly to make this library come to life. The joy on the faces of the teachers made it all worthwhile!