Tuesday, March 21, 2023
The rain that fell over the past two days has made for unfavorable road conditions, so our team was not able travel to our scheduled village. Instead, we visited La Delicias. The community was scheduled to be visited in May, and like yesterday's village, is brand new to Friends of Barnabas.
Perhaps because they had little notice, there were few families in attendance when we arrived. The opening announcements were sparsely attended, and there weren’t many people in the registration line when we began. However, as the day moved along, more and more people showed up. We learned that when children arrived at school that morning, the teachers had sent them home to get their families. In total, there are about 50 families in the community, and Lidia believes we saw them all.
Erin and Linda both shared their cross necklaces with children they served in the dental and medical clinics, respectively. Jonathan assisted a lady who had normal blood pressure, but upon talking about her adult son who had died in an accident, she became distraught, and her blood pressure shot up to 200. He referred her to our chaplain Charles, who helped her through her distress.
Over dinner in the evening, Charles impressed upon us the connection of the body, mind, and spirit. It is so important that all of these are tended to, and that is why it is so important to have hospital chaplains. It important that we tend to the whole person.
Back at Alfredo house, the team processed the day, discussed how to best use the EMRs in the field, and shared dinner together. Marvin led the group in devotions, reading from Matthew 25:35-36:
“For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes, and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison, and you came to visit me.”
We are grateful for another day and another opportunity to look after the sick and support the mountain villages of Honduras in this way.
~Erin Thackston
