Joy

Joy is contagious and often so tenuous. Psalm 98:8 says "Let the rivers clap their hands; Let the hills be joyful together before the Lord." Joy was evident in every smile we witnessed on arriving at today’s community of El Sorto. Instead of a hill, we climbed an incredibly steep mountain. The switchback road leading to the top and the fields of coffee and corn were on slopes which seemed too steep to walk. Approximately 160 families live here and the most common crops are coffee, beans and corn.

Along the route today we passed the midpoint of the Americas -- equal distance between the tip of South America and the northern most point of North America.

The community members unloaded all our equipment and supplies in record time which was greatly appreciated by the team after the 2-3/4 hour bus ride. While we were there, we very much appreciated the love and concern demonstrated by the villagers. During the day we were served mountain grown coffee, grown in the community, and the specialty cakes, all which were cooked over an open fire.

Today we ran a general clinic examining a variety of health problems. We also extracted a considerable number of teeth, dispensed vitamins and ran an eye clinic to provide needed glasses. Several of our team members again gave away their crosses to those who touched their hearts in a special way.

Around 4 pm we waved goodbye and ventured off for the long ride home, everyone fatigued but also invigorated from the day's activities.