We are not heroes because we leave our families for a week to provide medical assistance and services to another country. We aren’t even guaranteed to be better people. We are ordinary humans, humans that are being obedient to God’s calling. Some of us took God shouting at us for years before taking the leap of faith. We are not perfect, but we come together this week with passion and love for others, not only our communities but service to our teammates as well.
It is not easy to go somewhere unknown and foreign to serve. There are many learning curves, cultural barriers, and snafoos that occur. But in the end, just like everything else that God has His arms wrapped around; it all works out for His greater good. It just makes us obedient to His request for us to move and to get to His work in this world.
Work is such an interesting word, depending on your culture, socioeconomic status, location in this world, etc. What is work in Honduras? As we drive by, we see families in the fields wielding machetes and walking sticks. They do not have large tractors to do the work for them, they have children that tend by their sides, and the work starts at daybreak or the family doesn’t eat.
Now on to our work of the day. In the Clinic, we had 206 individuals come through and receive symptom management and preventive services. This community in particular battled with hypertension, but it seemed pigs were a primary part of the community diet. So, no Wilbur’s here.
The community provided us a small school room to work out off. The same place these children’s minds are nourished is the place they seek medical assistance. Friends of Barnabas has initiated the Little Hearts Project for pediatric cardiac patients, so it is vital to listen to all the little hearts and see if we can identify the children who could really use that referral into the program. Early detection is always best protection. Being in the clinic is fast paced and you don’t get to share in much outside of the clinic, but hearing the children playing soccer and laughing as bubbles rain down at the fluoride treatment table brings joy to our hearts, knowing that they see us as a safe place. This next generation will bring their families back for care and establishing that love and trust is critical when they are young. A large part in the clinic is to build those bridges of trust and relationship between FOBF and the local communities.
Tomorrows community is expected to be double the size of today’s community, so join us tomorrow for the update!
~Maggie Smith
