Main Street UMC Visits Their Partner Community

Thursday, February 13th 2020

The Hampton Roads team had yet another fantastic day serving in Honduras. Today we visited El Encinal, Las Vegas, Santa Barbara. This community was founded in 1985 and has a population of 159 people. The community members must walk two hours to travel to the nearest health center. They obtain their water from a fountain 4 kilometers away.

This community visit was extra special because Main Street United Methodist Church in Suffolk, Virginia, where 7 of our teammates worship, is the community partner for El Encinal. Prior to the clinic opening, a small service took place with the village residents and the team where a banner created by Main Street UMC Daycare children was presented. Wonderful prayer and fellowship was enjoyed, followed by the start of a busy day in the clinics.

Once again, amazing things happened today in the dental clinic. Many more sealants were provided, as well as extractions and fillings. Dr. Arita cared for a 17-year-old girl who came to the clinic to have her two front teeth extracted due to significant decay. After careful examination, Dr. Arita decided to attempt to fill the teeth with the patient’s consent. After 45 intensive minutes, the beautiful girl’s front teeth were restored and everyone enjoyed the beautiful smile in her appreciative face.

Team members were also fortunate today to experience three different home visits to individuals who graciously opened their homes to us. While their circumstances are incredibly challenging, their unwavering faith in God helped us all to understand just how amazingly resilient these Hondurans are and how much trust they have in God to provide for all of their needs. Their love of the Lord is an incredible inspiration to all of us.

We look forward to tomorrow, our final clinic day, and the many experiences we will share with these amazing people.

~Maggie McCauley