Luke 9: 48 “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great”
Friday March 15, 2024
Today is our last day as a team to serve in a community in Honduras. Bittersweet for most if not all of us. This was, by far, our busiest day of the week. As a new community in the FOBF family, there was great need. Roughly half of the community is under the age of 18, and we saw many families with multiple very young children.
On our hottest day in the clinic, the community members took such good care of us, bringing us cold drinks to help get us through. We were welcomed by smiling faces and helpful hands. Set up was a quick process with all the help.
Many of our team members, touched by the stories of community members, felt led to give their crosses. Cindy, touched by a domestic abuse survivor, gave her cross after hearing her story. The woman then told her that she had a dream that she received a cross today.
Karen saw a woman with the verse “Under the shadow of His wings, I feel safe” and was touched by her and her actions throughout the day.
Eydi, our Honduran teammate, also felt led to give her cross today to a grandmother caring for her 3 grandchildren, 1 of which is developmentally disabled and unable to read. He is super smart with mathematics and can do all the problems in his head. She cares greatly for her grandchildren and puts their needs before her own. She had deeply infected wounds on her legs that needed care, but never once complained about the pain she was in, more concerned with the well-being of her grandchildren.
Kay also gave away her cross today to a mom, who, having 3 teeth extracted herself, had to go home and care for her children, many of whom had teeth extracted. Kay told her what a great job she was doing with her children, and mom gave her a grateful smile, and a hug.
On a lighter note: Karen, who worked in dental putting fluoride on the kids' teeth, discovered on Friday that she had been telling the kids all week to “bring her something” instead of telling them to spit out their fluoride!! She said that explained why the kids kept giving her strange looks!!
As we talked over a delicious dinner, we all agreed that while this week challenged each of us in many ways, although sometimes uncomfortable, being challenged forced us out of our comfort zones and allowed each of us to learn more about ourselves and what we are capable of. Team Muchas Manos has concluded our week of service in Honduras, ready to return home with our hearts fulfilled.
1 John 4: 11 Beloved, If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
~Daniel and Susan
