Tuesday, February 20, 2024
The Hampton Roads Team traveled to serve the families in the village of Santa Fe Abajo today. About an hour and a half from Peña Blanca, Santa Fe Abajo is located among an abundance of coffee bean plants. The team and community was even treated with fresh coffee! This terrain opens up an option for many of the villagers to work in the coffee tree fields, and while the job opportunity is great, it has led to some workers experiencing chronic pains from their labor.
Community members who came in with joint or muscle pain from their work were treated by Dr. Charlie, our chiropractor. Dr. Charlie worked on releasing the tension in muscles and tendons surrounding the joint to help relieve their aches. Multiple patients responded immediately with relief and greater mobility of their joints, all smiling widely with great thanks.
In addition, our wonderful nurses examined and treated members of all ages. Each radiated great joy, from the older members giving the glory back to God with their great health, to the children expressing their gratitude and saying that they will never forget us. The hugs and kisses the members gave the team brought tears of happiness.
Our trip to Santa Fe Abajo included a home visit, where a small team traveled to the house of a family whose mom was experiencing various cold symptoms for three days. While that was her chief complaint we provided medication for, we also found she was also dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, and thus referred her to a mental health specialist with the hope that both her short-term virus and longer-term anxiety would improve.
In the dental clinic Dr. Bo worked on a young patient who was both deaf and mute. Despite this, the young woman always had a smile on her face. Even during a tooth extraction, she grinned and gave a thumbs up to show she was doing well. Due to her bravery and joy, this woman was given a cross.
After serving in their respective clinics, some members of the team brought out a soccer ball to play with the kids. We kicked the ball around, shot goals, and played monkey in the middle. There was almost constant laughter, especially when one team member face planted after jumping a fence to retrieve a ball that had gotten kicked over the fence and into the brush.
The Hampton Roads Team felt incredibly grateful today to work with the Santa Fe Abajo community. The heart for service both here and throughout the rest of Honduras continues to be a source of inspiration for the team. We are also extremely grateful to all of the FOBF staff who showcase this by driving the team, interpreting, cooking delicious meals, and much more. We cannot wait for all the more to come and to see how God will be working through us and the communities we interact with!
~Rachel
Comments