The Mountainside

Today was our first day of clinic and we were in the village of San Manuel where we had an awesome view as we set up tents on a rocky edge of the mountain. The clinic consisted of Medical, eyeglasses, pharmacy, and hospitality packs. I was a little apprehensive this morning, because in the past I have always worked in children’s church and am very passionate about being a part of sharing God and worshipping with the Hondurans. I attended eyeglass training a few months ago in Louisville, so this trip I am running the eyeglass portion of the clinic. I was feeling overwhelmed as we hooked up all the equipment.

I was lost in thought, when a lady came up and tapped me on the shoulder. It was one of the women from Emanuel where we distributed shoes yesterday. She showed me that she had on her new shoes and then introduced me to a couple of young boys who had some eye problems that she wanted us to look at.

The eye clinic was actually pretty cool. To see their faces when we found glasses that helped them to see, was awesome. They would smile from ear to ear when I handed them my bi-lingual Bible and they could read it with their new glasses. There were a few patients that we could not help due to cataracts or turned eyes and that just broke my heart. We tried to accommodate them with what we could, but most of all we did our best to show them God’s love.

Our primary purpose for this trip was to share Christ with the Hondurans. Something I know, but I had to really work to remind myself of that today instead of being absorbed in the technical part of the eyeglasses ministry. Hmmm, funny how our mission at home is so similar to the mission I’m on this week. How often do we get absorbed in everyday life and miss our primary purpose?

What an awesome day! I can’t wait until tomorrow to go back to the mountainside!

Blessed Feet

I woke up early this morning with anticipation. “Today’s the day we deliver shoes!!”  We arrived at Emanuel early and got to visit with some of the people before the church service began. Such precious, sweet people! The worship service was overflowing with people from Emanuel and the surrounding communities, as we worshipped the Lord in a mixture of Spanish & English. You could feel God’s presence in abundance and a woman went forward to be saved.

After the service, we spoke to the people about how they had touched our hearts in February and that many people from the United States had been praying for them and had sent a gift for them. We told them that the shoes they were receiving, should serve as a reminder that they had ‘beautiful feet’ and they should go forward sharing God’s love with the other people of Honduras.

The excitement on the kids faces as they took their turn picking out their shoes was so cool! As I fitted one little baby girl with pink sandals, I picked up her foot to discover it was covered in mud. I frantically looked around for something to wash her feet with and found nothing. So I took my bandana and spit on it and cleaned her feet. I know some people will think that is pretty disgusting, but didn’t our mom’s do that to clean our faces when we were little? Anyway, the mom smiled at me, so I hope that meant it was acceptable.

Distributing the shoes took quite a bit of time as word got out and the line grew. I stepped away from the crowd for a moment to catch my breath and take in the scene. I saw our team working together as if they were born to distribute shoes and the Hondurans walking away with smiles on their faces and new shoes on their feet. An older woman stopped and proceeded to tell me her life story and about her husband who died of some kind of tumor. All I knew to say was I was sorry. She hugged me tight with tears in her eyes and thanked me for the love that we had shown to her people.

As for a perfect ending to the shoe distribution, the boys that I had first noticed the barefeet of in February,(the ones sitting on the bench in my pictures), appeared just as we were finishing up. Jeneen and I gathered various sizes and got them fitted with some shoes. They were still smiling and waving and looking at their NEW SHOES as we drove away in the bus.

We went to be a blessing to the people of Emanuel today but, we went away as the ones who were blessed.

We have Shoes!!!

After a long day downtown, picking out and negotiating the purchase of shoes, I definitely will never look at shoe shopping the same again.  It was long and tiring and a bit confusing at times, but so much fun! It was evident that God had His hand on this project. We got such good deals, that not only did we purchase shoes for the village of Emanuel (as originally planned), we also got enough shoes for the other two villages we will visit this week AND beans and rice to distribute to Emanuel.

Tomorrow the rest of the team will arrive. It’s gonna be an awesome week!

As the Journey Continues.......

As I started the drive to St. Louis for my flight out to Honduras, I was once again excited for the Journey ahead. The beginning of another amazing adventure in which God would reveal Himself to hundreds of Hondurans as well as our team that is going to serve them.

It’s hard to believe how much has happened since I returned from Honduras in February. I can’t even begin to relate all the ways that God has been working behind the scenes through so many people to accomplish His plan. A plan that not only is evident in my community in Piggott, Arkansas, but to people across our country as well as Honduras.  God has provided the means for us to distribute shoes to the Hondurans in Emanuel as well as minister through this Medical team to two other villages.  Gonna be Awesome!!!!

So now as we head out on this journey with God, I realize it’s not a new journey. It’s a continuation of the journey we began in February…..or perhaps the moment we said “Yes” to God and started our Journey with HIM.

Keep us in your prayers as the Journey Continues…….