This morning we started the day with Pastor Cindy leading the fourth in her series of Holy Week devotions and focused our minds and hearts on Maundy Thursday and Christ’s Last Supper with his disciples and then his betrayal.
Today our dental team had a very special Honduran member added to our combined mission team – Dr. Laura. About 12-15 years ago when Laura was still in elementary school here in Quimistan, she was sponsored as a new Agape Promise (AP) student (i.e., when she was about 10-12 years old). Growing up in a very poor family, the Honduras Agape Foundation (HAF) AP program was really her only way to continue beyond elementary school. With HAF sponsor support, she not only remained in school through high school (which is not that common in Honduras) but also completed university and dental school. She received her dental license a year ago and has been serving this past year doing social service dentistry here in Quimistan (a requirement in Honduras). Dr. Laura helped Dr. Patty and Jessica throughout the day today during our dental clinic for the children here.
Our dental team treated 12 patients today (mostly children). This included our translator Daniel’s 2 children, Isabella (9) and Ezra (6). Isabella seems to be thinking of changing her career goal to dentistry.
One of the adult patients treated today was Dr. Tino’s wife Fatima. Dr. Tino is a medical doctor here that helps our Honduras Agape Foundation with monthly visits to poor, remote mountain villages to provide medical exams and treatments for these people who rarely have an opportunity to see a real doctor. Dr. Tino also provides extensive first aid training to a few women in each village so they will be able to do some basic medical procedures in case of an emergency (take blood pressure, suture cuts, etc.) Dr. Tinos’ children, Josè (12th grade) and Andrea (6th grade) were also at the clinic. Josè plans to be a doctor like his father.
While the dental team was doing dentistry, our teenage team members continued to entertain the children that came to the clinic.
We complete this day with our thoughts going back to the events of Christ over 2,000 years ago on this Maundy Thursday and look towards Good Friday. May God bless you; may God bless the wonderful people here in Honduras, and may God bless our combined US & Honduras mission team members.
Honduras Agape 