Frankfort First United Methodist Church Volunteers in Mission trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras

2008 Health Care Mission to Honduras

March 8-15, 2008

Daily Updates

All arrived safe in Tegucigalpa today.  Thanks be to God!

The medical mission team started out in the deep snow of Frankfort this morning.  Who would have thought that the team could have gotten to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, today?  There was a long delay this morning waiting for conditions to be right for taking off.  The time was tight in Houston, but the plane for Tegucigalpa left almost on time.  Here are some photos of the snow in Frankfort and the arrival in Honduras.

18 degrees Fahrenheit on departure
66 degrees Farhenheit on arrival
A very nice change

Tomorrow:  We will have a 9:00 am worship at the 100 foot high statue of Jesus, a visit to the Valley of the Angels; we will work setting up the medical clinic and then have a 3:00 pm worship with the Fuerzas Unidas Church.

SUNDAY, A DAY OF WORSHIP AND WORK

Sunday started with a visit to the United Nations Park on top of a mountain overlooking the City of Tegucigalpa.  We usually have the Sunday morning worship service at the base of the 100' tall statue of Jesus.  However, due to some type of movie production, we had to relocate to the circular terrace.  The weather was wonderful and the sky had some very beautiful, small "puffy" clouds.  The music was lead by Father Fid and Pastor Jack had a great message that raised our awareness of the goals of this mission of building spiritual relationships with those we came to serve in Tegucigalpa.  When we know our neighbor we will relate to our neighbor in a more positive and spiritual way.  We will understand their problems and challenges better.

The service featured the singing and sacred dance of the children.  The worship service was a great time for illustrating that Jesus loves the little children.  In most Honduran Methodist Churches, children make up almost 50% of the congregation.

After the morning worship service at the United Nations Park, part of the team went to the Fuerzas Unidas Church to start setting up the pharmacy, unpacking the UPS shipment and to set up the doctors' examination rooms and part of the team went to the Valley of the Angels for a visit to this remarkable city of craftsmen and living example of a traditional Honduran town.

The night before opening the clinic, the mission team must work in packaging the medicine for the pharmacy.  Due to the heavy demand on the pharmacy during the operation of the medical clinic, the medicine must be prepackaged as much as possible

We have breakfast at 6:30 AM, the first van leaves around 7:00 AM and it is usually after 9 PM before we have finished with evening devotions.

The main goal of the mission is to build relations with the people of Fuerzas Unidas colonia.  Each person is special and we wish to understand their physical and spiritual needs to provide care for these needs.

The number of patients seen is not the goal.  Still the numbers are amazing.  Over 200 patients were seen on Monday and over 230 on Tuesday. 

On Tuesday afternoon, we had a meeting with the leadership of the Chapel of Divine Mercy.  Some of the team will be installing lights and ceiling fans at the Chapel of Divine Mercy on Wednesday. 

The registration desk is managed by the some of the women of the church.  Lunch breaks are staggered so that some part of the clinic is always working on patients. 

THE PATIENTS HAVE BEEN COMING IN AT A RATE OF AROUND 225 PER DAY.

Dr. Arba Kenner has been on all medical mission teams to the Fuerzas Unidas Church sent by the First United Methodist Church of Frankfort.

Dr. Kellie Kute, a pediatrician from Oakland, California is also a very valuable part of the mission team because there are many children to tend to in the colonia Fuerzas Unidas.

The dental group uses four chairs and lots of equipment.  Arnie LeMay, TJ Burch and Ray Craig help keep the complicated equipment running.

The working conditions are far from ideal.  The church does not have air conditioning because of the high cost of an air conditioning system and the very high cost of electricity.

Click here to view photos of mission trip