Whistle While you Work...

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 9/20/2007 4:14:00 PM)

Greetings from Rio Viejo!  I am still so amazed that we can write e-mails and blogs from here!  And our little cell phone with the big antenna is working great too.  Aaahhhhh, back into the land of communication, it feels great. 

Well, things are progressing right along.  The dormitory foundation will be finished in another week and then we will begin laying blocks.  The pharmacy is inventoried and almost in order.  Leslie continues to do finishing work on the building and it is looking better each day.  There are lots of jobs and always plenty to do around here.  I thought I should put a few photos showing everyone hard at work, and mostly whistling, though trash burning doesn't make Samuel whistle too much. ha/

It's a fun place to be and I wish more of you were here doing it with us.  We look forward to seeing many friends in November for the Dedication Ceremony on the 9th.  Already we've received many emails with flight schedules.  We are making plans and having invitations printed next week for our guests & officials from Honduras who will attend.  It's coming together, but there is so much more to do.  Keep us in your prayers as we try to get it all done in the next six weeks!

Thanks for all your emails and comments, it's so great to know that you're reading the blog!  We just finished a newsletter that we are trying to get out via the old-fashioned mail.  So if you're on our mailing list, be looking for it in the next week or so in your mailbox.  Thanks so much for all your prayers and your support!  We love what we're doing and we're so glad that God created us for such a work as this.

Wendy & family

          

Not just a doctor, sometimes a mechanic too!             Samuel, the master trash burner... anything that
                                                                                       involves fire and a machete is okay with him!


      

    Pat & Wendy helping set up the pharmacy.               Rachel hard at work in 6th Grade!





And last, but not least, Leslie on snake patrol... Look what he found outside the kitchen door!!   Please don't cancel your trip to Honduras, it's not a poisonous snake, just a small boa-constrictor.

Breaking ground with Pat and Leslie Warren

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 9/11/2007 8:45:00 PM)

We are so glad to have from Fayetteville, TN Pat and Leslie Warren. They will be here until the inauguration of our Health Centre, in November. They only needed a couple of days to orient themselves and then they hit the ground running.


Leslie and Pat and I on site where our new Dormitory is 
being built


This structure will serve to house the many visitors that we anticipate coming to work, minister and/or visit us here in Rio Viejo, Honduras. It will be a two-story building with a kitchen, large eating area, and 2 large dorm rooms with capacity for up to 20 people and 3 guest rooms and an open porch/meeting area on the second floor. The first $5,000 has come from  Mark & Joy Bonam of F.A.Y.E. Ministries in Toronto, Canada.  They are currently serving in Great Britain, but have not lost their love for the children of Honduras.  www.forgottenandyetengravedministries.ca    As soon as the funds were received we began construction on September 5th. We hardly had a chance to recover from Hurricane Felix and once the dark clouds had rolled away we started with the shovels. We are so excited!

Pat has been helping Wendy in the many different chores and duties around the "house" which for now is and has been the medical centre. They are currently helping to set up the pharmacy and keep the work crew with supplies on hand, not to mention home-school Samuel & Rachel.  Leslie has been busy doing all kinds of construction-type  work. This guy is phenomenal, he can do it all. He is abone fide mechanic, wood-worker, screen over the doors, metal worker, welder and I mean etcetera, etc. We are so glad to have both of them, they are so incredible. The reason why we are so awe-struck to have them is because Wendy and I are so overwhelmed at what God is doing around us. We find ourselves weary and their involvement is indispensable.  It is amazing how an extra set (or two) of hands can make such a difference!

Rejoice with us as we begin Phase I of the new dormitory in Rio Viejo!

All is well after Hurricane Felix...

(copied from the old blog. entry dated: 9/6/2007 5:33:00 PM)

Well, the storm has come and gone and all is well in Rio Viejo!  We were as prepared as one can be for such a big Hurricane and the entire country was praying, including us.  God was so merciful and the storm did not have near the impact that was expected.  We had some hard rains in Rio Viejo, but only about 4 inches fell.  Not so unusual for this time of year.  I think we may have enough beans and rice to last us a month! ha/  We were very prepared.  So we will not lack food for quite sometime...

Thank you so much for all your prayers and for your notes of concern.  We wanted to let you know that all is well and we are very thankful to God for his mercy and faithfulness!

In His Love,
Wendy & family

Amanda and Emily in Las Minas

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 9/3/2007 8:37:00 PM)

Amanda and Emily at the Las Minas health centre

Back in June 2006, Dr Ron White who is an eye doctor in Ocala Florida, visited us in Honduras. He brought his three grandchildren, thousands of pairs of glasses and Amanda and Emily Miche. When we visited the Miche ladies on our last trip to the States, they told us that they have been thinking about going back to the Las Minas area.


Village girls being de-wormed                              Young boy in Nombre de Dios Morazan

So August 26 Amanda and Emily and I went back to Las Minas to de-worm the kids and distribute multivitamins to about 150 kids in elementary schools. We faced many challenges, one of them is transportation. It is definitely the wet season, with tropical storms and hurricanes at every corner. On our trip up to Las Minas it rained but as if that wasn't enough, when we finally made it to the centre, we were greeted by a small mob. They were all concerned over a man that on Saturday had cut himself with his machete and had been bleeding since. It was Sunday night about 9:00 pm. He was talking nonsense, so naturally I thought he had been drunk and mouthed-off at somebody and been cut in a fight. When I examined him, he was hypovolemic (low blood volume, low blood pressure) and was loosing blood constantly. The centre has no electricity and just to make things interesting, the bathroom had flooded and the entire building had 2 inches of water on the floor.

Next morning our patient is doing well.

So we started sweeping water out the door and started looking for surgical hardware and the suture kit that I had been prompted to bring along on this non-surgical trip. Thank God, the suture was with us. We all prayed and asked God to help me find the vessel that was causing the bleeding. He heard and answered and after a couple of sweaty moments, the bleeding stopped. I urged the family members to stay close to the centre for the night so that in the morning I could check him again. On the next day he was coherent and could not recall the night's activities. I prescribed some post-op antibiotics and sent him home. Amanda, Emily and I rejoiced in the fact that God was there and heard our prayer. God is so good, and He is that all the time.

First Sponsored Surgery

(copied from old blog. entry dated: 9/3/2007 7:51:00 PM)

Just recently we had the joy of being involved in one of God's miracles. Sometimes if you are looking for the opportunity He will include you in His blessings.

Roger Ramos is a 33 year old man from Brisas de Lean, one of the villages that is serviced by the health centre of Las Minas. He was struck by a car back in July during one of his trips into the town of Tela. As a result he broke the bone in his forearm two-thirds from his right elbow. This location and type of fracture required that he be intervened surgically using metal plates and screws to align the bone. He had been into the Tela government-hospital and had been told to return at least 4 or 5 times, each trip costs about L100 ($5.00) and a day away from work. The healing process was causing an erroneous fusing of the two bone fragments and because they were not aligned correctly, Roger was going to have limited function of his right hand. This is especially disturbing considering he is the sole earner in his young family with three kids to feed and a wife. When I heard of his case, I presented him to an Orthopedic surgeon at the hospital where I did my internship in La Ceiba. There I was able to admit him and the next day we were wheeling him into the Operating Room. The plate and screws were $200, which John Taylor upon hearing of the need volunteered to pay for the whole amount. This last Saturday Roger was released from Hospital Atlantida and is now recovering back at his village in Brisas de Lean. When I next go out to Las Minas I will take out the sutures and check on his post-op physical therapy.


This is me and patient (Roger Ramos) before his operation at Hospital Atlantida.


This is Dr Gonzales (orthopedic surgeon) and I prepping the patient in Hospital Atlantida's OR #1.

This is the metal plate and screws aligning Roger's forearm fracture.