Bonding Day!

I am fortunate to work with an organization that values it's team members, our spiritual well-being, and our overall sanity. Things stay busy here, and we are so blessed that God is constantly providing us with work and opportunities! With that being said, we all know how easy it is to let other aspects of life slide when we get caught up in a busy schedule. Relationships with co-workers is definitely one of those things, and unfortunately, our spiritual lives and quiet time tend to be on that list as well. For that reason, the "powers that be" at Mission UpReach decided that we would do a two-part kind of "renewal" with our team members. Part 1: the ladies of the mission (including volunteers--like me, paid employees--like the DESEO team, and spouses of the male employees) took the time to go to San Pedro Sula for a day of relaxation. The men went white water rafting (which made me slightly jealous). Part 2: we are having a retreat next week, when Jason Bybee and Matt Moore will come and do the speaking/translating that they do so well. I can't say enough what a unique blessing it is to work for an organization that recognizes and emphasizes the importance of staying close to each other, but mostly staying close to God!

 

We, the ladies, left last Monday to go to San Pedro Sula for one night. We got manicures and pedicures, ate a couple of good meals, swam, and stayed at a nice hotel. We even got to sleep in! It was great.

The gringas obviously really enjoyed it (who doesn't enjoy a pedicure every now and again), but the best part was spending time with and watching the Honduran ladies. Most of them had their first manicure/pedicure ever (one described her pedicurist as an assassin, so she may or may not have enjoyed having all of her years of callouses scrubbed away...). We ate at Chilis (poor things went almost TWO WHOLE DAYS without tortillas!), we got in the pool (discovered most of them can't swim), and we had a blast talking and laughing a LOT (at least every time one of the Honduran ladies tried to use a room key or the elevator) . They are hilarious, and I’m so glad that I got to spend that time just getting to know them.. They were all just excited to go a day without washing dishes.

We had a really great time, and we are all looking forward to the retreat. I can't wait to see what God does with those days of worshiping Him and studying His word together!

If she ever notices this picture she will kill me, but it's a risk I'm willing to take.

This was not a staged moment.

QUICK everybody find the only shade in all of San Pedro Sula and GET OUT OF THE SUN!

Pine Tree Brigade

Last week we had our first medical brigade of the year with the Pine Tree group from Longview, Texas.  We went to Las Sandias for four days, and treated almost 1,000 patients! I believe the final count was 989. The Pine Tree group is an incredible group to work with. They work hard (it doesn't hurt that they need basically no help running the brigade-they're old pros by now!), love the Lord, and always serve with a smile the whole time they’re here. 

Pine Tree was the first group that I was here to help with last year when I was here to "visit," so it was fun to see many of them again. It marked the beginning of a very different year from last year. Last year everything and everyone was new, which was great, but it is going to be fun to see people return, as well as getting to know the new ones! 

I love medical brigades. It’s such a blessing to work in these small, poor communities. No matter how many times I participate, every brigade is a new and different experience. This time, after making sure everyone had the supplies they needed and were all set up, I translated and even filled in for sick group members by taking vital signs, etc. for a couple of days. It is a lot of fun for me to move around and work with different people during the week! I have THE BEST job.

I still pray that God is working through the mission, our short-term groups, and through me every day. I love being here and working every day, but brigades are such a fun, special way to serve hundreds of people face to face and show them the love that God has for them. I’m thankful for these opportunities that God provides to do just that!