Brigade Summary

Sometimes plans work and sometimes they don’t. On day three of the medical brigade the cell tower dropped our service and data. The tower got repaired just yesterday. Basically, we went for 4 weeks only able to get text messages and emails to go through. Phone calls didn’t go through well and if we were patient, sometimes we can get a web page to open after an hour. Needless to say, we weren’t able to publish any blog posts, but isn’t that life? We can make plans, but ultimately God is the one who orchestrates things. I’m so thankful that He is sovereign. There is nothing to be afraid of. We are covered, surrounded and protected. God cares for our needs and loves us deeply. He is patient, compassionate and forgiving; always present and always nearby.

“I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [Mathew 28:20b]

Here is a summary of the brigade written by a fellow missionary, who was present here during the brigade.

At 8 am on Monday patients had started accumulating around the entrance of the Rus Rus missionary hospital. Staff and volunteers trickled out of one of the cinder-block rooms, after having shared in a time of devotion and prayer, dedicating the day’s work to the Lord. This diverse team of medical professionals, pastors, and lay people was made up of Miskitos, Austrians, North Americans, mestizo Hondurans, and Germans; all selected by the hand of God to strategically serve His people together this week.

Families arrived under an overcast sky threatening of rain, but by the time triage had begun and physicians were seeing patients the sun had broken through. Many families were local to the village of Rus Rus. One small group huddled together under the shadow of a palm tree, resting  after a three hour walk from their community called Wiwinaq, on the Coco River. An elderly lady complained of pain in her stomach and she was at the clinic to find out if surgery was her best option. Maybe she would get an answer from the doctor today. A young teenage boy said he was there to have painful molars pulled. 

Volunteers chatted with the family in Spanish, knowing it was their second language and  knowing that they might not be completely understood. The younger men interpreted from Spanish to Miskito for the elderly ladies. As the team photographer snapped pictures of the family they asked how they could get a copy. Of course they would want a print. When else might they have the opportunity to have their photo taken and printed in order to display it in their home? 

Tuesday morning began with the sound of rooster crows and a thick fog that had settled over the air strip behind the clinic. Several families who had traveled a long distance the day before stayed the night in houses of family members nearby. The brigade devotion this morning was held outside to include the patients waiting to be seen. Several team members led an acoustic worship set in Spanish and finished with a song in Miskito led by the local nurse. A visiting  Honduran pastor shared an evangelistic message and ended in prayer. 

This second clinic day included many follow-ups from the previous day. A typical day began with devotions then registration. Volunteer dentists immediately began extractions then would offer teeth cleanings just in the afternoons. Doctors began seeing patients, nurses in the lab helped run tests, and those in the pharmacy filled prescriptions throughout the day. In the afternoons pap tests were offered by one of the missionary doctors. By the third day of clinics,  the team was joined by an OBGYN offering ultrasounds and prenatal checkups and a health department worker offering immunizations for school-aged children. 

Women who otherwise would have no access to gynecological tests and checkups were able to receive the care they needed. Expectant moms were able to hear their baby’s heartbeat for the first time. Patients who had lived with aches and pains for years were finally able to receive answers. Roughly 400 individuals were seen during the brigade week. Volunteers finished out the five clinic days exhausted but with a sense of deep satisfaction. “It really showed us missionaries how much need is around us, and we are planning how to help those in surrounding villages” shared full-time missionary and nurse, Candace, at the end of the week. “The brigade was just the beginning of all sorts of ministry opportunities in La Mosquitia.” We praise the Lord for a full and successful brigade week and for opening doors to future ministry in the area.

Written by Kristin Martinez.