A dental brigade, return of the airplane and more

We’ve closed the books on the first quarter of the year. It was a whirlwind of activity. Lots of good stuff happened. A few large projects were completed, we hosted 5 small work teams, put on our medical brigade and a few months later hosted a dental team. We were hopping from one thing straight to the next but it was so good.

Our final team that we said goodbye to became so dear to us. Their arrival was thwarted several times by problems for their travel. First our airplane was discovered to have the beginnings of a major problem, and had to be sent back to the States, we bought tickets for them with a domestic airline to get to La Mosquitia. A week before their arrival the airline had an accident and the plane was out of service, flights to La Mosquitia were canceled along with their hopes of getting here that way. Brad spent a couple of days on the phone calling people and trying to sort out how to get them here. Finally it was decided to split the team up and there were multiple steps to get them here but God was good and they finally all made it.

All but one in this team had worked together in the past doing many mission trips together. Having been all over the world, they knew what to expect, and they worked together flawlessly. I loved going to the clinic to watch them work together. Obviously a big part of our health outreach is caring for the souls of our patients as well. One day when we had a lull in people waiting to be seen, we took a journey through the village going from house to house. We would take off our shoes, as is customary, at the bottom of the steps and walk up to their porch. Our goals: to teach proper dental hygiene and to make known the gospel. We spent some time praying, sharing scriptures, and hearing of their burdens.

One thing that the house visits did was to encourage the kids of the village who for days didn’t want their teeth cleaned, to have courage to sit in the chair. In Misquito dentist means tooth puller. Imagine growing up in that culture, it’s not a wonder people are hesitant to come unless it’s severe. We are slowly seeing a shift from only having time during a dental brigade to pull teeth because they are so bad, in exchange for people coming before its too late to save the tooth to have them filled. Better yet as dental hygiene is taught, more and more people are wanting cleanings.

While the dental team was here we were overjoyed to have the airplane return to us from its maintenance trip back from the States. We had several people from the village come to welcome it and the pilot back.

Here are a few photos from the last few months.

Sunday school lessons.

Mothers day.

Easter River trip + communion on the sand

We are ever conscious of our role and opportunity here in our village. Thank you for investing in us as we invest in the lives of those around us in remote communities. We are grateful and consider ourselves blessed to be here.