Hola amigos y familia...
Nosotros estamos en san jose. Actually in the "mall internacional". We have three hours until our flight to houston, so we're doing a little shopping.
The trip to/from Drakes bay was interesting. We drove out from the lodge in the boat for 30 minutes on calm seas. What a change. We pulled onto the beach at Drakes bay and unloaded the luggage on the sand as usual. Next was a 30 minute ride to the airport on the road and up the riverbed at one point. I use the word airport loosely as the entire terminal was as big as my living room and kitchen - seriously. We had 123 lb of excess baggage at a dollar a pound. We paid instead of dumping stuff. The plane ride to san jose in the small Cessna Caravan was really nice. We flew low along the coast and had beautiful scenery to watch. We saw the island we visited as well as the training center. No turbulence or anything. Very nice.
Now we're just waiting. Some found a subway store and others a burger king. The TCBY looks inviting.
See everyone soon,
Steven
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Wednesday
Hello again. Dinner at the lodge last night was shrimp and rice. Mmmmmm. The ants were killed and we all slept like rocks. I found out why all my sunscreen was missing. Somehow it leaked out into my bag - of clean clothes. So now I'm down to scrub shirts. I'm the epitome of fashion - board shorts, scrubs, and flip flops. Hopefully I can buy a shirt at the airport tomorrow.
This morning, wade, Paige, kyle, drew, and I walked about 45 minutes up the beach to a more sheltered lagoon with a river. The others stayed back at the lodge and relaxed. We had a good time. Saw some howler monkeys, macaws, and white faced monkeys up close in the jungle. At the lagoon we swam in the river. The others ended up swimming upstream to a waterfall while I stayed and watched my backpack. While they were gone, I swam a bit, took a quick nap, and swam around in the ocean. The scenery is great. The is a big break outside the lagoon with 6-10 ft waves. A couple of locals went out just about the time we left. Very nice. Wish we had more time.
Its after lunch now and time to sit in the hammock. I've been talking with the others about the trip, and processing it in my mind. I keep coming back to 2 Cor. Sowing, watering, harvesting. That's not easy to remember when you're in the trenches and invested into the trip. But each is necessary. I know I've said this before, but I've met people on each of these trip that have been encouraged/challenged by us leaving the US and coming to them. In the states, missionaries are met with a certain amount of reservation - what are they selling. Its different elsewhere. They understand james - people see faith through actions - and going around the world is an action that speaks to them.
Time to nap.
Steven
This morning, wade, Paige, kyle, drew, and I walked about 45 minutes up the beach to a more sheltered lagoon with a river. The others stayed back at the lodge and relaxed. We had a good time. Saw some howler monkeys, macaws, and white faced monkeys up close in the jungle. At the lagoon we swam in the river. The others ended up swimming upstream to a waterfall while I stayed and watched my backpack. While they were gone, I swam a bit, took a quick nap, and swam around in the ocean. The scenery is great. The is a big break outside the lagoon with 6-10 ft waves. A couple of locals went out just about the time we left. Very nice. Wish we had more time.
Its after lunch now and time to sit in the hammock. I've been talking with the others about the trip, and processing it in my mind. I keep coming back to 2 Cor. Sowing, watering, harvesting. That's not easy to remember when you're in the trenches and invested into the trip. But each is necessary. I know I've said this before, but I've met people on each of these trip that have been encouraged/challenged by us leaving the US and coming to them. In the states, missionaries are met with a certain amount of reservation - what are they selling. Its different elsewhere. They understand james - people see faith through actions - and going around the world is an action that speaks to them.
Time to nap.
Steven
Monday and Tuesday in Central America
Hello friends in united states. Its been a couple of days since we've had cell coverage - sorry. Although I heard that there was a single spot (2 ft area) that was sometimes available, I was either too busy or too tired or too hot or it was not working. Don't know if wade got through...
We are on the river as I type (1 pm). We drove down to Sierpe (about 1 hour) and met the pastor there. At the moment we are being towed the last mile to the island. The boat stopped abruptly in the middle of the river during a rainstorm. After drifting closer and closer to the ocean for 30 minutes, we flagged down another boat who gave us a jump and a new battery. That one quit after 2 minutes. Fortunately the other boat in our group that had left ahead of us eventually came back looking for us. Fun! At one point the boat crew jumped out and were actually pushing us (standing on a sandbar).
Lots of good spirits while waiting, but a littlw underlying tension. Amazingly there is signal here! I haven't seen a tower, but there is coverage. Sending now in case I lose signal. Pray for the clinic. Yee hah!!!
When we pulled into the first island of guanaba (?) We were greeted by the pastor and the rest of our crew who had arrived about an hour before. We literally pulled up into a break in the trees about 10 feet wide, beached the boat, and waded ashore with our packs. The other group was hot and tired because they were in the luggage boat and had to unload all that. The side of the island we "docked" at was facing the river. The structure used for the church was about 200 ft away - halfway to the beach which made up the other side of the island. Think about a skinny barrier island about 2.5 kilometers long. My guess was about 95 degrees with about 97 percent humidity with no breeze. The only place to sit was in the church building which had 1 small widow on the side and a half wall front. Extremely uncomfortable. Bugs were bad, but the repellent we brought worked wonders. There was also a lot of smoke everywhere as they were preparing the fire for our dinner.
I got all that out of the way to focus on the important parts - the dental clinic and ministry. We set up in the pastor's kitchen/living room (about 10x20) with rough concrete floors (just poured on the dirt with no molds). We saw about 20 patients with very few extractions. In general they had good teeth with not many cavities, but a lot of tartar build up. Probably not a lot of sugar there. We were able to do young and old alike (one lady was even nursing her baby throughout the whole process!!). The generator quit mid-patient twice, but it all worked out. There were happy smiles all around.
I found out from the pastor there that about 45 of the 60 people on the island were believers. I think all who came to us were from that group. That was great, but I was kind of hoping we'd be able to plant more seed with the others. After speaking more with them, I realized that our trip was a great encouragement to the believers there. I was focused on evangelism, and missed out on the truth that we were also sent to be encouragers. We come for a few days bringing clean teeth, but they live there on the edge of civilization each day among friends and family that don't believe. They told us they get so discouraged sometimes. It was humbling to be on the end of so much gratitude for so simple a thing as going somewhere and getting sandy. One lady donated a pig that we butchered, cleaned and cooked that evening. It was interesting to watch. National geographic moment for sure. They gave what they had, which is not much.
An hour or so after dinner we drifted into a loose circle of conversation. We were able to share with and be shared at by the pastor. The man used to live in san jose, but asked god to send him wherever he wanted. God chose that place in the middle of nowhere. What sacrifice. He even lost his wife there on the island. But in the meantime he went from 0 to 75 percent believers. Wow! Humbling.
We spent quite a while praying for each person there. Most had children or a sibling that needed salvation. It was a very special time standing there in the moonlight with a low mist of smoke and listening to sobs as we touched them and prayed for them by name. There was a sense of unity among us. Just like in Russia I'm struck by how large the earth is, just how many people are scattered across it, and how many "lost" ones there are. In the US we focus so much on theology and dogma, but the simple message of the gospel and meeting human needs out of His love is needed around the world.
Monday night we slept in tents inside the sweltering church building. That was fun. Lots of noises in the night :-). A few souls pitched tents on the beach against the advice of the locals. I noticed in the morning that they were back up on the island near the church .... Evidently the tide DOES go up that high .....
Tuesday morning, we had a change of plans. Go figure. Because of the low tides, they were concerned about the trip over to the second island. So instead, tommy, debbie, stacey, dr bob, and I were to go alone (with jason to interpret). We hauled all the dental gear about 40 minutes down the beach to a spot the boat could launch from. Whew. The trip in the boat was great - a breeze!
Our boat driver Ricardo has a sister who lives on the second island and we were going to set up in her house. We got there and it seemed rather quiet except for the 10 scarlet macaws in a tree. Turned out that almost everyone was down harvesting clams because of the tide. Only women and children left in the village. Fishing nets everywhere, they even had a soccer goal made from bamboo and fishing nets. We set up quickly but the man who owned the generator was digging clams so we waited .. and waited. In the meantime we started talking with the kids and gave a bit of English lessons which they absolutely loved. We left a paper with words on it for them to "study". - so now there's an island down there that knows how to tell you that the red dog went to the big house and ate a fishing net, a t-shirt, four balls, a dentist and a teacher. And that a repollo is not a re-chicken.
Bob even let a few get in his chair and pretend to work on him. Priceless. It was totally unproductive other than laughs and smiles which I'm learning are next to useless when it comes to missions work. (Sarcasm).
We finally got the generator going only to find out it couldn't power the dental unit. We were disappointed - but that's not the same as discouraged. We packed up, but before we left we showed them how to brush their teeth. Jason read from Isaiah, and we spent some time praying for them. Pray that the tiny seed that was planted gets watered and harvested.
We pulled back to the other island and ate some smiling fish for lunch and waited in the sweltering church building until the other boat came to take us away. The pastor expressed his thanks once more and we loaded onto the boat and drove away. I have mixed emotions about the time there. We did a good work, but I didn't really get to know them as much as I'd like. I keep telling myself that we did what was needed. I can deal with that.
The boat ride to the eco resort was something else! I had a blast. We drove out into 8 foot swells and turned around because it was too rough. Then we got lost on the river looking for another passage back to the ocean. And finally we made it to the pacific only to drive around some massive rock formations in 10 foot seas. The driver had too wait and time it just right so we wouldn't smash up into them! Ha! 1 hour of bumps ... I think there were a few who were green around the gills. We had park outside the breakers and take a smaller motorboat ashore (timing it just right). Another cold shower out of a pipe (eco resort means eco friendly) but it felt awesome. Dinner tonight and sleep. The beds look great except for the inch long ants living in the foot of my bed. I think I need to find the housekeeper ...
More tomorrow. Maybe. Doesn't look like there's signal here either. Oh well.
Steven
We are on the river as I type (1 pm). We drove down to Sierpe (about 1 hour) and met the pastor there. At the moment we are being towed the last mile to the island. The boat stopped abruptly in the middle of the river during a rainstorm. After drifting closer and closer to the ocean for 30 minutes, we flagged down another boat who gave us a jump and a new battery. That one quit after 2 minutes. Fortunately the other boat in our group that had left ahead of us eventually came back looking for us. Fun! At one point the boat crew jumped out and were actually pushing us (standing on a sandbar).
Lots of good spirits while waiting, but a littlw underlying tension. Amazingly there is signal here! I haven't seen a tower, but there is coverage. Sending now in case I lose signal. Pray for the clinic. Yee hah!!!
When we pulled into the first island of guanaba (?) We were greeted by the pastor and the rest of our crew who had arrived about an hour before. We literally pulled up into a break in the trees about 10 feet wide, beached the boat, and waded ashore with our packs. The other group was hot and tired because they were in the luggage boat and had to unload all that. The side of the island we "docked" at was facing the river. The structure used for the church was about 200 ft away - halfway to the beach which made up the other side of the island. Think about a skinny barrier island about 2.5 kilometers long. My guess was about 95 degrees with about 97 percent humidity with no breeze. The only place to sit was in the church building which had 1 small widow on the side and a half wall front. Extremely uncomfortable. Bugs were bad, but the repellent we brought worked wonders. There was also a lot of smoke everywhere as they were preparing the fire for our dinner.
I got all that out of the way to focus on the important parts - the dental clinic and ministry. We set up in the pastor's kitchen/living room (about 10x20) with rough concrete floors (just poured on the dirt with no molds). We saw about 20 patients with very few extractions. In general they had good teeth with not many cavities, but a lot of tartar build up. Probably not a lot of sugar there. We were able to do young and old alike (one lady was even nursing her baby throughout the whole process!!). The generator quit mid-patient twice, but it all worked out. There were happy smiles all around.
I found out from the pastor there that about 45 of the 60 people on the island were believers. I think all who came to us were from that group. That was great, but I was kind of hoping we'd be able to plant more seed with the others. After speaking more with them, I realized that our trip was a great encouragement to the believers there. I was focused on evangelism, and missed out on the truth that we were also sent to be encouragers. We come for a few days bringing clean teeth, but they live there on the edge of civilization each day among friends and family that don't believe. They told us they get so discouraged sometimes. It was humbling to be on the end of so much gratitude for so simple a thing as going somewhere and getting sandy. One lady donated a pig that we butchered, cleaned and cooked that evening. It was interesting to watch. National geographic moment for sure. They gave what they had, which is not much.
An hour or so after dinner we drifted into a loose circle of conversation. We were able to share with and be shared at by the pastor. The man used to live in san jose, but asked god to send him wherever he wanted. God chose that place in the middle of nowhere. What sacrifice. He even lost his wife there on the island. But in the meantime he went from 0 to 75 percent believers. Wow! Humbling.
We spent quite a while praying for each person there. Most had children or a sibling that needed salvation. It was a very special time standing there in the moonlight with a low mist of smoke and listening to sobs as we touched them and prayed for them by name. There was a sense of unity among us. Just like in Russia I'm struck by how large the earth is, just how many people are scattered across it, and how many "lost" ones there are. In the US we focus so much on theology and dogma, but the simple message of the gospel and meeting human needs out of His love is needed around the world.
Monday night we slept in tents inside the sweltering church building. That was fun. Lots of noises in the night :-). A few souls pitched tents on the beach against the advice of the locals. I noticed in the morning that they were back up on the island near the church .... Evidently the tide DOES go up that high .....
Tuesday morning, we had a change of plans. Go figure. Because of the low tides, they were concerned about the trip over to the second island. So instead, tommy, debbie, stacey, dr bob, and I were to go alone (with jason to interpret). We hauled all the dental gear about 40 minutes down the beach to a spot the boat could launch from. Whew. The trip in the boat was great - a breeze!
Our boat driver Ricardo has a sister who lives on the second island and we were going to set up in her house. We got there and it seemed rather quiet except for the 10 scarlet macaws in a tree. Turned out that almost everyone was down harvesting clams because of the tide. Only women and children left in the village. Fishing nets everywhere, they even had a soccer goal made from bamboo and fishing nets. We set up quickly but the man who owned the generator was digging clams so we waited .. and waited. In the meantime we started talking with the kids and gave a bit of English lessons which they absolutely loved. We left a paper with words on it for them to "study". - so now there's an island down there that knows how to tell you that the red dog went to the big house and ate a fishing net, a t-shirt, four balls, a dentist and a teacher. And that a repollo is not a re-chicken.
Bob even let a few get in his chair and pretend to work on him. Priceless. It was totally unproductive other than laughs and smiles which I'm learning are next to useless when it comes to missions work. (Sarcasm).
We finally got the generator going only to find out it couldn't power the dental unit. We were disappointed - but that's not the same as discouraged. We packed up, but before we left we showed them how to brush their teeth. Jason read from Isaiah, and we spent some time praying for them. Pray that the tiny seed that was planted gets watered and harvested.
We pulled back to the other island and ate some smiling fish for lunch and waited in the sweltering church building until the other boat came to take us away. The pastor expressed his thanks once more and we loaded onto the boat and drove away. I have mixed emotions about the time there. We did a good work, but I didn't really get to know them as much as I'd like. I keep telling myself that we did what was needed. I can deal with that.
The boat ride to the eco resort was something else! I had a blast. We drove out into 8 foot swells and turned around because it was too rough. Then we got lost on the river looking for another passage back to the ocean. And finally we made it to the pacific only to drive around some massive rock formations in 10 foot seas. The driver had too wait and time it just right so we wouldn't smash up into them! Ha! 1 hour of bumps ... I think there were a few who were green around the gills. We had park outside the breakers and take a smaller motorboat ashore (timing it just right). Another cold shower out of a pipe (eco resort means eco friendly) but it felt awesome. Dinner tonight and sleep. The beds look great except for the inch long ants living in the foot of my bed. I think I need to find the housekeeper ...
More tomorrow. Maybe. Doesn't look like there's signal here either. Oh well.
Steven
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Added visuals from Steve!
Hello again from C America. We had a full day. After lunch at the church, we saw more patients - some good, some bad. We trained Tommy and Stacey as assistants so we now have about half of us ready to go help Dentist Bob. Pray that we'll have enough of the accessories once we're out on the islands. Stuff like water, paper towels, latex gloves, electricity (one island has a generator - hopefully - and we don't know about the other), soap,etc. I'm sure every single person on those islands will show up.
After seeing everyone for the day, the Americans took a quick trip up a mountain to a very scenic waterfall. Nice! Except for Wade in a speedo - that wasn't so good. The combination of work and relaxation is a good way to stay energized. Driving back, we (I) got stuck in the same place Wade did on the first day. We were able to back it down and try again and made it no problem (just ask Debbie and Paige). At the top of the section, we almost hit Wade and Aaron standing in the road. They were being terrorized by a bat and they couldn't get in the truck. They each had big sticks, but shrieked like babies - Wade called it a war cry.
Tomorrow we leave for the islands a day early. We're praying it all goes smoothly with the clinic and that there will be more specific needs we can meet. I'm sure there will be needs. But we know who can provide ...
We may be out of touch for a couple of days. We'll be in mosquito nets and tents. Fun! Really!
As we said in Russia ... "Finish strong". Everyone say it with me ...
Till next time.
Steven
After seeing everyone for the day, the Americans took a quick trip up a mountain to a very scenic waterfall. Nice! Except for Wade in a speedo - that wasn't so good. The combination of work and relaxation is a good way to stay energized. Driving back, we (I) got stuck in the same place Wade did on the first day. We were able to back it down and try again and made it no problem (just ask Debbie and Paige). At the top of the section, we almost hit Wade and Aaron standing in the road. They were being terrorized by a bat and they couldn't get in the truck. They each had big sticks, but shrieked like babies - Wade called it a war cry.
Tomorrow we leave for the islands a day early. We're praying it all goes smoothly with the clinic and that there will be more specific needs we can meet. I'm sure there will be needs. But we know who can provide ...
We may be out of touch for a couple of days. We'll be in mosquito nets and tents. Fun! Really!
As we said in Russia ... "Finish strong". Everyone say it with me ...
Till next time.
Steven
Sunday from Wade
Today started early with the blessing of homemade french toast and GLORIOUS coffee (by the way, Bart says in August he is planting the first crop of ATC coffee that will be available for purchase in the summer of 2011; we're taking orders now!). The team was split into two groups again; one rotating duties in the running of the dental clinic, which was a non stop 7 hour task. About 30 minutes after we arrived, a yellow dog bus pulled up filled to the brim with eager patients; some of our people have a future in the medical field! The other team tackled the feat of assembling a VBS program with several of our guys challenging the locals to a soccer match; our men only proved themselves as worthy competitors when they elected to play shirtless; frightening the challengers with their pale, hairy torsos as well as causing all the spectators to vomit a little in their mouths.
On a more serious and less disturbing note, the prayer ministry has been a thing of awe inspiring beauty! Our folks have fervently prayed over patients, families and occasionally malfunctioning equipment and received immediate and specific answers from our Father God! We finished our day with a relaxing hour exploring a waterfall that we had to cross two majestic rivers and a bamboo forest to find...tough life this mission work!
Tomorrow morning we head south to catch our boat to travel south and take our dental, VBS and prayer ministry to never before reached people on two isolated islands that we have been seeking God's sovereignty on behalf of. Pray with us that our Father will reveal his Kingdom to his people that he has not forgotten, and that he loves so much that he is sending a group of rag tag missionaries to greet them with mosquito nets in hand. Thanks so much for your prayers, please continue to pray for Christ's anointing, discernment and provision. --Wade
More to come.
On a more serious and less disturbing note, the prayer ministry has been a thing of awe inspiring beauty! Our folks have fervently prayed over patients, families and occasionally malfunctioning equipment and received immediate and specific answers from our Father God! We finished our day with a relaxing hour exploring a waterfall that we had to cross two majestic rivers and a bamboo forest to find...tough life this mission work!
Tomorrow morning we head south to catch our boat to travel south and take our dental, VBS and prayer ministry to never before reached people on two isolated islands that we have been seeking God's sovereignty on behalf of. Pray with us that our Father will reveal his Kingdom to his people that he has not forgotten, and that he loves so much that he is sending a group of rag tag missionaries to greet them with mosquito nets in hand. Thanks so much for your prayers, please continue to pray for Christ's anointing, discernment and provision. --Wade
More to come.
Sunday in Central America
We are at the church this morning with the dental clinic and VBS. Kyle, debbie, drew, stacey, Paige and I are with the dentist and the rest (tommy,wade, Vince, Aaron, Chloe, and jojo) are with the kids.
No monkeys this morning, but we had french toast for breakfast. We got around quicker today in order to set up by 8 o'clock.
There are about 35-40 people waiting to be seen with about 10 extractions. We've got our system down now, so it should go quicker today. We're rotating in and teaching Drew and Kyle so they can learn and help out when we get to the island. Stacey is our "triage" nurse and is very good getting all the patients sorted and organized. I can't report on VBS yet since I'm not there, but chloe and heather worked out a good program last night.
Speaking of heather ... Bart, heather, and Eden are doing great. We've seen bart every day and heather twice. Eden acts like she's been here forever. Nancy is good as well. You can tell she's happy to be with her family.
We've seen 6 already since I started this blog... One man just had 5 teeth pulled. I can't even imagine what its like to be missing that many all of a sudden. God is working. This is obviously a needed ministry. One little girl (about 4) left without treatment for a painful abscess - she was too scared to treat. Breaks your heart! Did you know GPBC helped pay for the dental system? Very good job! I love our people. I'll try and send some pictures.
VBS has about 20 kids - I've been told. Vince, bart, and Aaron got schooled in soccer and need chiropractic assistance now. They played in the downpour and are soaked. The little ones are making playdough things.
That's it for now. More later.
No monkeys this morning, but we had french toast for breakfast. We got around quicker today in order to set up by 8 o'clock.
There are about 35-40 people waiting to be seen with about 10 extractions. We've got our system down now, so it should go quicker today. We're rotating in and teaching Drew and Kyle so they can learn and help out when we get to the island. Stacey is our "triage" nurse and is very good getting all the patients sorted and organized. I can't report on VBS yet since I'm not there, but chloe and heather worked out a good program last night.
Speaking of heather ... Bart, heather, and Eden are doing great. We've seen bart every day and heather twice. Eden acts like she's been here forever. Nancy is good as well. You can tell she's happy to be with her family.
We've seen 6 already since I started this blog... One man just had 5 teeth pulled. I can't even imagine what its like to be missing that many all of a sudden. God is working. This is obviously a needed ministry. One little girl (about 4) left without treatment for a painful abscess - she was too scared to treat. Breaks your heart! Did you know GPBC helped pay for the dental system? Very good job! I love our people. I'll try and send some pictures.
VBS has about 20 kids - I've been told. Vince, bart, and Aaron got schooled in soccer and need chiropractic assistance now. They played in the downpour and are soaked. The little ones are making playdough things.
That's it for now. More later.
All in a Day's Work...in Central America...more from Steve
Happy independence day from central America! Sorry for all the bad grammar and misspellings, but this is a blog from central America on a blackberry late at night - you get what you pay for.
I heard fireworks when I woke up this morning, but quickly realized it was just my joints. Ha! Seriously, the first noise I heard this morning was a shofur (spell?) horn at 5 am as the college kids departed. That was followed by the howlers at 5:30. I'm glad I can sleep through anything. Breakfast was huge, homemade apple and pineapple pancakes with mango juice. Tough job huh?
After breakfast we had our morning devotional and david continued to explore what the kingdom of god is and why it is something we share with joy. The thought that kept going through my head the last several days was the verse in Romans 14 that says the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking (religious rules) but rather peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit and a life lived in that service will be commended by God and all men. Russia was a constant reminder to me that God's love is simple to communicate and doesn't require more than following his example of talking, touching, and interacting on a personal level with no special bible or language skills. When we go out to the islands I pray that's our heart.
The morning's work went well. The gate crew headed out to finish the last footing, and the rock crew stayed and sweated. I don't know how many trips kyle, drew, and I made up and down that hill with wheelbarrows full of rocks, but at the end we were all pooped - young and old (ha ha showed them how the old school works!). The others shovelling and raking the rocks worked hard as well.
After our rest break (I made a gravel angel and then a sweat silhouette on the rocks) we found out that we were going to go into town and do the dental clinic instead of making sidewalks. Turned out that the locals found out we were in town and started lining up a day early. Cool. Flexibility is our middle name.
There's way too much to tell about the experience at the church this afternoon. I was fortunate enough to help with the dentistry while others played with the kids, or prayed, or just sat and watched. We worked almost 8 hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. I will admit the last hour was tough because of the morning wheelbarrows and then standing all day. But hey, why else did I come? I learned all about forceps, novocaine, periosteonal elevators, impacted molars and about 10 other names I won't bore you with. My new hero is our dentist Bob. He worked for 8 hours with unfamiliar equipment and suspect assistants (ha) pulling teeth extracting broken roots, in 95 percent humidity with no breeze, in broken Spanish - and did it with a smile for each patient and the fabled patience of job. Everyone was grateful for the care we provided, even the young man who lay in the chair for 90 minutes, three difficult extractions, and five vials of novocaine (which still didn't completely numb the roots). It may be just a small drop in a big bucket, but it was a tangible demonstration of god's love that our friends here can build on over time. We may not get to reap, but we sow and water ... Sow and water! Ask me about this day when I get back...
To top it off, we ended up driving 10 miles to a pizza place "loco daves" or something like that owned by a family from Wisconsin (or somewhere..) where we had a real pizza buffet just like back home. What a great country! I'm stuffed, completely exhausted and mentally and spiritually satisfied as well. Forgot it was the fourth of July until I started this post. Time flies and all that ...
Did I mention that I was one of the designated drivers today? Driving up and down the hill is fun and brings back memories of the drive to a cell site in Venezuela. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Maybe I'll eat dinner with a flock of toucans, or meet Mel Gibson at the beach, or get to see a little girl laugh and smile while she plays at VBS with the nice Americanos ...
So long for now - Steven
I heard fireworks when I woke up this morning, but quickly realized it was just my joints. Ha! Seriously, the first noise I heard this morning was a shofur (spell?) horn at 5 am as the college kids departed. That was followed by the howlers at 5:30. I'm glad I can sleep through anything. Breakfast was huge, homemade apple and pineapple pancakes with mango juice. Tough job huh?
After breakfast we had our morning devotional and david continued to explore what the kingdom of god is and why it is something we share with joy. The thought that kept going through my head the last several days was the verse in Romans 14 that says the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking (religious rules) but rather peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Spirit and a life lived in that service will be commended by God and all men. Russia was a constant reminder to me that God's love is simple to communicate and doesn't require more than following his example of talking, touching, and interacting on a personal level with no special bible or language skills. When we go out to the islands I pray that's our heart.
The morning's work went well. The gate crew headed out to finish the last footing, and the rock crew stayed and sweated. I don't know how many trips kyle, drew, and I made up and down that hill with wheelbarrows full of rocks, but at the end we were all pooped - young and old (ha ha showed them how the old school works!). The others shovelling and raking the rocks worked hard as well.
After our rest break (I made a gravel angel and then a sweat silhouette on the rocks) we found out that we were going to go into town and do the dental clinic instead of making sidewalks. Turned out that the locals found out we were in town and started lining up a day early. Cool. Flexibility is our middle name.
There's way too much to tell about the experience at the church this afternoon. I was fortunate enough to help with the dentistry while others played with the kids, or prayed, or just sat and watched. We worked almost 8 hours and I enjoyed every minute of it. I will admit the last hour was tough because of the morning wheelbarrows and then standing all day. But hey, why else did I come? I learned all about forceps, novocaine, periosteonal elevators, impacted molars and about 10 other names I won't bore you with. My new hero is our dentist Bob. He worked for 8 hours with unfamiliar equipment and suspect assistants (ha) pulling teeth extracting broken roots, in 95 percent humidity with no breeze, in broken Spanish - and did it with a smile for each patient and the fabled patience of job. Everyone was grateful for the care we provided, even the young man who lay in the chair for 90 minutes, three difficult extractions, and five vials of novocaine (which still didn't completely numb the roots). It may be just a small drop in a big bucket, but it was a tangible demonstration of god's love that our friends here can build on over time. We may not get to reap, but we sow and water ... Sow and water! Ask me about this day when I get back...
To top it off, we ended up driving 10 miles to a pizza place "loco daves" or something like that owned by a family from Wisconsin (or somewhere..) where we had a real pizza buffet just like back home. What a great country! I'm stuffed, completely exhausted and mentally and spiritually satisfied as well. Forgot it was the fourth of July until I started this post. Time flies and all that ...
Did I mention that I was one of the designated drivers today? Driving up and down the hill is fun and brings back memories of the drive to a cell site in Venezuela. Who knows what tomorrow may bring? Maybe I'll eat dinner with a flock of toucans, or meet Mel Gibson at the beach, or get to see a little girl laugh and smile while she plays at VBS with the nice Americanos ...
So long for now - Steven
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