Greetings Rafikis!
It's our third day on this island (nope, no polar bears. Holla if you get this reference!) and it was definitely full of action. The dental team is working non-stop and way into the evening trying to get through the score of patients that come daily. This evening, much like last night they had to ask some to return tomorrow. Lunch breaks come late and last only minutes. "We have seen over 60 patients in two days", say Bonnie Parker and Dr. Richard Parker. And when you see that number I hope you understand the scope. We are not in a dental office my friends, we are outside, just 30ish steps from the ocean doing extensive dental work. The Parkers report the dental team doing "exams, x-rays, cleanings, fillings, root canals, and extractions" on a regular basis. Mercy!!
The medical team had a successful day today too, although they began running out of medication. They have seen about 217 patients over two days! They are pleased to report that some of the doctors on the island have been instructing their patients to not drink so much soda and the patients have actually been listening! It seems like they’ve been listening to much more than their physicians. “ [I]…asked a patient if he’s still smoking during an interview and he said, ‘oh no. I was baptized a few years ago!’”, says Dr. Giang. The other phenomenal story of the day came from Dr. Church. He told the story of a woman who came in claiming that her son had a sinus infection with a foul smell coming from his nose for 2 months. When Dr. Church checked, he found something stuck up the nostril. When he couldn’t extract it, he pushed it through and the boy ended up spitting it out of his mouth. It was a corn kernel!! That was stuck in his nose for TWO MONTHS! I didn’t know what grossed me out more: The corn in his nose for two months, or the fact that he now had to taste it as it came out his mouth…
The VBS team had another successful night. Tonight we added more kids to our ranks and had an attendance of about 100 kids, even though about 15 didn’t return from the first night. Shout out to team purple!!
The community team also had a successful day, assessing the electrical needs at a school in Camp Bay and digging a trench (AGAIN!) to bury some electrical lines that had been dug up by the power company in order to relocate a pole. We have yet to install the water filters, but it looks like we’ll be putting some in tomorrow! Stay tuned for pics!
One of the things that excites me about mission trips is getting the opportunity to meet folks from far and away. Today I get to introduce you to my friend of a couple days. His name is Aren Rennaker and he actually did our worship thought for this morning. Aren came to know Jesus through Sacramento Academy and attended Carmichael SDA church. Aren is a senior at Pacific Union College and is graduating this year with a BA in Public Relations/Journalism and a minor in religion. He hopes to go into full time youth ministry after graduation! Aren was invited to Roatan by his friend and PUC basketball teammate Michael Giang. His spring break options included getting to watch the San Francisco Giants in spring training in Arizona but he skipped all that to be in Roatan! His worship thought for us this morning was from 1 Corinthians 3:7-9. His message: "The fruits of our labor may not be immediate, but it's our job to plant the seed and God's job to make it grow!" This Sacramento native knows how to motivate a group of missionaries! You can see him in the red hat in the video below!
Goodnight Rafikis!
- Fidz (FEEDZ)
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