Karen's Log 8 October 2004
Gabrielle, Michaela and I just returned from Tapamalia. Bethany was feeling a little under the weather and so was Ed (cold virus), so they stayed behind. A small group of medical missionaries arrived two days ago from the U.S.
We drove with them for almost two hours in a big diesel 4WD pick-up truck over the only road leading out of Puerto Lempira. I never realized what a remote place we’re living in. You can’t get to any other parts of the country from here. There’s no road beyond a certain distance away. Now I see why everything is either flown in or shipped here. The road we traveled on is dirt (looks more like red clay), windy, puddle and pothole ridden, and BUMPY. There is literally nothing for two hours of driving but a few trees and rolling hills and meadows. After being jarred for one hour and fifty minutes we came upon a few wooden huts on stilts. A little further down the road was a one- room schoolhouse where the medical clinic was to take place. The school was in such a state of disrepair, there were only two “steps” to climb up the five feet to get to the floor level. One of these steps was so loose it was useless. Once you arrived at the top of the stairs there were no floorboards for a few feet in all directions. You had to jump to a piece of flooring and hope it’d hold your weight. Once you managed to get to the doorway you were okay. We only invited the children to come up but many adults tried to negotiate their way to see what was going on. Katrina did a wonderful job explaining the Gospel and salvation in Christ Jesus in Spanish and another brother translated it into Miskito. When she was done she asked if anyone wanted to receive Christ as savior. A whole family came forward, as well as about five or six children. Their sincerity, eagerness, and hunger for the Lord bowled me over. I had a hard time remaining composed. This is what I’m alive for (Isaiah 61:1).
The doctors (one U.S., one Guatemalan), nurse and pharmacist went to work diagnosing different complaints. This village has not seen anyone from the outside for two years, and the last ones they saw were Katrina and Roger. There were a lot of ear infections, parasites (intestinal worms), anemia, scabies, etc. One poor girl looked on the verge of tears. I could tell just by looking at her that she didn’t feel well. She had a temperature of 104. She ended up coming back to Puerto Lempira with us (she has some family here) to be tested for malaria at the hospital here.
We drove with them for almost two hours in a big diesel 4WD pick-up truck over the only road leading out of Puerto Lempira. I never realized what a remote place we’re living in. You can’t get to any other parts of the country from here. There’s no road beyond a certain distance away. Now I see why everything is either flown in or shipped here. The road we traveled on is dirt (looks more like red clay), windy, puddle and pothole ridden, and BUMPY. There is literally nothing for two hours of driving but a few trees and rolling hills and meadows. After being jarred for one hour and fifty minutes we came upon a few wooden huts on stilts. A little further down the road was a one- room schoolhouse where the medical clinic was to take place. The school was in such a state of disrepair, there were only two “steps” to climb up the five feet to get to the floor level. One of these steps was so loose it was useless. Once you arrived at the top of the stairs there were no floorboards for a few feet in all directions. You had to jump to a piece of flooring and hope it’d hold your weight. Once you managed to get to the doorway you were okay. We only invited the children to come up but many adults tried to negotiate their way to see what was going on. Katrina did a wonderful job explaining the Gospel and salvation in Christ Jesus in Spanish and another brother translated it into Miskito. When she was done she asked if anyone wanted to receive Christ as savior. A whole family came forward, as well as about five or six children. Their sincerity, eagerness, and hunger for the Lord bowled me over. I had a hard time remaining composed. This is what I’m alive for (Isaiah 61:1).
The doctors (one U.S., one Guatemalan), nurse and pharmacist went to work diagnosing different complaints. This village has not seen anyone from the outside for two years, and the last ones they saw were Katrina and Roger. There were a lot of ear infections, parasites (intestinal worms), anemia, scabies, etc. One poor girl looked on the verge of tears. I could tell just by looking at her that she didn’t feel well. She had a temperature of 104. She ended up coming back to Puerto Lempira with us (she has some family here) to be tested for malaria at the hospital here.
posted by Eric Stephens at 16:19
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