I’m home!! I sincerely want to give a huge thank you to those who prayed, supported, and encouraged me on this trip to Honduras. I am beyond humbled and grateful. This medical and dental mission trip is one that changed my life in more ways than you can know. I would love to share how God moved on the trip and what we did. I was asked by several people about my experience upon my return, so I’ve compiled some detailed answers below that I’m excited to share!
The length of the trip was seven days, starting off by flying into San Pedro Sula on a Sunday afternoon. After piling the 21 medical volunteers from River Valley Church and their luggage onto a school bus that belonged to the doctor of the hospital, Dr. Martin, and his wife, Ms. Wendy, they introduced themselves and gave the hungry travelers some homemade sandwiches while explaining that the bus ride up to the Jungle Hospital was about five hours with a bathroom stop halfway through.
Arriving after dark to our final destination, we unloaded the bus and found our bunks (in a building right next to the hospital with running water, a kitchen, a dining room, and team meeting spaces). We were immediately given a tour of the hospital before an early Monday morning start of seeing patients. I was so moved learning how Dr. Martin and Ms. Wendy have been there for over 28 years serving and loving the people in the jungles of Honduras. I was eager for, and in need of, a good night’s sleep, so I wore earplugs to muffle the dogs’ barking!
Surprisingly, 6am mornings for the week felt normal, and I was fully rested. I put my scrubs on, ate some oatmeal and a banana for breakfast, soaked in the beautiful morning with the very loud birds and rising sun just over the mountain peaks, and read my devotion. Around 8:30 after much preparation in the dental room, we (dentist Brad and I along with an interpreter on our team) saw our first patient. Today and the next three days, we would see about 15-20 patients per day with toothaches asking us to remove the tooth. I was thrilled to learn new skills by giving Novocaine and extracting some of the teeth since both those procedures are beyond my scope of work as a dental assistant. (Of course, Dr. Brad supervised my work.)
The people we saw lived up in the jungles on the mountain and were extremely kind, humble, and tough. Our whole team served men, women, and children. Many of our patients never made a peep during their dental procedure, and if the children did, most rarely gave us a fight; again, these people are tough and earned my respect.
After a long day of sweating from the warm weather and humidity, a cold shower (the only temperature of water that was given) and dinner was refreshing. That night, we had a full team meeting and shared stories, highlights, and things that were meaningful. The whole day must’ve felt like only a few hours; I was taking in every moment.
Tuesday and Wednesday held very similar schedules, except we traveled by bus to Las Mangas and Toncontin and set up stations and portable dental chairs in a church and school to help in these villages that were farther away from the Jungle Hospital in Rio Viejo. On Wednesday, we finished on time, so we had the opportunity to squeeze in a couple hours at the river before heading back to our abode, which was such a fun experience and again, refreshing, since everyone sweated considerably.
Thursday morning snuck up on us, and we actually hiked four miles (with our backpacks while the two cars took all the totes/tables/dental chairs) to Los Limpios since the road was too rough for the bus. It was probably my favorite time since I love the outdoors and cooler weather in the early mornings, and I got to know some individuals on the team better. Hearing testimonies of how God is working in their lives was very encouraging to me and a good challenge for my life.
Friday morning was bittersweet. And early. We said goodbye to the Jungle Hospital and the interns. We were on our way by 6:30am down the mountain to a city closer to the airport called Samba Creek, I believe, (between Salitran and Corozal), where some of us hopped on a small boat for 45 minutes to go snorkeling. Obviously this was a “fun day” packed into our schedule, which I was delighted about. While snorkeling, I was wishing I had a GoPro to share underwater pictures, but I saw many colorful fish: rainbow fish, black spikey sea urchins, and even a huge porcupine puffer fish!
Many of us came back to the small hotel after snorkeling with sunburns (and yes, I had a farmer's tan…). We quickly changed into dinner attire, got negative covid tests, devoured our food, and shopped at a local shop for some small goodies. Right before bed, we had our final team meeting. It was a meaningful and emotional time for many of us reflecting on our takeaways and seeing how much God spoke to us and impacted us through this experience. Tears were shed, and hugs were given. This night was deeply treasured.
Saturday morning was extremely early and dark out, but we loaded the bus for the last time and took off for the airport. I was experiencing so many emotions, which I’ll dive into in more detail later, but basically I wanted to stay in Honduras and keep serving; one week felt too short. Thankfully, we all had safe travels and are already looking forward to next year!
I want to give a huge shout-out to River Valley Church for sending out the medical team, Dr. Martin and Ms. Wendy at the Jungle Hospital who hosted us, and Healing Hands Global, Inc. I also want to thank the team for an amazing experience, our team leader, Max, for all the work he put into making it happen, and the interns at the Jungle Hospital for all the ways they served us. Lastly, I want to thank the people of Honduras for sharing their love and joy and personal stories. My perspective on life has definitely changed for the better.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21