Love

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, or Dia de Amor here in Honduras. Ashley and I enjoyed a night out at a sushi restaurant. We decided it would be fun and worth it for us to go to a special place and spend a little more money on this special occasion (Yes, missionaries are allowed to do this too.). It was a great evening. We loved the food and our conversation was even better. We were able to spend a few hours (it takes awhile to make sushi) talking about how things are going and our relationship and stuff like that. It was a really fun time for us!

Is this what love is? I think it is certainly part of what love is. The Bible says that love is a lot more than a special day where flowers and chocolates and teddy bears cost three times as much as every other day (the commercialism of Valentine's Day is alive and well in Honduras too...).

Do I outdo others in showing honor? Do I bless those who curse me? Do I never avenge myself? Do I feed my enemy or give him a drink? Do I do no wrong to my neighbor? Am I humble?

Unfortunately, the answer to all of those questions is a resounding NO. In other words, I fail miserably at loving my neighbor. Heck, I fail miserably at loving my wife who is the most important person on this earth to me. Paul says in Romans that loving your neighbor fulfills the law. So, I fail miserably at fulfilling the law.

It sure is a good thing that my eternal life has nothing to do with fulfilling the law. Well, it doesn't have anything to do with my fulfilling the law because it has already been fulfilled for me by Jesus Christ! I do not have to be good at all those things above in order to be loved by the Creator of the universe. However, I have a desire to to do those things because of what Jesus did for me. He humbled Himself as God in order to become man, then He humbled himself as a man to die for others - for me. I hope that I (and you too) do not forget what Jesus did for me and how He SO loved me.

Today is not Valentine's Day, but today is a day to love. Today is a day to show my wife I love her (maybe not with sushi). Today is a day to show others honor and to bless those who curse me and to feed my enemy and to be humble. Why? Because Jesus did all those things for me even though I did not deserve any of them.

First Clinic in La Fe

On Wednesday Feb. 8, we hosted our first event, a medical clinic, in the community of La Fe. As we were preparing, I was a little nervous and did not know what to expect. We had not told anyone in the community that we were coming with a doctor and we were not sure where we would even hold the clinic. We didn't tell anyone about it ahead of time, because we did not want a line of way more people than we would be able to treat in one day.

It turns out this was a very good idea. In just about 20 minutes after we got to La Fe, there were 40 or so people asking to be seen. One of the community leaders, Odilia, offered the use of her house for the clinic and also helped us to keep order and make sure we saw some of the sicker people first.

Mike helping to pass out numbers to patients.

The setup we had was perfect. We had a place outside where Ashley worked intake and our teammate Erin was able to see patients as was Dr. Greg, who was here with Pastor Mike from Trinity Presbyterian Church in Harrisburg, PA (one of our supporting churches). I got to translate for Dr. Greg and help hand out the medicine that Dr. Greg and Erin prescribed to the patients.

Ashley working intake.

In about six hours, we were able to see over 50 patients! Most of them received vitamins as well as a medicine that helps prevent parasites. We also were able to do a few ultrasounds on some pregnant moms-to-be, because Dr Greg was able to bring a mobile ultrasound machine with him. We even got to tell one of them that they will be having a boy in about a month! Most importantly, each patient received a small Gospel tract and was prayed for both in English and Spanish.

Mike translating for Dr. Greg.

All in all, the event was a huge success! We think it was a great way to introduce ourselves to the community and show that we are here to serve. We hope that through our prayers and actions we were able to point to Jesus Christ as the Great Physician! We are so thankful to Pastor Mike and Dr Greg of Trinity Church for giving up their week to come help our team in Honduras and for helping Ashley and me begin the Lord's work in La Fe.