Christmas in September Magi Project

CMI is very excited to announce that this year we are partnering with Mission Lazarus on their yearly Magi Boxes project.  Many of you are familiar with this idea, it is the same as the shoe boxes you have probably prepared every Christmas for your local Church.  The bonus for us is that these boxes are designated for Honduras and more specifically for San Marcos, the town in which Mission Lazarus is located.  Our goal is 200 boxes, which is the requested number for San Marcos alone.  I know, that sounds like a lot but I know WE CAN DO IT!  Last year, Mission Lazarus distributed 11,000 boxes to children in Honduras.  Some of them had never even heard of Christmas, so imagine the opportunity to share the gift of Christ when they receive this Christmas gift.  For any who are unfamiliar with this opportunity, here are the main details:

The Magi Project consists of a plastic shoe box sized gift boxed full of simple items for the chosen sex and age group. Items that are suggested are underwear, small toys (dolls/doll clothes, silly bands, hot wheels cars), toothpaste, soap, LED Flashlights and batteries, hard candy, pens/pencils, note pad, ball cap or hat. Each box should be wrapped with the lid wrapped separately. All boxes are collected by Healing Hands International. They sort, organize, and pack the boxes into crates that are then shipped to Mission Lazarus in Honduras. A $7.00 donation is requested to help pay for shipping.

These are the important dates to remember: I will have information and girl/boy age sheets available for you to pick up  at Cross Point Dickson’s Connecting Points on September 5th.   I need to get all the boxes collected by September 26.  You can drop them off at Cross Point on Sundays in September or you can drop them by the Church office.  If you would like to arrange another location, please email me at info@cmimedicalmissions.org and we can work something out.

You can watch the YouTube Video from Mission Lazarus below.  It is a few years old but still conveys  the amazing opportunity we have been given.  If you would like the additional bonus of being able to go with me December 11-17 to hand out the boxes, please email me and I’ll get you the trip details.  It will be a great trip!

You’ll need to press the stop button on our music player, under “Our Favorite Songs” in the left sidebar, so it won’t interfere with the YouTube video.

I’m so excited to get to take part in this ministry!

Laurie

Slideshow from Duyure – Day 5

Clinic wrapup

After four days in Duyure, we treated 1,447 Hondurans in the medical, dental, and eye clinics. We dispensed 5,000 prescriptions, pulled 248 teeth, handed out 220 pairs of glasses, and even amputated a toe (she already had 10). The construction team worked at the local church and school building a stone wall and dug a hole for the latrines 12′ X 12′ and 8′ deep.  Many have gone to bed early tonight, but several of us are sitting in the Posada late tonight unwinding after a week filled with hard work that provided indescribable satisfaction. There is one group playing a cutthroat game of cards, another group listening to music, and others sitting around the fire enriching friendships that were made this week.

I don’t think I have ever been surrounded by a group of people more intent on living out the words of Christ to put others before themselves. Being a Christ Follower doesn’t promise comfort, but requires compassion. This group has endured tremendous rain so loud it was difficult to sleep, sweltering heat in the clinic, and travel each day in a school bus up and down a mountain 2 hours each way just to serve people they have never met. I haven’t heard the first complaint, only continued excitement about when we can do this again.

Finding Friends

One of the great things about trips like this is making new friends. Two of my new friends this week are Lori and Omar. They have joined our trip as translators as both are bilingual. Lori’s husband is from Panama and she teaches high school Spanish in Indianapolis. Omar came to the U.S. when he was eight years old from El Salvador.  They have both been incredible on this trip as they have a deeper understanding of the people of Central America. Omar’s parents have a Spanish speaking church in Bowling Green, Kentucky where Omar translates his father’s sermon each week for the English speaking members. He translated the message for the group on Sunday when we joined in worship with the church in Duyure.  Having the words of the Honduran pastor translated by Omar helped us all feel more like one family with the local church members.

Both Lori and Omar had their birthdays this week. Last night we had a little Bday cake in their honor. Omar then led our devotion and spoke of the compassion, sacrifice, and hard work that we brought down to Honduras. He then challenged us to take those same things back to the States and continue that work that God has started in our hearts. He then had the group join in a circle and he prayed over us. He spoke more truth and blessing in that one prayer than David Faulks and I had in our carefully prepared devotions in the two previous nights combined. I don’t think anyone present will soon forget that prayer.

Slideshow From Duyure – Day 4

Tuesday

This lady has brought me lunch for the last two days. She is a member of the church that we work with in Duyure for the clinic.  I thought she had brought us food to buy, but when I offered her money she said that this was her gift to us for coming to her village. I had come to Honduras to serve, not to be served. This kind woman demonstrated to me that you can serve no matter what your means or your abilities. Fortunately for me her abilities include being a great cook. She prepares two large trays with plates full of rice, black beans, tortillas and a meat each day and provides this to us that are working in the clinic. I don’t think I can get more authentically Honduran than this. Her food has been delicioso!

Monday

We have completed our first day of clinic.  Yesterday we were able to transform the community center in Duyure into a medical, dental and eye clinic with the use of a few tables, benches, and strategically hung bed sheets for privacy in the consultation rooms.  Patients from neighboring villages are assigned certain days to see us with some patients walking three hours just to be treated.  Most of the clinicians had not done this type of thing before and stepped up to the challenge seeing 261 Hondurans today. I tried to encourage them to take breaks and pace themselves, but it is hard to do when you see such a long line of people to be seen.

There were several people that I saw today that I saw on my first trip here in 2007.  One of the women burst into laughter when I greeted her with “Buenas tardes.”  I thought  maybe she was laughing at my Tennessee accident butchering her language, but apparently she remembered me from four years ago and was surprised that I had spoken to her in Spanish. Even more shocking to her was that she was able to understand what I said. Apparently the bald gringo from Tennessee is known for his poor Spanish skills.

Sunday, Day two

We had an uneventful trip to Mission Lazarus in San Marcos yesterday. When you are in a third world country, “uneventful” is a great thing. As always the scenery around the ranch is incredible. Currently I am sitting in the Posada waiting for breakfast looking out on some of the scenes that you can see in these pictures.

The rainy season in Honduras has been especially heavy this year. I have been informed that the road that we travel to Duyure  where we run the clinic has been partially washed away by the heavy rains. A trip in a school bus that we usually make in about an hour will take us almost two hours each way this year. It began raining heavily as we finished supper last night and we lost all electricity. It continued to rain constantly all night until early this morning. Considering the dorms have tin roofs, it was so loud it was difficult to even carry on a conversation with someone across the room.  I laid in bed listening to the rain and found myself praying that the rain would stop so that it wouldn’t interfere with the work I wanted to do this week. So I guess I was asking God to adapt to my schedule and my plans instead of me conforming my desires to His plan.  I have no idea what God has planned for the group this week, but we are going to make ourselves available and let Him make this trip what it needs to be, not what we want.

Honduras memories

Mission Lazarus

Only 48 hours until we arrive at Mission Lazarus!