Four Amazing Days - Monday, July 10

Four Amazing Days - Monday, July 10 - Thursday, July 13

July 02, 2023

For the next four days, we began each morning with breakfast at Tito’s, the local restaurant. They served a variety of eggs, pancakes, beans, avocado, ham, tortillas, coffee and juice. It was always pretty tasty. At this time, we took turns giving a morning devotion. The van would then pick us up and transport us to men, women and children who were already waiting for us to arrive. Their smiles were contagious.

Each of us had an interpreter to help us speak to everyone since the people of Honduras only spoke Spanish. We got pretty good at saying hello, nice to meet you, and other common phrases, but we could not have done our jobs without our amazing interpreters. We bonded with them immediately.

The clinic opened each day around 8:30 am. We would work until noon when Rosa, Pastor Junior’s wife, served us a delicious lunch which consisted of chicken, rice, and tortillas. After enjoying time eating and relaxing, we continued with checking the eyes of these great people. Some of us were at the medical station where eyes were checked for diseases. From there they would be seated at the next station where their eyes were vision tested. The next station fitted them with glasses for either distance, reading, or both. They then went on to the next station where their glasses were adjusted and cleaned. Everyone then left with their eyeglasses, sunglasses, cases, witnessing tools, eye drops and a smile. We generally stopped seeing people around 4:00 pm each day.

During the day we found ways to have fun amongst ourselves as well. Pastor Mark made balloon animals for the kids (and even Rosa). We blew bubbles for the little ones to run through and catch. We tried on glasses as you can see in some of the photos below. We joked and laughed and our team truly bonded. Our team leader, Sarah was constantly asking us, “How’s your drinking?” while giving us bottles of water. She watched over us to make sure we didn’t get overwhelmed or dehydrated. She was such an amazing leader through her caring, knowledge, and humor.

We saw so many smiles as people tried on their glasses and were able to see clearly. Some shook our hands, said “Gracias” over and over, and many even hugged us. It was heartwarming to be part of their joy. We had one lady who tried on 8 pairs of glasses but said “no” to each one. It was through our interpreter that we found out she couldn’t read. When shown the hand signs, she said she could see clearly out of the first pair she tried on. Sometimes it was a matter of trial and error. One lady wanted us to stay longer so she could teach of Spanish and we could teach her English. However, there were a couple of people who had eyes so badly damaged from sun and sand blowing into them that we could do very little for them. One gentleman even left with a cane because he was considered blind. We shook their hands and asked God to bless them.

The last night held a surprise for us. Pastor Junior, Rosa and the kids hung up a piñata shaped like a bottle of their local beer. The men all tried to break it open with a stick but after several attempts, one of the interpreters was able to succeed. It broke open and inside were various flavors of hard candy. We all laughed and hugged but knew we would see them the next day which was our free day. The interpreters had the day off but decided they all wanted to spend it with us. What a blessing!

After packing all the MOST supplies back into suitcases, we left to go back to our hotel. Dinner was again at the local restaurant. We had our nightly devotion and went directly to our rooms. We were all pretty exhausted but yet energized by what we had witnessed all week. God was present throughout the week. He was present in the kindness poured out on these lovely people. He was present with each smile and all of our words. For some, it was emotional that we had finished the last day of the clinic.

We were able to help approximately 350 people who needed eyeglasses.