A nuevo amigo

One of the greatest things about my job here in Honduras is that I have an opportunity to meet some of the finest people you could ever hope to meet.  Such was the case this last week when I had an opportunity to travel around with a great guy named Richard Marks from Washington D.C.  His church has taken part in short term mission teams in the past but not in the last couple of years due to the aging of the participants.  Working here can be pretty demanding physically.   The amazing thing is that their passion for the work is still strong.  Richard was on a fact finding mission and together with Rev Hector Madrid we traveled to some really out of the way places accessible only by dirt "road."  His church has been supporting a clinic in Protección for several years including the salary for Dr. Waldo Madrid and funding for pharmaceuticals.  These people would be really hard pressed for any amount of medical attention if it were not for this clinic.

We traveled to three different locations that are in my area that I had not had an opportunity to visit before and because Richard is totally bilingual, he was a huge help to me.  I learned a great deal  about the needs of the churches and health care facilities we have in those areas.  We also visited with Rev./MD. Elvia Maria Galinda here in Siguatepeque.  In addition to being a priest in the first church I ever worked in here back in 1989, she is also running an AIDS clinic where she attends to about 100 HIV patients.  She also sees about 20 patients a day with other maladies.  It was interesting to learn that there were only three new cases of HIV last year.  She said that education here had been very effective.  They also opened the clinic to everyone so that the HIV patients could avoid the  stigma that goes along with the decease and still come to the clinic, which worked.

Teams are great and we need more, but it sure was a pleasure doing some one on one with someone who shares my passion for the work we are doing here.  Richard was simply a joy to be around.  He treated me to a great dinner at his hotel in San Pedro Sula and we talked about how Christ has worked in our lives and in the lives of the people of Honduras.  We talked about plans for the future.  It was as enjoyable and it was informative.

Thank You Richard.  God Bless