A Holy Moment

January 20, 2010
Another warm sunny day with the forecast promising the temperatures to reach the 90s. We were off to La Playa, which means the beach. Like Joe commented, "The last time this village saw the beach was when Noah was in the ark." La Playa is high in the mountains - the sky was blue and we felt like we could touch the clouds. The hills were planted with corn, coffee, or had a few cows grazing on them. But no beach.
Once again the villagers were waiting for us at the school, which was small. There were only 27 families in this community. Most of the health team set up outside by the school(thankfully in the shade). The dentist was busy pulling a lot of teeth and we saw one little boy who was malnourished but overall the village seemed fairly healthy.
And then there was Wendy. She was a 18 year old girl who met us with shrieks and loud noises. She moved around freely in the village, interacting with everyone but never really connecting. The team found out that she has had epilepsy from birth and some degree of mental retardation. What intrigued the team was that all the villagers accepted her, never made fun of her, never tried to minimize her or push her away. They loved her as she was, just like Jesus loves us. As we reflected this situation at our team meeting, we felt God in our presence, a holy moment to remember and treasure.
Barb had quite a following today. She took a break from the pharmacy after lunch and started to take pictures of the children and then print them out on a portable printer. They loved seeing themselves in the photos.
The guys, as always, were working hard. Six floors again using 37 bags of concrete. Keep the gatorade coming! They said this was the cleanest water they had seen in any of the villages so far.
As we were packing up to go home a huge pick up truck packed with Hondurans was coming back from the coffee fields. There were baskets hanging on the sides of the truck. The workers get so much per basket they pick. Coffee is a cash crop that is becoming more popular.
One man in the village brought his guitar and himself and some other men started singing songs. We couldn't understand what they were singing but it sounded nice.
Back to the mission house. Nancy is actually enjoying riding on the cooler in the small empty space in the van so we can squeeze 16 people in. Getting to and from the village is as much of an adventure as the work itself.
Two more days of clinics and 12 more floors to pour. We feel your prayers. Thank you.
Respectfully yours,
Beverly Unruh