Guffey’s Honduras ’09 Mission Work

The quake last week was upgraded to a 7.4. The center was just north of Roatan. It lasted about 45 seconds here in Ceiba.  Two night ago we had another. It was only a 4.+ but it woke us up. It lasted less than 15 seconds here.

We have had a great trip so far. We came in with the Michiagn team and spent a day and a half with them, teaching them how to use the table-top auto-refractor and how to organize the inventory of RX glasses that were left in Limon. We also gave them shoes for the orphans. Then we met up with the Discovery UMC team and went to the mountains of Olancho to the village of La Union. We have been there before and it was good to see many of the friends that we had made there. For the most part our stay was uneventiful, unlike previous years when we had four flat tires and a run-in with two Honduran soldiers who insisted we give them a ride down the mountain. They simply jumped into the back seat of the truck that I was in (with their automatic weapons)and told us we were taking them home. We didn´t know if they were for real or bandits posing as soldiers.

When we got back to Ceiba this time, we did an eye clinic at the Methodist Church of the Carribean compound in El Pina. Then we did two days rebuilding and expanding our glasses inventory from 2800 to 3840 pairs. Since yesterday we have been waiting, with Greg Rushton, on our ride to take us to the hosital at Loma de la Luz at Balfate. We will do three days there helping setting up their 70000 pairs of eyeglasses using the KOM methodoñogy. Actually we will only read, label and place into the database about 3500 pairs as that is all the materials we have brought with us. We´ll take a break for the weekend to go to Limon to be with the Columbiana team and check on things at the clinic and the nurture center. We will then return to Balfate to finish that project. Then we will meet the second of the Livingston Chapel teams and go to Utila far another week long clinic. Hopefully all will go as well as it has already gone. We are not excited about being on the flat island of Utila  if another major earthquake hits (they keep talking about the prospects of a Sunami (sp?)). We hope to be home sometimes around the 29th of  june to prepare for a visit from our son and his family.

We do so much appreciate everyone´s prayers. We feel truly Blessed to be here.

When we are in Limon, I´ll check on the situation at the orpanage and the shoes. Dale had told us that he had not included in your stuff any shoes for the orphanage, so we gave enough to Susan Caldwell for her to give to the orphans. We would have gone through your stuff to extract the shoes for the nurture center but you have so much stuff in the Bodega and we haven´t had a spare moment to do it. Unlike last year when we stayed an extra month, we have been on the go 100% of the time. Mary is just getting too old for all this.

Amor en Cristo,

guf

Guf with Pastor David discussing the Limon Nurture Center