Dear Friends,

We who participated on the 2004 Decatur Honduras Mission Outreach Team wish to express our thanks for your support. The trip was more successful than we ever could have imagined possible! Here's a brief report of our activities.

We left Huntsville Airport at 6:15 AM on Friday, June 4th, and arrived safely back home at 2:30 AM on Monday, June 14th. The ten mission days in between were wonderfully exhausting. We had a plan to send a team e-mail out each day so that our families and supporters could keep pace with our activities, but that turned out to be impossible because of our remote location and long hours. Even phone calls were impossible most of the time, so we truly felt isolated from our familiar world. We lived at a hotel in Yoro, which is way up in the mountains of Honduras, and left early each morning on a school bus for the one hour trip to the smaller village of Yorita. In that village is a "mission house" that was our main center of operations. A group of missionary Hondurans cooked our meals there, helped with translators and other labor, shared in our daily devotions, and quickly became very close members of our team. Each day we performed four key outreach activities, and usually did not get back to Yoro until late at night.

First, a medical clinic was led by the two doctors and one nurse practitioner on our team, with others assisting with pharmacy and administrative duties. Over 700 patients were seen during our stay, most of them babies and small children. Ailments ranged from routine to acute. Worm medicine and vitamins were handed out liberally, and many of the problems stemmed from malnutrition. Second, a dental clinic was led by our team dentist. For a few days he was accompanied by a Honduran dentist, and assisted by other American and Honduran team members. Over 1000 teeth were pulled. Unhappily, except for handing out toothbrushes and trying to educate about dental hygiene, pulling teeth is about the only treatment that can be given, since no follow-up treatment is possible. But it is also one of the greatest healing activities, as so many individuals showed up with severe toothaches and abscesses. Third, we conducted an eyeglasses clinic. We fitted about 300 people with glasses, and when we ran out, measured prescriptions for about 50 more that we will try to fill here and send with the next team to Yorita that leaves next month. While a focometer was used to measure acuity and any astigmatism, proper reading glasses were determined by having the patient read different size print in a Spanish Bible, or sometimes threading a needle for those who could not read. Fourth, a construction project was conducted to put a roof on a new worship and missionary building. This was a joint team of American and Hondurans working together, overcoming the communications barriers, and literally building the future for church activities in this village. This will also house the sewing machine ministry that will use the 40 machines that were donated.

In addition to our mission activities, three Honduran evangelists were with us every day. After each person was treated at one of the clinics, one of these three would talk and pray with them, and offer each a Spanish New Testament. The evangelists reported that 91 individuals gave their lives to Christ while we were there, and many more renewed their commitment.

It's easy to describe the facts of what we did in Honduras, but there is no way to describe how we felt and were affected by all of this. So many times we witnessed an obvious intervention by the Holy Spirit, and the God-incidents were daily occurrences. How humbling and wonderful it was to serve our brothers and sisters that live at a level of poverty that we have never seen before. And how happy these people seem in spite of their hard lives. We wish we could share with you some of the special times. Like an amazing spirit-filled worship service that we attended in an even smaller village, followed by converting the worship tent into a clinic for medical, dental, and eyeglasses for the rest of the day. Or the 96-year-old practicing midwife who needed to see a doctor herself. Holding the babies. The dentist's amazement at the extent of the pain that was endured without complaint. The albino child who needed the dark lenses that we had inadvertently brought along. Singing and playing games with the children. So many emotional experiences.

Thanks again, and may God bless you!

The 2004 Decatur Honduran Mission Outreach Team